Crown Of Fire Read Free Page A

late in its term. Terza did hate culling late fetuses, whose features looked almost human. Gene technology was dangerous work for a woman secretly more sensitive than most of her fellows.
    And this one will carry my genes. Half of all I am.
    Appalled by the tug of that new sensation, Terza reminded herself that it would also carry the genes of an enemy. She checked her screen for the next prescribed fertilization.
    That day's final order sent her to her supervisor's apartment, several levels beneath Three Zed's basaltic surface. Stocky and small-eyed, Jud-dis Adiyn looked more like a dark-flour dumpling than a leader of the unbound starbred. He slumped in a brocaded wing chair, clasping stout hands in his lap. Adiyn was old enough—152, by the Federate calendar—to need ayin treatments to preserve his waning abilities. That was one reason her telepathically skilled elders normally spoke aloud. "By now," he said, "you are aware of your primary fertilization. An outcross with the Carabohd-Caldwell line."
    Terza rocked from one foot to the other. On the near wall, a glasteel case displayed jeweled offworld trinkets against a frothy lava backdrop. Across the ceiling, red, blue, and green threads of light snaked and writhed. Terza found them mildly hypnotic, and she avoided staring at them.
    "You're displeased?" Adiyn asked.
    Of course, Terza sent silently. A young underling generally subvocal-ized, speaking mind to mind on her epsilon carrier wave. I would have preferred not soiling my father's line with Thyrian genes. But this seems appropriate, considering my profession in genetics.
    "Have you made any guess? Any rationale?"
    Something to do with Tallis's announcement, she suggested, taking a shot without a targeting beam. Yesterday, the Federates' regional capital had claimed that the Sentinels had developed a new technology. They threatened to use this RIA weapon against her people, in revenge for Three Zed's preemptive strike against Thyrica.
    The Federates had good reason to be afraid. Terza was glad to be employed in reproduction, so she would miss the coming horrors.
    "You're close," Adiyn said. "It has more to do with your father's scouting trip to Netaia, and with bringing Caldwell back to face justice."
    Terza raised her head. Her father gave the fertilization order? She did hope to meet him before the colony moved elsewhere, after a century on this sterile planet. As for Caldwell, he and his Lady stood accused of assassinating her grandfather, the previous Eldest. . . and possibly Dru Polar and Cassia Talumah. No witness to their deaths had survived to testify. A summons had been sent, but no one expected Caldwell to return voluntarily.
    Ironically, his people shared her genetic heritage. Because of those psionic abilities, this colony had superb defenses. It had little else, though. Modabah would leave in a few weeks to inspect the chosen planetary system. Netaia had rich assets, estimated at a quarter of the Federacy's. It could be seized relatively easily by altering a few nobly born minds and destroying only one, or maybe two or three, of its cities. Its top-heavy government made it charmingly vulnerable to such a simple approach. There, Terza's people would launch the next phase of their grand experiment. She wanted a pivotal position in that program.
    "I assume you've heard that General Caldwell and Lady Firebird will also be traveling to Netaia."
    Nudged back to the here and now, Terza nodded and responded, Some sort of ceremonial.
    "And naturally, your father wants Caldwell back in custody."
    She shrugged. Call it justice, or call it vengeance. Eshdeth and Polar had been powerful leaders, poised to destroy the Sentinels' fortress world—
    Adiyn raised a hand, cutting off her thought. "Your father prefers to start any operation with several options. If the unexpected occurs, he can be ready."
    How true. Down on Third South, her father's love of options had been the subject of some cautious derision.
    "Among