Hellhole Inferno Read Free

and demand answers. He was certain the aliens still had more to reveal.
    A groundcar rumbled up outside and discharged its passenger, a tall, shapely woman with shoulder-length auburn hair: Keana Duchenet, arriving for the scheduled meeting. The Diadem’s daughter looked outwardly unchanged, but she shared her consciousness with a resurrected alien personality, Uroa, whom she had awakened from the slickwater pools. Keana was only one of many hundreds of converts who had taken on alien lives and memories. Together, Keana-Uroa was one of the most powerful of the “shadow-Xayans,” possessing high telemancy skills.
    Though he was frustrated with the aliens and their unknown agenda, General Adolphus needed every possible ally in order to face enemies from all sides. But he also needed to trust these strange creatures if they were to fight side by side to protect this planet.
    Ever since the Deep Zone had broken away from the corrupt Constellation, General Adolphus had commanded a motley army of cast-off humans. They manned patched-together warships from the old rebellion, as well as hundreds of newer vessels seized during the Constellation’s failed attacks. In addition to his traditional tactics, Adolphus made use of Xayan telemancy, which had enabled him to defeat Commodore Percival Hallholme.
    Yet he had hardly been able to celebrate after the Commodore fled back to Sonjeera in disgrace. Despite their help, he now knew the aliens did not share the same goal as he, and Adolphus realized he had never really commanded them at all. For the Xayans, this was no more than a coalition of convenience, a means by which they could achieve their evolutionary and spiritual “ascension,” their racial destiny called ala’ru.
    Summoning his force of will, though he did not know how effective it would be against the implacable Xayans, the General turned from the window to face the two unusual visitors. “You failed to tell me that you had another terrible enemy of your own. You kept that information from me, even though you’ve known for some time that the Ro-Xayans are out there, and that they still want to destroy you. You could have warned me, warned Candela. We could have saved many of those people before the asteroid impact.”
    Encix said in a flat voice that masked any recognizable emotion, “If we had achieved ala’ru before they found us, it would not have mattered.”
    â€œAfter the Ro-Xayans destroyed Candela, you told me they also bombarded this planet with an asteroid centuries ago.” He felt his skin grow hot. “You didn’t consider that information relevant?”
    Lodo sounded just slightly contrite. “We have revealed everything to you now, General Tiber Adolphus. We are certain the Ro-Xayans are aware that we survived their first attempt to exterminate us, and they will surely come back to finish annihilating our species.”
    Encix added with greater urgency, “Our only hope is to achieve ala’ru before it is too late! All the more reason for us to convert more of your people, awaken more Xayan lives from the slickwater pools, and increase the collective power of our telemancy.”
    Adolphus clenched his jaw. “I am no longer certain I can trust you.”
    The hidden enemy, the Ro-Xayans, were a splinter faction of the alien race that swore to prevent the wondrous evolutionary ascension toward which most Xayans strove. The rogue faction had wrecked their home planet and nearly wiped out their own race rather than let their rivals win. Such a betrayal angered Adolphus—especially now that his human colonists were caught in the middle of an ancient feud he could neither prevent nor understand—but he also resented that Encix and Lodo had not been forthright.
    Keana-Uroa was ushered into the conference room by a member of the General’s staff. The Diadem’s daughter stood straight-backed, a far cry from the naïve and giddy