The Last Hawk

by Catherine Asaro

"It's a trick, then."

  "I'm sure it is an honest offer."

  "I don't- believe it. What would Manager Karn want with me?"

  Rashiva got up and went to the mantel, where the mobile drifted in circles. This was even harder than she had anticipated.

  "Mother?" Jimorla said.

  She turned to him. "Manager Karn wants to bring you to her Estate so you can meet your father."

  "But he's here."

  "No, Jimi. He isn't."

  "I just saw him yesterday. He didn't say he was going anywhere."

  "Raaj isn't—" She stopped as the words caught in her throat.

  "Isn't what?" Jimorla asked.

  She made the words come out. "Raaj isn't your biological father."

  At first he showed no reaction. Then he gave her an uncomfortable smile. "Your jokes are strange today."

  "It isn't a joke." .

  "You're right. It isn't funny. Father wouldn't think so either."

  "Raaj knows all of this."

  "You're making it up, yes?" He watched her with a heartbreaking look, as if willing her to tell him it was all a story: "The Mentors asked you to do it. This is some kind of test."

  She spoke gently. "Your skin, your features, even the way you walk—it's just like him."

  "Him?"

  "Sevtar. The Sixth Level." She took a breath. "Your father."

  Jimorla stood up, his fist clenched. "It's not true. Why are you doing this?"

  "Who else has skin that shimmers like yours?" She went over to him. "Not Raaj."

  "Father is my father. I don't want to hear any more."

  "Al, Jimi."-Rashiva reached out to him. "I don't want you to be hurt."

  He pushed her away. "Are you going to force me to live at Karn?"

  "Not if you don't want to."

  "I don't."

  "Perhaps we could arrange a temporary visit for you."

  "To meet him?" Despite his anger, anticipation leaked into his voice. "The Sixth?"

  "Yes. The Sixth."

  "And afterward I can come home?"

  Relief poured over Rashiva. "Yes. Then you can come home."

  * * *

  A clamor woke Rohka. Everything was confusion. People yelled in the dark and a big rumbling roar shook the Cooperative. She scrambled out of bed and ran out of her suite, straight into a flock of little girls in woolly nightgowns who looked as scared as she felt.

  A hoard of monsters poured into the corridor.

  They were terrible all leather and bronze, with metal faces like fierce beasts. As the monsters wrestled with the grownups, shouts filled the air. In the confusion, Rohka found herself trapped in a comer She made herself little and flat against the wall praying no monsters saw her.

  Someone screamed and Rohka saw a monster scoop up a gill with yellow hair.

  "Check her eyes!" someone shouted. "They're gold."

  Rohka's confusion turned into terror. Only one girl had gold eyes. She bolted down the hall, trying to escape the turmoil.

  Suddenly hands clamped around her arms. A monster hollered, "I found her," hoisted her up into its burly arms, and shoved its way through the melee.

  Chill air blasted Rohka's face when they ran out into the night. Across the plaza, two riders crouched on the ground like sly birds ready to pounce.

  "Let me go!" Rohka yelled. The monster's face looked like a helmet now, one covering a woman's head. She pounded her fists against the metal. "Avtac Varz will squash you flat. Flat, flat, flat."

  "Feisty little cub," the monster muttered. She reached the first rider and swung Rohka up to a woman in the hatch. The woman bundled Rohka into a seat while the monster jumped in and slammed the hatch.

  A voice crackled from the com. "Skyarrow, this is Windstar. Scan shows two octets coming down from Varz. We've got to run."

  "No problem, Windstar" the pilot said. "We have what we came for."

  The riders lifted into the sky. In dismay, Rohka saw her home, Miesa, recede into a scatter of tiny lights in the mountains.

  * * *

  When Kelric awoke in. the morning, he found a mug of Tanghi steaming on the nightstand. He put on his robe and took the mug to an alcove that overlooked the gardens. While he sat drinking, Quis patterns evolved in his mind.

  A new pattern evolved, one that had slowly taken form over the last three years, intertwining itself with the other shapes and forms of his life. He looked at the unexpected pattern and found it as clear as a mountain spring. When next he saw Ixpar, he would tell her of it. What difference it would make to her, he didn't know. But nevertheless, he ought to tell his wife he loved her.

  The tramp of soldiers below his window fragmented his thoughts. They crossed the garden, one carrying a small sleeping girl with masses of gold curls tumbling down her back. Watching the girl, he felt a sense of familiarity, though he couldn't say why. Her image stayed with him, interwoven with his endless Quis thoughts.

  Later another commotion drew his attention. A Calanya retinue was passing below his window, escorting a figure in the robes and Talha of a Haka Calani. It had to be a trick of light; no Haka Calani would be in Karn now. He was the height of an average Coban male, but slender like a boy.

  A boy?

  Kelric froze, suddenly understanding his reaction to the girl. Like knew like. Even a Kyle operator with a mind as injured as his own recognized the blooms that flowered from his own seed.

  His children. Ixpar had brought his children to Karn.

  A sense of urgency came over Kelric, a feeling that if he didn't go to Ixpar now he would forever lose the chance to tell her how much this meant to him and how he felt about her. He went to the Outside doors and made his escort understand what he wanted.

  Captain Eb spoke to one of his guards. "You wait here. If Manager Karn comes, tell her the four of us took Sevtar to look for her."

  44

  King's Flight

  Ixpar sat in the hatchway of her rider, looking out at the Calanya parks. Her craft was stripped to essentials, a runner designed for speed. It could easily reach the starport on one tank of fuel.

  If Kelric stayed on Coba he would die. If he left, he would live.

  Kastora, what counsel would you give me? Ixpar thought. Kelric wasn't the same man who, seventeen years ago, had intended to bring lSC down on them. What would happen if she set him free? Could she convince him to keep Coba's secret, to protect its anonymity? Her decision would affect the future of her entire world.

  Shivering, Ixpar turned her face to the sun. Far in the north a flock of birds was arrowing toward Karn It was odd to see them migrating in summer; they didn't usually come until autumn.

  Very odd.

  She jumped down from the rider and looked eastward—to see another cloud of dark forms headed for her Estate.

  Ixpar swore, then took off running across the park. When she reached the Estate, she smacked her palm against the first com she found.

  A voice floated into the air. "Tal here—"

  "Tal, this is Manager Karn. Put Karn on alert. This isn't a drill! Do you understand? Full alert."

  Tal's voice crackled over the com. "I'm on it."

  "Get me Commander Borj, Anthoni, Captain Eb, and Elder Solan on com. Contact Ekina at the Institute and tell her to meet me outside my office with the carbine. She'll know what I mean."

  "Right away." In only a few seconds Tal said, "Commander Borj on three."

  "I'm switching out." She switched to three. "Borj, fleets are coming in from the north and east. Go to the command center below the Atrium and put Code Four into action."

  "On my way," Borj said.

  "Good. Out." Ixpar switched to line one. "Tal, do you have Anthoni yet?"

  "Line two."

  Ixpar switched. "Anthoni, start the evacuation procedures for Karn. You're in charge."

  "Understood," Anthoni said.

  "Out." Ixpar switched to one. "Tal, what line is Captain Eb on?"

  "I haven't been able to reach your suite. But I h
ave Elder Solan on four."

  Ixpar switched. "Solan, this is Ixpar. In the Blue Alcove of my suite you'll find an engraving that matches the lock sequence I taught you. The door it opens leads to an underground hall. Take the Calanya and Bahr down there."

  "Understood," Solan said.

  "Switching out." Ixpar went to one "Tal, have you got Eb?"

  "There's only one guard at your suite. She said the others left with Sevtar to look for you."

  Ixpar swore. "Then get on every line, contact every guard, whatever is necessary—but find him."

  "Yes, ma'am. What shall we do with Jimorla Haka?"

  Winds above. "Manager Haka's son is here? Already?"

  "He arrived early. I just sent an aide to tell you."

  Rashiva must have learned of the Varz attack plans after the boy left Haka. If any harm came to Jimorla, nothing would stop Haka's wrath. But the only truly safe place on Karn was the Memory where she had sent the Calanya. How could she reveal, to the son of a hostile Manager, a secret kept by the Ministers of Karn for two millennia?

  Still. he was Calani. Almost Calani. He was also a hostage worth his height in jeweled Quis dice. "Send Jimorla with the Calanya. Tell everyone it's a storage room and have Jimorla kept under guard. I don't want him wandering around down there."

  "And Rohka Miesa?" Tal asked.

  "Saints almighty, Tal. She's already here too?"

  "Yhee, ma'am."

  "Send her with Jimorla."

  "Right away," Tal said. "I have Elder Solan on six."

  "Out." Ixpar switched "Solan, what's going on?"

  "I'm at your suite," Solan said. "We found the chambers and took the Calanya down. We're waiting for Sevtar now."

  "Any word on where he is?"

  "Not yet I sent more guards to look for him."

  "Let me know as soon as they find him Out." Ixpar switched to one. "Tal, do you have Commander Borj?"

  "Line three."

  Ixpar switched. "What's the situation, Borj?"

  "The fleet coming from the north is Varz," Borj said. "East is Ahkah, with support from Lasa. Altogether, they outnumber us about two to one."

  Ixpar grimaced. "Where did Avtac get so many riders?"

  "My bet is that she pulled her octets off the blockade."

  "Any word from Bahvla?"

  "None."

  "What about Dahl?"

  "The Dahl forces stationed here are up with our riders," Borj said "I sent a runner for reinforcements, if Manager Dahl has any, but I doubt it will reach Dahl before tonight."

  "Any sign of a Haka fleet?"

  "Nothing so far."

  "Keep me posted. Out." Ixpar switched to one. "Tal, have they found Sevtar?"

  "Not yet," Tal said. "But Ekina is at your office. She says she has what you want."

  Where was Kelric? "All right. Go to the command center and stay on the com lines. I'll be there as soon as I can. Out."

  Ixpar took off running. She found Ekina standing in front of her office, holding a monstrous gun with cooling-coils around its barrel and a heavy metal stock. A power pack sat at her feet.

  "Is it accurate?" Ixpar asked.

  Ekina's face was flushed from running "Accurate? We've hardly even tested it yet. I never expected this monster to come out of those Calanya patterns"

  Ixpar took the laser carbine, hefting its bulk in her hands. "How do I use it?"

  Ekina strapped the power pack around her waist and indicated a button on the gun. "Push that and it fires."

  Ixpar slung the gun's strap over her shoulder. "You better go to the command center. You'll be safe there."

  "You're coming, aren't you?"

  "As soon as I get a look at the situation." Before Ekina could protest, Ixpar took off again.

  She went to the outside balcony that circled the Observatory dome. In both the north and east, she saw a sky dark with windriders: Varz and Karn, Ahkah and Dahl, all engaged in battle. Nowhere did she see the Haka emblem of a rising sun. To the west, lines of people wound into the Teotecs as they evacuated Karn.

  A shadow cut across the steepled roofs of the city, a lone Varz rider arrowing for the Estate, the first to break through the Karn defenses. Her lips drawing back in a snarl, Ixpar raised her gun, sighted on the craft—and fired.

  The violent flare of light produced by- the carbine bore no resemblance to the harmless red beam she had seen in Ekina's lab last year. This pulse streaked to the rider and exploded the craft in a blast of white light. An instant later the sound wave of its detonation slammed against Ixpar.

  "Spirits help us," she whispered as molten metal showered the empty streets.

  Sunlight diffused through the Atrium, falling across Kelric and his escort as they walked past the plants and waterfalls. The serenity felt oddly fragile, like blown glass.

  A guard ran into the hall. "Captain Eb! Varz fleet—coming in—get to Manager Karn's suite."

  Kelric immediately turned with his guards and they ran for the staircase that swept up from the Atrium. In the north, he saw a hoard of riders swarming toward Karn.

  Two Varz warcraft suddenly soared out from behind a nearby tower and skimmed low over the Atrium, breaking its glass with the vibration of their passage. An explosion blasted through the balcony above them, destroying the top of the staircase. Kelric and his guards spun around and raced back down into the Atrium. At the bottom, they ran to the landing of a stairwell that descended to a more protected floor.

  When the whistle of falling bombs pierced the air, only Kelric recognized the sound. His warning shout was smothered by an explosion and the floor heaved under his feet. As he fell, one of his armbands caught on the staircase banister, wrenching him to such a fast stop his shoulder nearly pulled out of its socket.

  Then the band yanked off his arm and he fell down the stairs. Glimpses of rail, floor, ceiling, all flashed by as he tumbled. As an explosion rocked the stairs above him, he hit the floor and rolled over, gasping for breath.

  Kelric scrambled to his feet in time to see a curtain of flame sweeping across the staircase. Behind and within it, he could make out the frantic forms of his guards trying to smother their burning clothes and escape the inferno.

  "Sevtar!" Captain Eb shouted. "Get out of here!"

  Kelric had no intention of leaving them to die. He beat at the flames, shielding his face with his arm as he struggled to reach the guards.

  With a deafening crash, the landing above him collapsed. The steps crumbled next, toppling in succession as the area disintegrated in a thunder of falling walls. Chunks of debris shot into the air, mixing with clouds of plaster. Kelric staggered, coughing, eyes watering, skin blistering, forced back by the searing heat, until he backed up through the door arch behind him.

  It was cooler in the marble corridor outside the stairwell. He sagged against a wall and slid, to his knees, drawing in huge breaths. Then a rumble swelled behind him. Twisting around, he saw the walls of the corridor toppling inward like a wave running up a pipe.

  Kelric lurched to his feet and took off, running past burning archway after burning archway, trying to outrun the destruction. When he found a stairwell untouched by fire, he took the wide steps three at a time. At the top he pulled open the door, and a gale shoved him in the chest like a giant hand. Leaning into the wind, he pushed his way onto a balcony—and looked out over a nightmare.

  Karn was in flames.

  The darkening sky boiled with riders, roaring in the chaos of battle. Ashes swirled in the air, whipped into a shower of powder by the wind. Smoke billowed out windows, rolled across lawns, rose in great oily clouds that spread a gray pall of crackling soot over the city.

  Kelric clenched the balcony rail, staring out over the scene. "No," he said. "I won't be the cause of this." He raised his head and shouted at the riders battling in the sky. "Do you hear me? I will not be the cause of this."

  The rail burst into flame, tongues of fire consuming the wood. Within seconds the entire balcony had ignited. Racing t
he flames, Kelric backed away and ran down the stairs, out again into the marble corridor. .He- kept going, past arches that opened onto debris, until finally there were only smooth marble walls that went on and on, unending, as if he were doomed to run down the tunnel forever while Karn burned.

  He came out into a foyer he recognized; he was near the old Calanya. He kept running, following familiar halls this time.

  Inside the Calanya, he found tables toppled and screens hanging in shreds. Every room was empty, but when he neared the exit to the parks he heard voices. He slipped outside, hiding behind a hedge. Across the gardens, an octet of Varz warriors stood gathered by their riders, towering women in bronze and leather armor with beast helmets over their heads.

  Nearer by, an empty Karn rider sat on a lawn. Sleek and stripped to essentials, it had the streamlined grace of a runner built for speed.

  Staying low behind the bushes, Kelric crept toward the runner. When he reached-the end of the hedge, he paused. Then he sprinted into the open.

  Shouts erupted behind him and a bullet whizzed past his arm, kicking up the dirt ahead of him.

  "Don't shoot, you idiot!" someone shouted. "He's a Calani!"

  "Six bands!" another voice yelled. "That's him."

  A stun shot hit Kelric's arm, numbing his burns, and another caught him in the, knee. His breathing came in labored gasps but he never broke his stride. He would rather die from heart failure than go back to Varz.

  The open hatch of the rider loomed into view. As Kelric vaulted into the cabin, boots pounded behind him. He spun around, planted his foot in the armor-covered chest of the warrior reaching for him, and shoved. As she flew over backward, he slammed the hatch.

  The rider's weaponry was crude but recognizable: two cannons at about 20 millimeters and two machine guns at 12 to 13 millimeters, though he couldn't be sure about the numbers given his lack of proficiency in Teotecan units. Although it could take a payload of one bomb, its bay was empty, another indication the runner was meant to go fast.

  He taxied across the lawn, jolting on the uneven ground until he gained enough speed to lift off, As he soared into the sky, he looked down and saw the warriors staring up at him, helmeted faces blurring as they receded into dots. They could probably have no more imagined a Calani flying a rider than they could picture life without Quis.