‘Pingge, step forwards,’ Varsec beckoned, and the Fly-kinden woman did so. ‘Pingge flew in the assault on Collegium. She is the sole survivor. She saw it all.’
The Fly spoke at length, sometimes faltering with emotion, but pushing herself on. Whatever she had been before, there was a steely determination to her now. It demanded revenge – revenge for all the friends and comrades lost over Collegium. As she made her report, describing Collegium’s new weapon, Drephos became more and more focused, his iris-less eyes gleaming, gesturing for Totho to bring him pen and paper.
And, when she had finished, Drephos turned to confer with Totho, his guests utterly forgotten, the two artificers muttering together as excitedly as two young students. The Colonel-Auxillian even got as far as sketching three or four figures, before remembering that he had an audience, and at last he said, ‘Why, yes, I believe I see the problem.’ He was striving for calm now, but it was plain that Pingge’s news had inspired him.
‘And your price?’ Varsec pressed.
‘Can be negotiated with your factor there but’ – Drephos’s tone made it clear that this was the real prize – ‘I will have to see the full schematics for your orthopters, of course.’ Varsec’s great triumph of mechanics had been denied to Drephos’s insatiable curiosity until now.
But Varsec had thought that far ahead. ‘Of course. I have them here,’ he said, without a pause. ‘But it must be soon – even now.’ Here was a man in whose future loomed the crossed pikes of the executioner.
Drephos smiled, seldom a pleasant sight. ‘It is an invitation I extend to few, Colonel Varsec, but will you join us, then? For I see what must be done, and we had better get to work.’
Glossary
Characters
Aagen – Wasp-kinden, Imperial ambassador to Collegium
Aarmon – Wasp-kinden, leader of the new Imperial Aviation Corps
Aetha – Wasp-kinden, General Tynan’s daughter-in-law
Amnon – Beetle-kinden, former First Soldier of Khanaphes
Angved – Wasp-kinden, Imperial artificer
Aradocles – Sea-kinden, Edmir of Hermatyre
Arvi – Fly-kinden, Jodry Drillen’s secretary
Averic – Wasp-kinden, student at the College
Axrad – Wasp-kinden pilot
Banjacs Gripshod – Beetle-kinden artificer
Berjek Gripshod – Beetle-kinden diplomat
Bola Stormall – Beetle-kinden aviation artificer
Bordes – Mynan airman
Breighl (‘Painful’) – halfbreed spy in Solarno
Bresner – Wasp-kinden aviator
Brugan – Wasp-kinden, general of the Rekef
Castre Gorenn – Dragonfly-kinden, exile
Cheerwell Maker – Beetle-kinden, Stenwold’s niece
Cherten – Wasp-kinden colonel, Army Intelligence
Chyses – Mynan soldier
Corog Breaker – Beetle-kinden, Master Armsman and pilot
Drephos (Dariandrephos, the Colonel-Auxillian) – halfbreed artificer, leader of the Iron Glove
Dulci Broadster – Beetle-kinden social history Master at the College
Edmon – Mynan airman
Elder Padstock – Beetle-kinden, chief officer of the Maker’s Own Company
Elser Hardwick – Beetle-kinden pilot
Erveg – Wasp-kinden, camp colonel for the Eighth Army
Esmail – Bug-kinden assassin and spy
Eujen Leadswell – Beetle-kinden student and agitator
Ferric – Wasp-kinden, engineer with the Eighth Army
Forra – Fly-kinden air crew
Franticze – Bee-kinden pilot flying for Myna
Garvan – see Gesa
Gerethwy – Woodlouse-kinden student at the College
Gesa (‘Garvan’) – female Wasp-kinden major, Army Intelligence
Gizmer – Fly-kinden air crew
Gjegevey – Woodlouse-kinden, slave and adviser to Seda
Greenwise Artector – Beetle-kinden magnate in Helleron
Hallend – Beetle-kinden student
Harvang – Wasp-kinden, Rekef colonel
Hasp – Wasp-kinden major, Slave Corps
Helmess Broiler – Beetle-kinden Assembler in Collegium, Imperial sympathizer
Hokiak – Scorpion-kinden merchant in Myna
Honory Bellowern – Beetle-kinden, Imperial diplomat
Jadis of the Melisandyr – Spider-kinden, Mycella’s bodyguard and chief aide
Janos Outwright – Beetle-kinden, chief officer of Outwright’s Pike and Shot
Jodry Drillen – Beetle-kinden, Speaker for the Assembly
Jons Padstock – Beetle-kinden soldier, Elder Padstock’s son
Kiin – Fly-kinden air crew
Kymene – Mynan leader
Knowles Bellowern – Beetle-kinden, Imperial colonel in the Consortium
Laszlo – Fly-kinden, former pirate and friend of Stenwold Maker
Lien – Wasp-kinden, general of the Engineering Corps
Losel Baldwen – Beetle-kinden scholar
Ludon – Wasp-kinden aviator
Lyren – Wasp-kinden, Tynan’s son
Lissart (‘te Liss’) – Firefly-kinden agent
Malkan – Wasp-kinden, general of the Seventh Army, defeated by the Sarnesh at Malkan’s Folly
Marsene – Mynan airwoman
Marteus – Ant-kinden renegade, chief officer of Coldstone Company
Mittoc – Wasp-kinden, colonel of Engineers with Second Army
Morkaris – Spider-kinden, Mycella’s mercenary adjutant
Mycella of the Aldanrael – Spider Lady-Martial
Mylus – Ant-kinden, slave to General Tynan
Nishaana – Wasp-kinden aviator
Ostrec – Wasp-kinden, Quartermaster Corps and Rekef
Paladrya – Sea-kinden, advisrr to Aradocles and friend of Stenwold Maker
Parops – Ant-kinden of Tark
Pendry Goswell – Beetle-kinden pilot
Pingge – Fly-kinden air crew
Praeda Rakespear – Beetle-kinden scholar, lover of Amnon
Raullo Mummers – Beetle-kinden artist
Te Remi – Fly-kinden taverner in Solarno
Reyna Pullard – Beetle-kinden, assistant to Banjacs Gripshod
Te Riel – Fly-kinden agent in Solarno
Roder – Wasp-kinden, general of the Eighth Army
Salthric – Wasp-kinden, Broken Sword Father
Sartaea te Mosca – Moth-trained Fly-kinden, lecturer at the College
Scain – Wasp-kinden aviator
Seda I – Empress of the Wasps
Shawmair – Solarnese pilot
Sherten – Wasp-kinden, Rekef agent
Shoel Jhin – Grasshopper-kinden slave
Stenwold Maker – Beetle-kinden, War Master of Collegium
Straessa (‘the Antspider’) – halfbreed student at the College
Taki (Te Schola Taki-Amre) – Solarnese Fly-kinden aviatrix
Taxus – halfbreed pilot from Tark
Tegrec – Moth-trained Wasp-kinden, Tharen ambassador to the Empire
Tiadro – Fly-kinden air crew
Tisamon – Mantis-kinden Weaponsmaster
Toek – Scorpion camp north of Solarno
Totho – halfbreed artificer, second-in-command of the Iron Glove
Tynan – Wasp-kinden, general of the Second Army
Uctebri – Mosquito-kinden, magician killed by Tisamon
Varsec – Wasp-kinden, aviation artificer
Vecter – Wasp-kinden, colonel of the Rekef
Vorses – Mynan airman
Willem Reader – Beetle-kinden aviation artificer
Xaraea – Moth-kinden agent
Places
Capitas – capital of the Empire
Chasme – city of renegades on the Exalsee
Collegium – Beetle city-state
Commonweal – Dragonfly domain north of the Lowlands
Coretsy – salt mine near Myna
Dorax – Moth retreat
Egel – Fly warren
Etheryon – Mantis hold
Everis – Spider island city
Felyal – Mantis hold and forest
Helleron – Beetle city-state
Kes – Ant island city-state
Khanaphes – ancient Beetle city-state
Malkan’s Folly – battlefield, now site of Sarnesh fortress
Maynes – Ant city-state, formerly part of the Empire
Merro – Fly warren
Myna – Beetle city-state, formerly part of the Empire
Nethyon – Mantis hold
Princep Salma – city founded by refugees of the last war
Sarn – Ant city-state, ally of Collegium
Seldis – Spider city
Skiel – Imperial town
Solarno – Beetle city on the Exalsee
Sonn – Beetle city in the Empire
Spiderlands – large domain south of the Lowlands
Szar – Bee city-state, formerly part of the Empire
Tark – Ant city-state
Tharn – Moth retreat
Three-city Alliance – Myna, Szar and Maynes
Vek – Ant city-state, recently at peace with Collegium
Organizations and Things
Amphiophos – Collegiate centre of government
Arcanum – Moth secret service
Aristoi – the Spider-kinden ruling class
Army Intelligence – Imperial army corps
Assembly – Collegiate ruling body
Aviation Corps – Imperial army corps, part of the Engineers
Battle of the Rails – battle in which Malkan’s Seventh Army defeated the Sarnesh
Broken Sword – pacifist cult within the Empire
Coldstone Company – Collegiate Merchant Company, motto: In Our Enemies’ Robes
Consensus – Mynan ruling body
Consortium of the Honest – mercantile arm of the Empire
Corta Obscura and
Corta Lucida – Solarnese ruling bodies
Cranefly – Mynan flying machine
Crystal Standard – Solarnese political party
Eighth Army – commanded by General Roder
Engineering Corps (‘the Engineers’) – Imperial army corps
Esca Magni – Taki’s orthopter
Esca Volenti – Taki’s previous orthopter, destroyed in liberation of Myna
Farsphex – new Imperial model of orthopter
Fierce Lady – Mynan flying machine piloted by Marsene
Firebug – new Solarnese model of orthopter
Fourth Army – ‘the Barbs’, destroyed by Felyen Mantids in the last war
Great College – Collegiate centre of learning
Greatshotter – new Iron Glove-developed artillery
Iron Glove – artificing cartel led by Drephos out of Chasme
Maker’s Own – Collegiate Merchant Company, motto: Through the Gate
Malkan’s Stand/Malkan’s Folly – Sarnesh defeat of the Empire, now Sarnesh fortress
Outwright’s Pike and Shot – Collegiate Merchant Company, motto: Outright Victory or Death
Pacemark – Mynan orthopter piloted by Edmon
Path of Jade – Solarnese political party
Prowess Forum – Collegiate duelling school
Quartermaster Corps – Imperial army corps
Red Anvil – Mynan flying machine
Rekef – Imperial secret service, divided into Inlander and Outlander
Satin Trail – Solarnese political party
Second Army – ‘the Gears’, commanded by General Tynan
Seventh Army – ‘the Winged Furies’, Malkan’s command, destroyed by Sarnesh in the last war
Slave Corps – Imperial army corps
Sontaken – passenger airship
Spearflight – Imperial model of orthopter
Stonefly – Mynan orthopter piloted by Vorses
Stormreader – Collegiate model of orthopter
Sweet Fire – Mynan fixed-wing flier
Tserinet – Mynan orthopter piloted by Franticze
Twelve-year War – Imperial war against the Commonweal
Wanderer – Mynan orthopter piloted by Bordes
Praise for Shadows of the Apt
‘A novel brimming with imagination and execution . . . The Shadows of the Apt series is quite distinct, mainly due to the insect-kinden and Tchaikovsky’s fertile imagination’
SciFiNow
‘Epic fantasy at its best. Gripping, original and multi-layered storytelling from a writer bursting with lots of fascinating ideas’
WalkerofWorlds.com
‘Superb world building, great characters and extreme inventiveness’
FantasyBookCritic blog
‘Adrian is continuing to go from strength to strength. Magic’
FalcataTimes blog
‘Reminiscent of much that’s gone before from the likes of Gemmel, Erikson, Sanderson and Cook but with its own unique and clever touch, this is another terrific outing from Mr Tchaikovsky’
Sci-Fi-London.com
‘I cannot even begin to explain how much I enjoy the Shadows of the Apt books. Their level of originality and their sheer epicness makes for some of the best fantasy entertainment out there’
LEC Book Reviews.com
‘Tchaikovsky’s series is a pretty great one – he has taken some classic fantasy elements and added a unique (as far as I’m aware) twist and element to his characters and the world . . . Tchaikovsky has created a world that blends epic fantasy and technology’
Civilian Reader blog
‘Tchaikovsky manages to blend these insect characteristics with human traits convincingly, giving a fresh slant to the inhabitants of his classic tale’
SFReader.com
‘I want more and there’s nothing I can do but sit it out and wait’
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review.com
The Air War
Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, before heading off to Reading to study psychology and zoology. For reasons unclear even to himself he subsequently ended up in law and has worked as a legal executive in both Reading and Leeds, where he now lives. Married, he is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor, has trained in stage-fighting, and keeps no exotic or dangerous pets of any kind, possibly excepting his son.
Catch up with Adrian at www.shadowsoftheapt.com for further information about both himself and the insect-kinden, together with bonus material including short stories and artwork.
The Air War is the eighth novel in the Shadows of the Apt series.
BY ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY
Shadows of the Apt
Empire in Black and Gold
Dragonfly Falling
Blood of the Mantis
Salute the Dark
The Scarab Path
The Sea Watch
Heirs of the Blade
The Air War
Acknowledgements
I continue to be in debt to my agent, Simon Kavanagh, to everyone at Tor, to the editing prowess of Peter Lavery, and to the constant support and assistance of my wife. I’d also like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Shadows of the Apt Wiki at http://shadowsoftheapt.wikia.com/wiki/Shadows_Of_The_Apt_Wiki, especially Jackson Cordes and Roderick Easton.
I also owe a debt to everyone at Rebis for making me so welcome in Poland, including the translator Jarek Rybski, and particularly because a fair slice of this book was conceived of or written over there. A surprising amount was also written on trains going in various directions, so possibly I owe some manner of debt to Network Rail, whose many delays gave me so much unanticipated writing time.
Thanks also to Shane McLean for information on army procedure, and explaining why sometimes the best thing an engineer can do is make sure everyone gets fed.
And finally, going far back into the mists of time, a
nod to Andy Campbell, porter at the Reading University Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences, who taught me some valuable lessons about warfare in the days of Napoleon, that era when a new war was just beginning to hatch from the cracked shell of the old.
First published 2012 by Tor
This electronic edition published 2012 by Tor
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ISBN 978-0-230-76606-8 EPUB
Copyright © Adrian Tchaikovsky 2012
The right of Adrian Tchaikovsky to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
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The Air War (Shadows of the Apt 8) Page 65