10 The Quiet Place by Peter David

Author:Peter David [David, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Science Fiction, Space Opera
ISBN: 9780743455749
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2001-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

suddenly she was jolted

wakefulness, and she gasped as she tumbled off the chair. Her head snapped around as she looked up from her prone position on the floor and saw that Xyon was at the chair stationed squarely in front of the tactical array. He looked disheveled, his clothes hastily tossed on. Clearly whatever was happening had occurred while he was asleep. But despite his appearance, he was obviously fully awake and dealing with the situation, whatever the devil it was.

Then she heard an explosion that occurred in concert with the abrupt shuddering of the vessel. "What's happening?!" she called,

"Something's got a lock on us!" he shouted back. "Tractor beam pretty powerful, too, from the feel of it!"

"I thought this thing had a cloaking device!"

"That's right, girl, but we don't have an infinite energy source, thank you very much," he snapped even as he obviously assessed their options. "We don't run cloaked all the time."

"Well, I guess you should have done it now!" she said sarcastically.

"I guess so," he shot back. "Next time you want to contribute something to a situation other than belated wisdom, I'd be happy to hear it! Lyla, full reverse thrusters!"

"Thrusters on full. No effect. We're being held."

"Full engines, then! Blast us out of here! Can you do that?"

"That depends, Xyon."

"On what?" he asked in exasperation.

"On whether you mind the ship being torn in half when I do it."

He exchanged glances with Riella. "Do I get a vote?" she asked.

"No. Lyla, what's the source on the beam! I'm not getting any lock on Then the sensor readings suddenly snapped into focus. "Wait a minute. I see it. Damn!"

"What is it?" asked Riella. She was almost afraid to ask.

"From the configurations, it's a Redeemer ship," said Xyon, and he sounded rather worried.

She couldn't blame him. Even on the relatively isolated world of Montos, the might of the Redeemers was well known. An aggressive religious sect that maintained its home on Tulaan IV, the Redeemers were a missionary race intent on spreading the word of the return of their primary God, Xant. The only thing that had proven a deterrent to the Redeemers was the presence of the Thallonians.

But with the Thallonians out of the picture, the Redeemers very much believed that their time had come to seize their rightful place as the preeminent race in the galaxy. Using their homeworld as a base, they were prepared to launch a holy war, converting all nearby worlds to their beliefs through any means necessary. And if a selected world was populated by inveterate nonbelievers, then genocide was also an option.

Riella had never actually seen one of the Redeemers, although she had heard some fearsome stories. Meantime, Xyon seemed determined to find an upside, presuming there was one. "Not one of their megacruisers, thankfully, but still more than a match for this piece of tin."

"My hull is not composed of

"It's a figure of speech, Lyla." He thumped the viewport in frustration.

Riella thought she saw genuine fear in Xyon's face. On the one hand, the notion that Xyon was afraid of something was inexplicably daunting.

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