Acorna's Quest by Anne Mccaffrey;Margaret Ball;John Ennis

Author:Anne Mccaffrey;Margaret Ball;John Ennis
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Epic, Science Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, General, Acorna (Fictitious Character), Fantasy, Adventure, Life on Other Planets, Fiction, Women
ISBN: 9780061057908
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1998-01-01T17:00:00+00:00

Nine

Maganos, Unified Federation Date 334.05.18

Neeva began to tell the story of the Khleevi invasion of the First Home, haltingly in the beginning, then with more assurance as her tongue became accustomed to the awkward syllables of the speech called “Basik.”

“Vhiliinyar we called it: ‘Home of the People.’ What need for another name? And our star was called ‘Light of the People.’ Other stars, other lands, we named as we first ventured into space: named for their position, for their discoverers, for the color of their light or the quality of their resources. We took what we needed from other systems, and groups of the People dwelt away from Vhiliinyar for a time to explore and use these other lands, but there was only one Home, and now it is no more.”

“Vhiliinyar thiinyethilelen, fiinyefalaran Vhiliinyar,” murmured the other three Linyaari in their own tongue, a soft ritual plaint of mourning that needed no translation. “We see that your race has seeded itself over many star systems,” Neeva continued. “Have you, then, experience of the Khleevi already, that you protect yourselves by this diversity?”

“Population pressure,” Gill said. He gave a quick estimate of the rate at which human populations tended to expand, given sufficient food, and Neeva’s pupils slitted to silvery lines. “I see! We do not reproduce so quickly,” she said with regret. “Many generations will pass before the People recover from the devastation created by the Khleevi. Your race may yet be more fortunate. Even though they destroy one or many worlds, yet will others of you survive and replace those who are lost.”

“I think,” Pal prompted gently, “you had best tell us exactly what you know of these ‘Khleevi.’ Where do they come from, what are their customs, and what is the reason for the war between your races? Are they humanoid or completely other? What have they said to you?”

Neeva shook her head. “If I knew these things, I would surely tell you. They…they do not communicate. They destroy; and before they destroy, they torture. Of their tongue we have too few samples for the LAANYE to analyze; of their physical structure we know only what is shown on the broadcasts they have sent to cow us into submission. When their first ships appeared in our space, we sent envoys to them, as we have come to you, in peace and friendship. Those envoys never returned, but we know their fate from the images sent back to us. I think I will not show you those vids; there is no need to harrow your hearts with the images engraved on ours. Our envoys, and all of the People who have subsequently fallen into Khleevi hands, have been tortured to death as slowly as Khleevi arts permitted. Fortunately for us,” she added drily, “they were initially unaware of how fragile our bodies must be compared to theirs; the first captives died quickly. Since then they have learned more of our physiology.”

She explained that at the time of the first

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.