Robotech 15 - The Sentinels 03 - Death Dance by Jack McKinney

Author:Jack McKinney [McKinney, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2010-12-26T04:00:00+00:00

In his hive complex on Optera, the Invid Regent sat alone with his two pet Hellcats, too stunned by the reports of his simulagent's murder to speak. He held his snaillike head in his hands, sunk deep into a sense of despair that was entirely new to him. Once before he had experienced such torment: when his wife had confessed to him her love for Zor. Betrayal, he thought, in the soft glow of the room's commo sphere.

"Your Highness, shall I give the order to attack?" a lieutenant repeated cautiously.

The Regent regarded the soldier's image in the sphere and sighed heavily. "No," he answered quietly. "Return the fleet to Optera, and tell no one that I live. It may benefit me to remain hidden for a while longer."

"But, Your Highness, are the Humans to go unpunished? And what of Tesla?"

The Regent could feel the lieutenant's anger, and it was enough to refresh him momentarily. He had not been completely abandoned, then; loyalty still lived.

"For the moment do nothing more than let our intentions be known. Inform the Human high command that we hold them responsible for the...Regent's death, and that terms for a cease-fire will not be discussed until the Sentinels have been brought to justice."

"My liege," the lieutenant returned with a note of reluctance. He offered salute and shut down the link.

The Regent placed a hand on the homed shoulder of one of the Inorganics, on its haunches beside his chair. "My pet," he said aloud, "will you, too, betray me someday?"

Tesla had murdered.

He found it almost inconceivable. Had the Sentinels put him up to it somehow, or, worse still, the Regis? They were known to have seen one another on Praxis...Had she promised him something then, her favorite son? Certainly Tesla had undergone some sort of change, if he was to believe the words of the simulagent's guards. Perhaps he and the Regis had made a pact to rule in his place, and as a sign of good faith she had evolved him some. On Praxis? he wondered. Had she gone there to carry on with her dangerous Genesis Pit experiments? He would know soon enough, if her ships suddenly showed up in Opteraspace.

But in the meantime the Regent thought it best to allow the Humans to go on thinking that one of their own had assassinated the simulagent. If, as they maintained, the group had acted alone, it showed a definite carelessness on the council's part. But if this Edwards had permitted it to happen-even engineered it, as the Regent was inclined to believe-then the murder had more sinister implications, it was as if Edwards knew all along that the Regent had sent an imposter in his place, and the murder was the Human's way of responding to the substitution.

He made a note to treat Edwards differently the next time.

The simulagent hadn't been able to learn anything about the Masters' destination, or the location of the Humans' Earth; but it was possible that his death would have a positive side effect.

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