Ruler of Naught by Sherwood Smith & Dave Trowbridge

Author:Sherwood Smith & Dave Trowbridge [Smith, Sherwood & Trowbridge, Dave]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 9781611381481
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 2011-12-28T03:44:42+00:00

EIGHT

Sebastian Omilov was startled out of a deep sleep by bangings and thumpings elsewhere in the ship. Disoriented at first, he remembered where he was, and waited with painfully-accelerated heart rate for the sounds of an attack. Nothing happened, except for the rhythmic tappings, clanks, and clunks. Ah. That must be the repair people hired by the captain.

After the fourth time he was jerked out of sleep he arose, donned his robe, and moved into the treatment room. Montrose was seated at his console, the light flickering on features lined with tension. He look up, his expression altering to the familiar one of the assessing physician.

“I cannot sleep,” Omilov said, just as a metallic banging reverberated through the deck plates below their feet.

Montrose smiled. “A good excuse,” he said, “to break. Shall I brew up some real coffee? Your son is in the galley preparing a meal—I trust an excellent meal, as we just received our first delivery of fresh comestibles. I told him to surprise us.”

Osri is not the one to seek for surprises. He will prepare what he knows best, Omilov thought with a flicker of humor as he sat down, not trying to hide how gravity and age and stress dragged at his limbs. It was almost a relief not to be asleep, dreaming yet again of the Heart of Kronos, of getting it back within his governance—and waking up to the truth.

“What do you know of the Kelly?” Montrose asked over his shoulder as he went about his preparations.

Omilov shut his eyes, breathing in the aroma of fresh-ground coffee beans. “A little,” he said.

“Did you know the Archon?”

“We were acquainted.” At the reminder of the terrible deaths suffered by those gathered in the Ivory Hall for Brandon’s Enkainion, Omilov felt a stirring of never-quite-dormant sorrow.

Montrose sat back. “The Archon is not quite dead, it seems.”

Omilov looked up, startled, as his mind finally made the connection. The Kelly band on Ivard! It seems my preoccupation with the Heart of Kronos has dulled me to the obvious.

“Death, sometimes, is relative,” Montrose went on musingly. “That ribbon around Ivard’s arm carries the Archon’s genetic memories. It has invaded the boy’s DNA. A Kelly physician I’m acquainted with knew as soon as we walked into the examining room. But if we don’t get them separated soon, both will die.”

Omilov tugged his earlobe. “This... creates a complicated situation,” he said slowly. “What can be done?”

Montrose looked grim. “That depends on the captain.”

The hatch slid open, surprising them both.

Lokri entered, smiling. He wore a silky black tunic, tight black trousers, high glossy boots, and jewels woven into his hair, the effect of which brought into the sterile atmosphere of the dispensary an air of polyphonic music and exotic appetites, of danger and passion. Omilov felt old beyond his years, for it had been long since he’d been in the company of those who sought such pursuits. Even while young, knowledge of these things appeared to have passed him by; he had yet to figure out whether he was to be pitied or envied.

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.