The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester

Author:Deborah Chester
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy
ISBN: 9780441005659
Publisher: Ace
Published: 1998-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

That night and all the next day Malraaket remained locked in the grip of disaster. The governor stormed about his palace, screaming at his underlings. The city had been placed under martial law, and citizens were ordered by blaring announcers floating up and down the streets to stay indoors. No one was allowed outside on pain of arrest.

Israi had been placed in strict seclusion, with only the governor’s personal physician and her ladies in waiting admitted into her presence. Rumors abounded that the sri-Kaa had been killed, that the sri-Kaa had been gravely injured, that she was suffering a nervous breakdown, that she was furious and calling for everyone in the city to be executed.

Governor Unstuleid himself believed he had entered a waking nightmare. This fabulous visit which was to be the crowning achievement of his political career had turned into a disaster. His internal organs felt as though they were being squeezed in a vise. He wanted to take to his bed and seclude himself to recover his nerves, but he dared not. Every few minutes it seemed he was called forth to the linkup to take another call from the Imperial Palace. The interrogations went on forever, repetitious yet terrifying. He spoke to generals. He spoke to Chancellor Temondahl, an awe-provoking individual who squinted at the linkup screen as though he believed nothing the governor said. He spoke to an unidentified individual he was certain must work in the dreaded Bureau of Security. If he was not on the linkup then he was summoned by one of the visiting ministers of state for additional questions. They all wanted answers he could not give.

Thus far, however, he had not heard anything from the Kaa himself. Unstuleid lived in constant fear that at any moment his adjutant would bring him word that the Kaa had landed in Malraaket and was coming here.

Gods, how had such complete ruin fallen upon him so quickly? The Kaa would blame him for this. The Kaa would demand his head. He wondered whether his private shuttle could get him to the spaceport in time to escape the Kaa’s wrath. No, no, he could not flee. The palace itself was under guard. He was under guard. Surveillance monitored his comings and goings. No one could enter the palace without passing stringent security checks. No one was allowed to leave. The Palace Guards had taken over. Anyone who did not obey their orders was shot on sight. One of the storerooms held the corpses of several courtiers and servants who had not learned that lesson quickly enough.

Unstuleid felt a fresh tremor pass through him. He’d had no sleep. His brain could not seem to work. Horror and despair kept overwhelming him, rendering him mute and shaken at unexpected intervals.

His adjutant entered the governor’s office with an abruptness that startled Unstuleid. “My lord,” Xuvar said breathlessly, his tongue flicking in and out rapidly. His rill stood at full extension. “The Kaa wishes to speak to you via linkup.”

At last the dreaded call had come.

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