Way of No Return (Champions of the Crystal Book 8)

Chapter 7.1

"Scotty!" Aurora cried, shattering the grim silence in Giandrah. She took several running steps and threw her arms around him. "I am so sorry," she whispered into his ear.

Scotty hugged her hard, then relaxed into her embrace for a moment before pulling back. "It's okay," he said. "It was just one of Khediva's sneaky escapes. She wasn't destroyed; she jettisoned some lifepods to create a debris field when she opened the Way."

Aurora's expression brightened. "I am so thankful," she said. "I could not imagine telling the boys their grandfather was dead."

"Yeah, or Sabrina, for that matter," Scotty said. "But we don't know they're safe, just that they got into a Way. And nobody seems to know where Ford is."

"He had been working with his father, but I do not know where he was today. Sabrina does not know?"

"I couldn't ask her over com," Scotty said.

"Is she safe?"

"Bathir has been evacuated; Sastarn gave the clear sign a few minutes ago. So I hope so." He thought of his sister, sick and pregnant, forced out of her home on foot, and felt a spurt of rage. "We gotta fight back, now while we still can. Reissian ships are coming into orbit. They'll be landing ground troops soon if we can't stop them."

Aurora said, "My parents were notable fighters in the war. They will know how to keep the children safe. What do you need from us here?"

"To see if anybody can locate Ford in the Crystal; we need his technical advice. And we need to get the word out to people without using com signals or vid. Can anybody here do that?"

Aurora looked over to where the Conservator of the Chamber, Llevandeer, was listening to their conversation, having approached when it transitioned from personal to professional. "Yes. We can send a general alert to all Miahns. It will not be specific, however. As to locating Prince Niavar, that is a more complex problem. I do not know if we are capable. The Guardian certainly would be, but we are not in contact with her." He frowned. "There has been no further word from the Kyan?"

"No. I'm guessing they'll let the Reissians run the show. I don't think they care about conquering us, just getting their hands on Seuréa."

"Which they must not do," Llevandeer said. "Is she safe?"

"She's with Sabrina," Scotty said. "What we need to do is buy time, as cheap as we can. Baldaran's going on vid in a little bit to tell people to cooperate, but what we really want them to do is run. Hide, not fight. Make it impossible for the enemy to tell who's where, and give them as few targets as possible."

The Conservator considered. "The Great Crystal has been affected by the distortion wave, so the message may be muted. But we should still be able to get through to most, if not all, Miahns on the planet. Come."

He led the way into the inner chamber, where several Miahns were seated around the Crystal, concentrating. Scotty recognized his great-aunt Imari, First Chair of the Council of Trême, among them. Llevandeer laid a hand on Imari's shoulder, and she blinked, then looked up. "Yes? Ah!" Her expression cleared as she saw Scotty. "Scotty! You have news?"

"Bad news, mostly. Except that Khediva wasn't destroyed, so we can expect help eventually. And Bathir has been evacuated."

"I am pleased to hear that," Imari said, relaxing a little.

Scotty continued, "The other thing is, we know they're eventually going to come after us full bore. We need to do what we've got to do and then get ready to evacuate."

"Giandrah has never been evacuated!" Imari protested.

Aurora said, "We have never been attacked by a race with resonance-based weapons. We cannot be sure any of our defenses will hold without the Guardian to focus the Crystal's power."