Nedrizif should have learned from that example. Seventy black-scaled creatures thought to attack me with fists, teeth and claws. They burned just as the first one had, winking out of existence as their flesh was incinerated in an instant. I briefly wondered how that might feel, their lives winking out so quickly.

I turned my attention to the last two brains as Dantel Schuul screamed at those around him. I'm sure he was watching all his dreams blown to bits before his eyes. Meanwhile, the buyers had learned their lesson—they were running from Cloudsong's old palace. Nedrizif, in an ill-advised and final effort, shouted for his controlled slaves to attack me.

"If it isn't female or looks like this," Norian pointed out the vid-image of Reah in Thifilatha, "then shoot first and ask questions later," he ordered as the ship's door opened to allow his troops to disembark. "You all know what Dantel Schuul looks like. Spare him if you can, I want to speak with him first. Go." Norian nodded and the first ship sent its soldiers onto Cloudsong's soil.

Filled as I was with solar power, I made Nedrizif's Ranos launcher disintegrate before he could lift it to fire. Nedrizif was blasted away immediately after. His slaves were still rushing me—they must have been brought by the hundreds. They died just as easily as the rest. They were innocents, though, and I wept scalding tears as their lives were snuffed out.

I had no idea where Zendeval and Perdil had gone—I was only seeing and dealing with the mindless slaves Dantel was now sending against me. And then I saw them—Dantel had ordered Zen to attack me; Perdil struggled to pull him back. For a moment, I negated my ability to burn and slapped them away, before restoring my burning talent as a new wave of controlled slaves attacked. I wept again as they screamed and died.

Faldin and Darletta were cowering in a corner, hoping to escape my notice after the last slave perished, when Norian, Lendill and the ASD army they'd brought with them blasted their way into the palace.

I sat heavily on the dusty, stone floor, suddenly feeling weary as Dantel and his cronies gave up easily. I overheard Dantel assuring Darletta that his lawyers would get them out of this. Lendill came to stand before me. I looked down at him, wiping away another scalding tear so it wouldn't fall on him. He knew better than to touch any part of me at that moment.

"Reah?" That's all he said. One word that held reams of questions. I didn't answer a single one of them. I skipped away, instead.

{.* * *

Three days. Three of the longest days ever felt in either Alliance. Nothing was recorded, nothing announced, nothing built, copied, manufactured, researched. No government conducted business. Everything was at a standstill. Constabulary everywhere were hard pressed to keep some elements of the population under control—they were looting. Not just food and other necessities, but anything else they could lay their hands on. Surprisingly, no comp-based devices were taken—they weren't working anyway.

During that time, anyone who could fold space shunted work crews here and there, removing the remnants of the controlling devices placed inside informational systems and bringing them back online after three difficult and grueling days. Ildevar Wyyld and Teeg San Gerxon took to the vid waves immediately after, reassuring both Alliances that everything was now under control. They explained how the pirates had managed to take control, albeit briefly, but now, steps would be taken so that no system might be taken over like that again.

"Think you convinced 'em, bro?" Tory cast a worried glance at Gavril. The two-click announcement, followed by a brief press conference, had worn him out. Still, there was no word on Reah. Gavril had even attempted to contact Nefrigar, but the Larentii wasn't answering his mental pleas for help.

"There's a lot to do and many will not understand how we let this happen," Gavril raked fingers through his hair. "I don't understand how we let this happen. We were trying to treat the various symptoms, and not seeing clearly the underlying cancer. I understand Wylend's timing, now."

"Wylend? What does he have to do with this?"

"I think Griffin warned him that something terrible might come, and he wouldn't be prepared to handle it. Not without Ry at his side or in charge. I think those rogue warlocks were in league with these other fucks. This went farther than most people imagined." Gavril paced inside his private study. Dee was in his office, fielding calls and making reassurances across the Campiaan Alliance. Others were doing the same for Ildevar Wyyld and the Grand Alliance Council.

"Meanwhile, Reah is still missing."

"Yeah. I have no idea where to look for her, and frankly, we all have our hands full here. There's no time or resources to search for her now."

"What do you think really happened? On Cloudsong? Norian and Lendill say the ASD swooped in and saved the day. We both know Reah was there. What happened, bro?"

"I don't think Lendill and Norian know the whole of it," Ry folded in. "Dad's watching over the flocks," he held up a hand. "We need to find Reah. You know she and I," he tapped his chest.

"Yeah, Lendill told us," Tory grumbled.

"Now you know," Ry said.

"How did you deal with that, all those years?" Gavril offered Ry a pointed look.

"Kept my mouth shut and my eyes looking elsewhere," Ry replied readily. "When Great-Grampa was out of the picture, that made it easier, but I had to wait for the right opportunity. After watching live sex shows on Stellar Winds, I couldn't help myself."

Tory ducked his head to hide the snicker. Gavril and Ry heard it anyway.

"How much of that w {ucharge. I tere you exposed to?" Gavril turned a knowing glance on Tory.

"Plenty, I think," Tory shook his head, as if attempting to clear it. "My memory of the past twenty-five years is a little spotty, bro. I have bits and pieces. Darletta made me watch. Lots of times. I don't know how I managed to not turn and go after her."

"Controllers," Gavril gave the one-word reply.

"Others may have been involved, but that information died with Nedrizif," Norian muttered angrily. He paced inside Lendill's office on Le-Ath Veronis. Lissa had accused Norian of being a bear instead of a lion snake and thrown him out of her study moments earlier. Norian was more than frustrated. He wanted all these criminals in his hand, so he could clench his fist and squeeze the life from their bodies.

Reah, too, was still missing, so no information could be had from her. She likely didn't know the names either—she'd had minimal contact with Nedrizif and Zendeval Rjjn was little more than a drone. The controller had been removed from his neck and he'd blinked in shock at Norian and Lendill afterward. His memories of recent events were just as bad as Tory's had been. No useful information had come from him or Perdil, the Liffelithi Dwarf.

Dantel Schuul and his daughter, Darletta, sang like birds, however, once the vampires placed compulsion. Those two, plus Faldin Bierla, Zendeval Rjjn, Perdil the Dwarf, Matiss Meldrim and Gescht Prekisule, cooled their heels in Lissa's dungeon. They wouldn't be walking out with their lives—Norian had provided information to journalists, telling both Alliances that the ones responsible had been killed in the ASD raid on Cloudsong. Ildevar had been advised, as had Gavril. Both had given their blessing for the pending executions.

"How did the controllers do against vampires?" Lendill thought to ask.

"Only the youngest of them experienced any effects at all," Norian sighed. "Those less than a hundred years of age. I think it has to do with the immunity they build against compulsion, except by an older vampire," he added. "I've been afraid to talk to Lissa about that; she's mad enough to spit over the fact that somebody got to a few of her people as it is. Most of those were former comesuli, so that made it worse. They're vampire children, in her eyes. I think Dantel Schuul and that thing he calls an engineer are lucky to still be among the living at this point."

"Faldin Bierla. We don't have any official records past twenty years ago; the ones we found in the system are forged. He's managed to conceal his past successfully, and he's the only prisoner that vampire compulsion doesn't work on. Unfortunate for us, I know, but I don't think he knows any more than Dantel does, and we got everything from Schuul that we could." Lendill shook his head in confusion.

"Lissa says that any man who isn't susceptible to compulsion will make a King Vampire if he's turned. Can you imagine that thing as a vampire?" Norian flung up a hand. "That was his technology. Dantel admitted it. Faldin Bierla brought the idea to Dantel, and he envisioned controlling everything with it. Un-fucking-believable," Norian cursed.

"I imagine that those not under the control of Schuul and his associates would have become small, renegade islands, constantly threatened by Schuul and his technology," Nefrigar folded in and sat leisurely on a corner of Lendill's desk. "I have placed new records in the archives concerning this near-catastrophe. We have been quite busy, lately, {usy demy sons and I, getting all of it sorted and cataloged. Had you visited the archives when invited, we might have pointed you toward the section containing information on this forbidden technology."

"Fuck," Lendill mumbled tiredly, rubbing his forehead. "Where is Reah?"

"Safe. On Tulgalan. Did anyone think to check her home there? Her uncle Fes has been taking meals to her. You didn't think to contact him, either. Did you? He is a kindly soul, more so now that his father is out of the picture. Fes was always frightened that Addah and Marzi would harm his mother and the others, so he bent under Addah's commands for a very long while. Now, he is his own man and runs a very good restaurant. He hasn't forgotten what Reah did for him, either. He is repaying a little of that debt. Reah is not feeling the best, as you might imagine. I have visited her several times. She allows my touch, but barely. Being bitten and made ill during an attempted rape, witnessing mass rape, and then the events upon Cloudsong have taken a terrible toll."

"The attack, followed by the illness and the attempted takeover," Norian nodded. "We may have to offer help."