Varan had just gotten a really rude shock... ----- Chapter 17 Varan: "What?" The inane question was out before I could restrain it, and Commodore Morno let his grin widen a bit. "Apparently your friend is an exile, not welcome on Thann'ta. They told us that you would be coming, that you would pass through this system, and even gave us a good general arc – one small enough that I could place scout pickets along the line with a good chance of picking you up, if you were in fact coming when and where they said. The timing was short [ Continue reading... ]

They'd been yanked out of FTL drive and captured... ----- Chapter 16. Varan: I stared out the viewport as The Eönwyl was brought down to a cleared landing area in the central bay of the Kukanaro. I realized that they must be taking the fighters which had deployed to intercept us into the other landing bays – and it'd be getting very tight. Their flight deck boss would be severely annoyed. With all nonessential power cut off, we could appreciate the delicacy of the maneuvering by the unseen tractor wrangler. There was barely a jar [ Continue reading... ]

Varan and company had learned much from the Thovians... ----- Chapter 14. Varan: I took a deep breath, realizing that we were once more moving forward to the unknown. "Thanks to you, Hargan, Boduras, Chondu – and all the rest of the Thov Hok Shu. All of your people, really, even the ones who don't know what's going on." Hargan and the others bowed to us, and I was touched to see that they were quite seriously giving to me and the rest of our little crew the Six-And-One – even though to them that was hardly an important symbol. [ Continue reading... ]

Varan and his friends had apparently reached an accord with the Thovians.. ----- Chapter 11. Varan: Emerging from the forest onto the grassy slope of a wide alpine meadow, I stopped and looked – really looked – around me, and I suddenly realized where we were. The mountains we were slowly ascending from the west curved gently away from us both north and south, a curve that I could just make out at this altitude and from this vantage point. If that curve continued it would be a circle something close to five hundred kilometers [ Continue reading... ]

Varan and company had completed their rescues, and were waiting to find out WHY Guvthor had wanted them to visit... ----- Chapter 9. Varan: I shook my head to clear it, found that wasn't doing much good. In fact, I wasn't even sure where I was. [anger-and-confusion-curse]! Whatever has done this I shall visit with talon and Hunger! Vick's mindvoice was muzzy, about the way my own thoughts felt. I was finally aware I was sitting on something, face slumped down on what felt like wood. A table? I could hear a faint moan of [ Continue reading... ]

Varan and Company had just discovered that Guvthor could do "creepy" far too well... -----   Chapter 6. Varan: For the first time in a long time, I was more nervous about one of my allies than my enemies. We had no idea what, if anything, Outpost Thovia knew about me – news updates to places this far out often went on six month cycles – but most of the Outpost had just gotten wiped out by a landslide. A landslide that, it seemed, our jovial and friendly astrophysicist had somehow arranged, and done so with one short [ Continue reading... ]