Slaves didn't live long, usually. Their owners tired of them or used them for their sick perversities until they either died or were sold into heavy labor. I held little hope that those who'd come before had been treated well after their sale. They were likely dead or well on their way.

The loader was powered up and the first cage was lifted. I stared through the opening hatch at the sunlight outside. This section of the planet had its face turned toward the sun. All the better. I recognized it, too. I'd been here before, to heal the core. Cloudsong greeted us as the bay door yawned wide.

Lendill, do you see this? I sent mindspeech.

Little busy here, Reah. See what? Lendill returned.

Cloudsong, I said. We're on Cloudsong.

Lendill and Norian had spent the better part of two clicks folding from ship to ship, punching in private codes and taking each vessel offline from the ASD mainframe. Then they employed other, private codes to power it up again as an autonomous ship. It could be done; it just took time. Lendill and Norian put their cursing skills to the test, too. They were behind—far behind, and had no idea where they were going. Until Reah sent mindspeech.

Lendill hadn't contacted her—didn't want to worry her with the fact that help might not be swift in coming, if at all. And he'd doubted that Reah would even be allowed to know which world they'd landed upon, until he'd gotten mindspeech from her. Reah recognized Cloudsong, all right. She'd healed the core. The planet still appeared dead; Zellar had drained it more thoroughly than any other world. A dead world was now the perfect place for pirates and slavers.

"Set everything manually to get to Cloudsong," Lendill shouted into the aud-comp. "Best possible speed," he added. It would take another click to reach their destination, and anything might happen during that time. Lendill didn't remember ever being this frightened.

"Cloudsong," Norian came in from resetting the last ship on manual, slumping onto a chair beside Lendill's with a sigh. "Fucking Cloudsong. Why didn't we see it before?"

The old palace in Song City was our destination. Yes, it was in disrepair, with the roof caving in places, allowing sunlight to filter onto the stone floors beneath. So much the better. I and the other captives were shunted into an anteroom, just off the central grand hall of the palace. We traveled through the grand hall on our way to the smaller chamber, where a crowd was already gathered. Caged women were scrutinized by prospective buyers as they passed by.

Someone had to place an initial bid on a girl I'm sure, before the effort was made to collect. Then, if another buyer failed to bid against the first bidder (who'd likely viewed the girl from a voyeur room at Stellar Winds), he could claim her by default at the initial price. I didn't think many would be sold in that way.

I saw businessmen, criminals, professional slavers, brothel owners and sadists—all there to claim what they wanted. Those girls should have been weeping and screaming. Instead, because of a tiny controller shot into the base of their brains, they were eerily silent as our ca {entbeen weges rattled past those who'd come to buy. Several bidders reached out to finger my hair as I was hauled in.

"It's natural," I heard Dantel say. He'd joined the others. I wanted to burst out of my cage immediately, killing him first. That would wait. Other things had to be dealt with before that could happen. My gaze fell upon the long row of large, round, metallic brains lining one wall in the grand hall. At one time, I imagine a throne once sat against that wall.

Those days were gone—a different ruler had taken up residence. One with electronic chips designed to control every information system inside both Alliances. And, if my guess was correct, a smaller version had already been activated—against the ASD's systems. My help, if it came, might be slow in getting there. It didn't matter—I was prepared to strike out on my own.

"I'll bid on that," someone leered at me as I was hauled past.

"Place my cage near the door," I hissed at a slave who was positioning cages inside the anteroom. Instructed to obey only, he followed my directions, motioning for the lift to drop my cage near the entrance. From that spot, I could see the crowd in the grand hall clearly, in addition to the long row of large, globe-shaped comp-brains. I smiled for the first time in days.

"Is that all you have?" Rylend smiled a blinding smile at Aklus and Chimbl. Their power, combined with twenty-seven others, should have obliterated even the two most powerful warlocks anywhere. Instead, Rylend Morphis and his father, Erland, stood upon a tiny island of stone—all that remained of Wylend's expensive Ooklaran marble courtyard.

"I grow bored," Erland turned to his son. "Shall we show them what we have, now?"

"I think so, Father. We might be late for lunch, otherwise." Erland and Ry turned to Aklus and Chimbl, raising their arms and preparing a spell.

Reah, we'll be there in a click. Just hold on until then. Surely they can't sell so many girls in that amount of time, Lendill sent mindspeech. Your cameras aren't working, he added, so we can't see anything where you are.

Don't worry, everything is under control, I sent back, almost in a soothing tone. Dantel Schuul had decided to give a speech. It made me sad that Lendill couldn't see any of it—Dantel's speech revealed just what kind of megalomaniac he actually was. He was talking about complete domination over all the worlds, starting with both Alliances.

The criminal element clapped and cheered when he told them they'd share in all of that. I wanted to snort at the statement—they'd share until a controller was shot into their necks and they stumbled along meekly at Dantel's heels, just like the others. Instead, I busied myself with other plans. Turning to my smaller Thifilatha, I bent the bars of my cage and stepped out of it. I then lifted my eyes toward Cloudsong's sun and coaxed its energy to me.

No epic blast came from Rylend and his father, such as Aklus and Chimbl had funneled from willing witches and warlocks. No. This was a concentrated attack. The first heads that exploded were Aklus and Chimbl's; their brain matter spattering those behind them, who shrieked and ducked away from the bloody rain. Many thought to fold away, but power held them rooted to their spots, even as more heads exploded. The screaming began immediately as head after head became bits of blood {bitd prepari and mist, the body subsequently dropping to what remained of the courtyard.

Cloudsong's sun smiled upon me again, welcoming me like an old friend. I felt its warmth through my body as I pulled more and more energy from it. Dantel was still prattling on, standing upon a makeshift stage while Darletta and Faldin stood behind him, the crowd listening raptly.

Darletta's arms were wrapped around Faldin's forearm; she listened attentively to her father's words as if he spewed the most beautiful, poetic verse. What his words actually held was nothing less than complete annihilation. Of everything.

Turning my eyes that now shown as golden as the sun I'd pulled energy from, I lifted arms and aimed all my gathered energy at Dantel's brains. Not those he held inside his head—he truly wasn't using those for much of anything. I targeted his metallic monstrosities instead, and released my power.

Only three warlocks remained of all that Aklus had gathered. Ry smiled at those three. "Want to die?" he asked pleasantly. All three shook their heads violently. "Good. Your power is removed," Ry casually flung out a hand, stripping all three of what they had left. "Now, why don't you clean up this mess?" The King of Karathia stared with disgust at the messy courtyard. "And I'll have you rebuild the courtyard after that. Complain and I'll remove your tongues." Ry nodded to his father, who folded them back to the palace.

"Bro, that may have been the coolest thing I've ever seen," Tory slapped Ry on the back. Gavril was brushing imaginary blood and bits of bone off his shirt. He'd done the executions, Tory had provided the shield and Ry had provided the wizardry.

"I made sure that every warlock and witch was tuned in to that little confrontation," Erland grinned at his son before hauling him into a tight hug. "Corolan's getting oaths of fealty, even as we speak."

"That's perfect, Dad," Ry clapped his father on the back. "Thanks, Gav. Thanks, Tory," he nodded to his brothers.

"Not a problem. You've been there for us, every time," Gavril hugged Ry next. "It's always good to have the King of Karathia at your back, don't you think?" Gavril grinned.

A disturbed anthill might describe how Dantel and his audience reacted to the first brain exploding, sending bits of metal and electronic chips flying everywhere. Then the second exploded, making the girls around me scream. I became my larger Thifilatha, bursting through the anteroom doorway with little effort and causing a third brain to explode.

"Weapons!" I heard the faint shout as I stomped into the throne room. Laser rifles were fired at me. They had no effect. I was filled with the power of Cloudsong's sun and laughed at their puny efforts to bring me down. I stood between them and the women in cages as well—I had no intention of allowing them near those women again. I'd had to hold back when they were attacked before; now I allowed my anger and frustration to boil over. Another brain exploded and I laughed in exultation.

Norian, the power just went out across both Alliances, Lissa sent mindspeech to her mate. If anyone knew what was at the bottom of this, he would. Nobody can access anything. Vehicles are stopped in the streets. Transportation and informational systems are blocke {ms t;Cord everywhere. The hospitals are on backup solar power, but this could be disastrous. Norian, what's going on? Lissa's voice held panic and Norian wasn't used to hearing that.

We're working on it, all right. I'll contact you when we have a handle on this. In the meantime, if you or any of those others that you know can help us out, I'd appreciate it. Norian cut off the communication. The command ship was entering Cloudsong's airspace.

Dantel would never dream of attacking anyone or anything. His power lay in ordering others about. Nedrizif, too, was now marshaling his forces. I watched as at least seventy of Zendeval Rjjn's race became darker creatures and rushed toward me, even as others continued to fire laser pistols and rifles that had little effect. One thought to attack me with a sword. He was now ash at my feet.