The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance #1) - Dianne Duvall Page 0,1
in Gefen’s jaw leapt. “If they didn’t kill her…”
Levik looked sick when he spoke, his voice hoarse. “They’ve had her for months.”
There was no telling what atrocities they had committed in that time. Taelon wanted to weep at the notion of his sweet, delicate, sheltered little sister being at the Earthlings’ mercy.
His father roared in fury and swept everything off his desk. He paced away, his back to them. “I told her they were drekking barbarians! I told her they were a primitive species unworthy of our sympathy or concern! She knows they are a greedy, grasping, warring people! Everything the Sectas have learned in their study of Earth confirms it!”
Gefen shook his head. “She has always had a soft heart, Father. Once she realized an alliance with Earth could save both our species and theirs…”
The doors flew open, again slamming against the wall.
Taelon turned as his mother raced inside.
Her face pale, she swept them all with a distressed gaze, then focused on her husband. “What is it? What’s happened?” The two were linked so closely she must have felt his turmoil.
Once more, the guards outside leaned in and gently pulled the doors closed, secluding them inside.
Taelon caught her eye. “I believe I’ve found Amiriska.”
She glanced at her husband, whose rage was unmistakable when he turned and met her gaze. Her eyes filled with tears as she shook her head. “No.” She took a step back, her pretty face contorting with grief. “No-no-no-no-no. Please don’t say it.”
Taelon held up a hand. “My source said she traveled to Earth where she was captured and her ship destroyed.”
“She went to Earth?” She stiffened as though bracing her knees to keep them from buckling. “Did they kill her?”
“We don’t know,” he admitted. “It happened months ago, after we lost contact with her.” They had thought she was traveling to Aurelia on a diplomatic mission. “My source has no knowledge of what has happened since then, so I’m going to go find her. I’ve already ordered my ship to be readied. I’ll leave tonight.”
“You’ll leave in two days,” his father growled. “And you’ll take an armada with you. If they’ve harmed her in any way, you will slay every barbarian on that planet.”
His mother’s face hardened. Nodding, she crossed to her husband and wrapped her arms around him. “Wipe it clean. They don’t deserve to live if they’ve harmed our baby. If she went there, she went in peace to offer them an alliance and to warn them of the threat the Gathendiens pose. She wanted to help them. To save them. If they hurt her, they deserve whatever punishment you deliver.”
Duras stepped forward. “I’m going with you.”
Gefen and Levik echoed the sentiment.
“No, you aren’t,” Taelon countered. “Right now we are the only ones aside from my source who know about this, and I trust him to keep his silence. If most of the royal family suddenly departs with the entire armada in tow, it will raise questions and leave the planet vulnerable to attack from enemies who have been banned from the alliance. I’ll go alone”—he held up a hand when protests erupted—“with a Yona guard. And I’ll rendezvous with Janwar.”
“Who is Janwar?” his mother asked.
“My source. I’ll pore over all of his intel, then decide what approach to take to locate Amiriska or—if the worst has happened—to learn who is responsible for her death. It will take me thirteen months to reach Earth. I’ll have Janwar continue to hunt down information while I travel. And while we take care of that, Father, you can begin drafting battle plans. As soon as I know without a doubt what happened to her, I will contact you and you can determine what action to take. Do not send battleships after me until then. We don’t want our enemies to learn Amiriska is on Earth, or they may reach her before I can find her.”
His mother looked up at her husband. “Are there no alliance members closer to Earth?”
He shook his head. “The cost to travel that distance discourages trade. And the inhabited planets closer to Earth’s solar system bear similarly primitive societies.”
“The Segonians have a base about halfway between Lasara and Earth,” Taelon mentioned. “But it’s still under construction. They aren’t yet equipped to perform search-and-rescue missions.” Which left him.
He glanced at his brothers. All were thinking what he was: the Earthlings who had captured their sister would have her for at least one Earth year before he could reach her. All feared what she