law, and he knew it.
'I hope not,' Ulthar said bleakly. 'But the fact is, Thalmayr is a frigging idiot at the best of times. And I've got a feeling-a really bad feeling, Iftar-that he's just been biding his time. He blames the Sharonians for what happened to us, instead of blaming his own stupidity. And I think-'
He broke off with a shrug.
'You think what?' Halesak asked sharply.
'I think he'll never believe the Sharonians were really trying to help him. I know their healers testified that they were under verifier, and as far as I know, no one's ever been able to fool the verification spells.
I know I'm convinced they were doing their best to help me. But I don't think there's enough evidence in the multiverse to convince Thalmayr of that. And what really scares me is how stupid he proved he could be before he was wounded. Gods alone know how much stupider he's capable of being now!'
'Wonderful,' Halesak repeated with a sigh, then shook his head. 'Thanks a lot, Therman. Now you've almost got me wishing you were coming along with us!'
'All right,' Commander of Five Hundred Cerlohs Myr said, looking around the briefing tent at the circle of faces one last time. It was pitch black outside the tent's canvas walls, but the spell-powered light globes illuminated its interior brilliantly. 'All of you know what you're supposed to do. Now, let's go get the job done. Right?'
'Right!'
The one-word response came back in a strong, confident rumble of voices, and Myr nodded in satisfaction … mostly.
He looked around at his flight and strike commanders. Their losses in the first attack had come as a shock to all of them, but since then, they'd scored an unbroken string of successes and advanced the better part of three thousand miles in barely eleven days without the loss of a single additional dragon. It was the sort of operation they'd trained at in maneuvers for years and never really expected to have the opportunity to mount, and they knew they'd performed brilliantly so far. Which explained why their faith in themselves went far beyond mere confidence now. They viewed themselves as an elite, and there was a brashness, a swagger in them.
That's good, Myr told himself. Dragon pilots are supposed to know they have big brass ones. That they're the best of the best.
But there was still that tiny, tiny flaw in his satisfaction. That sense that too much faith in themselves might still lead them to take one chance too many. To push that little bit too hard.
And just what do you want to do about it, Cerlohs? he asked himself. You want to make them less confident before you send them out on an op?
There could be only one answer to that question, he reflected, and had to smile at his own perversity.
It's just your own crossgrained cussedness, he scolded himself. You'd find something to be upset about even if you fell into a vat of beer!
'All right,' he repeated again. 'We've got another fort to burn. Let's get them in the air, gentlemen!'
Chapter Twenty-Five
Janaki chan Calirath sat in the tiny sitting room attached to his quarters and gazed out at the salmoncolored sky as dawn came to Fort Salby.
The lack of handy trees had enforced a different building plan on Fort Salby, and the time-and the presence of the TTE construction crews-which had been required for the Traisum Cut had provided the labor force and materials to execute that plan. Instead of the wooden palisades which surrounded most portal forts, at least until permanent long-term settlements went in, Salby had been built from the outset out of a combination of stone and adobe. It had also been built on a considerably larger scale, since it was intended from the outset to be the permanent administrative center for this portal. Its walls-and those of its internal structures-were not only tougher, they were also considerably thicker than those of most portal forts, as well, which helped their interiors stay cooler during the worst of the day's heat.
And it also makes them a hell of a lot tougher, the crown prince thought almost calmly. Almost.
The morning was still cool, chill, as the dry semi-desert air waited for the sun's heat. It was very quiet, and the calm tranquility swept over him, made even stiller and calmer somehow by the chaos swirling within him.
Taleena slept on the perch stand just inside the window, and his eyes lingered on her. There were ghosts in those gray eyes. Ghosts which hadn't been there the day before. The same ghosts which had haunted many a Calirath's eyes over the millennia.
I guess there's no such thing as a weak Calirath Talent, after all, under the right circumstances … or the wrong ones, he thought. Too bad. There are some things I'd really rather not know about.
The Glimpse wasn't entirely clear yet, but it was becoming that way, and as it clarified, dropped into focus, he understood exactly why it had been so strong in the first place.
I need to tell Regiment-Captain chan Skrithik. But if I do … .
Janaki grimaced. The problem was that he couldn't just tell the regiment-captain. Certainly, he couldn't tell chan Skrithik everything. There was still more he had to find out, more he had to squeeze out of the Glimpse, and there was only one way he could do that.
He stood and walked to the window, leaning on the thick sill, and his face was grim.
What have they done to you, Sir?
He sent the question out into the shadows of his mind. There was no answer, of course, and he closed his eyes against a brief, sharp stab of pain. If what he'd already Glimpsed was true, there was no point trying to send a warning to Regiment-Captain Velvelig. Not now. If he'd only had it a few days-maybe even one day-sooner, then maybe he could have alerted Fort Ghartoun. Done something different.
But he hadn't had it soon enough, and now there was nothing he could do. Not for Velvelig and Fort Ghartoun, at any rate. Or, for that matter, Fort Mosanik. And perhaps it had had to be that way all along.
He gave himself a shake, sucked in a huge lungful of the cool air, and straightened his shoulders.
'Go ahead and sleep, dear heart,' he murmured, touching the sleeping falcon's folded wings ever so lightly. 'I've got to go talk to someone.'
Rof chan Skrithik was not amused.
Technically, he supposed, it might be argued, in light of the extraordinary orders he'd received, that his early-morning caller was no longer a platoon-captain, in which case he had to be considered the Crown Prince of Ternathia. Actually, of all of Sharona, although his father's formal coronation wasn't due for almost two weeks yet. But whatever the young man's official status might be, having someone knock on the front door of his quarters before he'd had time for breakfast-or even the strong cup of coffee it took to start his mental processes every morning-was … irritating.
'I'm sorry to intrude so early, Sir,' Janaki chan Calirath said, almost as if he'd read chan Skrithik's mind.
'I wouldn't have, if it weren't vital that I speak to you as soon as possible.'
'About what?' Chan Skrithik managed to keep the bite out of his tone somehow.
'Sir,' Janaki inhaled deeply, 'I have to tell you that I've experienced a Glimpse. A major Glimpse.'
Chan Skrithik's irritation vanished instantly, snuffed by an arctic wind as he looked into Janaki' gray eyes.
'What sort of Glimpse, Your Highness?' he asked in a completely different voice.
'It's not complete yet, Sir,' Janaki said with a grimace of frustration. 'To be honest, my Talent isn't as strong as Father's-and it's a lot weaker than my sister Andrin's. It's still coming into focus, and it's going to take a while longer before it comes clear. Or as clear as it's going to come, at any rate. I'm afraid Glimpses aren't quite as cut and dried as a normal Precog.'
'I understand that, Your Highness. At the same time,' chan Skrithik managed a tight smile, 'I don't imagine you'd be telling me about it at this point if you didn't at least have a pretty shrewd notion of where it was headed. And,' the regiment-captain's eyes sharpened, 'unless it concerned Fort Salby or something else along those lines.'
'You're right, Sir. It does-concern Fort Salby, I mean.' Janaki's nostrils flared. 'I know this is going to sound preposterous, at least at first, but, well, Fort Salby is going to be attacked.'
'What?' Despite his total faith in the power of the Calirath Talent, Rof chan Skrithik felt a moment of sheer
