Hellhole Inferno (61 page)

“And the murder of protected prisoners of war on Vielinger,” Hallholme added in a tone of disgust. “As further evidence, we have copies of your orders instructing me to slaughter the populations of every Deep Zone planet.”

In the crowd of uniformed soldiers, Riomini was surprised to recognize Redcom Escobar Hallholme, the incompetent commander who had lost his entire fleet in an ineffective attack against General Adolphus. Hallholme's son stood between his father and the General. “You gave me similar orders, Lord Riomini—to kill every innocent civilian on planet Hallholme.”

When they came forward to seize him, Vindahl threw herself in the way, protecting him. Riomini was dismayed when the soldiers were forced to shoot her down. Well, at least someone was loyal and reliable.…

Constellation and rebel soldiers dragged Riomini off the throne and hauled him out of the chamber. He felt cold and helpless in his nightclothes, but these intruders showed him no consideration. The crowd closed in and swept him along as he was taken outside.

Riomini stared upward at a night sky filled with Constellation and Deep Zone warships hovering low over the city. Soldiers in DZDF uniforms monitored a large display screen that Michella Duchenet had often used when addressing the throngs of people who pretended to adore her. Now, though, they had rigged the screen to show images from orbit.

All the ships Riomini had given Commodore Hallholme from the Qiorfu fleet were there, closing in on the Sonjeera stringline hub, accompanied by many more battle vessels—the General's own Deep Zone Defense Force, as well as the ships once controlled by Redcom Escobar Hallholme.

And there were hundreds of silvery whirling ships of a configuration he had never seen before; they darted about in impossible maneuvers, flitting ominously around the handful of Riomini's overwhelmed ships. The whirling silver vessels looked … alien.

He couldn't understand or accept any of this. It was all too impossible to believe. He started laughing. This wasn't real!

“We have three fleets arrayed against you,” said General Adolphus.

The whirlwind of distress and confusion closed in on him, and Riomini could not process the information. He saw fires burning on the other side of Heart Square, and heard steady weapon fire and the roar of crowds in the distance. More and more people streamed into the square. Soldiers were tearing down his black Riomini banners and Constellation flags from poles and buildings.

And then he saw two large, hideous aliens—with pale skin, humanoid heads and torsos, long sluglike bodies—moving toward him across the square. Laboriously, they began to climb the wide stairway of the Council Hall, on their stubby caterpillar legs. Riomini could not cringe away.

It was all so outrageous, so impossible, that he folded inward, squeezing his eyes shut and retreating to the only place he could hide. Inside of himself.

 

83

When General Adolphus arrived at Ankor with his extensive celebratory force, he found himself surrounded by thousands of cheering Deezees who waved blue-and-gold banners.

Adolphus would have preferred to speak to the crowd in a less formal manner, without a podium, but there were too many people for casual conversations. The platform and podium had been hastily erected for him and the Ro-Xayan leader Zhaday.

In the front, Sophie gave him a broad smile and silent encouragement. He was reminded of the day he gave the speech announcing the new DZ stringline network, declaring the independence of all frontier worlds. This time, he hoped his speech would create stability rather than turmoil.

When Adolphus prepared to address them, he gazed out at the crowd, but thankfully saw no shimmering eyes or strange behavior in the converts. Their telemancy had been drained away, the powers burned out by the incredible effort of moving the planet. He noticed Keana standing in the front stands next to Cristoph de Carre.

The Ro-Xayan asteroids were in safe, stable orbits around the planet. At night, Hellhole had twenty small, bright new moons.

After waiting for quiet, he pointed upward. “The sky is blue today, but we know how quickly that can change on Hellhole—how quickly that can change in life. We secured a great victory, and in the process we not only survived, but we grew much stronger. For that, it took the combined energy, the combined will, and the military assets of two cultures. We've got a lot of work to do, so we must remain vigilant.”

He had to wait for the celebratory noise to die down. “In the Crown Jewel worlds, Major Bolton Crais and Commodore Percival Hallholme—men of virtue—will strive to create a just government that addresses the corruption of the past. We cannot allow bloodthirsty tyrants like the past Diadems.”

On the stage next to him, Zhaday lifted his torso and amplified his thrumming words with telemancy. “We remaining Xayans must also be vigilant to ensure that the threat of
ala'ru
does not reemerge. Our numbers must remain controlled, our telemancy limited.”

Keana called out from the crowd, “But the Xayans inside our memories will always be there. We will never forget the lives that joined ours.” Many of the former converts added their voices to hers, though most only experienced occasional whispers in their memories.

Zhaday made one more announcement in his unusual voice. “The Ro-Xayans are no longer a separate faction. We are all
Xayans
. We are the hope of our future.”

Jonwi and several others of his faction merged into the crowd at Ankor, ready to listen to the General's words. Jonwi moved forward and invited all the Ro-Xayans and humans to work with him to tame and replant the damaged world. He promised that the planet could once again become the lush, verdant paradise it had once been—a dream for all to share.

Adolphus continued. “As for the Deep Zone, our planets are independent, free of a repressive government, no longer a source for plunder by a wealthy few. We will be part of a larger cooperative network of commerce for as long as the stringlines continue to function.”

His statement sidestepped the very real concerns that their iperion supplies were extremely limited, after the destruction of Candela. The only other known source was on Vielinger, and those mines were nearly barren. Prospectors had continued searching more than fifty uncharted DZ planets for another source, but so far they remained unsuccessful.

Adolphus continued. “I have said that I would rather rule on Hellhole than serve on Sonjeera—so I will not accept any Diadem's crown, nor will I rule the Deep Zone. I will focus my energies on but one planet, Hellhole.” He laughed as he mused, “I was exiled here once, but somehow I've grown rather fond of the place.”

This evoked a new round of cheering from the crowd. He had already suggested that Enva Tazaar might be interested in participating in the new Constellation government, but oddly she seemed to like the challenge of Theser. He decided he was impressed with her.

The sky at the horizon carried a greenish tinge, which often signified a brewing growler storm, but he knew they could ride it out, no matter how bad it was. Hellhole had toughened him. Even with all the future work of Jonwi and the reseeding efforts of the Ro-Xayans, he doubted if this frontier world would ever be completely tamed. When the first asteroid struck five centuries ago, it had set something loose here that was wild and primeval. And that was what he had grown to like; Tiber Adolphus did not shy away from adversity.

As he went down the steps, Sophie greeted him with a hug. “You led a revolution and tamed a world, Tiber,” she said with a gentle smile. “Now, perhaps there'll be more time for us?”

*   *   *

Adolphus and Sophie were together in the reconstructed Ankor headquarters when Cristoph de Carre approached, grinning. Although he looked a bit weary, he was exuberant. “Fantastic news, General! A message drone just came in from Theser. Enva Tazaar's scouts made a remarkable discovery.”

Adolphus felt his pulse quicken, but dared not hope. It could be something else, not iperion.

“One of her prospectors found a large deposit of iperion in the wastelands of Theser, far outside the craters and on the other side of the continent—but it's a confirmed strike.” His eyes shone. “It looks like my mining expertise may be needed out in the Deep Zone after all.”

Adolphus was delighted. “That changes the future of the Deep Zone. Now we can maintain all the stringlines.”

Cristoph delivered the geological report that had been inside the message drone. “We'll need a full assessment of course, but from my initial reading, this looks like a major deposit, maybe as big as the one Tanja Hu found on Candela. In fact, General, given my background from Vielinger, I would like to request—”

“Done, Mr. de Carre. I want you on the next stringline hauler out to Theser. But what about your family holdings on Vielinger? With the changes in the Constellation, they are legally yours again.”

“Lanny Oberon is perfectly capable of managing the old mines in my absence. But those deposits are nearly played out, and I want to go where the action is.”

Sophie added, “If Enva Tazaar is sitting on that large a deposit, she may indeed become the wealthiest, most powerful planetary administrator in the Deep Zone.”

“That could well be,” Adolphus said.

*   *   *

When he and Sophie returned to Elba, they shared a candlelight dinner, succulent beefsteaks from a local ranch and a bottle of one of her better red wines. It was a fine, calm evening—for a change—only made better when another message arrived that evidence of a second iperion vein had been discovered, this time in the wilderness of Cles. And there were still more than fifty prospectors hunting across the frontier planets.

Sophie touched her wineglass to his. The deep claret looked like a precious gem. “The future looks bright.”

“Indeed it does.” He took a long sip. It was not a great wine—none of the Hellhole vintages were—but he had grown used to the taste.

She said, “You know, we may even have to change the name of this planet.”

He considered, but shook his head. “I think I prefer it just the way it is.”

 

BY BRIAN HERBERT AND KEVIN J. ANDERSON

Dune: House Atreides

Dune: House Harkonnen

Dune: House Corrino

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad

Dune: The Machine Crusade

Dune: The Battle of Corrin

Hunters of Dune

Sandworms of Dune

Paul of Dune

The Winds of Dune

Sisterhood of Dune

Mentats of Dune

 

Hellhole

Hellhole Awakening

BY BRIAN HERBERT

Dreamer of Dune

(biography of Frank Herbert)

BY FRANK HERBERT

Dune

Dune Messiah

Children of Dune

God Emperor of Dune

Heretics of Dune

Chapterhouse: Dune

BY FRANK HERBERT, BRIAN HERBERT, AND KEVIN J. ANDERSON

The Road to Dune

(includes the original short novel
Spice Planet
)

 

About the Authors

Brian Herbert (right) has been nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula awards. In 2003, he published
Dreamer of Dune,
a Hugo Award–nominated biography of his father. He recently published the ecological thriller
Ocean,
written with his wife, Jan Herbert.

 

Kevin J. Anderson (left) has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the SFX Readers' Choice Award. He set the Guinness-certified world record for the largest single-author book signing.

 

 

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously.

HELLHOLE INFERNO

Copyright © 2014 by DreamStar, Inc., and WordFire, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Cover art by Stephen Youll

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

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®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

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The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-0-7653-2271-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4299-4822-7 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781429948227

First Edition: August 2014