"Our work there will never be chronicled in theSaga , Adar. But still we must do it." The Mage-Imperator had stirred, his tentaclelike braid twitching. "The Dobro experiments hold the key to our race's survival, and even after generations of effort, we are not ready for the challenge we must face. And now, the hydrogues have returned. Time is short."

Kori'nh knew that a million deep thoughts simmered quietly beneath the leader's calm face, ideas far beyond his own comprehension. The Mage-Imperator was the focal point for allthism, the conduit through which soul-threads shone in faint glimmers from a higher plane composed entirely of light. He was unsettled by the very thought of questioning his leader's wishes.

Even so, as commander of the entire Solar Navy, the Adar had to speak his mind. "Is there truly such urgency, Liege? The hydrogues have not escalated tensions since we withdrew from their gas giants."

The Mage-Imperator shook his large head. "The hydrogues will not be content to remain within their strongholds. Soon they will become more aggressive. And we must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for the survival of our race."

Having dutifully raised the question, Kori'nh had bowed and accepted the assignment. He had no other choice.

Now he waited in the warliner's receiving bay as a shuttle rose from Dobro carrying the Designate himself. The Mage-Imperator's second son desired to speak privately with him; Kori'nh would learn soon enough what it was about.

Suspecting that this mission might have unpleasant consequences, Kori'nh had already dispatched Tal Zan'nh on a make-work assignment. The Adar would dirty his own hands with this task, but he saw no need to involve his protege, the son of the Prime Designate...

After the shuttle had docked, the pilot stepped out, looking flustered. Behind him the Dobro Designate scanned the empty bay like a predator. The Designate's clothes were drab and serviceable, without lace, finery, or colorful strips of self-active energy film. He was a working man, with an assignment and a mission.

Seeing the commander waiting for him, Designate Udru'h turned gruffly to the shuttle's pilot. "You are dismissed. The Adar will take us where I direct him."

The pilot looked uneasy, but Kori'nh nodded his permission. "Apparently the Designate and I will require privacy. No doubt he has certain orders for me."

Three years earlier, he had been sent here to Dobro for the express purpose of mating with one of the captive human females, a green-skinned woman from Theroc. Kori'nh could not understand why she was being held among theBurton descendants, nor was he allowed to ask about it. He had not relished his union with the woman. It had seemed... dishonorable. Yet it had been his duty, an indirect command from the Mage-Imperator himself.

He dreaded what the Designate would order him to do this time.

After he took the cockpit controls, Kori'nh remained silent, not even offering minor conversation. Designate Udru'h gave him coordinates that took the shuttle away from the orbital lanes toward the fringes of the Dobro system. A skein of icy moonlets and asteroids looked like a pile of planetary ingredients that had been swept under the rug-too diffuse to be an actual asteroid belt, each piece too small to be considered a planetoid in its own right.