The cometary bombardment would send an implicit message to the Terran Hanseatic League as well. The Hansa had a history of underestimating Roamers, imposing capricious new tariffs and dismissing them as disorganized riffraff with little power. But Jess Tamblyn had demonstrated exactly what kind of Armageddon a crack team of Roamers could cause.

Before he could leave or Cesca had a chance to seek out Jhy Okiah, more dire news arrived from a trader; he had reviewed the media recording he had brought many times, but could not yet believe everything it implied.

Cesca and Jess watched the preserved transmissions from the Whisper Palace. When the hydrogue emissary appeared within the transparent chamber and humanity received its first glimpse of the enigmatic deep-core aliens, Cesca gasped, and Jess let out a low groan. “It’s Ross!” he said. “They’ve taken my brother!”

Cesca stared in disbelief at the flowing quicksilver features of the man she had promised to marry. “Or at least they’ve copied him. Ross was one of their first targets. Perhaps the hydrogues are using his image to communicate.”

Jess slumped into a wall-mounted slingchair, as if the low gravity had suddenly become unbearable. He leaned his head against the rough wall. “Haven’t they hurt my family enough? What did we ever do to these creatures?”

When they heard the emissary’s ultimatum, Jess and Cesca looked at each other, angry now. The explosion and the murder of Old King Frederick took them entirely by surprise. Cesca bit back a moan. Although the Roamers had never signed the Hansa Charter and did not consider Frederick their King, the hydrogue emissary’s final act went beyond the bounds of comprehension.

Jess was white-lipped. “All this is in response to a Hansa experiment? Roamers had nothing to do with igniting Oncier!”

“Neither did the Ildirans.” Cesca’s mind spun, grasping the implications. “These … hydrogues don’t comprehend our social groupings or politics. Apparently, they don’t even know the difference between humans and Ildirans.” Jess sighed. “Or maybe the distinction doesn’t matter to them.”

The shaken trader scuttled off to spread the word. Cesca told him where he would find Speaker Okiah, since the old woman needed to hear the news before gossip and horrific rumors reached her.

Weary and torn, Cesca wanted nothing more than to run off with Jess to somewhere they could be together and not have to worry about galactic warfare and alien antagonists. But that would not happen for a long time, now. She placed a gentle hand on Jess’s shoulder. “Go home, Jess. There’s nothing you can do here.”

He looked up at her, as if too many thoughts warred within him, struggling to get out. “There’s always something I can do, some way to fight, to survive. Isn’t that what Roamers have always done?”