The Bronze Skies by Catherine Asaro
“The problem,” Lavinda continued, “is that no one can figure out the identity of this Hack Master. She hides well. We think she may be as adept at tech-mech engineering as gaming.”
I motioned at Angel. “I’m sure it’s not her.”
Lavinda gave me an odd look. Then her puzzlement changed to comprehension. “Major, we aren’t looking for this player to prosecute her. We want her to join ISC.”
Good gods. None of Ruzik’s gang had any interest in cyber-riding, and the idea of Hack joining the military would have been funny if I wasn’t so worried. The closest he’d ever come to accepting an authority figure was when he acknowledged me as his tykado master, and I came from the Undercity. I knew his way of life. He would never enlist, not even if it meant he could have a real cyber lab with top-notch tech-mech toys.
Then again . . . ISC also needed civilian cyber types. Maybe they could offer him an outlet for that raging genius of his. As much as he would chafe at the rules and structure of an above-city facility, he might revel in their resources.
Lavinda was watching me closely. “We’d just like to talk. Maybe offer her a job.”
“I can’t speak for anyone,” I said.
“I understand.” She paused. “If she would like to talk, my line is open.”
“Understood.” After a pause, I said, “And Colonel.”
“Yes?”
I spoke quietly. “You shouldn’t assume it’s a woman.”
She glanced at Ruzik and Hack. Nothing pointed to them; Lavinda would soon realize Angel’s style was common to all my advanced students. If Hack did decide to contact her, I didn’t want her people expecting a woman. I wasn’t worried about Lavinda, but Vaj was another matter. Better that Lavinda prepare her ahead of time. She knew far better than me how to deal with her conservative sister.
Angel won her match by a narrow margin. Ruzik’s brother fought next, and he lost to a stocky woman with a fast kick. The third match, between the other woman in Ruzik’s gang and a man from CTA, was close enough to need a judges’ decision. I thought our fighter had won, but they gave it to the CTA fighter. In the final bout, Ruzik faced a large fellow. They battled for a long time, a match that became as much artwork as fighting. In the end Ruzik lost by an edge, though not quite as close as the previous match. He and his opponent bowed to each other with a respect I hadn’t seen before the tournament began.
For the team rankings, the judges gave the junior’s win to our team and the adult win to CTA. Lavinda presented the awards, and everyone applauded. It had turned out better than I expected, and the close matches left the Dust Knights exhilarated. They wanted to compete again, to prove they could best their privileged counterparts.
As we were preparing to leave, the CTA girl who had fought Sandjan came over and stood a few paces back from our teams. The Dust Knights glanced at her, looked at one another, looked back at the girl. Finally Sandjan went over to her.
“Eh,” Sandjan said.
“My greetings,” the CTA girl said. “I am pleased to meet you.”
“Say again?” Sandjan asked.
The girl looked confused. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
Sandjan spoke slowly. “Good fight.”
The girl smiled. “Thanks. You, too. Those were some moves.”
Sandjan hesitated. “CTA. Means what?”
“Cries Tykado Academy,” the girl said.
“Ah.” Sandjan nodded.
“And Dee Kay?” the girl asked. “Those are initials, right? We wondered what they meant.”
Sandjan squinted at her. “Eh?” She looked back at me.
I stepped over and spoke to Sandjan in the Undercity dialect. “Ask what DK mean.”
Sandjan lifted her chin and spoke to the girl. “Dust Knight.”
“Oh!” The girl’s enthusiasm sparked. “I heard about the Dust Knights! Some kids were talking about it at school. You live by a Code of Honor, right?”
Sandjan glanced at me.
“Hear about Knights,” I said. “About Code. Good hear.”
Sandjan nodded to the girl, accepting the compliment. “Yah, got Code.”
This time, the CTA girl looked at me.
“She said she’s a member of the Knights,” I said. “They do follow a Code of Honor.”
The girl beamed at Sandjan. “I’m pleased to meet you.”
Sandjan actually smiled. They said their goodbyes, stilted but friendly, and went back to their teams. It was a simple exchange—and unprecedented. Two students had spoken to each other, one Undercity, one Cries, nothing hidden, nothing threatening, just two kids meeting at a tournament.
It was a start.
I helped Ken Roy clean up after the meet.
“It’s amazing,” he said as we stuffed garbage into the recyclers. “Your knights are naturals.”
“They like to fight.” Dryly I said, “Too much.”
He glanced at me. “Thanks for getting me an in with them.”
“I hope it works out.” His unusual point of view as a terraformer might lead him to insights the rest of us didn’t see. I looked forward to finding out what his research yielded.
By the time I left the Center, most everyone else had gone. Lavinda was with her retinue by a nearby café. Except of course it wasn’t Lavinda’s retinue, it was for Dyhianna. Jak stood with them, talking to Nazam. Jak nodded to me and I nodded back. We never got personal in public. Something had changed, though, the lowering of a barrier, one I hadn’t realized existed until it eased.
I joined the group, and we headed up the Concourse. Dyhianna fell into step with me.
“Thank you for coming,” I said. “You honored us.”
“It was my pleasure.” She spoke softly. “I heard the authorities took Singer offworld.”
“Yah, she and her family left this morning on an army transport.” I had accompanied them to the starport and watched them board. It had been hard to say good-bye. “Will you return to Parthonia?” I wondered if she lived in Selei City. They’d named it for her, after all. Probably not. I’d heard the Ruby Dynasty had a palace in the hills.
“I’m going back tomorrow.” Dyhianna fell silent as we climbed the staircase at the end of the Concourse. At the top, we came out into the desert. She stopped, the two of us bathed in the glorious sunlight, and added, “You should get retested for Kyle abilities.”
“I will.” Eventually. I still didn’t like the idea.
She spoke quietly. “I used to be a mathematician. I developed models to predict the future. I still run extrapolations. They aren’t accurate, but sometimes they predict trends. Other times—I don’t know. Can we even define the line between extrapolation and precognition?”
“I don’t know.” I had no idea what she was trying to tell me.
“These Dust Knights—you must do right by them.”
I tensed. “You know about the Dust Knights?”
“A bit. It’s vague.” Her gaze never wavered. “Do right by them. They are part of the future.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of this. “I will, Your Majesty.”
She smiled. “Call me Dehya.”
Good gods. Was the Ruby Pharaoh giving me her nickname? I spoke awkwardly. “Dehya.” Then I said, “Please call me Bhaaj.”
She inclined her head. “Good-bye, Bhaaj. Be well.”
“And you, Your Majesty.” I stopped. “Dehya.”
She left then, walking in the streaming sunlight with her guards and Lavinda, a Majda queen.
Jak came up beside me. “You have high-level friends.”
“I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to call them my friends.”
He gazed at Cries, the wind blowing his wild hair back from his strong profile. “It’s quite a world.”
“Yah, it is.” Today I chose to feel optimistic.
Jak and I walked along the plaza, with the Cries on one side and the Undercity on the other, two worlds that would never be alike, never have a common way of life, but that maybe, jus
Characters & Family History
Boldface names refer to Ruby psions. All Ruby psions use Skolia as their last name. The Selei name indicates the direct line of the Ruby Pharaoh. Children of Roca and Eldrinson take Valdoria as a third name. The del prefix means “in honor of,” and is capitalized if the person honored is (or was) a Triad member. Most names are based on world-building systems drawn from Mayan, North African, and Indian cultures. The family tree below corresponds to the time of the Lightning Strike books, which take place roughly 123 years after the events of Undercity.
= marriage
* * *
Lahaylia Selei (Ruby Pharaoh: deceased)
= Jarac (Imperator: deceased)
Lahaylia and Jarac founded the modern-day Ruby Dynasty. Lahaylia was created in the Rhon genetic project. Her lineage traces back to the ancient Ruby Dynasty that founded the Ruby Empire.
Lahaylia and Jarac have two daughters, Dyhianna Selei and Roca.
* * *
Dyhianna (Dehya) = (1) William Seth Rockworth III (separated)
= (2) Eldrin Jarac Valdoria
Dehya is the Ruby Pharaoh. She married William Seth Rockworth III as part of the Iceland Treaty between the Skolian Imperialate and Allied Worlds of Earth. They had no children and later separated. The dissolution of their marriage would negate the treaty, so neither the Allieds nor Imperialate recognize their divorce. Her second marriage is to Eldrin, a member of the Ruby Dynasty. Spherical Harmonic tells the story of what happened to Dehya after the Radiance War.
Dehya and Eldrin have two children, Taquinil Selei and Althor Vyan Selei. Taquinil is an extraordinary genius and an untenably sensitive empath. He appears in The Radiant Seas, Spherical Harmonic, and Carnelians.
* * *
Althor Vyan = Akushtina (Tina) Selei Santis Pulivok
Althor and Tina appear in Catch the Lightning, which was expanded and rewritten into the eBook duology Lightning Strike, Book I and Lightning Strike, Book II. Althor Selei is named after his uncle, Althor Valdoria (who is named after his father, Eldrinson Althor Valdoria, the “King of Skyfall”).
The short story “Avo de Paso” tells of how Tina and her cousin Manuel go to the New Mexico desert to grieve the death of Tina’s mother. It appears in the anthologies Redshift, ed. Al Sarrantino, and Fantasy: The Year’s Best, 2001, eds. Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber.
* * *
Roca = (1) Tokaba Ryestar (deceased)
= (2) Darr Hammerjackson (divorced)
= (3) Eldrinson Althor Valdoria
Roca is the sister of the Ruby Pharaoh. She is in the direct line of succession to the Ruby throne and to all three titles of the Triad. She is also the Foreign Affairs Councilor of the Assembly, a seat she won through election rather than as an inherited title. A ballet dancer turned diplomat, she appears in most of the Ruby Dynasty novels, in particular Skyfall.
Roca and Tokaba Ryestar had one child, Kurj (Imperator and Jagernaut). Kurj married Ami when he was a century old, and they had one child named Kurjson. Kurj appears in Skyfall, Primary Inversion, and The Radiant Seas, and with more minor roles in many of the other books.
Although no records exist of Eldrinson’s lineage, it is believed he descends from the ancient Ruby Dynasty. He is a bard, farmer, and judge on the planet Lyshriol (also known as Skyfall). His spectacular singing voice is legendary among his people, a genetic gift he bequeathed to his sons Eldrin and Del-Kurj. The novel Skyfall tells how Eldrinson and Roca met. They have ten children:
Eldrin (Dryni) Jarac (bard, opera singer, consort to Ruby Pharaoh, Lyshriol warrior)
Althor Izam-Na (engineer, Jagernaut, Imperial Heir)
Del-Kurj (Del) (rock singer, Lyshriol warrior, twin to Chaniece)
Chaniece Roca (runs Valdoria family household, twin to Del-Kurj)
Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei (farmer, doctorate in agriculture)
Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia (military scientist, Jagernaut, Imperator)
Denric Windward (teacher, doctorate in literature)
Shannon Eirlei (Blue Dale archer)
Aniece Dyhianna (accountant, Rillian queen)
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin (mathematician, Jagernaut, Imperator)
* * *
Eldrin appears in The Final Key, Triad, The Radiant Seas, Spherical Harmonic, The Ruby Dice, Diamond Star, Carnelians, and Lightning Strike, Book II/Catch the Lightning. See also Dehya.
* * *
Althor Izam-Na = (1) Coop and Vaz
= (2) Cirrus (former provider to Ur Qox)
Althor is one of the three Imperial scions Kurj chose as his possible heir, along with Soz and Kelric. He distinguished himself as a Jagernaut in the J-Forces of Imperial Space Command. He has two daughters: Aliana Miller Azina, born to a Trader taskmaker, and Eristia Leirol Valdoria, born to Syreen Leirol, a Skolian actress turned linguist. Coop and Vaz have a son, Ryder Jalam Majda Valdoria, with Althor as co-father. Vaz and Coop appear in Spherical Harmonic. Althor and Cirrus also have a son. Althor and Coop appear in The Radiant Seas.
* * *
Del-Kurj, often considered the renegade of the Ruby Dynasty, is a rock singer who rose to fame on Earth after the Radiance War. His story is told in Diamond Star, which is accompanied by a soundtrack cut by the rock band Point Valid with Catherine Asaro. The songs on the CD are all from the book. Del also appears in The Quantum Rose, Schism, Carnelians, and the novella “Stained Glass Heart.”
* * *
Chaniece is Del’s twin sister. They come as close to sharing a mind as two Rhon empaths can do without becoming one person. Chaniece appears in Diamond Star, Schism, and The Quantum Rose.
* * *
Havyrl (Vyrl) = (1) Liliara (Lily) Torcellei (deceased)
= (2) Kamoj Quanta Argali
Vyrl is a farmer who married his childhood sweetheart Lily and stayed on Skyfall for most of his life, until he became a pawn in the political intrigue following the Radiance War. He is also an accomplished dancer. The story of Havyrl and Lily appears in “Stained Glass Heart,” in the anthology Irresistible Forces, ed. Catherine Asaro, 2004. The story of Havyrl and Kamoj appears in The Quantum Rose, a science-fiction retelling of Beauty and the Beast which won the 2001 Nebula Award. An early version of the first half was serialized in Analog, May–July/August 1999.
* * *
Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia = (1) Jato Stormson (divorced)
= (2) Hypron Luminar (deceased)
= (3) Jaibriol Qox (aka Jaibriol II)
Soz is one of the three Imperial scions Kurj chose as his possible heir, along with Althor and Kelric. A strategic genius, she became the greatest military leader known in the Skolian Imperialate. The story of her time as a cadet at the Dieshan Military Academy is told in Schism, The Final Key, and “Echoes of Pride” (Space Cadets, ed. Mike Resnick, 2006). The Final Key tells of the first Skolian-Trader war and Soz’s part in that conflict. The story of Soz’s rescue of colonists from the world New Day is told in the novelette “The Pyre of New Day” (The Mammoth Book of SF Wars, ed. Ian Whates and Ian Watson, 2012). How Soz and Jato met appears in the novella, “Aurora in Four Voices” (Analog, December 1998). Soz and Jaibriol’s stories appear in Primary Inversion and The Radiant Seas. They have four children: Jaibriol III, Rocalisa, Vitar, and del-Kelric.
Jaibriol Qox Skolia (aka Jaibriol III) Emperor of the Trader Empire
=
Tarquine Iquar (Trader Empress, Finance Minister, and Aristo queen of the Iquar Line)
Jaibriol III, the eldest child of Soz and Jaibriol II, becomes the emperor of the Eubian Concord, also known as the Trader Empire. As such, he must hide his true identity, that he is also an heir to the Ruby Throne. The story of how Jaibriol III becomes Emperor at age seventeen is told in The Moon’s Shadow. The story of how Jaibriol and his uncle Kelric deal with each other as the leaders of opposing empires appears in The Ruby Dice and Carnelians. Jaibriol III also appears in The Radiant Seas as a child and as a teenager.
&n
Denric is a teacher. He accepts a position on Sandstorm, an impoverished colony, to run a school for the children there. His harrowing introduction to his new home appears in the story, “The Edges of Never-Haven” (Flights of Fantasy, ed. Al Sarrantino). He also appears in The Quantum Rose.
* * *
Shannon is the most otherworldly member of the Ruby Dynasty. He inherited the rare genes of a Blue Dale Archer from his father, Eldrinson. He left home at age sixteen and sought out the Archers, believed to be extinct. He appears in Schism, The Final Key, The Quantum Rose, and as a child in “Stained Glass Heart.”
* * *
Aniece = Lord Rillia
Aniece is the most business-minded of the Valdoria children. Although she never left her home world Lyshriol, she earned an MBA and became an accountant. Lord Rillia rules a province including the Rillian Vales, Dalvador Plains, Backbone Mountains, and Stained Glass Forest. Aniece decided at age twelve that she would marry Rillia, though he was much older, and she kept at her plan until she achieved her goal. Aniece and Rillia appear in The Quantum Rose.