Zell double checked to make sure Divide Focus was still active. All of his real plans and deceits were carefully tucked away in a sub-mind. They couldn’t be allowed to float to the surface where they might be read by a Mindwatcher. He wore a mask of neutral subservience and competence.

  The reports were stacked in the exact order Lord Delar would want them. He had only the most competent of his assistants and functionaries in the room, and only enough of them to give the impression of industry and progress.

  He watched the chronograph tick over. Briefing the lord was a delicate balancing act. Each delay or wrinkle he presented had to be counterbalanced by good news and solutions, or he could find his head lying at his feet. Even with the lord halfway across the sector, Zell was still within his reach.

  Tick. The circular dais in the center of the room started to glow and hum; the glow built as mana lit up the runes running around the perimeter of the circle. The hum changed pitch as a connection was made. Zell and all of the other occupants of the room bowed. They would keep their faces down and eyes on the floor until the lord allowed them to look up.

  Tick. At precisely the time it was expected, the mana-projector went live, and a mana avatar of Lord Delar appeared on the dais. Looking around the room with his hands clasped behind his back like a Field Marshal inspecting troops, the avatar of the Aldevari Lord stepped down from the platform.

  “You may rise and return to your duties.” Lord Delar’s voice rumbled through the space, filling it like a roll of thunder.

  Zell straightened from his bow and stood silently, waiting for his Lord to address him. A step behind him and to his left, Nichala straightened as well. All around the room, motion resumed as people returned to their workstations, but Zell knew they would only be going through the motions of returning to work.

  Every one of them would be listening intently for what the Lord had to say. He held the lives and deaths of everyone aboard the Worldbreaker in his hands. No one would dare miss the slightest nuance of his words or actions, lest they inadvertently anger him or fail to anticipate his needs. Every twitch of his broad, blunt features would be analyzed for meaning and intent. The merest flick of his fingers would send people sweating and scrambling.

  Rumors said that he was at the peak of C grade, and was on the verge of breaking into B grade like his father. His father, Golvarus Aldevar’un, was the Patriarch of the Aldervari Dominion, and he was at the peak of B grade. The entire impetus for this never-ending war was his search for the resources to finally break into the legendary heights of A grade.

  The greed and entitlement made Zell sick to his stomach to contemplate it. He fought to steer his mind away from those thoughts. The task at hand would be enough of a tightrope without adding additional difficulty.

  “Zell. The main expansion wave of the Mana Burst will arrive in this system in just under a quarter of a year. Are we on track to capitalize on it?” Lord Delar took two steps closer to the Caerathi administrator.

  “Yes, My Lord. The Aethernites were easily accepted by the lifeforms of the planet, and the Awakening went smoothly. The training interface has worked well, with only a few minor glitches that were quickly addressed. Approximately sixty percent of the Human population was culled in the first week, which is a slightly better survival rate than we had projected. There are some true standouts among the front-runners of the population. I attribute this to the unusual prevalence of Aether-reactive bloodlines among the populace.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “We suspected that this world possessed a rich Mana Well in the distant past, but we far underestimated the lingering effect of that heritage. With the return of mana, that heritage has strengthened the trainees beyond our expectations.” Zell paused, ostensibly to allow his Lord to comment, but inside, he was considering his next words carefully.

  “I can see that you want to say more. Spit it out, Zell,” Lord Delar rumbled.

  “Of course. The Nytheron worms. With this unexpected development… this one wonders if My Lord wishes to proceed with the release in light of this new information? Would it, perhaps, be better to choose another candidate world for the worms and allow the ancient bloodlines of this world to develop unmolested? This one fears that mixing two such volatile forces might prove… untenable.” Zell was glad that the flush of darker blue up his spine would be hidden by his clothing. He felt a moment of pity for the humans who sweated when nervous—a much harder tell to hide.

  Lord Delar snorted. “Most diplomatically phrased, as always, Zell. I can see your concerns, but my father is adamant that the new breed of worms be tested as soon as feasible. Speaking of which, I understand there was some problem with the worms?”

  Zell bowed his head briefly as he replied, “Yes, My Lord. A virus in the breeding tanks. The precise numbers are in the report, but the bottom line is that we lost over fifty percent of the viable stock. We’ve been able to increase the reproduction rate by twelve percent in an attempt to regain the lost bio-stock, but I fear we will be thirty percent below the planned release volume if we maintain the schedule as planned. This one would appreciate his Lord’s counsel on the two plans that have been devised for ameliorating the deficit.”

  The Lord waved a dismissive hand. “I saw the proposals in your report. Neither will work. Release what you have on schedule. My father can be unreasonable about some things, and this project has become one of his pets. He is hungry for news of it, and I don’t wish to delay his satisfaction any longer than necessary. Now, about the miscreant responsible for the failure…”

  “Already terminated, My Lord.”

  “Mmm, a shame that. I have a new spell I’ve been itching to try out, and I’ve found that object lessons cut down on repeated setbacks.” He shook his head, setting the thick gray wattles under his chin to swaying. “Ah, well. Done is done, and such things are best handled promptly. How did the preliminary testing go?”

  Zell swallowed down his distaste and tried to hold his equilibrium for the next report. “The captured subjects were easily infiltrated by the worms. As expected, their mana levels spiked, but their ability to control the rising levels was… less than optimal. Catastrophically so in some cases. There was enough variation in the sample group to maintain hope for success, however. Those still on the planet will have had more time to develop, and those with stronger Willpower should handle the bonding better. None of the test subjects were… salvageable, however.”

  “Excellent. I’ll read over the numbers later. Come, I’m quite curious about these front-runners of yours. The woman with the… what did you call it? Yoonie bloodline?”

  “Yowie, My Lord.”

  “Yes, Yowie. That’s the one. I’d like to see the latest footage of her battles. She’s a fascinating specimen.”

  Zell followed a step behind the Lord as they made their way down the hall. He let out a breath of relief. The on-schedule release of the worms was the best outcome he could have hoped for aside from having them rerouted to another world. His proposals had both been presented as thrown-together solutions in the hopes that they would be rejected. Despite their poor presentation, either of them would have resulted in a worse outcome for the humans. It was a fine line to walk, but it was amazing what one could accomplish with the subtlest of tweaks if you understood how people’s minds worked.