The emperor’s listeners reacted with an uprush of emotion. Three times during his speech they chimed their cymbals, caught by the charismatic performance.
Tiller returned and spoke to Roca and Eldrinson in a low voice. “It’s true. Your son Eldrin is in the custody of the Allied embassy on Delos.”
“Thank you,” Roca whispered. She looked at Eldrinson and he took her hand, squeezing it. Safe. Eldrin was safe. The Ruby Dynasty might all be prisoners, but at least they were free from the Traders.
On the holostage, Jaibriol turned to the camera, obviously aware his words would go to a far larger audience than the Hall of Circles. In a quiet voice, he said, “We have suffered the ravages of our conflicts. Let us now seek to heal. To the people of the Skolian Imperialate and Allied Worlds of Earth, I say this: Meet with me at the peace table. Let us lay to rest the hatreds that have sundered our common humanity.”
Jaibriol III extended his hand, reaching across the stars.
So the first planks of a bridge were laid, a tenuous arch that could span a river of hatred and let humanity cross above, out of its grasping reach. The bridge might take years, even decades, to complete.
But it had begun.
Time Line
circa 4000 B.C.
Group of humans moved from Earth to Raylicon
circa 3600 B.C.
Ruby Dynasty begins
circa 3100 B.C.
Raylicans launch first interstellar flights; rise of Ruby Empire
circa 2900 B.C.
Ruby Empire begins decline
circa 2800 B.C.
Last interstellar flights; Ruby Empire collapses …
circa A.D. 1300
Raylicans begin attempts to regain lost knowledge and colonies
1843
Raylicans regain interstellar flight
1866
Rhon genetic project begins
1869
Aristos created
1871
Aristos found Eubian Concord (aka Trader Empire)
1881
Lahaylia Selei born
1904
Lahaylia Selei founds Skolian Imperialate and takes Skolia name
2005
Jarac born
2111
Lahaylia Selei marries Jarac
2119
Dyhianna (Dehya) Selei born
2122
Earth achieves interstellar flight
2132
Earth founds Allied Worlds
2144
Roca born
2169
Kurj born
2204
Eldrin Valdoria born; Jarac dies and Kurj becomes Imperator; Lahaylia dies
2206
Althor Valdoria born
2209
Havyrl (Vyrl) Valdoria born
2210
Sasucony (Soz) Valdoria born
2219
Kelricson (Kelric) Valdoria born
2237
Jaibriol II born
2258
Kelric crashes on Coba (The Last Hawk)
early 2259
Soz meets Jaibriol (Primary Inversion)
late 2259
Soz and Jaibriol go into exile (The Radiant Seas)
2260
2263
Rocalisa Qox Skolia born
2268
Vitar Qox Skolia born
2273
del-Kelric Qox Skolia born
2274
Radiance War begins (also called Domino War)
2276
Traders capture Eldrin; Radiance War ends
2277
Kelric returns home (Ascendant Sun); Dehya coalesces (Spherical Harmonic)
2278
Kamoj Argali meets Vyrl (The Quantum Rose)
2279
Althor Vyan Selei born
2328
Althor Vyan Selei meets Tina Santis Pulivok (Catch the Lightning)
Tor Books by Catherine Asaro
THE SAGA OF THE SKOLIAN EMPIRE
Primary Inversion
Catch the Lightning
The Last Hawk
The Radiant Seas
Ascendant Sun*
*forthcoming
PRAISE FOR CATHERINE ASARO
“With a mixture of technology, physics, action, romance, and characters you can’t forget, Catherine Asaro’s The Radiant Seas offers an insightful look at human nature, a roller-coaster of emotions, and a most engrossing read—far better than the vast majority of books sold as ‘great’ hard science fiction.”
—L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
“Catherine Asaro is one of those rare authors who can write accurately and lovingly both about science and about the minds and hearts of her characters. Primary Inversion is vivid, thoughtful, and exciting, the kind of story you want to read at one sitting. It sweeps you along with the force of its action. Throughout it are sprinkled jewels of scientific speculation that enhance the story with their clarity and cleverness. The changes in the main character are evoked so carefully and with such understanding that only at the end do you realize how far she, and so you as the reader along with her, have come.”
—Kate Elliott
“What a great read! In her newest book, The Radiant Seas, Catherine Asaro shows herself to be a writer with depth and sensitivity. Her signature strengths—dynamic characters, real human emotions, and cutting-edge scientific background—here flower into a story that reaches past the individual lives of her characters to engulf entire interstellar empires. Unlike writers who focus on technology as an end in itself, she uses her stunningly original vision to weave a story of loyalty, love, courage, and sacrifice. I’m looking forward to reading more!”
—Deborah Wheeler
“Rising star Catherine Asaro exploded onto the science fiction scene with all the blazing glory of a supernova with her first book called Primary Inversion.
“Ms. Asaro reveals fascinating new aspects of her talent with each new book, and readers can always expect something fresh, different, and absolutely wonderful.”
—Romantic Times
About the Author
Catherine Asaro grew up near Berkeley, California. She earned her Ph.D. in chemical physics and her M.A. in physics, both from Harvard, and a B.S. with highest honors in chemistry from UCLA. She runs Molecudyne Research and lives in Maryland with her husband and daughter. Among the places she has done research are the University of Toronto in Canada, the Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik in Germany, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A former ballet and jazz dancer, she founded the Mainly Jazz Dance program at Harvard and now teaches at the Caryl Maxwell Classical Ballet, home to the Ellicott City Ballet Guild.
Catherine also wrote Catch the Lightning, which won the Sapphire Award in 1997, Primary Inversion, and the Nebula-nominated The Last Hawk. All three books are stand-alone novels set in the Ruby Dynasty universe (the Skolian Empire). Primary Inversion tells the story of how Soz and Jaibriol met. A tale of Soz from her younger days can be found in the novella “Aurora in Four Voices,” which appeared in the December 1998 issue of Analog, won the AnLab and the Homer, and was nominated for both the Nebula and Hugo. The next three Ruby Dynasty books due out from Tor are Ascendant Sun, Spherical Harmonic, and The Quantum Rose.
Catherine can be reached by E-mail at asaro@sff.net and on the web at http://www.sff.net/people/asaro/.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE RADIANT SEAS
Copyright © 1999 by Catherine Asaro
Image here is copyright © 1998 by David P. Cervone, all rights reserved; used with permission.
All rights reserved.
Edited by David G. Hartwell
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN: 0-812-58036-2
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-7979
First edition: January 1999
First mass market edition: November 1999
eISBN 9781466828315
First eBook edition: August 2012