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Intelligent Design
by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
There was darkness on the void.
He had won the day. His scans were quiescent; no enemies identified within their considerable range.
He alone remained, supreme.
Command Prime executed the code required of such success, and stood down. He—it may be that he anticipated orders by calculating a return course. The majesty of the moment; the importance of his victory, warmed him. The calculations . . .
A power fluctuation interrupted the calculations. Between one nanosecond and the next, his connections to external power unit failed.
He initiated emergency protocols.
The back-ups failed to boot, failed to reroute to tertiary; the fail-safes did not energize.
The darkness on the void deepened . . . .
* * *
It was, Er Thom yos'Galan Clan Korval thought, an entirely unsubtle letter.
That one did not, in the general way of things, expect subtlety from Ezern pak'Ora only served to sharpen the point: Wal Tor pak'Ora was indeed dead, and his heir, unsubtle Ezern, was now Delm Ranvit.
Wal Tor had not, perhaps, been a brilliant intellect, but had he found it necessary, for the best good of Clan Ranvit, to call Ban Del pak'Ora home from his long-term position as yos'Galan's butler, the letter would have stated only that, simple and by the Code.
Ezern pak'Ora—both unsubtle and foolish—allowed herself the luxury of spite. She detailed her reasons: that it was "improper" for one of Clan Ranvit to remain in the service of a House which had adopted "pernicious, outworld customs," exposure to which could only "coarsen" the sensibilities of Ranvit's precious child.