Zusatztext The suspense is palpable! the pace is breathtaking! and the interspecies interactions are engaging. Booklist The collaborative effort by veterans McCaffrey and Scarborough brings together two consummate storytellers in an adventure suitable for both YA and adult audiences. Library Journal Magnificent . . . a glorious conclusion.SFRevu Informationen zum Autor Anne McCaffrey Elizabeth Ann Scarborough Klappentext InterGal Corporation has long desired to exploit the resource-rich Petaybee. But the planet and its guardians! led by Yana Maddock and Sean Shongili! along with their twin children! Ronan and Murel! have successfully thwarted every attempt by the Corporation to impose its iron-fisted dominion. Until now. With a bold move! InterGal's military arm has dispatched an invading force to subdue the planet once and for all. While their parents work to foil the assault! Ronan and Murel are captured and sent to a desolate prison world where an old enemy! Dr. Mabo! waits to continue her cruel experiments on the shape-changing siblings. The twins' only hope of escape lies in the uncharted seas of the prison planet. But in the murky depths! something else is waiting. . . . Chapter One The sentient world Petaybee, its northern continent blanketed in snow, appeared deceptively serene. Cold enough to freeze a sneeze in midair, but peaceful beneath its dark sky, it seemed an easy target for the troops whose arrival disturbed that peace. Although they knew that the people in the village of Kilcoole were hostile and armed, the Company Corps soldiers did not worry unduly about resistance. Their landing was unannounced and they believed unexpected, so their superiors were confident that the soldiers could simply storm into house after house, waking the villagers and hauling them from their beds while they were still befuddled by sleep. Instead, the soldiers were the ones who were befuddled as they slammed open unlocked door after unlocked door to find vacant unheated rooms with ice frosting the inside walls. Wild animals darted down the street or across it but no domestic beasts or human beings remained in the village. The sergeant in charge of the ground mission regarded the village suspiciously. Fan out and search but be damned careful, he ordered. These people are hunters. They won't be far and they'll be watching us. He returned to his flitter, kept running and warm by the driver, and called the captain on the com. They'd hoped the blade of the Petaybean winter would still be a few weeks away but it seemed they were out of luck. Much of their equipment would be useless now with the extreme cold. They're gone, sir. I doubt that, Sergeant, the officer replied. They must have been warned. Now we'll have to pursue them outside the village on their own turf. I'll consult High Command. Meanwhile, search the houses and see what intelligence you can gather. The gover- nor's mansion is a log cabin at the end of the street nearest the river. Seize records of any kind, books, computers, storage chips anything. If they make grocery lists in this godforsaken hole, I want those too. Governor Shongili has a laboratory west of the village, according to our sources. Search that in the same manner. Yes, sir. Then you can make a bonfire out of the place. With respect, sir, if we do that we lose the chance to catch them when they try to return home. It's minus ninety degrees Fahrenheit, Sergeant. If they can't return home, they'll have to show themselves to seek other shelter. Once the village is leveled, we'll search the surrounding villages and see if they're hiding there. Yes, sir, the sergeant said. But as they fanned out to search the houses, snow began falling. It wasn't supposed to be possible for snow to fall at such extreme temperatures, but this...

8220;The suspense is palpable, the pace is breathtaking, and the interspecies interactions are engaging.”—*Booklist

*“The collaborative effort by veterans McCaffrey and Scarborough brings together two consummate storytellers in an adventure suitable for both YA and adult audiences.”—*Library Journal

• “Magnificent . . . a glorious conclusion.”—SFRevu

Autorentext

Anne McCaffrey Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

Klappentext

InterGal Corporation has long desired to exploit the resource-rich Petaybee. But the planet and its guardians, led by Yana Maddock and Sean Shongili, along with their twin children, Ronan and Murel, have successfully thwarted every attempt by the Corporation to impose its iron-fisted dominion. Until now. With a bold move, InterGal's military arm has dispatched an invading force to subdue the planet once and for all.

While their parents work to foil the assault, Ronan and Murel are captured and sent to a desolate prison world where an old enemy, Dr. Mabo, waits to continue her cruel experiments on the shape-changing siblings. The twins' only hope of escape lies in the uncharted seas of the prison planet. But in the murky depths, something else is waiting. . . .

Leseprobe
Chapter One

The sentient world Petaybee, its northern continent blanketed in snow, appeared deceptively serene. Cold enough to freeze a sneeze in midair, but peaceful beneath its dark sky, it seemed an easy target for the troops whose arrival disturbed that peace.

Although they knew that the people in the village of Kilcoole were hostile and armed, the Company Corps soldiers did not worry unduly about resistance. Their landing was unannounced and they believed unexpected, so their superiors were confident that the soldiers could simply storm into house after house, waking the villagers and hauling them from their beds while they were still befuddled by sleep.

Instead, the soldiers were the ones who were befuddled as they slammed open unlocked door after unlocked door to find vacant unheated rooms with ice frosting the inside walls. Wild animals darted down the street or across it but no domestic beasts or human beings remained in the village.

The sergeant in charge of the ground mission regarded the village suspiciously. “Fan out and search but be damned careful,” he ordered. “These people are hunters. They won’t be far and they’ll be watching us.” He returned to his flitter, kept running and warm by the driver, and called the captain on the com. They’d hoped the blade of the Petaybean winter would still be a few weeks away but it seemed they were out of luck. Much of their equipment would be useless now with the extreme cold. “They’re gone, sir.”

“I doubt that, Sergeant,” the officer replied. “They must have been warned. Now we’ll have to pursue them outside the village on their own turf. I’ll consult High Command. Meanwhile, search the houses and see what intelligence you can gather. The gover- nor’s mansion is a log cabin at the end of the street nearest the river. Seize records of any kind, books, computers, storage chips— anything. If they make grocery lists in this godforsaken hole, I want those too. Governor Shongili has a laboratory west of the village, according to our sources. Search that in the same manner.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then you can make a bonfire out of the place.”

“With respect, sir, if we do that we lose the chance to catch them when they try to return home.”

“It’s minus ninety degrees Fahrenheit, Sergeant. If they can’t return home, they’ll have to show themselves to seek other shelter. Once the village is leveled, we’ll search the surrounding villages and see if they’re hiding there.”

“Yes, sir,” the sergeant said.

But as they fanned out to search the houses, snow began falling. It wasn’t supposed to be possible for snow to fall at such extreme temperatures, but…