Read Online Hell's Foundations Quiver by David Weber - Free Book Online Page B

even so.…
    â€œWell, it won’t be so very much longer before you and Sandaria are in a position to see exactly why we think that way,” he told her.
    *   *   *
    The recon skimmers grounded side-by-side in the vast main cavern of the complex Merlin had christened “Nimue’s Cave” so many years before. The canopies retracted, and Aivah and Sandaria sat very still, gazing up at the towering, glass-smooth vault above them. In a way, Merlin suspected, they found the sheer size and sweep of that obviously artificial chamber even more impressive than the skimmers which had brought them here.
    He climbed up out of his flight couch and dropped lightly to the cavern floor without recourse to the boarding ladder. As his boots hit the stone, he heard another pair of heels as Nimue Chwaeriau vaulted down from the second skimmer, and he grinned, despite his anxiety. Nimue was the next best thing to a foot shorter than he was, with dark red hair. That hair went well with the blue eyes they shared, but how would Aivah react when she discovered that eyes weren’t the only things they shared?
    â€œWelcome to Nimue’s Cave, ladies,” he said, looking up at their passengers as the skimmers’ ladders extruded themselves from the fuselage sides. “If you’ll come down and join us, we’ll give you a short guided tour. That seems like the best place to start.”
    *   *   *
    For all her redoubtable personal toughness and resilience, Aivah’s eyes were shadowed with wonder as she and Sandaria followed Merlin and Nimue up a long, wide flight of steps from the main cavern’s floor. Merlin hadn’t tried to explain everything they’d seen on their brief “guided tour,” but what he had explained had been more than enough to stagger any Safeholdian. Even one who’d read Saint Kohdy’s journal. What they were seeing at this moment was the actual reality of the Holy Writ ’s descriptions of the archangels’ kyousei hi and all the other “servitors” sprinkled about The Testimonies and the Book of Chihiro . Kohdy’s journal had prepared them for the fact that the servitors had not, in fact, been alive themselves, but there was a vast gulf between knowing that— believing that—and actually seeing and touching the truth.
    At least the tour had given her and Sandaria the chance to adjust a bit. Tension still drifted off of them like smoke, especially in Sandaria’s case, but the worst, sharpest edge had been taken off it. Which meant it was time for them to be shown Nimue’s sanctum sanctorum and told the rest of the truth, and Merlin’s hands—faithfully mimicking a flesh-and-blood human’s reaction to his emotions—were cold at the thought of taking their guests across that Rubicon.
    At least this time it doesn’t have to turn into the Styx if they can’t accept the truth , he reminded himself. At least I’ve got that much.
    They entered the largish—but still much smaller than the main cavern—chamber in which Nimue Alban had first awakened on Safehold twice. In preparation for their visit, Owl had manufactured an oval conference table of polished marble—or out of an advanced synthetic that looked and felt exactly like polished marble, anyway—large enough to comfortably accommodate a dozen people. The chairs around it were made of gleaming native hardwoods, with deep, comfortable cushions, and several wine bottles and a steaming carafe of hot chocolate had been set ready to hand.
    â€œPlease, sit,” Merlin invited, and the Safeholdians obeyed. He waited until they were seated, then nodded for Nimue to sit, as well. “Wine? Or would you prefer chocolate?”
    â€œChocolate for me,” Aivah told him, and smiled wryly. “I don’t think I need alcohol complicating things just now.”
    â€œOf course.” He picked up the