Primary Inversion (48 page)

      
“It’s beautiful,” Jaibriol said softly.

      
“Yes.” Beautiful. Wild. Unknown.

      
After checking the area, we sat on the edge of the cliff with the blanket wrapped around us and the carbine resting on our knees. The wind whispered across our faces while shadows darkened the mountains. More stars appeared, one by one, then tens of them, then hundreds and thousands.

      
Jaibriol leaned his head against mine. “Home.”

      
Home. It felt strange to say. We had lost so much; everything we knew, everyone we loved. And despite all that had happened, I knew Jaibriol loved his father. But in exchange for those losses, we had gained the hope that someday we, or perhaps our children, could make a difference in the unending war between our peoples. No guarantees existed, no promises, no certainties.

      
But the hope was there.

      
We sat together, warm under the blanket. Soon we would return to the cave to make love and sleep and gather our energy for tomorrow, and the tomorrows after that, as we learned to know each other, preparing not only to survive, but to heal for the future, for that day when we might leave here and resume our heritages.

      
For now, we were content to sit together and watch night unfold.

Characters & Family History

Boldface names refer to Ruby psions, also known as the “Rhon.” All Rhon psions who are members of the Ruby Dynasty use
Skolia
as their last name. The
Selei
name indicates the direct line of the Ruby Pharaoh. Children of
Roca
and
Eldrinson
take Valdoria as a third name. The del prefix means “in honor of,” and is capitalized if the person honored was a Triad member. Most names are based on world-building systems drawn from Mayan, North African, and Indian cultures.

= marriage

~   ~   ~

Lahaylia Selei
(Ruby Pharaoh: deceased) =
Jarac
(Imperator: deceased)

Lahaylia
and
Jarac
founded the modern-day Ruby Dynasty.
Lahaylia
was created in the Rhon genetic project. Her lineage traced back to the ancient Ruby Dynasty that founded the Ruby Empire.

Lahaylia
and
Jarac
had two daughters,
Dyhianna Selei
and
Roca.

~   ~   ~

Dyhianna (Dehya)
= (1) William Seth Rockworth III (separated)

      
= (2)
Eldrin Jarac Valdoria

Dehya
is the Ruby Pharaoh. She married William Seth Rockworth III as part of the Iceland Treaty between the Skolian Imperialate and Allied Worlds of Earth. They had no children and later separated. The dissolution of their marriage would negate the treaty, so neither the Allieds nor Imperialate recognize the divorce.
Spherical Harmonic
tells the story of what happened to
Dehya
after the Radiance War.

Dehya
and
Eldrin
have two children,
Taquinil Selei
and
Althor Vyan Selei. Taquinil
is an extraordinary genius and an untenably sensitive empath. He appears in
The Radiant Seas, Spherical Harmonic,
and
Carnelians.

~   ~   ~

Althor Vyan
=
Akushtina (Tina) Selei Santis Pulivok

The story of
Althor
and
Tina
appears in
Catch the Lightning.
Althor Vyan Selei
was named after his uncle,
Althor Izam-Na Valdoria.
The short story “Avo de Paso” tells the story of how Tina and her cousin Manuel in the New Mexico desert and appears in the anthologies
Redshift,
edited by Al Sarrantino, and
Fantasy: The Year’s Best, 2001,
edited by Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber.

~   ~   ~

Roca
=  (1) Tokaba Ryestar (deceased)

      
=  (2) Darr Hammerjackson (divorced)

      
=  (3)
Eldrinson Althor Valdoria

Roca
is the sister of the Ruby Pharoah. She is in the direct line of succession to the Ruby throne and to all three titles of the Triad. She is also the Foreign Affairs Councilor of the Assembly, a seat she won through election rather than as an inherited title. A ballet dancer turned diplomat, she appears in almost all of the Ruby Dynasty novels.

Roca
and Tokaba Ryestar had one child,
Kurj
(Imperator and Jagernaut). Genetically,
Kurj
is the son of his grandfather.
Kurj
married Ami when he was a century old, and they had one son named Kurjson.
Kurj
appears in
Skyfall, Primary Inversion,
and
The Radiant Seas.

Although no records exist of
Eldrinson’s
lineage, it is believed he descends from the ancient Ruby Dynasty. He is a bard, farmer, and judge on the planet Lyshriol (also known as Skyfall). His spectacular singing voice is legendary among his people, a genetic gift he bequeathed to his sons Eldrin and Del-Kurj. The novel
Skyfall
tells how
Eldrinson
and
Roca
met. They have ten children:

Eldrin (Dryni) Jarac
(bard, opera singer, consort to Ruby Pharaoh, Lyshriol warrior)

Althor Izam-Na
(engineer, Jagernaut, Imperial Heir)

Del-Kurj (Del)
(rock singer, Lyshriol warrior, twin to
Chaniece)

Chaniece Roca
(runs Valdoria family household, twin to
Del-Kurj
)

Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei
(farmer, doctorate in agriculture)

Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia
(military scientist, Jagernaut, Imperator)

Denric Windward
(teacher, doctorate in literature)

Shannon Eirlei
(Blue Dale archer)

Aniece Dyhianna
(accountant, Rillian queen)

Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin
(mathematician, Jagernaut, Imperator)

~   ~   ~

Eldrin
appears in
The Final Key, Triad, Spherical Harmonic, The Radiant Seas, The Ruby Dice, Diamond Star,
Carnelians,
and
Lightning Strike/Catch the Lightning.
See also
Dehya.

~   ~   ~

Althor Izam-Na
= (1) Coop and Vaz

      
= (2) Cirrus (former provider to Ur Qox)

Althor
has a daughter, Eristia Leirol Valdoria, with Syreen Leirol, an actress turned linguist. Coop and Vaz have a son, Ryder Jalam Majda Valdoria, with
Althor
as cofather.
Althor
and Coop appear in
The Radiant Seas.
Vaz and Coop appear in
Spherical Harmonic.
Althor
and Cirrus also have a son.

~   ~   ~

Del-Kurj,
often considered the renegade of the Ruby Dynasty, is a rock singer who rose to fame on Earth after the Radiance War. His story is told in
Diamond Star,
which is accompanied by a music soundtrack of the same name cut by the rock band Point Valid with Catherine Asaro. The songs on the CD are all from the book and are available online.
Del
also appears in
The Quantum Rose, Schism,
and the novella “Stained Glass Heart.”

~   ~   ~

Chaneice
is Del’s twin sister, and is the only one who can calm him down when he becomes agitated. They come as close to sharing a mind as two Rhon empaths can do without becoming one person.
Chaniece
appears in
Diamond Star, Schism,
and
The Quantum Rose.

~   ~   ~

Havyrl (Vyrl)
= (1) Liliara (Lily)
Torcellei
(deceased)

      
= (2) Kamoj Quanta Argali

The story of Havyrl and Lily appears in “Stained Glass Heart,” in the anthology
Irresistible Forces,
edited by Catherine Asaro, 2004. The story of
Havyrl
and Kamoj appears in
The Quantum Rose,
which won the 2001 Nebula Award. An early version of the first half was serialized in
Analog,
May–July/August 1999.

~   ~   ~

Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia
= (1) Jato Stormson (divorced)

      
= (2) Hypron Luminar (deceased)

      
= (3)
Jaibriol Qox
(aka
Jaibriol II)

The story of Soz’s time at the Dieshan Military Academy is told in
Schism, The Final Key,
and the short story “Echoes of Pride” (
Space Cadets
, ed. Mike Resnick, 2006)
. The Final Key
tells of the first war between the Skolians and the Traders and Soz’s part in that war. The story of the team Soz led to rescue colonists from the world New Day, where she met Hypron, is told in the novelette “The Pyre of New Day (
The Mammoth Book of SF Wars,
ed. Ian Whates and Ian Watson, 2012).
The
story of how
Soz
and Jato met appears in the novella, “Aurora in Four Voices” (
Analog,
December 1998).
Soz
and
Jaibriol’s
stories appear in
Primary Inversion
and
The Radiant Seas.
They have four children:
Jaibriol III, Rocalisa, Vitar,
and
del-Kelric.

Jaibriol Qox Skolia
(aka
Jaibriol III
) Emperor of Eube =  Tarquine Iquar (Empress, Finance Minister, and Iquar queen)

The story of how
Jaibriol III
becomes
Emperor of the Trader empire at age seventeen is in
The Moon’s Shadow.
The story of how Jaibriol and Kelric deal with each other appears in
The Ruby Dice
and
Carnelians.
Jaibriol III
also appears in
The Radiant Seas
as both a small child and a teenager.

~   ~   ~

Denric
is a teacher. He accepts a position on the world Sandstorm to build a school for the children there and teach them. His harrowing introduction to his new home appears in the short story, “The Edges of Never-Haven” (
Flights of Fantasy,
edited by Al Sarrantino). He also appears in
The Quantum Rose.

~   ~   ~

Shannon
is the most otherworldly of the members of the Ruby Dynasty. He inherited the rare genetics of a Blue Dale Archer from his father, Eldrinson. He left home at age sixteen and sought out the legendary Archers, thought they were believed extinct when he went looking for them. He appears in
Schism, The Final Key, The Quantum Rose,
and as a child in “Stained Glass Heart.”

~   ~   ~

Aniece
= Lord Rillia

Aniece
is the most business-minded of the Valdoria children. Although she never left her home world Lyshriol, she earned an MBA and became an accountant. Lord Rillia rules a Lysjrioli province which includes the Rillian Vales, Dalvador Plains, Backbone Mountains, and Stained Glass Forest.
Aniece
decided at age twelve that she would marry Rillia, though he was much older and already a king, and she kept at her plan until she achieved her purpose.
Aniece
and Rillia appear in
The Quantum Rose
.

~   ~   ~

Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin
= (1) Corey Majda (deceased)

      
= (2) Deha Dahl (deceased)

      
= (3) Rashiva Haka (Calani trade)

      
= (4) Savina Miesa (deceased)

      
= (5) Avtac Varz (Calani trade)

      
= (6) Ixpar Karn

      
= (7) Jeejon (deceased)

Kelric
is a major character in
Carnelians, The Ruby Dice,
“The Ruby Dice” (novella,
Baen’s Universe
2006),
Ascendant Sun, The Last Hawk,
and the novelette “Light and Shadow” (Analog, April 1994). He also appears in
The Moon’s Shadow, Diamond Star,
the novella “A Roll of the Dice” (Analog, July/August 2000), and “Stained Glass Heart” (
Irresistible Forces,
ed. Catherine Asaro, 2004).

Kelric
and Rashiva have one son, Jimorla Haka, who becomes a renowned Calani.
Kelric
and Savina have one daughter,
Rohka Miesa Varz,
who becomes the Ministry Successor in line to rule the Estates of Coba.

~   ~   ~

The novella “Walk in Silence” (Analog, April 2003) tells the story of Jess Fernandez, an Allied Starship Captain from Earth, who deals with the genetically engineered humans on the Skolian colony of Icelos.

The novella “The City of Cries” (
Down These Dark Spaceways,
ed. by Mike Resnick) tells the story of Major Bhaaj, a private investigator hired by the House of Majda to find Prince Dayj Majda after he disappears.

The novella “The Shadowed Heart” (
Year’s
Best Paranormal,
edited by Paula Guran, and
The Journey Home,
edited by Mary Kirk) is the story of Jason Harrick, a Jagernaut who just barely survives the Radiance War.

TIME LINE

Ancient Ruby Empire

Circa 4000 BC Group of humans moved from Earth to Raylicon

Circa 3600 BC Rise of the Ruby Dynasty

Circa 3100 BC Raylicans launch their first interstellar flights:  Rise of the ancient Ruby Empire

Circa 2900 BC Ruby Empire declines

Circa 2800 BC Last interstellar flights; Ruby Empire collapses