On a garden terrace overlooking the scarred ruins of Zimia, Xavier Harkonnen stood somberly by himself, dreading the upcoming “victory” parade. Afternoon sunlight warmed his face. Birdsong had replaced the screams and explosions; breezes had scoured away the worst of the poisonous smoke.

Still, the League would be a long time recovering. Nothing would ever be the same.

Even days after the attack, he still saw smears of smoke wafting from the rubble and trailing into a cloudless sky. He could not smell the soot, though. The cymeks’ poison gas had so damaged his tissues that he would never smell or taste much of anything again. Even breathing had become no more that a mechanical act, not an enjoyable inhalation of sweet fresh air.

But he could not wallow in misery when so many others had lost much more. In the aftermath of the cymek attack, he had been kept alive by the heroic efforts of a Salusan medical team. Serena Butler had come to him at the hospital, but he remembered her only through a fog of pain, drugs, and life-support systems. In an extraordinary procedure, Xavier had received a double lung transplant, healthy organs provided by the mysterious Tlulaxa. He knew Serena had worked vigorously with the brilliant battlefield surgeons and a Tlulaxa flesh merchant named Tuk Keedair to get him the treatment he needed.

Now he could breathe again, despite intermittent bursts of pain. Xavier would live to fight the machines another time. Thanks to pharmaceuticals and advanced healing techniques, he had been able to leave the hospital soon after the medical procedure.

At the time of the attack, the flesh merchant Keedair had been in Zimia on a routine sales call and barely escaped with his life. On the Unallied Planet of Tlulax in the distant Thalim solar system, his people ran organ farms, growing human hearts, lungs, kidneys, and other body parts from viable cells. After the cymeks were driven away, the secretive Tlulaxa had offered his biological wares to the battlefield surgeons at Zimia’s main field hospital. His ship’s cryogenic lockers were filled with sample body parts. A stroke of luck, Keedair had admitted with a smile, that he could be there to help the grievously injured Salusan citizens during their time of great need.

Following the successful surgery, Keedair had come to see Xavier in the medical center. The Tlulaxa was a man of middle height but slight of build, with dark eyes and an angular face. A long, dark braid hung at the left side of his head, plaited tightly.

Breathing in, carefully modulating his raspy voice, Xavier said, “It was fortunate you were here with new organs already stored aboard your ship.”

Keedair rubbed his long-fingered hands together. “If I had known the cymeks would strike so ferociously, I would have brought a larger supply of material from our organ farms. Your Salusan survivors could use many more replacement parts, but additional ships cannot arrive from the Thalim system for months.”

Before the flesh merchant left Xavier’s room, he turned back and said, “Consider yourself one of the lucky ones, Tercero Harkonnen.”

IN BATTLE-SCARRED ZIMIA, grief-stricken survivors searched for their dead, and buried them. As rubble was cleared, the death toll mounted. Bodies were recovered, names of the missing were compiled. In spite of such pain and sorrow, because of the attack free humanity grew stronger.

Viceroy Manion Butler had insisted that the people show only determination in the aftermath. On the streets below Xavier’s terrace, final preparations were under way for a celebration of thanksgiving. Banners with the open-hand sigil of human freedom fluttered in the wind. Rough-looking men in dirty coats struggled to control magnificent white Salusan stallions that had become agitated by the commotion. The horses’ manes were braided with tassles and bells, and their tails swept behind them like waterfalls of fine hair. Festooned with ribbons and flowers, the animals pranced, eager to march down the broad central boulevard that had been washed clean of debris, soot, and bloodstains.

Xavier glanced uncertainly at the sky. How could he ever look at the clouds again without dreading that he might see more pyramidal dropcarriages plunging through the scrambler shields? Missiles were already being installed, increased batteries to protect against an attack from space. More patrols would be launched, circling the system on the highest state of alert.

Instead of attending a parade, he should be preparing the Salusan Militia for another attack, increasing the number of picket ships and scouts at the edge of the system, working out a more efficient rescue and response plan. It was only a matter of time before the thinking machines returned.

The next meeting of the League Parliament would devote itself to emergency measures and reparations. The representatives would sketch out a reconstruction plan for Zimia. The cymek warrior-forms left behind must be dismantled and analyzed for weaknesses.

Xavier hoped the League would immediately dispatch a summons to Poritrin, calling the brilliant Tio Holtzman to inspect his recently installed scrambler shields. Only the great inventor himself could devise a stopgap measure against the technical flaw the cymeks had discovered.

When Xavier mentioned his concerns to Viceroy Butler, the florid-faced leader had nodded, but stopped further discussion. “First, we must have a day of affirmation, to celebrate the fact that we are alive.” Xavier saw deep sadness behind the Viceroy’s mask of confidence. “We are not machines, Xavier. There must be more to our lives than war and revenge.”

Hearing footsteps on the terrace, Xavier turned to see Serena Butler smiling at him, her eyes flashing with a secret depth that she shared with him now that no one could see the two of them. “There is my heroic tercero.”

“A man responsible for letting half a city be destroyed isn’t usually called a hero, Serena.”

“No, but the term does apply to a man who saved the rest of the planet. As you are fully aware, if you hadn’t made your hard choice, all of Zimia, all of Salusa, would have been crushed.” She put a hand on his shoulder and stood very close to him. “I won’t have you wallowing in guilt during the victory parade. One day won’t make much difference.”

“One day could very well make a huge difference,” Xavier insisted. “We barely drove off the attackers this time because we were too confident in the new scrambler shields, and because we foolishly thought Omnius had decided to leave us alone after so many decades. This would be the perfect time for them to hit us again. What if they’ve launched a second wave?”

“Omnius is still licking his wounds. I doubt his force has even returned to the Synchronized Worlds yet.”

“Machines don’t lick wounds,” he said.

“You’re such a serious young man,” she said. “Please, just for the parade? Our people need to have their spirits uplifted.”

“Your father already gave me the same lecture.”

“You know, of course, that if two Butlers say a thing, it’s bound to be true.”

He gave Serena a firm hug, then followed her from the terrace toward the parade reviewing stand, where he would sit in a place of honor beside the Viceroy.

Since they’d been children, Xavier had always found himself attracted to Serena; as they matured, they had grown confident of their deepening feelings toward each other. Both he and Serena considered it a foregone conclusion that they would wed, a rare perfect match of politics, acceptable bloodlines, and romance.

Now, though, with the sudden increase in hostilities, he reminded himself of his greater priorities. Thanks to the disaster that had killed Primero Meach, Xavier Harkonnen was interim commander of the Salusan Militia, which forced him to face larger issues. He wanted to do so much, but he was only one man.

An hour later, the assemblage sat on a grandstand in the central plaza. Scaffolding and temporary girders shored up the broken facades of government buildings. The ornamental fountains no longer functioned, but the citizens of Zimia knew there could be no other place for such a presentation.

Even burned and damaged, the tall edifices looked magnificent: constructed in Salusan Gothic style with multilevel roof lines, spires, and carved columns. Salusa Secundus was the seat of the League government, but it also hosted the leading cultural and anthropological museums. In surrounding neighborhoods, the crowded dwellings were of simpler construction but pleasing to the eye, whitewashed with lime taken from chalk cliffs. Salusans prided themselves on having the best craftsmen and artisans in the League. They did most of their production by hand instead of with automated machinery.

Along the parade route, the citizens dressed in colorful raiment of magenta, blue, and yellow. People chattered and pointed as the remarkable stallions passed them, followed by marching musicians and folk dancers on hover-floats. One monstrous Salusan bull, drugged into a near stupor to control it, plodded down the street.

Though Xavier made the best of it all, he found himself constantly glancing at the sky, and at the scars of the wounded city. . . .

At the conclusion of the parade, Manion Butler delivered a speech celebrating the successful defense but acknowledging the high cost of the battle, tens of thousands killed or wounded. “We have much healing and recovery to do, but we also have an unbroken spirit, no matter what the thinking machines may attempt.”

Addressing the crowd, the Viceroy summoned Xavier to the central platform. “I present for you our greatest hero, a man who stood firm against the cymeks and made the necessary decisions to save us all. Few others would have been strong enough to do the same.”

Feeling out of place, Xavier stepped forward to receive a military medal on a striped blue, red, and gold ribbon from the Viceroy. In the midst of cheers, Serena kissed him on the cheek. He hoped no one in the crowd could see him blush.

“With this commendation comes a promotion to the rank of Tercero, First Grade. Xavier Harkonnen, I charge you with studying defensive tactics and installations for the entire League Armada. Your duties will encompass the local Salusan Militia, along with responsibility for improving the military security of the entire League of Nobles.”

The young officer felt awkward from the attention, but he graciously accepted the accolades. “I look forward to beginning the hard work of our survival . . . and advancement.” He favored Serena with an indulgent smile. “Following today’s festivities, of course.”