As for Mohandar, he was as unreadable as Zekrath. She didn't expect aid from that quarter—it had been made clear to her that dark templar couldn't have preservers, because they chose to separate themselves from the Khala. Likely as not, this guy might even be against them as a symbol of the "bad old Aiur" they sought to disconnect themselves from. And yet he was eyeing her steadily. She faced forward to Artanis, trying not to feel her skin crawl under that unblinking gaze.

"Vartanil," Artanis said, "Your thoughts are welcome here. You stand by this human, and support her request to seek Zamara and the being who houses her. Speak now of this.. .and of the nightmare that is our old enemy Ulrezaj."

Both Vartanil and Rosemary started at that. "Whoa, wait a minute.. .you all already know about Ulrezaj?" yelped Rosemary.

"We do indeed," Artanis answered, his thoughts grimmer than any she had yet sensed from him. "Shortly after we scoured the zerg from Shakuras, we encountered him for the first time. He was not nearly as strong then. From what you have told us, he now has the unheard-of power of seven dark templar assassins."

"So Zamara told us," Vartanil replied.

"He attempted to attack Shakuras by positioning an orbital space station that emitted powerful energy waves. They disrupted our communication and drained Shakuras's energy shields. Zeratul, a friend to the Aiur protoss and the one who offered us sanctuary on Shakuras, tried to convince Ulrezaj that old hatreds were best laid aside. But by then, Ulrezaj had already merged with three other protoss and had become the most powerful dark archon the dark templar had ever known."

Rosemary snorted. "Four...you guys had it easy."

"So it seems," Artanis acknowledged. "And that is grievous knowledge. Unfortunately, at the end, he eluded us. And now we know where he has been hiding, and at least some of what he has been doing."

Rosemary became aware that her mouth was hanging open and closed it with a snap.

"This monster...our Benefactor," Vartanil said, his heart sick. "Attacking his own people, in a time of war... how could we have been so misled?"

"Do not berate yourself one moment longer," said Artanis kindly. "Ulrezaj was clever and strong enough to escape us when he was but four dark templar. That he was clever enough to create the Sundrop and dupe those who remained on Aiur when he had the brilliance and power of seven beings in him, is no surprise. Once the zerg overran our beloved Aiur, we again permitted dark archons to be created. They are devastating weapons, certainly. Their wildness and uncontrollability was the price paid for the damage they caused our foes. But ordinary dark archons do not exist for long. They do not become what this Ulrezaj has. To learn that he has grown yet more powerful is horrifying—what dark knowledge has he obtained, and from whence, that he is able to continue and not be ripped apart by the very power that made him?"

Rosemary couldn't help it; she turned to look at Mohandar, and as she did so, she knew others were as well. The ancient being who represented the dark templar in this assembly seemed completely unruffled by the scrutiny. There was still fear of the dark templar, the shadow hunters, old and stubborn, lurking in the back of many minds here.

Artanis shook his head. "No, Vartanil. Be at peace. All that truly matters is that once you understood what he was, you had the strength of will to forsake him."

Vartanil nodded slowly. "Rosemary was the first of anyone to break free of the Sundrop. She has proven herself to me, and Jacob Ramsey should be remembered in protoss history as one of the greatest allies we have ever had."

Rosemary's eyes widened a little at that.

Artanis's indecision was palpable. On the one hand, a preserver was a rare treasure. On the other hand, in the end she was one person, and her fate was tangled up with the dreadfully dangerous dark archon. Going after her could cost innocent protoss lives. Was it worth it?

"Zamara thought so. She was willing to let an awful lot of people die for this secret she harbors. Some of those people were friends of mine."

And some were friends of Jake's... and he loved his friends. Mine were business associates.

"And," she continued, "unless your preservers have a history of being selfish and egotistical to an insane degree, which I don't think is the case, then yeah—I do think the risk would be worth it."

"How dare you tell us what to think?" Urun's mental voice cracked like a whip, and Rosemary winced from the pain of it in her head. "You are in no position to demand anything!"

"Peace, Urun," Artanis said, holding up a hand. "The terran female merely states her opinion."

"Which should carry no weight whatsoever in this council," said Nahaan. "There are too many opinions already. We are like beasts trying to pull a vehicle in several different directions. We will get nowhere!"

Someone else had a snappy retort, and Nahaan rose to it, and Rosemary slumped slightly. In a way, Nahaan was right. They would get nowhere, arguing like this.

"Rosemary Dahl, I am so very sorry," Vartanil said in her mind. "We are a people who strive so hard for unity and yet it seems it is forever eluding us."

They'lljust send me back to my comfortable cell until they've argued over it some more, Rosemary thought. She tried to direct her thoughts privately to Vartanil, and had no clue if she'd succeeded. "Jake and Zamara could be dead by then."

"Hierarch! May I address the council?"

Rosemary's dark head whipped up in surprise. That clear, strong mental voice belonged to Selendis. The slender but still powerful protoss stepped forward, moving with a graceful stride toward the human woman. Rosemary wasn't alone in her shock; apparently no one else had expected Selendis to speak.

"Of course, Selendis," said Artanis. Rosemary got a brief hit, quickly smothered, of other protoss not being quite so willing to have the executor share her thoughts.

"I was the first in a position of authority to be informed of the human's arrival, along with the other evacuees of our homeworld," Selendis began. "I have never attempted to hide my feelings; on the contrary I am proud of them. None here assembled can question my devotion to my people, nor my desire to fight and protect them."

Her gaze swept the hall, almost as if daring anyone to challenge her. No one did.

"It is said that nothing can be forever hidden, if it wishes to be found; that lessons not learned the first time they appear will come again until we accept them. So it is with this situation now. The lesson craves to be understood and embraced; and the secret once unspoken strains to be shared. Those who knew it kept their silence, truly believing that it would serve nothing and harm much to speak of it. At the time, that might have been true—but no longer. Hierarch, I will tell them."

Everyone in the room strained forward. Mental murmurs of surprise pattered softly on Rosemary's brain. She'd already had a profound shock in discovering that the Hierarchy, at least, knew about Ulrezaj and she braced herself for another. What kind of bomb was Selendis about to drop?

Judging from Artanis's reaction and the sudden stillness that meant they were communicating privately, it was a big one. Artanis sat back, looking unhappy but resigned, and Selendis turned to address the hall.

"The attack on Shakuras," she said solemnly, "was not the first time we had encountered Ulrezaj. We found him and his cohorts shortly before then.. .when we sent a small fleet of protoss on a rescue mission to Aiur."

Rosemary gritted her teeth and clutched her head at the mental pain this revelation caused.

"You knew there were survivors on Aiur?"

"Why did we not send a larger fleet?"

"So many could have been saved!"