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The Laran Gambit

Author	Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross
Cover artist	Matthew Stawicki
Language	English
Series	Darkover
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust
Publication date	November 2022
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	328
ISBN	978-1-938185-72-4
Preceded by	The Children of Kings
Followed by	This is the final novel in the series.

The Laran Gambit is a science fiction novel by American writers Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross in the Darkover series. It was first published in hardcover by Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust in 2022. The book falls in the Darkover time period that the publisher has labeled "Modern Darkover", which succeeds the departure of the Terran Federation. The Laran Gambit is a stand-alone story which takes place after The Children of Kings. No exact time references are given, but judging by the apparent ages of certain characters who also appeared in the previous novel, several decades, perhaps five or more, has passed between the novels.

Plot summary (contains spoilers)

The Terran Federation which was the Terran Empire, has become the Star Alliance. The Federation First Minister Sandara Nagy seized the leadership of the Federation at the time of Traitor's Sun. She became the Firs Minister of the newly fomed Star Alliance and secured the top position of the government for her son Arthur when she died. Arthur Nagy has become the brutal dictator of the interplanetary Star Alliance, ruthlessly suppressing dissent, launching increasingly devastating military campaigns. Once idyllic worlds are embargoed or bombed into ashes, and Nagy's StarOps secret police lurk everywhere. Ephebe, Renney and Thetis are under martial law, Campta and the base around Wolf destroyed, blasted unhabitable; Vainwal is considering declaring independence from the Alliance. Demonstrations at Renney come unexplicately to an end as the demonstators suddenly seem to just loose interest and walk away, as if their minds were controlled by an outside force.

Terran child psychologist Bryn Haslund has her hands full, treating youngsters from war-torn planets. Bryn has tried to stay out of politics, leaving that to her charismatic statesman father, Senator Ernst Haslund, the only one with the stature to stand up to Nagy. Despite her efforts to remain neutral, Bryn gets caught in the crackdown of a protest-turned-riot and only her status as her father's daughter keeps her out of jail. Bryn and her family gather together to watch from television as Ernst makes a speech in which he is expected to condemn the violence and support the Vainwal system in its newly declared independence, but instead, he issues his whole-hearted support for Nagy's policies and then goes missing under mysterious circumstances. Bryn and her boyfriend Leonin begin searching Ernst and find some clues that he might have been taken to Apha, the Alliance’s center for scientific and medical research, where Bryn herself studied for her degree. Leonin has connections to the Free Worlds Movement, a resistance group, and is able to arrange transport to Alpha. They travel to Alpha, where Bryn meets her old mentor, the professor Felicia Sage.

With the Alliance's secret police and their top agent Black hot on her heels, Bryn locates her father in the research labs of Alpha. Here she discovers that Nagy's scientists have implanted a mechanical mind-control device in Ernst's brain. Felicia has some information about the operation and functions of the device, but is unable to disable it. In her search to disable the device, Bryn finds the records of a remote, almost-forgotten planet where psychic powers have been developed to an extraordinary degree: Cottman IV, known as Darkover. In the desperate hope that Darkover's powerful natural telepaths can free her father's mind, Bryn and Leonin arrange transport to Darkover in a smuggler's ship, but the StarOps police finds them and Leonin is killed. Bryn is able to escape with her father and Felicia, and meet the smuggler who takes them to Darkover. Powerful winds knock their shuttle off course when they try to land on Darkover, and send it spinning out of control. Bryn cries out for help and someone answers her telepathic plea.

The shuttle crashes in the rugged, glaciated Hellers mountain range. The party survives the crash landing, but are then buried by an avalanche. When they finally manage to dig themselves free, they are prisoned by blood-thirsty bandits. Luckily they are freed by a group of Free Amazons sent by the Keeper of Nevarsin Tower who heard Bryn's call for help. At Nevarsin Bryn meets the old Keeper, Alanna Alar, who went to study in Nevarsin at the end of The Children of Kings; Alanna is old and retired from the active work of the Circle, which means that several decades must have passed since she entered the Tower. Alanna tests Bryn for laran and finds out she has a form of the Aldaran Gift, the ability to see possible futures. The Nevarsin Circle tries to disable or remove the device from Ernst's brain but is unsuccesfull in the attempt. Alanna has a dream where she sees a dark, deadly ship, like a shark, with fire in its belly, moving through space. Alanna decides to send Bryn and her entourage to Thendara, where the Comyn Tower might have better luck, and where they might find help at laboratory facilities of the old Terran base. She appoints Desiderio of Serrano Heights, a Tower mechanic and a kinsman to the Lord Alton, as their guide. At some point, Bryn and Desiderio become romantically involved.

At Comyn Castle, they meet the current Regent of Elhalyn and of the Comyn, Varzil Alton-Hastur, who is the eldest son of Domenic Alton-Hastur and grandson of Mikhail Lanart-Hastur and Marguerida Alton. Varzil if sympathetic to their cause and sends Bryn to the Comyn Tower to speak with the Keeper's Council. There Bryn meets Illona Rider, the former Keeper of Comyn Tower, who is old and retired from the Circle work. The Keeper's agree to examine Ernst and see if the mind controlling device can be removed. Meanwhile, Felicia attempts to enter the Terran base, but finds out that it is guarded and the guards will not let anyone in. Ishana Reed is the daughter of Jeram Reed, a Terran renegade soldied who stayed in Darkover after the Terrans left. Ishana acts as a house keeper at the Alton section of the Comyn Castle where Bryn and company are stying, and tells them that it is useless to try to find anything usable in the Terran base laboratories, because they were destroyed and sealed decades earlier after the departure of the Terrans. Later Felicia visits Thendra university, with high hopes, but learsn that the university specializes in history, philosophy, and music, as the founder Marguerida ALton had wished. Natual sciences, medicine and surgical facilities are beyond their scope. The Bridge Society Academy trains Renunciate healers and widwives, but even their level of medical technology is very low, nowhere even near the level that once existed at teh Federation Headquarters.

The Tower Circle examines Ernts at the Tower, but are unable to help him. The neural corticator device imbedded in his brain is so alien to the Keepers that they cannot even begin to understand it's operations. Some time later Ernst falls unconscious and cannot be wakened. In desperation Bryn decides to beg Varzil for a permission to search the abandoned Terran base for anything that could help them. Varzil consents and they enter he base. At the Terran headquarters the Darkovans tell that there is still a functioning radio communications center there, that the Darkovans are using as listening post for the possible return of the Terrans. Bryn and Desiderion are able to locate the medical wing of the headquartes, but find out that it has been sealed with matrix locks. After a few tries, Bryn is able to unlock them, only to realize there's nothing leaft at the premises, everything has been totally destroyed, apparently to prevent the Terran technology be misused any anyone. While returning, they meet Felix Alton Hastur, the eldest son of the Regent at the radio center. Felix tells them that about a tenday ago, they detectec a signal far outside of the Cottman system that had gradually moved closer to Darkover. Now the signal has become strong enough that they are able to distinguish words from among the static noise. It becomes apparent that there is a Terran StarOps spaceship approaching Darkover with Captain Black aborad carrying an arrest warrant for Bryn, Ernst and Felicia.

Bryn and Desiderion leave the Terran to tell the news to her father.The Terrans, with their superior weapons, would surely be able to force the Comyn to surrender the Terran refugees. While contemplating the fast approching doom Bryn keeps thinking what would have happened if they'd been ale to salvage surgical equipment, upgrade the Bridge Society Academy or train the Tower circle in the corticator technology. At that moment, she finds the answer: they could actually teach the Terran technology to the cicle, if the Keeper could link with Feliciy who was adept in the corticator technology, with Bryn functioning as a bridge and a translator. They hurry back to he Comyn Castle to consult the Keepers at the Tower and decide to attempt an operation. At the end they prevail and the brain corticator is disabled.

The next morning, Bryn and Ernst are invited to attend the meeting of the Comyn Council in the Crystal Chamber. The implications of the approaching StarOps warship and the Council concerns about the Star Alliance are discussed at length. Erns explains his personal vision of how teh Star Alliance should function: each planet should have the right to self-governance and autonomy, free choice to make alliances and dissolve them, as the people of each world deem best. Negotiang, not dicating. He wants to return to Terra to attempt changing the system now that he is free from Nagy's control. He urges the Comyn Council to use him to their advantage by turning him over to the StarOps, bargaining for concessions to gain protection for Darkover. At the end, the Council agrees. Bryn and Desiderion begin planning ways to affect Nagy upon their return to Terra in a way that doesn't violate Desiderio's ethics nor require forced rapport or telepathic coercion. They decide to use a modified truthspell in effort to somehow induce Nagy to himself confess and acknowledge his deeds, like the mind control technology used on the masses at Renney.

The Terran ship arrives, negotiations are held and an agreement is reached. Bryn and Ernst are handed over to the StarOps with an inclusion of a Darkovan representative, who will be granted full diplomatic privileges. Desiderio will be the representative. Felicia will not accompany them: she has jumped the wall and gone native, accepting the invitation of Julianna n'ha Caitlin, the Dean of Thendara University, to create a program of basic scientific education and training in research prectices suitable for Darkover. StarOps seem not to be interested in her anyway.

Upon arrival on Terra, Bryn and Ernst become separated from Desiderio. They are conveyed to a studio where an official ceremony welcoming Senator Haslund back is to be held sometime soon. Bryn tries unsuccesfuly contact Desiderio. Nagy opens the ceremony and begins a propaganda speech glorifying the Star Alliance and vilifying its opponents who supposedly had kidnapped Senator Haslund in an attempt to Star Alliance government. Senator Haslund is then called to give a speech and everyone expects him to endorse Nagy. Instead, he reveals what truly happened to him. Meanwhile, Bryn tries desperately reach Desiderio telepathically, to no effect. She decides she must act alone and rushing to the scene casts the modified truthspell as Nagy interrupts her father. The spell does not seem to work at first, flicking off and on and off again, but little by little it starts to affect Nagy, who altenatingly confesses his actions and denies them only to confess them again, all the while becoming more and more irrational. At the same time, mind control devices at the premises have been activated and they are affecting Bryn's thinking. Finally, Desiderio is able to reach Bryn telepathically and Bryn is able to make the truthspell last making Nagy spill everything. At that moment, Captain Black draws his blaster and aims at Ernst Haslund. Bryn tackles her father as the blaster goes off. Suddenly Desiderio bursts in the scene, tackling Black and making the next bolt go wild.

Later Bryn regains consciousness in the hospital. Desiderio tells her Arthur Nagy was killed by Black's second shot, and Black is in custody charged with murder and a host of other crimes. A few days late Bryn is joined by her family. Senate has invited Ersnt Haslund to form a provisional goverment. Desiderio, as the representative of Darkover, the only Closed World with present tied to the Alliance, has taken responsibility for contacting Vainwal and arranging the panel for non-Alliance worlds discussing the matter of what relatinship they want with Terra, if any. Bryn has a talk with her father about their future plans.

Some time later, Bryn is descending the ramp of the shuttle at the newly opened spaceport at Thendara. She's alone; Desiderio is back on Terra, her counterpar and ally in ensuring Darkover's survival. A honor guard in the Comyn colors is waiting for her, and Varzil Hastur greets her as equal to equal, addressing her as Domna Ambassador.

Characters

• Bryn Haslund, a Terran child psychologist
• Ernst Haslund, Bryn's father, a member of the Star Alliance Senate
• Leonin Vargas, Bryn's boyfriend
• Saralyn, Bryn's sister
• Bettony and Rhys, Saralyn's children
• Tomas, Saralyn's husband
• Erica, their babysitter
• Rashid Vargas, leader of Free Worlds Movement, Leonin's brother
• Styx, Jax, Mode, members of the resistance movement
• Captain Wie, an interstellar smuggler with contacts to FWM
• Professor Felicity Sage, Bryn's mentor and a professor at Alpha City University
• Madame Marian Postlethwaite, librarian at the Alpha City University Library
• Dr. Boniface, a researcher at the Applied Corticator Sciences Laboratory
• Black, a StarOps captain in pursuit of Bryn and Senator Haslund
• Connison, the first mate and shuttle pilot of Captain Wie's ship
• Martina n'ha Riva, the leader of the Comhi-Letzii from Nevarsin Guildhouse
• Devra, Arliss, Leeanne, Bettina, Doranne, Venezia, Leonie, members of Nevarsin Guildhouse
• Desiderio of Serrano Heights, matrix mechanic at Nevarsin Tower, of nedestro descent from the Altons
• Alanna Alar, Lady of Nevarsin, a retired Keeper of Nevarsin Tower
• Adriana, Keeper of Nevarsin Tower, her nedestra mother claimed by the Leyniers
• Sylvie, monitor at Nevarsin Tower
• Hjalmar, Ramon-Luis, Beren, workers at Nevarsin Tower
• Fidelio, the coridom of the Comyn Castle
• Maralise, servant at the Comyn Castle
• Ishana Reed, housekeeper at the Alton section of the Comyn Castle, middle aged daughter of Jeremiah Reed
• Jeram aka Jeremiah Reed, historical figure, a Terranan regenade who stayed on Darkover when the Federation left.
• Raymon, a gurad at Comyn Castle
• Varzil Alton-Hastur, Warden of Hastur, Regent of Elhalyn and of the Comyn, Domenic Alton-Hastur's son
• Fiona Delleray, Keeper of Comyn Tower
• Robert Syrtis, Keeper of Neskaya Tower
• Illona Rider, the quite elderly and retired Comyn Keeper
• Laurinda Hastur, Keeper of Arilinn
• Allart Ridenow, Keeper of Corandolis
• Marguerida Alton-Hastur, historical figure, wife of the former Regent Mikhail Alton-Hastur and mother of Domenic Alton-Hastur.
• Domenic Alton-Hastur, historical figure, once Regent of Elhalyn and of the Domains, Mikhail and Marguerida's son, Varzil Alton-Hastur's father.
• Liriel Mac-Anndra-Hastur, Varzil Alton-Hastur's wife
• Felix Regis-Rafael Alton-Hastur, Varzil's oldest son and heir
• Arnad Alton-Hastur, Lord Alton, Desiderio's kinsman, Domenic Alton-Hastur's nephew, Varzil's cousin
• Vittorio Ardais, heir to Ardais
• Julianna n'ha Caitlin, the dean of students at Thendara University
• Verana, monitor at Comyn Tower
• Lewis-Ramon Ridenow
• Donal Vallonde, Desiderio's kinsman
• Uriel Reed, Ishana Reed's nephew
• Everard Jenkins, a StarOps agent
• Arthur Nagy, the First Minister of the Star Alliance
• Sandra Nagy, historical figure, Arthur Nagy's mother, the former First Minister of the Terran Federation and then the Star Alliance

Publication history

• Nov 2022, Marion Zmmer Bradley Literary Works Trust, 978-1-938185-72-4, 328pp, hardcover
• Nov 2023, Marion Zmmer Bradley Literary Works Trust, 978-1-938185-74-8, 342pp, paperback

References

1. The Laran Gambit title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
2. "Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust".

• Darkover books
• 2022 American novels
• American science fiction novels
• Novels published posthumously
• Novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust books
• Novels by Deborah J. Ross