Authors: Kevin J. Anderson
The question repeated among the other robots that had come to torture him.
“What is this?”
“What is the sound?”
“What is happening?”
Though Rod'h didn't understand it either, he said in a rough, raspy voice, “It is something terribleâand it is coming for you!”
Around him, the gigantic pulsing force grew brighter, all-consuming, swelling until the music became deafening. It tore at the Shana Rei defenses, the black cocoon in which they protected themselves.
The presence continued to awaken.
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ZHETT KELLUM
In their busy extraction field outside of Ikbir, the bloaters seemed strangely restless. Every Roamer worker in the Kellum operations could sense it.
From one of the inspection pods that flew among the swollen nodules, Marius Denva transmitted, “We're new to this, but something doesn't feel right to me, Zhett ⦠Not at all. The bloaters are
agitated.
” His voice had a faint undertone of uncertainty. Denva had gone back to work full-time, but sometimes he was still jumpy after his ordeal on Kuivahr.
Zhett and Patrick stared through the bridge windowport of their HQ ship. “How can giant plankton be agitated?” Patrick asked. “Are you saying a bag of protoplasm is nervous?”
Similar uneasy transmissions came from other workers. “Just keep your eyes open,” Zhett transmitted.
The mothballed industrial equipment they had retrieved from Osquivel was now functioning at full capacity. Clan engineers had easily modified the old ekti-processing ships for the new work. The bloater sacks were drained, and the protoplasm processed into ekti-X, which was then stored in tank arrays. Previously, Roamer skymines had cruised above the clouds of gas giants. They had needed factories, pumping stations, centrifuges, and reactors, all of which were inefficient and expensive. In contrast, extracting stardrive fuel from these bloaters was as simple as poking in a straw and draining the nodules dry.
Unaware of the tension among the workers, Del Kellum strolled onto the bridge of the HQ ship, potbelly thrust forward. “This is going to be profitable, by damn! Very profitable indeed.”
“So long as there isn't a glut in the market,” Patrick said. “With so much extra production, stardrive fuel could become as cheap as water.”
Kellum sniffed at his son-in-law. “People still make a fortune selling water.”
One of the outlying bloaters suddenly sparkled with a flare of intense white light that faded quickly. Zhett just caught it out of the corner of her eye. She knew the nodules occasionally did that, much to the consternation of the extraction crews. Vessels that were too close to one of the flare-ups could suffer severe system damage and circuitry overloads.
A second nodule flared up ⦠then three more sparkles. It was like slow-motion fireworks throughout the cluster. “Something's definitely happening out there,” Zhett said.
Over the comm, Kristof yelped. “That one was close, Mom! I got great images of it, though.”
Their son insisted on working out in space among the bloaters. Normally, Zhett would have been glad to let him gain hands-on experienceâbut not right now. “Toff, get out of there!”
A sixth bloater flashed, brighter than the others, as if a nova had gone off in its nucleus.
Patrick took the comm. “Everyone, pull away from the bloaters. Evacuate until this calms down.”
Three more dazzling flare-ups. The flashes were increasing in frequency, though randomly distributed. Out in the open, Denva's supervisory pod pulled back, but as he skimmed close to another bloater, a flare-up damaged his engines, leaving him drifting and helpless in space. Static burst across the comm system. “My pod's systems are downâI'm using batteries for life support. By the Guiding Star,
not again!
Someone come fetch me.”
“All personnel, get out of there!” Zhett yelled.
The extraction workers scrambled to retreat from the pumping operations, abandoning the machinery attached to the bloaters. One half-drained nodule also flickered like a feeble death gasp, but its light had a reddish tinge; then the swollen sack collapsed, crushing the pumping machinery attached to it.
Toff volunteered to streak in and rescue Denva. From his weak comm, Denva said, “I'm suiting up. I do not intend to let myself get stranded again. I still have nightmares about Kuivahr. I'll jump out the airlock so you can intercept me, kid.”
“Call me a kid again, and I might just let you drift out there for an hour.”
“I've been through worse. I can last for as long as necessary.” He let out an angry snort. “But I prefer not to.”
A bloater flared very close to Kristof's ship, and he went into a spin as he struggled to regain control.
“Toff, are you all right?” Zhett cried.
The bloater flares continued, sparkle after sparkle, like a storm of bright signals. Del Kellum paced the deck, his expression stormy. “By the Guiding Star, what triggered all that? What is waking them up?”
“I knew these operations seemed too easy,” Patrick said.
Most of their ships and workers had retreated to a safe distance while the bloaters continued to flare up like a meteor shower. Zhett called for a full check-in, found out who needed to be rescued and how many ships were damaged. This was going to be a setback, for sure.
Toff picked up Denva and took him back to HQ.
Finally, the glittering lights faded inside the formerly innocuous nodules, and everything went quiet again. Zhett shook her head as she looked out at the suddenly dangerous operations. The Roamers had already drained dozens of the nodules, but more than half of the cluster remained. “What the hell was that all about?” she muttered. “And what set them off?”
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ARITA
As the Theron defenders marched toward the impenetrable fortress in the dead worldtrees, King Peter and Queen Estarra were ashen.
“Clear it away,” Peter shouted. “Remove the blighted trees.”
The Onthos retreated deeper into the thicket as the first wave of Theron soldiers used explosives to splinter the barricade. From above, survey flights showed thousands of Onthos running through the dead zone.
When the explosions shattered the fallen wood, Collin, Zaquel, and the other green priests moaned in dismay, holding the treelings they had brought from the other continent. Reynald swayed unsteadily, while Osira'h and Arita held on to him, giving him support.
“You tried to reason with the Onthos,” Osira'h assured him in a hard voice. “They refused.”
“Even so,” Reyn said, “I was hoping to cure the trees, not eradicate them.”
Theron fire-suppression ships swooped in, loaded with fire retardant to keep the blaze under control. “We won't let it turn into a wildfire.” Arita grasped Collin's hand, but he was trembling. She said, “We're only taking out the dead parts before the Gardeners can cause any more damage.”
“But the forest doesn't want this!” Collin caught his breath as another section of the barricade of fallen trees was blasted away. “The verdani ask that we not cause further harm.”
King Peter gestured vehemently, directing another wave of troops forward and scattering more Onthos. “Drive them out!”
“But they are the Gardeners,” Zaquel said. “They have served the trees.”
Estarra stood at Peter's side. “They're
killing
the trees. Why would you want us to hesitate?”
The green priests hung their heads. “Because the verdani are begging us not to let this happen.⦔ Sickened by the damage being inflicted on the worldforest, they gathered together. “Wait for us,” Zaquel said. “Please stop the attack!”
Frowning, Peter halted further explosions, waiting to see what the green priests would do.
In a large group, the priests darted into the thorny deadwood, and Arita rushed after Collin and his companions, fearing it might be a trap. The forest was like a lost graveyard with the bones of the verdani all around them.
Urged onward by Collin, the green priests pushed their way deeper into the dark and sinister forest, calling out. Coming to a halt in a dead clearing, Collin seemed at a loss, disconnected even though he held his potted treeling. “We cannot hear the verdani mind even with our trees,” he said. “It's gone silent in here.”
Arita heard the ominous crackle of shattering wood and collapsing trees all around. Behind them, the King and Queen and an armed contingent of the Theron home guard marched into the clearing.
In the twisted dead branches high above and in the dry underbrush all around them, there came a loud stirring. Ohro appeared, then ten other pale Gardeners, and then a hundred more. The sheer numbers were breathtaking.
“We will fight to survive,” Ohro said, but his voice was pleading rather than belligerent. “We created a shelter for ourselves, and we will destroy you all, if you try to take us from it.”
More Gardeners came forth, an army to stand against the Theron defenders and green priests. Dead, massive trees crashed around them.
“This battle will be bloody,” Osira'h said.
Arita felt a sharp twist in her stomach as she watched the Onthos gathering, the Theron defenders readying their weapons. Then, deep inside her mind she felt a call, a shout from the distant, enormous presence that had brushed against her mind for so long.
Arita reached out with her thoughts and tried to touch that looming sentience that seemed even greater than the verdani mind. She knew it was out thereâstirring, restless. She gasped as it suddenly
awakened,
all across the Spiral Arm. She reeled, grabbing a tree for balance, and sent out her thoughts, but the burgeoning presence was not focused on her.
Arita fought to concentrate, to pull her awareness back to Theroc and the battle here. The green priests seemed disoriented, as if they could feel it too.
That once-slumbering entity now returned with astonishing clarity, an omniscient awareness that spread out through the fabric of the universe. Bright and powerful thoughts flooded Arita's mind, so that she felt transported from the dead forest zone.
One small battle was being fought here, but a greater war spread across the cosmos. The new awakening flared in her mind, and the Onthos reacted as if they had been sprayed with acid. The aliens scrambled away, flailing their hands. Their black impenetrable eyes were wide and fathomless. With shrieking, panicked noises, they fled through the splintered debris of their dead fortress.
The green priests also looked stunned and confused. “What is that?” Collin asked. “It's not the verdani mind.”
“Something wonderful and terrifying just happened,” Arita said.
Peter, Estarra, and the Theron defenders stood at a loss. Their military advance had stopped.
Unexpectedly, a crackle came over the comm system carried by the Theron defenders. “King Peter, Queen Estarra! General Keah hereâI've brought the last remnants of the CDF to Theroc. We suffered tremendous losses.”
Estarra responded, “Losses from what, General?”
“Why have we heard nothing?” Peter asked.
“My green priests could not make contact! Earth was attacked by the Shana Rei and a million bugbot warships. The Lunar Orbital Complex is obliterated, along with CDF headquarters, and ⦠and sireâEarth is destroyed!”
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ORLI COVITZ
More ships began arriving at Handon Station, and Orli was confident that the Roamers would create a thriving commercial center after all. DD embraced his new role here, helping to monitor incoming ships and equipment and manage orders for station supplies.
More than a hundred Roamer clan members joined the new venture at Rendezvous. While Xander and Terry watched over salvage operations at Relleker, the first few hulks had been hauled back here for repair. With all the new bloater operations, the demand for functional ships of any size was higher than ever. Handon Station mechanics could repair and sell as many vessels as they could get their hands on.
During their daily work, Orli felt more content than ever. She already had ten Roamer compies in her workshop, so she could upgrade their programming and add new functionality. Once word got out about her services, she would have more projects than she could handleâwhich was exactly what she wanted.
And she was with Garrison. The two of them went to the main landing bay to receive the battered hulk of a commercial vessel from Relleker, still loaded with food and luxury items. The black robots had gutted it, but the hull and engines were intact, so the vessel could be refurbished. The salvage team had removed seven bodies before hauling the ship to Rendezvous.
She and Garrison looked at the other ships parked around the asteroid cluster awaiting repair. Orli said, “We're going to need more spacedock construction facilities.”
“That's the idea,” he said. “Some of the repaired ships will stay, others will be sold.” A space tug tethered the commercial vessel to an outlying asteroid, and inspection crews got to work on their initial assessment.
DD and Seth came into the bay. The boy had been sad to leave his friends at Academ, but he thrived here as well. DD said, “I put my other duties on hold for a few hours to review young Seth's homework, as requested. His progress is adequate, although his weakest scores are in the vocabulary units.”
“I communicate just fine,” Seth said.
“You do,” Orli agreed, “but DD can teach you some bigger words.”
“And how to spell them,” Garrison said.
“But I'm a Roamer! I'm better at mathematics and engineering.”
Garrison turned to the compy. “Hear that, DD? When you're not on your work shift give Seth plenty of homework in mathematics and engineering, too.”