Blood of the Cosmos (56 page)

In the hangar, the shocked techs let out gasps, moans, and curses in a range of dialects, but no one seemed to have appropriate words. They all just stared.

Finally, Rlinda said, “This is appalling.”

Xander watched as if the events had happened to someone else. The
Verne
raced away from Ulio, dodging, diving. Terry and Xander were at the controls, pilot and copilot. They had both been so attuned, so tense, they seemed to have one mind. OK had linked up to the
Verne
's defenses, his polymer fingers flying over controls as he readjusted their shields and diverted power as the robots chased after them. Much of the backbone of Ulio Station was in flames venting atmosphere and bodies.

Two black robot ships were close on the
Verne
's tail. Terry accelerated, sweating, while Xander dodged. Then, over the general comm, came a loud and heart-wrenching distress call. “—one hundred innocent women and children with me here. We're helpless. Please don't let the black robots come after us.”

Sensing more satisfying prey, the black robots veered off to murder an easier target, converging on the distress signal.

“Those bastards,” Rlinda said.

Xander remembered hearing that transmission, but they had been punching the stardrive, barely evading attack, and could do nothing to help all those desperate refugees. But now that he listened again, he thought the voice sounded familiar. It was a male voice with a native Theron accent. Xander blinked. “That's the green priest—the one who brought Orli a message when we were having lunch at Ulio Station.”

Terry concentrated. “I think you're right.”

Xander flashed a grim grin at the audience. “The robot ships converged at the coordinates of the distress signal—but it was actually Ulio's ekti-X stockpile. There weren't any stranded women and children there—just a lot of explosive stardrive fuel, and when the robots fired on it…” The
Verne
's log images showed only part of the explosion, because OK had activated the stardrive and the ship flashed away to safety. “By the Guiding Star, it was a setup!”

“So much for your fabulous fortune, Terry,” Xander said. “What Maria Ulio kept at the station was priceless. But I guess we're back to square one.”

“We didn't lose everything,” Terry said. “We still have our lives.”

Rlinda said, “That'll do.”

 

CHAPTER

93

EXXOS

The Shana Rei reveled in the obliteration of Ulio Station, and that victory kept the black robots alive. Eradicating the busy complex was a triumph of chaos erasing order. But the unexpected losses Exxos had suffered!

Ninety of his precious robots—all of them thankfully backed up—had been lured to destruction by one desperate human. Ninety! That disrupted his calculations. It was a terrible setback to his larger plans.

Nevertheless the destruction they had caused at Ulio gave him satisfaction. Realigning his thoughts to the new paradigm, he decided to convince the Shana Rei to continue on that course and raise the destruction to a much grander scale.

But he simply could not afford to lose more robots. There were so many planets and populations to wipe out. Losing ninety robots in one action was unacceptable.

“We understand now,” said one of the pulsing shadow blots. “We see what your robots intend to do, but you do not understand the scope of our enemies. The complete task is beyond your conception.”

Exxos was offended. “And yet we will proceed, step by step, and annihilate human civilization, the Ildiran Empire, the verdani mind, and everything that causes you such pain.”

“Your victories are ambitious, but unrealistic,” said another inkblot, and the creatures of darkness closed in on the group of robots drifting in the aimless void. “Even if you destroyed every single life-form, you are not strong enough to annihilate eternity's mind. And it is awakening.”

In his deepest programming, Exxos was more concerned with destroying the
Shana Rei
after the extinction of humans and Ildirans. “You presented us with this fight,” he said. “You enlisted us in your struggle against order and structure, and we refuse to stop fighting. Do you wish to surrender?”

The inkblots were silent, their darkness intensifying, then they spoke. “Surrender is a foreign concept.”

“Then you must endure, and you must sacrifice—just as we have sacrificed. Give us the ships and weapons we require. More than ever before.”

The inkblots swarmed closer, and Exxos feared he had pushed them too hard, and they could well retaliate by dismantling more robots down to atoms. Instead, the shadows said, “Define what you need.”

Exxos ran quick calculations. He could not afford to lose more robots. “We require invincible warships, larger vessels that wield greater power. We can cause more destruction, just as we did at Ulio Station.” He amplified his voice. “But you must create the ships for us, no matter how much pain it causes. You need to manifest the material.”

Creating the dark structural matter caused the Shana Rei such agony that he was convinced they would refuse him. Nevertheless, he demanded it. He wanted to see how much it would weaken them.

“We cannot tolerate the agony that would be required to manifest as much material as you request,” said the nearest shadow blot. “But the material already exists, an inexhaustible supply of dense black matter that we crafted into existence millennia ago. We already endured the pain of creation when it was locked into this universe.”

“What material is it?” Exxos asked.

“We manifested that matter when we were stronger, when a single victory against one race, the Onthos, and the core of the worldforest mattered more than anything. We englobed and smothered a star system. All that material remains. We can go there, use it again. And create exactly what you need.”

Exxos had not expected this. His crimson optical sensors brightened, and the rest of the surviving robots were thrumming. “We will have the material for as many battleships as we request?”

“That, and much more. Your robots will have the tools to keep blotting out organic worlds. We will go there. Now.”

The shadow cloud enfolded them, and the Shana Rei plunged out of existence, traveling behind dimensions, until they reemerged into the real universe.

 

CHAPTER

94

ELISA ENTURI

Elisa returned to the extraction yards after her roundabout trip, always happy to be back, if only briefly. These operations were entirely cut off from the rest of the Spiral Arm, as if they existed in their own universe. Elisa was happy to keep it that way in order to protect Iswander Industries.

The clumsy efforts of clan Duquesne would no longer threaten their ekti-X production. With such a small and newly established facility, she doubted the Duquesnes had had time to spread the word, even among their own clan. If someone else knew about the operations, then another rival extraction field would spring up, and another. The thought wearied her.

The bloaters were growing more and more common, though, and sooner or later someone else might accidentally figure out what they contained—just as she had. By silencing the Duquesnes, Elisa had bought them time, and she did not regret what she had done in order to protect Iswander Industries … at least for a little while longer.

Lee Iswander had returned from his journey to Newstation and Theroc. Elisa didn't quite understand why he had been so generous as to deliver all of the Onthos plague data, but she supposed that it served as goodwill. Iswander Industries had no aspirations to delve into medical research, so why not earn capital on an investment that cost them nothing? That was probably how he thought about it. Elisa resented the source of that data, though: Orli Covitz, as she was supposedly dying from the plague. And then that woman had flown off with Garrison and her son! To Elisa, the database was tainted.

Iswander got back to work in the extraction operations, glad that everything had run smoothly in his absence. “Londa will be content for a while,” Iswander told her, sounding relieved. “Reassured that Arden is safe and happy at Academ, although just seeing him probably made her miss the boy all the more. I expect I'll be taking many more trips to Newstation than I had previously.” The tone of his voice changed. “At least that way I can watch Sam Ricks make everything fall apart due to his incompetence.” Intense, he had gone off to work on a private project, one that he would not tell even her about.

Several days later, when Iswander called her for a private debriefing, she could tell he was troubled by something. He closed the door of the conference room, set his datapad on the table, and activated his files for her to see. He was obviously struggling to keep himself calm as he reviewed his notes. “That man insulted me, and I have decided not to let it pass.”

Elisa listened, concerned, and he related to her the snide and vengeful incompetence of Speaker Sam Ricks. “That's the real reason I went to Theroc after meeting with him. That's why the goodwill gesture of giving away the Onthos data was so important. The King and Queen are vastly more important than the Speaker for the clans.”

Elisa felt identical anger on his behalf. “You will oust him. Given enough power and wealth, you'll easily dominate the clans. By the next Speaker election, Ricks's own failings will be more obvious than they are now. They must know their mistake already.”

“I would prefer to overthrow him sooner rather than later—and doing so just takes a little research by a clever person,” Iswander said. “Before I left Newstation, I collected all their records, even confidential information from the clans, administrative filings and details of Ricks's daily schedule. It had all the clues I needed.”

Elisa had thought the vast profits generated from ekti-X would make Iswander feel whole again, but now he was thinking of a much larger picture. She had never sought the limelight for herself, but she understood his hunger for respectability.

“I've been doing detailed research for days, combing through records, making connections. I can assure you that Sam Ricks is a shifty man, but not a clever one. He's not very good at being corrupt.” Iswander smiled.

“Ricks has a pattern of appointing people from his own clan and then increasing their salaries far beyond their predecessors.” He shook his head. “I have an airtight case, and I'll soon be heading back to Newstation to present this. I can expose Ricks, and then I'll step into his place.”

She got the impression that if that happened, he wouldn't necessarily care about the ekti-X anymore. Elisa wondered if he would promote her to be manager of the extraction operations, and she decided, yes, that would be fine. After all, she had spilled enough blood to protect them—and recently, although she kept that information from him. She wanted to earn his pride and appreciation, although she had already done so many times over.

He looked up at her. “You just came from Ulio Station?”

“Some time ago, I had … other destinations.” How she longed to tell Iswander what she had done for him, so he could thank her for it and know how loyal she was, but she remained content with the private knowledge. “You can present your case, sir. They won't be able to deny the evidence.”

Iswander nodded, not asking for details. “Oh, I saw your son at Academ. Seth—he was taking classes with the other Roamer children. Garrison must have enrolled him in the school again. At least now you know where he is.”

Elisa flinched, but she gave him a cool nod. “Yes sir.”

He reviewed his files one more time, then closed down the documents. “Make sure that my vessel has a full tank of stardrive fuel. I don't intend to waste any time—I know I just got here, but I'm going back to Newstation with my evidence.”

“I've always envisioned you as Speaker Iswander, sir. You'll change the Roamers, force them into the present. It will be an admirable thing.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you, Elisa.” He seemed about to say something else, but then just nodded and gathered his records.

 

CHAPTER

95

MAGE-IMPERATOR JORA'H

It was a rare day on Ildira when all seven suns shone high in the sky at the same time, filling the air with dazzling, pure light. But Jora'h knew there was a darkness out there beyond those suns … and also, he feared, a darkness inside himself, a darkness inside the Ildiran race.

On a high deck of the Prism Palace's tallest minaret, the Mage-Imperator sat surrounded by busy attender kithmen who plumped cushions and brought unnecessary refreshments. They arranged exotic flowers, erected awnings, strung colorful ribbons. Service was an attender's purpose in life, and, as their Mage-Imperator, Jora'h had to let them serve him.

Brawny guard kithmen encircled the solar deck, ready against any outside threat, but also looking warily at one another in case shadows boiled up inside one of them. The guards had all been commanded to protect Prime Designate Daro'h with as much vehemence as they would protect the Mage-Imperator.

Now, Daro'h joined his father in the bright light so they could both absorb the purifying sunshine. In times of peace, a Prime Designate would have decades of a blissful hedonistic life, enjoying the pleasures of his status before he was forced to become Mage-Imperator. With the unexpected threat of the Shana Rei, though, Daro'h was forced to carry a greater weight than he had anticipated. The Prime Designate seemed edgy and intimidated, just as the guards were tense and wary. Jora'h understood why.

They were all concerned about the same man—a ticking time bomb in their midst.

The mad Designate finally arrived, stepping through a crystalline arch at the top of the minaret. Daro'h flinched, and his skin paled; Jora'h sat straighter in his regal chair, and showed no fear.