A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [131]
“Besides,” Zhett pointed out, “pulling all workers from the comet reclamation fields increases the ring workforce down here by a thousand.” Unfortunately, the shipyard facilities didn’t have the food supplies or life support to hold so many people for long.
Kellum stared with a heavy heart at one large cargo ship that was nearly completed. Its hull and structural ribs were in place, but the high-efficiency stardrive engines were not yet assembled. Even with the most optimistic work estimates, labor crews could not possibly complete the project in time. And no “small-time mining operation” could have created such a sophisticated vessel.
So, Kellum dispatched cutters to the hull and sent demolition crews aboard to rip the ship into its basic components. It had not yet been christened, and now the ship must be stillborn, despite the huge investment.
Sighing, he shook his head and looked at Zhett. “I can’t complain that the Eddies are finally going to send a real message to the alien bastards. I just wish they’d make their point somewhere else, so I could keep working.” He hoped the major pieces of the big expensive vessel could be salvaged later, if the Osquivel shipyards were ever reactivated.
“Well, Dad, if they knew about our operations here, they’d be likely to hit us, too.”
With a mock-scolding tone, he said, “Don’t you have work to do? Dismantlers to harass or young mining engineers to flirt with?”
She chuckled, an unusual sound in the past several days. “Whatever you want me to do, Dad.”
Later, looking at the largest spacedock structures and administrative stations, Zhett conceived the faster alternative of simply disguising them by spraying nonreflective rock foam onto the smooth plates. The geometric shapes and configurations were still obviously artificial, but unless the Eddie ships looked closely, the reflective signatures would simply appear to be distorted rocks in the rings.
“Good enough, my sweet.” Kellum hugged his daughter. “Afterward, we can strip off the layers and use everything again.”
Around the rings, Roamers took grappler pods to the scattered sites, finishing one task and then volunteering for other parts of the frantic operation. All personnel scrambled with only the briefest rest and meal breaks. Two men died when a cluster of spacedock girders broke loose of their tether and drifted into a launch path. All operations shut down for an hour, but there was no time for a full investigation. Del Kellum sent everyone back to work with an admonishment to be more careful.
Squandering vital ekti, a hodgepodge assembly of Roamer ships rushed into the system from other clans, offering additional work crews and supplies. All families united for the huge effort, pulling up stakes and helping Kellum to hide. As time grew shorter, they would shuttle away all of the nonessential personnel, while Del Kellum and his primary crew would hide themselves in secure bolt-holes within the rings and wait out the episode like rabbits in a thicket.
Accidents happened, equipment was damaged, and the exhausted crews made sloppy mistakes. The small work-site infirmaries filled with grumbling and impatient laborers, anxious to be patched up and get back on the job. Even with the ruinous safety record, Kellum had no choice. They could not slow down.
As day after day went by, with a sinking cold feeling in his heart, he watched his life’s work disappear by degrees. But he couldn’t mourn the disaster now. They all had very little time.
The EDF battlegroup was on its way.
67
KING PETER
Because he attended the ceremony as King, the formal launch of the new Soldier compies received more attention than it deserved, as far as Peter was concerned.
The presentation field had been manicured so perfectly that it looked as if humans or compies had trimmed, inspected, and combed each blade of grass, arranging every petal on every flower. Freshly painted receiving stands had been erected along one side of the field. Colorful