A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [260]
Anton and Vao’sh would stay with the skeleton crew of service workers, engineers, and attraction designers, telling stories and studying the Saga of Seven Suns.
“It is very poignant.” Standing on the ground and blinking up into the still-bright sky, Vao’sh watched as one of the last shuttles lifted off from the spaceport, rising toward the enormous passenger liner in orbit above Maratha.
Anton kept staring into the sky with a content smile on his face. “Like petals from a dying flower blowing away in the wind…”
He was actually looking forward to quieter days here, when he could continue his scholarly work of analyzing the Saga, as Vao’sh shared and discussed piece after piece with him. He relished this opportunity that no other human scholar had ever received, and he was not anxious for it to end.
After the death of the Mage-Imperator, he had observed with fascination and concern as the normally cheerful people on Maratha Prime became disjointed and fearful, suffering from a kind of depressive mania. Until then, the young scholar had not understood the true importance of thism to the alien race. Even Vao’sh had been unable to explain it comprehensibly, but Anton certainly saw its effects. The Ildirans—many of their kiths, anyway—looked so similar to humans, but they bore significant differences.
With vigor and forced enthusiasm, Anton had told them as many uplifting and cheerful stories as he could remember, doing his best to help the Ildirans through the brief dark time. He wasn’t sure how much he had accomplished, but he knew Vao’sh appreciated the effort he had made.
While watching the visitors hurriedly packing, purchasing souvenirs, rushing to meet their shuttle flights, Anton had viewed the sunset and the abandonment of the city as a metaphor for the waning glory of the Ildiran Empire. He didn’t think Vao’sh would appreciate hearing that. “This place is beginning to remind me of a Klikiss ruin, like the ones my parents spent so much time investigating.”
“Maratha Prime may be quieter, Rememberer Anton, but it is not yet dead and empty. And after next year, when Secda is completed, Maratha will never again seem painfully silent.”
“For some of us, Vao’sh, noisy crowds are not necessarily a good thing. I won’t mind living here on an isolated outpost, self-reliant—as long as I can keep studying the Saga. That is why I came.”
“I will never understand why humans place so little value on companionship,” Vao’sh said.
Anton laughed. “To me, one good friend like you is plenty.” He reached out to touch the rememberer’s bony shoulder. “You and I can take care of ourselves, Vao’sh…no matter what happens.”
And he was going to get so much work done.
Finally, they stood with the small work crew that would remain behind, watching the orbiting passenger liner depart, carrying the vacationers back to their lives in the crowded Ildiran Empire. Vao’sh studied the deepening colors in the sky, the slow-fading glory of daylight as the planet eased into the shadow of night.
Inside the domed city, lights and blazers banished any hint of shadow even before the sun could set. Maratha Prime would be a beacon in the darkness, full of lights and the comfort of civilization.
Anton Colicos thought that staying behind to tell stories under the vault of stars, waiting out the months of darkness, was the perfect scenario, just like telling tales at a campfire. The way it was supposed to be.
“You and I are going to have a grand time here, Vao’sh,” he said.
On the opposite side of the planet, the silent work teams of Klikiss robots continued their efforts unsupervised, toiling away on their own plans…
134
TASIA TAMBLYN
After the fireball creatures unexpectedly attacked the hydrogues on Theroc, General Lanyan and his admirals seized upon the idea of recruiting the things as direct partners in the struggle. In all other engagements, EDF weapons had proved only minimally effective against the enemy, but