Dark Space - Marianne de Pierres [84]
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They followed Rast the short distance to a glinting bore-tower with a narrow platform at the summit.
Mira had to squint to see the tower properly. Her velum’s light-filter was malfunctioning and she wondered how many harmful rays it was allowing past. ‘But what is a mercenary doing on Araldis?’ she asked Cass.
‘All I know is I’m damn grateful for it.’ Cass said no more as she slung Chanee across her back and prepared to climb the ladder.
Others were already up there. Mira recognised Catchut among them. He handed a ‘scope to her as she took her place among the spectators. She pressed the magnification button until the blur defined into something she recognised. The hydro-tents. She lifted the ‘scope higher, past them, until she settled on a growing line of TerVs, all with the same cargo. Saqr. Hundreds of them.
War. It was being said over and over around her but some part of her had refused to believe it, because she had not wanted to, until now.
The sick feeling returned. Could she have stopped them? How had these Saqr adapted to survive outside their water home? ‘Why?’ the whisper escaped her lips.
‘Si, Baronessa-pilot, your planet is mineral-abundant but why is it worth an invasion?’ Rast had moved to her other side. Sweat stood out on the strips of exposed flesh at her neck as she mouthed quiet instructions into the combat hood. ‘Deactivate the fence.’
‘What are you doing?’ exclaimed Cass from behind Mira.
‘Watch.’
Mira put her eye back to the ‘scope. As the fence glow dissolved, Saqr climbed from the TerVs and examined the burned remains of their first scouts. After a few moments one of them crawled back and forth across the line of the fence without harm.
‘Come, pretty, pretty . . .’ murmured Rast.
The individual returned to the group and after some moments a group of them shuffled across the line.
‘Now,’ breathed Rast. The fence flamed in a bonfire of incinerating chitin.
Jubilant shouts rose from the watchers on the tower but Mira didn’t join in, didn’t feel their sense of triumph. How could she celebrate the deaths of primitive sentients with little capacity for strategy or planning when those responsible for the bombs were alive? And what of herself? If others knew what she had seen and not shared, would they hold her accountable?
‘Hope you got some tricks in your suit for when they come from the air, Rast,’ said Cass when the shouting quieted. She had moved to the other side of Catchut now. She shifted the weight of her infant on her back.
Mira suddenly felt the pangs of a different kind of fear. Chanee’s oversuit hung so baggily on him. She reached behind to touch Vito. Had dehydration and hunger permanently damaged him?
‘Their motor dexterity is limited. They are aggressive but they cannot operate machinery. What I want to know is, who is managing the auto-drives on the TerVs?’ said Rast.
Mira watched her disappear down the ladder. I know.
One by one the other observers followed Rast.
When Mira reached the bottom she was surprised to find the mercenary waiting for her in the narrow strands of shade.
‘Tell me what you know about the Saqr, pilot.’
‘They are classified as a giant tardigrade and they come from a planet called Saqry, the largest moon of the gas giant Saqrshoanl. I read a case study... an OLOSS envoy went to determine their level of sentience. They removed all his body fluid and returned him perfectly intact to his planet of origin.’
‘They sound intelligent enough to me,’ said Rast.
Mira couldn’t decide if she was joking. ‘They have a basic social structure but, as you said, it is designed around survival.’
‘Yeah, well, most things are.’ Rast began to walk on.
With difficulty Mira and Cass kept step with her. ‘Is that why you are here?’
This time Rast did laugh. ‘You have an interesting sense of humour, Baronessa. Let’s just say that the Principe had some concerns that he didn’t have faith in his own to deal with.’
Cass made a contemptuous sound. ‘He was right. The cowardly cazzone left