Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson [168]
"And they've lost three skymines to the enemy aliens," the General said.
"Three that we know of," Basil pointed out. "But out of how many? We don't know how many skymines the Roamers are operating, or where they are. Originally, they purchased a dozen old ekti-harvesting facilities from the Ildirans, but since that time they have built plenty more. How many? The Roamers don't report to the Hansa each time they put a new one into operation. In fact, the facility that was destroyed at Erphano was completely unknown to us."
"Bastards," Lanyan said.
Basil shook his head. "There are so many skymines, General, countless uninhabited systems. The Hansa's appetite for ekti is voracious—so how can we complain about their industry? Who could keep track of where all the facilities might be? No one has had the incentive before, since the Roamers keep delivering the stardrive fuel that we desperately need. They don't overcharge us, and thus we don't ask questions."
No one had ever imagined that the seemingly aloof and disorganized space trash might in fact be part of a large hidden civilization in the back corners of the Spiral Arm. It reminded Basil of swarms of cockroaches living all unseen within the cracks of a dwelling. "Roachers" seemed an appropriate term for them.
"Perhaps the skymine facilities should be nationalized," Lanyan said. "Military necessity, emergency powers act. Order them all to be placed under Hansa control and allow us to impose order. The alien attacks could serve as an effective excuse."
Basil laughed. "Impossible, General. Completely impossible. And if we provoke the Roamers in that way, they might well embargo all the ekti. They're the ones holding the cards, not us."
"How about EDF spy ships? We could dispatch reconnaissance vessels, look for Roamer skymines."
"Across the whole Spiral Arm, search for floating factories on every gas planet? Is that where you recommend we expend our efforts, General? The few unrecorded facilities we might discover would be an insignificant percentage, and then we'd have to take them over, occupy the facilities, and run them ourselves. That, General, would be an unwinnable strategy."
Lanyan took the broad-winged glider higher, then cruised back toward the main base. They had seen enough troop demonstrations for the day.
"At the very least," the General said, his voice showing that he had taken the time to consider his suggestion, "we could use the crisis to call for a full census of the Roamers. Under the guise of offering to protect their skymines, we could flush them out into the open. That data could prove very useful."
Basil refused, for now. "Their Speaker Okiah is a clever old woman. She would see through the ruse immediately. The alien attackers are our primary concern, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize our steady flow of ekti." He pursed his lips. "However...I will impose price restrictions, so that the Roamers can feel the effects of this war in their credit accounts as well."
"It will be difficult enough to prosecute a war against an alien threat we don't understand." Lanyan did not appear completely satisfied with the solution as he brought the glider in for a landing at the multiple domes of the Mars base. "The last thing we need is a wrench in the machinery from human beings as well."
76 JESS TAMBLYN
An emergency clan gathering had been called at Rendezvous. But the Roamer family representatives were in such an uproar that even Jhy Okiah, with her decades of experience as Speaker, could barely maintain order.
Leaders of the various family groups sat on their designated benches in the crowded discussion chamber, jostling, talking, shouting. The air reprocessors worked double-time to keep the atmosphere fresh and breathable, despite such an unusual number of people. The food, air, and water resources of the Roamer gathering point were taxed to their limits. But Speaker Okiah had deemed no other matter more important for their survival.
Jess Tamblyn