Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson [197]
"You all know your targets. Let's start rolling these big ice bombs down to smack Golgen right in the face." Jess lowered his voice to a growl. "Those aliens don't realize just how much trouble they've asked for."
With a final round of acknowledgments, the Roamer ships split away from Jess and dispersed into the obstacle course of tumbling icebergs. These workers understood the minimal tolerances and the accuracies that were involved; after all, they had worked for demanding Bram Tamblyn. Any Roamer who cut corners or performed sloppy work ended up dead soon enough, usually with the blood of many innocents on his careless hands.
Jess double-checked his cargo and altered course toward his chosen target, a large comet already inbound to the inner system. He dropped out of the edge of the Kuiper belt into the neighborhood of the ecliptic.
Inside the cockpit, Jess wore insulated work clothes, a comfortable set of overalls with dozens of pockets, clips, and gadget belts. Over the outfit he had wrapped an embroidered shoulder cloak, an old family treasure his mother had made before her death in the Plumas crevasse. On it were stylized designs and the names of Ross, Jess, and Tasia against a background of the Roamer Chain. His heart sank as he thought of how his tight clan had unraveled, how his whole family had dwindled. But things would change.
The separate crews arrived at their snowball landing points, locked down docking clamps, and emerged from their ships to begin installing equipment. Throughout the day, the Plumas team transmitted messages, updating Jess. With deceptively gentle movements, his other team members had launched a flurry of comets like a shotgun blast toward the gas giant. Now, the only thing needed was time and celestial mechanics. The bombardment would continue for years, one impact after another.
"That'll give 'em heartburn," said his uncle Caleb over the comm.
But Jess had in mind a more immediate strike, a blow that he could observe soon, while his anger still burned high. For Ross.
He brought his ship close to the comet dropping toward the sun on its original long-term journey. The ice mountain had passed close enough to be deviated by Golgen's gravity, hooking its orbit inward. Sunlight had volatilized a thin mist from its surface that leaked out in a fuzzy mane that would eventually become a tail.
Jess mapped the surface topography of the comet to understand the material structure. After using scanners to investigate the internal inhomogeneities, he modified his calculations. If everything worked out right, this comet would arrive at its target within a month.
Selecting the appropriate place, Jess anchored his ship on an ice clearing where shards of vacuum-extruded pinnacles crunched under the weight of his hull. His fuel tanks and his cargo hold were filled with ekti, enough to provide a prolonged thrust with immense force. The roar echoed into the silent vacuum, and Jess grimly held on as the ship trembled with the effort. A Roamer vessel locked down, with its stardrive engines blasting at full thrust for two weeks, would be enough to drive the comet like a sledge-hammer into the target planet.
Within a day, one of the Plumas crew ships would pick him up. The engines continued to blast away, nudging the giant ice mountain. Jess had plenty of time to think. He had no regrets, no reservations. He could not turn back. This was something he had to do.
He didn't care what the Big Goose or the Eddies might think. No doubt, even some Roamers might be infuriated at his provocative act, but most would cheer that he had actually done something. He didn't know if Cesca would be disappointed in him, or if she would applaud his actions. He would stand firm, either way, knowing his obligations. It wasn't as if diplomacy had been effective. The enemy had offered no communication whatsoever.
He looked through