Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [105]
Fitzpatrick felt a hot lump in the pit of his stomach, his knees grew weak, and he was sure all the color had drained from his face. He himself was responsible for that particular mess. He had ordered the blast that destroyed Kamarov’s unarmed ship. He didn’t dare speak up and admit his guilt, though it must have been sickeningly obvious on his face.
Zhett noticed his oddly reticent behavior as she led him back to the chambers where the other EDF prisoners were held. Despite his resentment for their situation, Fitzpatrick couldn’t reveal what he had done, not simply for fear of the Roamer reprisals, but because a small, nagging part of him didn’t want Zhett Kellum to think any less of him…
Chapter 52—ORLI COVITZ
Rheindic Co was vastly different from cloudy, damp Dremen, but this was only a stopping place, a waypoint where eager colonists waited to go through the transportal to their new homes.
Orli was used to gray gloom and cold drizzle; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt warm sunlight on her bare arms and face. To her dismay she got ferociously sunburned for the first time in her life. On Dremen, she’d never had to worry about it, but now a tingling redness covered every square centimeter of her arms and cheeks and neck.
Her father went among the other colonists, asking if anyone had brought lotions or sun creams. Only a few had, and he couldn’t afford the price they were asking. Fortunately, his persistence paid off, and he found supplies in the Hansa base camp. He returned slathered with ointment, which he promptly applied to his daughter as well.
She kept blinking her eyes against the dazzle of sunlight reflecting off the rocky canyons and mountains. Everything looked so different. When Jan saw how his daughter stared at the alien landscape, he tousled her short hair. “Don’t worry, girl. Our new colony home will be more attractive than this, warm and green, a place to settle down and take it easy for a change.”
Orli brightened, though she didn’t mind the desert scenery at all. “Have they told you where we’re going? Do you know the name of our planet?”
“It’s just the luck of the draw, I think. We’ll find out when they call our number. They’re afraid people would start arguing over planets, trading assignments and messing up the Hansa’s record-keeping.”
Orli sat down in the dirt outside their tent. “You’d think they’d at least give us a bit of background, so we could plan.”
“Don’t worry. They’ve scouted these worlds, and they wouldn’t send us to a place unless we could survive just fine there.”
The colorful tents looked like jewel-toned mushrooms that had sprung up on the canyon floor. To prepare for the influx of new personnel, EDF engineering squads had cleared an expanse of the desert, using high-energy beams to melt the sand and dirt into a level glassy plain where shuttles could easily land and take off. Every day, new ships full of supplies or eager colonists dropped down into the bright sunlight. Rheindic Co had been an abandoned place not long before; now it was a boomtown.
Her father opened two packages of rations he’d retrieved from the distribution point. They ate a chalky fruit-flavored pudding that was supposedly full of protein and vitamins. Orli saw him frown at the taste, but she elbowed him in the ribs. “Anything’s better than mushroom stew, isn’t it, Dad?”
“That’s looking on the bright side.” Jan extended the awning from their tent, propping it up with the poles so they could sit in the shade. As the dusk painted the sky with colors and the temperature dropped, Orli went into the tent and rummaged through their possessions to retrieve her synthesizer strips. She played music quietly, tunes of her own devising. It soothed her, and her father tried to hum along, though he’d never heard these particular melodies before.
Jan sat looking bored but smiling. “Oh, I hate this waiting. Maybe