Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [122]
“Those damned clans have been overconfident for too long,” Lanyan said. “They’ve gotten too big for their britches.”
Peter understood the Hansa’s logic, even felt part of the same desperation, but he was sure the Roamers would not acquiesce as easily as Basil expected. The open aggression would only confirm their negative view of the Hansa. “Do you expect the Roamers to just roll over and surrender? They will hate us for generations.”
As if in partial concession to the King’s objections, Basil pondered the military plans. “Bear in mind, General, that we don’t want to cause any more harm than is absolutely necessary. Pick one of the depots and form your plan. I want a clean and efficient operation, with minimal bloodshed—preferably no loss of lives at all.”
“That may be difficult, sir,” Lanyan said.
“We want to make a point, not rack up civilian casualties. We need to show the Roamers who’s the boss and put an end to this damaging behavior, nothing more.” Basil stood up. “Once we get enough ekti to establish solid colonies on the rediscovered Klikiss worlds, we won’t need the Roamer clans. Then they can go out and starve themselves, for all I care. But first we have to get the stardrive fuel we need. That is our highest priority.” The Chairman dismissed the meeting. “Now get to work, gentlemen.”
Chapter 60—JESS TAMBLYN
“Get in your ships and follow me, ” Jess said to the eleven Roamer volunteers. He climbed back aboard his water-and-pearl vessel, stepping through the permeable film and immersing himself in the enclosed ocean microcosm. Once away from any possibility of touching another person in the crowded confines of Rendezvous, he felt a wash of relief. He had already said his loving and bittersweet farewells to Cesca, standing as close as he dared.
Like a departing parade, the group of Roamer “water bearers” left Rendezvous, followed by calls of good luck. A small vessel piloted by Nikko Chan Tylar sprinted forward, catching up with Jess’s pearly ship and sending a message via the standard Roamer comm system Jess had installed to stay in contact with his new followers, though it had required modifications to operate in the watery environment. “We’re ready to get to work, Jess. Lead the way.”
Jess accelerated the spherical vessel, and the Roamer ships raced along beside him…
When they reached the first uncharted world, they dropped to slow orbital speed, and Jess guided his volunteers through a murky fog of clouds. This had once been a sterile place, swept with storms, but now the open water was filled with wental life force, like a great battery supercharged and ready to burst with elemental power. He could see the surging tides of light and power, crackling lines like a circulatory system through the entire ocean, the entire planet, like a storm of sparkling and benevolent life.
On its descent, his wental ship attracted silvery tendrils of lightning that skittered gently across the metallized coral framework. It was a probing touch, a soft brushing of electrical fingertips controlled by the wentals that had infused the whole isolated planet. They welcomed Jess and his companions.
The sentient water contained within his bubble vessel thrummed with unmitigated joy. On his first visit, this had been a dark and forbidding world, but now the angry storms had been purified by living water that stirred the cauldron of thriving wentals that filled the energized sea below. Already the dispersed water entities had grown and separated from the first body of wentals, developing their own thoughts, but each wental remained a facet of the same overall being.
Jess’s vessel landed on the open sea, where it floated like a giant soap bubble. Whitecaps lapped against the sides of the ship, alive and glowing. Nearby, the eleven Roamer ships dropped down, seeking a place to land on a flat atoll.
Nikko emerged from his family craft, drinking in the rough, brisk air. Suffused with the wental life force, the environment had changed enough that the humans no longer needed breathing masks, as Jess