Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [160]
Nur’of stood in front of the Designate. “We are drawing on our backup batteries to make the life-support systems functional again—but the generators are completely destroyed. All of our main machinery has been sabotaged. Sabotaged! Someone, or something, came in through the tunnels and attacked our primary equipment.”
“It is the Shana Rei!” the lens kithman insisted.
“The Shana Rei could not possibly have come here,” the rememberer said firmly, but Anton could see flickers of uncertainty and confusion in his multicolored expression.
Anton added, “We don’t need to go inventing mythical creatures to explain this.”
“Nothing in the Saga is mythical,” Ilure’l said.
“Our power systems will not last long,” Nur’of said, getting to concrete business again. “I can give us light and warmth for a few days at most. There will be enough illumination for us to make plans, but never enough for us to feel safe or comfortable. The collector reserves have been destroyed, and only a small trickle from my new thermal conduits supplies power, but that won’t last long. All systems will fail again. Even my best batteries will soon be drained.”
The bureaucrat hovered close to Avi’h, babbling his questions. “Then what are we going to do, Designate? How shall we escape? Where will we go? Who can help us?”
Avi’h lifted his chin, giving a command like a true Designate. “We must divert power to our communications systems. We will send a signal.”
Anton knew that without a green priest, no call for help would ever reach another Ildiran planet or even a Solar Navy ship in time. The septa of warliners that had dropped off Designate Avi’h had departed some time ago and would already be many star systems away.
“Can the Mage-Imperator sense what happened through the thism? Will he sound an alarm and send rescuers?” Anton asked.
Vao’sh shook his head. “The Maratha Designate is his brother, not his son. The connection is not perfect. If his attention is not focused elsewhere, the Mage-Imperator may sense our distress, but not sharply enough to know he must dispatch helpers right away.”
“Who else can help us?” Ilure’l struggled to keep his fear under control.
The bureaucrat grasped at an idea. “We can contact the Klikiss robots over on Maratha Secda.”
Avi’h brightened. “An excellent suggestion, Bhali’v. Yes, the city should be nearly completed by now, and they are in the daylight. The robots can assist us, and we will wait there for rescue.”
The people babbled with relief. “We’ll escape.”
“We can be in the sunlight again!”
Anton felt momentarily uneasy. “Wait a minute. We don’t know that the Klikiss robots weren’t the culprits who did this in the first place. Who else is on Maratha?”
“The Shana Rei!” Ilure’l insisted. “Maybe they are the ones that built all those tunnels underground—where it’s always dark.”
Bhali’v looked indignant at Anton’s suggestion. “Those robots have worked with us here for decades and shown no sign of treachery. Why should we not trust them?”
Anton raised his eyebrows. “Well, for starters, because someone just blew up all of our generators and snuffed out the lights.”
Instead of listening to him, the Designate and the engineer hurried off to the communications room, carrying blazers and one of the makeshift candles as a precaution, although there was now plenty of light.
Vao’sh sat in troubled silence and Anton took his place beside the rememberer, who shook his many-lobed head. “They believe it is the Shana Rei because they can think of no other enemy who might have done this…but that cannot be true! It simply cannot.”
Later, when Nur’of accompanied Designate Avi’h back into the dining