Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [161]
“But how will we do that?” Ilure’l asked. “Maratha Secda is on the other side of the world.”
Avi’h looked to the engineer, who answered, “We must make a journey across the dark side to reach the sunlight again. There are three fast surface vehicles in the hangars outside.”
The Ildirans were not pleased with the idea, but Anton had once made the cross-continent trek on a lark during the recent day season; this would not be impossible.
As the skeleton crew muttered and complained, Vao’sh reached the limits of his patience. The rememberer’s trained voice made them all stop instantly. “Enough! Did you not hear Engineer Nur’of? All of our power will fail soon. Maratha Prime will be plunged back into irrevocable darkness. Unless we set out together before it is too late, we will all die here in the darkness.”
That was enough to quell further complaints.
Chapter 81 — DAVLIN LOTZE
Crenna’s sky grew dark and cold as its sun continued to burn out. Immediately upon returning from his brief inspection in space, Davlin gathered the colonists together—one hundred thirty of them—and explained the emergency. He wasn’t overstating the matter when he called it the direst threat they would ever face. “There is no time for town meetings and arguments. We have a week at best to remake our whole colony—to dig in and hole up, and give ourselves at least a chance to survive.” His voice was hard and firm.
Thanks to the exaggerated stories Rlinda Kett had told about him, the colonists already treated Davlin with awe and amazement—much to his embarrassment, since he disliked drawing attention to himself. They saw him as a heroic figure who could lead them through impossible circumstances. They believed him now.
“This world is going to die,” Davlin said. Though he felt a connection with these people, he would not sugar-coat their situation. “The faeros are losing their battle in the sun. This entire system will be cold and lifeless within a matter of days, and I can’t think of a way to get anybody off Crenna to safety.”
Mayor Ruis clasped his hands in front of his stomach. “We’re just colonists here, Davlin. No one claims to understand these things. Tell us what to do!”
Davlin looked at their faces, wishing he had some ready answer for them. To his surprise, he realized that it actually mattered to him what they thought and how they viewed him. In this case, the worst thing he could say was that he didn’t know. Everyone could see the sun darkening in the sky and could feel the drop in temperature as the planet struggled to continue functioning under a vastly diminished solar flux. They had work to do, and so he rallied them.
Davlin asked that every piece of heavy machinery be brought to the center of town. “Forget about your crops and your livestock. They can’t possibly survive. Within a week, your homes will be covered by glaciers. Stored food will have to last us. I assure you, at least seven other things will prove fatal long before the rations run out.” He didn’t list them, but the colonists didn’t question his statement. “Our only chance is to keep ourselves alive by whatever means, until rescue comes—and we don’t have much time.”
Mayor Ruis nodded solemnly. “And who’s going to rescue us, Davlin?”
“I’m still working on that.”
Through the amateur astronomer’s telescope, they observed the continuing battle in the plasma layers of Crenna’s star. The faeros were being beaten back as more and more diamond warglobes swooped in from outside the system, converging on the stellar battlefield. Sunspots grew like mortal wounds. Flares spouted and stuttered like dying gasps from the sun’s core.
The damage could never be undone. The star itself was doomed.
The colonists were astonished