Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [227]
“I do not have the strength or combat programming of a Soldier compy, but those people will be sorry if they attempt to abuse my wards.”
“Good attitude, UR. Take them away. We’ll do what we can to fix this mess. The Eddies haven’t defeated us yet.”
Cesca and the old woman hurried to make their escape. Explosions rattled the main asteroid, and dust trickled down from gaps in the sealant on the walls and ceiling. Lights flashed and alarms sounded, and the Roamers understood what they must do.
Rendezvous was going to fall.
Cesca’s last stop was the control center, where Roamer administrators raced from console to console, triggering emergency programming, dispatching all ships. Long ago, wary Roamers had installed precautionary routines into their automated systems and individual compies for exactly such a situation. The locations of all Roamer settlements should have been a closely kept secret, and now the clans couldn’t afford to let any other vital information escape.
“This is it!” Cesca raised her voice above the din in the control center. No matter how firm she tried to be, her voice still wavered. “Wipe everything. Trigger the cascade deletion. If the Eddies came to Rendezvous on a scavenger hunt, there’ll only be junk left for them to salvage. Looks like we’re never coming back here.”
The former Speaker clutched her arm, but said nothing. The old woman looked as if she’d been dealt a severe blow.
The technicians and administrators did not hesitate. They shouted to each other as one system after another went down. Sparks flew and screens went blank.
“The evacuation is nearly complete, Speaker Peroni,” said one of the techs.
“It’s not complete until you all get out of here,” she told him, then grabbed Jhy Okiah’s hand. “We’re on our way out ourselves.”
The last few people on Rendezvous made it to loading docks and climbed aboard any available ship. Cesca pushed Jhy Okiah into a small but fast diplomatic ship reserved for the Speaker’s use. “We’ll have to follow our Guiding Star,” she said in a low voice. “There’s nothing else we can do.”
The old woman strapped herself in, familiar with the procedure. Her bones were fragile, but she moved with professional grace. She wouldn’t complain. Outside, jazer blasts and explosive projectiles hammered the outlying asteroids. Heavy detonations rumbled through the wall of the main complex. When Cesca sealed the hatch, the droning alarms and loud background noises fell into merciful silence.
As they launched away from the majestic interconnected complex of structures, domes, and tunnel-laced rocks, Cesca knew they were leaving behind no valuable information about the Roamers, no maps or data or coordinates that could be used to hunt down the fleeing clans. At least some of the hidden outposts would be protected. The Eddies might try to search for information, steal a few possessions, scrounge any leftover ekti—but they would come home with a very scant haul for all their efforts.
That was a slim victory, however. Even without the tangible objects they were abandoning, Rendezvous was the heart of the Roamer people, their oldest settlement, a symbol of their victory over adversity. The jumble of asteroids and artificial structures demonstrated how the clans could take the toughest situation and turn it into a fighting chance.
Now they were leaving it all behind. Abandoning it to the enemy.
The EDF battleships closed in, still firing. They shot at everything, even rocks and debris.
Cesca flew away at breakneck speed, dodging, looping in an erratic course. Several jazer bolts flashed past, but she ducked through the scattered debris from a destroyed Roamer ship, random hull plates spinning and reflecting red sunlight. Cesca took the shortest line out, streaking between two Manta cruisers.
Admiral Stromo continued to articulate his apparently well-rehearsed words. “King Peter, on behalf of the government of all humanity, requires the full cooperation and assistance of