Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [42]
Six EDF cargo haulers dropped into view from high orbit. Beneath the heavy lifters, blackened fragments of a gigantic diamond eggshell dangled from powerful tractor beams. Two haulers worked in tandem to carry the largest piece of the shattered warglobe from Theroc, while each of the other ships brought a smaller fragment to the RoyalPlaza.
Estarra squeezed his hand, grimly pleased to see for herself the broken hydrogue ship that her sister Celli had found. Just standing beside his wife, Peter felt stronger, able to help the human race get through this crisis.
General Lanyan had originally demanded that the wreckage be brought to the main EDF base on Mars for a full analysis, but Chairman Wenceslas had disagreed. “You can look at it later, General. For now, there are considerations beyond military necessity. I’d rather let the people see this instead of having it hidden in a military research lab.”
Fuming at being countermanded, Lanyan had insisted on military security. “Security?” Peter had asked. “If our scientists find any weakness in the hydrogue design, who would we possibly want to keep it secret from?”
From the balcony now, he and Estarra watched the cargo haulers deposit the broken warglobe in the plaza, like a knight delivering the head of a slain dragon to his King. As the first large burned section settled onto the flagstones with a clanking thud, the audience and even the royal guards stepped back in awe.
The next part of Peter’s speech was full of warm confidence. “Our scientific teams will analyze the warglobe’s components and search for any vulnerability we can use against our hydrogue enemies.”
Down below, one tall blond, Engineering Specialist Swendsen, was the first to hurry forward to touch the hull, running his hands along the blistered surface. When he looked up toward the WhisperPalace, Peter could see the man was grinning. The sudden cheers were deafening.
Basil tapped his chronometer and spoke softly. “Time for you both to go to the bridge. Keep on schedule.”
The King and Queen walked side by side in a brisk procession from the WhisperPalace into the flagstoned plaza. When they moved together, absorbed in each other’s presence, they could almost forget all the pomp, guards, and spectators. A contingent of royal guards snapped to attention. Court musicians who had waited for just this moment played yet another fanfare.
Ahead, the metal webwork of the RoyalCanal bridge gleamed under reflected light. Its main posts were dark, though other bridge spires and all the cupolas of the WhisperPalace blazed with shimmering torches, each of which symbolized a world that had signed the Hansa Charter.
Eight years ago Old King Frederick had been forced to extinguish four of those newly lit torches after the hydrogues had destroyed four moons slated for terraforming and eventual colonization. Now, even though Ptoro was a flaming ball and utterly uninhabitable by any humans, the Hansa had decided to claim it as a moral victory. If humans could not settle there, at least they had made it impossible for the hydrogues to remain.
Estarra’s older sister Sarein, the official ambassador from Theroc to Earth, stood waiting among the representatives and important guests. The Queen smiled and nodded to her, then returned to her formal pose beside Peter.
Hansa pyrotechnics experts watched on monitor screens inside the WhisperPalace. It was all a spectacular show. Peter stood in front of the tall pillar like an ancient priest invoking fire from the gods. “At Ptoro we have hurt the hydrogues, as they have done so many times to us.” The crowd cheered on cue. “In the name of the Terran Hanseatic League, this torch will stand as a symbol of what we have accomplished. Let it also be an eternal flame to memorialize those soldiers and civilians who have fallen in eight years of a war that we did not want.”
He gestured dramatically and, as planned, the pyrotechnics experts ignited the blazing ball atop a bridge tower, which