Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [62]
Instead, she came forward, standing tall, naked except for a loincloth. She looked at him with anger on her face, but no fear. He saw as much contempt as resignation. “You are recovered from your injuries,” Udru’h said. “You appear healthy and strong, even in complete isolation.”
“I am not alone. I have the trees.” She seemed to draw strength from the strange knobbly growths with wide fanlike leaves. “And anyplace is better than your breeding camps.”
“Many of the Burton descendants would disagree.” He looked back and forth, feeling the growing anxiety of isolation under the vast openness of the broad lake, the empty sky. The company of the human gave him no comfort, for she was separate from the thism.
Nira approached him, so confident and strong that Udru’h took a half step backward. She knew that he hated to be alone, damn her! “I have weapons,” he said, and she smiled. He cursed himself for showing a glint of fear.
“You may think you have sent me into a terrible exile, but to me this is a small section of paradise, with plenty of water, trees, and sun. I have found edible fruits and roots to supplement my diet.” She raised her emerald arms. “This is not the terrible prison you intended. I can live here for years.”
Both of them knew she had no chance of escaping. The calm lake extended to the uninhabited horizon, with no other land in sight. Even if Nira managed to traverse the unmarked water to the nearest shore, where would she go from there? She was better off here, where Udru’h knew her location. Someday he might need to take her back to civilization…
“I know what you’re doing,” Nira said. “Your life is a lie. Everything about Dobro is a lie, and you’re hiding me here just as you’re hiding all the descendants of the Burton.”
“Perhaps.” The Designate retreated another step closer to his ship, anxiety growing within him. He was eager to get back to the breeding colony, where he could be around other Ildirans and feel their comforting presence. “But bringing you here was necessary. Humans are easily fooled. My brother Jora’h is not quite so…gullible.”
“No,” she said with a smile. “He will find me.”
Chapter 31—BASIL WENCESLAS
Behind closed doors Basil looked each of his closest advisers in the eye and knew that they would give him honest opinions and careful analyses. They’d better. This was how work got done. This was how progress was made. And this was how the future of human civilization was determined.
The true details of how the Hansa was run need not concern the majority of its citizens.
Basil left his cardamom coffee untouched as he took charge of the private meeting. “First off, Admiral Stromo, display a complete summary of ekti stockpiles across the Spiral Arm. For the new colonization initiative, I need to know which supplies are most conveniently placed next to Klikiss planets. Those will serve as our main hubs.”
The liaison officer’s underlings had already prepared the report, sketching out distribution points and EDF depots. Ever since the harsh suppression of the stockpilers on Yreka, other fringe colonies had fallen in line and surrendered their illicit caches. Basil was confident of a fairly accurate projection.
Now, as the tablescreen displayed the datapoints, Basil turned to his deputy. “Mr. Cain, give me reasonable projections of how much stardrive fuel we can acquire in the next six months, factoring in regular Roamer production as well as the anticipated output of the Hansa’s own cloud harvester on Qronha 3. We’re expecting the first shipment soon, aren’t we?”
“By tomorrow or the next day, sir.”
The modular cloud harvester was up and operational four full days sooner than expected, and the green priest Kolker was sending regular updates. Sullivan Gold had sent the first cargo of ekti back faster than Basil’s most optimistic projections.
“Earmark it for the colonization initiative. I want to keep moving full steam ahead while people are optimistic.”
The pallid deputy nodded. “It’s like the land rush in the Old West, bound to affect markets everywhere. Investors will be scrambling