Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [67]
Though bemoaning the loss of each green priest volunteer who wanted to go home, the EDF had not seen fit to send enough troops, ships, and workers to help Theroc in its time of greatest need. The military vessels had come for the first, brief wave of relief efforts, assisting in broad-strokes firefighting and tending to the injured, keeping an eye out for another hydrogue invasion. But the soldiers had left long before the task was finished, drawn away by other emergencies.
Now the people of Theroc would have to do the rest themselves.
Yarrod backed away from the tree and turned to his sister and Idriss. He was covered with soot, his tattooed face streaked with tears. “You are the Mother and Father of Theroc again. I am so sorry for the loss of your son.”
“Our sons, ” Idriss said. “The hydrogues killed both Reynald and Beneto.”
Yarrod hung his head. “Yes, Beneto was linked with the worldforest when his grove on Corvus Landing was destroyed. I felt everything he said. He poured his mind and soul into the trees…but nothing could save his body.” Yarrod drew a deep breath and looked around. “Let me help here. I need to speak with my comrades.”
Alexa said, “We’ve done our best to clear areas, distribute new treelings, gather and plant seeds. The forest tells us that a high percentage have already germinated.”
Yarrod refused to let himself be overwhelmed by the seemingly impossible task. “Every one of those seedlings is precious, and the soil of Theroc is well fertilized with blood and ashes.”
Through telink and the reports of other green priests, he knew how the forest had tried to defend itself during the initial icewave attack by unleashing a furiously accelerated growth and rejuvenation. The worldtrees had attempted to restore the foliage as fast as it was destroyed, and they had succeeded for a brief while, but such a thing required huge amounts of energy, and the forest’s reserves had rapidly been drained. That defense was triggered only during a time of extreme stress, and the damaged worldforest was now depleted, barely able to keep itself alive.
The green priests and the people of Theroc would have to restore the forest in the slow, natural way.
Yarrod sensed that many of the dazed and despairing green priests were on the edge of surrender. A few collapsed and wept, but after taking a moment to recover, they dragged themselves back to their feet and returned to their all-consuming job. He joined them, throwing himself into the work. He could afford to give nothing less than his utmost. None of them could, if the worldforest was ever to thrive again.
Chapter 33—JESS TAMBLYN
As he approached Rendezvous, piloting his wondrous water-and-pearl vessel, the Roamer cluster looked different to Jess. Perhaps it was the wentals inside his eyes: When he peered through the filmy walls of his ship, the asteroids flickered as if through a veil of tears. For Jess, the excitement and anticipation were palpable.
He had no idea if Cesca would be there or if by some miracle she wasn’t already married to Reynald of Theroc. In a very real sense, he was no longer part of the Roamers, no longer entirely human. He wasn’t sure how either of them could cope with the changes.
But Roamers had a penchant for solving impossible problems.
All of the clans would be astonished to see him and his strange vessel. They might think him an invading alien, a potential threat, and they’d probably scatter. Jess wanted to find some way to reassure them, but he had no way to communicate directly. For all its wonders, the water-and-pearl spaceship did not have a standard comm system with which to contact the Roamers.
The exotic vessel tumbled gracefully toward the asteroid belt. Outlying rocks drifted in a kind of smokescreen to foil the prying sensors of Big Goose ships.