Last Full Measure - Michael A. Martin [102]
“As I said, the loss of the Kaletoo Sector kemacite depot is a setback. But it is only a setback. My engineering teams are now marshaling other resources to take the place of everything that was lost, and they have already redoubled their efforts to complete and test the Weapon. It will be ready to deploy against Earth—on schedule, and under budget.”
“And well before the Earth ship’s crew can hope to locate either the Weapon, or our home planet,” Mallora added, still seated at Degra’s side.
Narsanyala favored Degra and Mallora with a supportive nod. “I have seen no reason so far to doubt that.”
Unsurprisingly, Shresht and his aide remained both agitated and unconvinced. “But we can see a great deal of reason for doubt,” Shresht clattered.
Drifting upside down in the tank, Qam sang a lengthy aria of puzzlement. “Can you explain why, Shresht? Degra has never been anything other than honest and accurate in his engineering and construction estimates.”
Shresht’s mouthparts worked quickly, though his friction-generated “speech” actually came from the sawing of his hindmost limbs against his lower carapace. “I do not question Degra’s honesty. Nor do I dispute that his engineers have maintained their promised building timetables in the past. But I fear that the human vessel’s crew might have derived some advantage over us during their escape from Degra’s so-called ‘trap.’ ”
Degra frowned, but Mallora beat him to asking the obvious question. “What sort of advantage?”
“There was a small insectoid crew posted aboard the weapons platform,” said Shresht, his huge, iridescent, multifaceted eyes now tipped in Degra’s direction. “A small force, consisting of a few dozen warriors. But none of them have reported in since the platform’s destruction.”
Degra nodded, though he found it difficult to muster any heartfelt concern for the fate of the insectoid crew. After all, the bugs were used to leading short, brutal lives, and they routinely expended those lives in vigorous defense of their portions of the Xindi homeworld, and did so without the slightest hesitation. Savagery and territoriality were hardwired into their nature; these traits made them ideal foot soldiers for the collective Xindi cause, especially during times such as these, when all five Xindi races faced the very real danger of joining the ancient Xindi avians in oblivion and extinction.
“I trust that the insectoid personnel stationed there managed to reach their escape pods before the humans destroyed the weapons-assembly platform,” Degra said at length, working hard to be polite. He truly did not enjoy the company of these creatures, finding their fundamental physical alienness so viscerally disturbing.
Shresht and his aide erupted in a brief cacophony of exoskeletal friction that Degra could only interpret as a negative, or perhaps even as an aural expression of insectoid grief.
“Only a handful appear to have made it to the escape pods, since few apparently believed the humans to be capable of defeating the trap in which they had become entangled,” Guruk said.
“Did the crew deploy the facility’s disaster recorder?” asked Narsanyala. Because of their ultra-dense neutronium coating, these devices were capable of surviving almost anything short of a direct collision with a neutron star, or immolation within the heart of a sun.
“They did,” said Guruk, nodding. “We eventually located it and successfully downloaded most of its contents. It revealed that the humans escaped in a small spacecraft with unknown capabilities. Unfortunately, we were not able to make this determination in time to track or locate the vessel in question. We must presume that the humans on board staged a rendezvous with their primary vessel, or perhaps even with some other vessel or vessels that we have yet to detect.”
“Then what has become of the surviving crew?” Shresht asked.
Guruk moved his massive shoulders in a gesture that appeared to be the reptilian equivalent of a shrug. “Some of