Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [103]
When the domates finished dismantling the robot prisoners, strewing smashed bits about like wild men celebrating a bloody victory, the hive went back about its business. Several of the distant children were crying, despite UR's efforts to comfort them. Orli stared at the mangled robot bodies.
Sixty
Adar Zan'nh
Humans always seemed to need rescuing, and the Solar Navy was often called upon to do it. After the successful skyparade demonstrating the prowess of his ships, Adar Zan'nh took seven warliners on a search among known Klikiss planets that had been colonized by humans. He had no idea what his ships might encounter out there.
Privately, he questioned whether this was a proper job for the already-strained Solar Navy. If Prime Designate Daro'h's concerns about the faeros were accurate, then Ildirans were already facing a new kind of threat. Zan'nh should be meeting with his officers to discuss how they might stand against the fiery elementals. Yet here he was flying off to rescue colonists. In his opinion, most of the humans' problems were of their own making.
Nira, however, had convinced the Mage-Imperator, and the Mage-Imperator had issued his commands. As Adar of the Ildiran Solar Navy, Zan'nh would obey. He gave orders to his septar, coordinates were set, and the giant warships flew off on their mission.
During the surprising encounter at Maratha, he had seen the military strength of the returned Klikiss. He knew how difficult the insect race would be to defeat, especially with the Solar Navy decimated. He hoped this ill-advised rescue action did not accidentally start a war with the ancient unpredictable race.
As the warliners flew to their first destination, he stood in the command nucleus like a statue, staring ahead. Ildirans had known about the empty Klikiss worlds for thousands of years, but had never turned them into colonies. There was no need. The Spiral Arm was vast. But the humans had grabbed them for their own.
Ildirans didn't have that greed - didn't try to build on something that didn't belong to them or improve on a technology that already worked perfectly well. They had reached the perceived pinnacle of their civilization.
On the other hand, the humans had helped Ildirans. The Solar Navy stardrives held as much fuel as they could possibly need. There was no longer any ekti shortage, thanks to Roamer ingenuity and ambition. Zan'nh himself had relied upon human engineers for the innovations the Solar Navy had needed during the final conflict with the hydrogues. Sullivan Gold and Tabitha Huck had saved thousands of Solar Navy soldiers by automating Ildiran warliners, even though the Ildirans were holding him prisoner. Zan'nh frowned, his thoughts in turmoil.
Tabitha was even now working with her crew to rebuild warliners faster than any Ildiran teams had thought conceivable. They had suddenly developed control techniques that went beyond . Tabitha explained that the green priest had shown them how to work together as a perfectly cooperative unit, increasing their productivity tenfold. Zan'nh didn't understand it, but given the astonishing results he could not complain.
His navigator interrupted his thoughts. 'We are approaching Wollamor, Adar.'
'Maintain a full sensor sweep. Be cautious. We do not know what to expect. Send a signal to inquire about the colony's status. In fact, find out if the colonists are there at all. The Klikiss may already have arrived.' And if the humans suffered because of it, then it was their own fault.
'No response, Adar. I pick up no transmissions or energy signatures.'
'Keep scanning. The Klikiss are not secretive. If one of those giant swarmships is here, we will find it.'
The comm officer continued to send his signal, but Wollamor remained silent. 'Perhaps our records are inaccurate,' Zan'nh suggested. 'Perhaps the human colonization initiative did not choose Wollamor, after all.'
'We have had verification, Adar.'
Then we will verify it with our eyes and imagers as well. Take the warliners down. Approach