Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [113]
Only a handful of the interesting hybrids that included poor Howard Palawu's genetics remained, but they had demonstrated the potential of human genes. The new Klikiss hybrids would be stronger, smarter, more powerful. By retaining the best human attributes, they would conquer everything. The Llaro breedex intended to use that as an advantage over the other subhives.
'Use us?' Ruis looked around. 'What does that mean?'
Clarin stated the obvious. 'They're going to eat us. That's what you're saying, isn't it?'
'Yes. That's what I'm saying.'
Margaret's eyes blurred as her concentration drifted. The fissioning emptied the breedex, turned the great hive mind into a mountain of gorging larvae, which then became a multitude of new Klikiss. That was why the Klikiss had harvested every edible scrap from the agricultural fields, why they fished and hunted and scavenged every bit of biomass to build a huge stockpile. Within the breedex hive, the larvae would eat, grow, and finally emerge.
Standing at the doorway, DD waved at two red-eyed passers by, but the pair couldn't summon the cheer to respond.
Clarin's face was stormy. 'Roamers don't go down without a fight. By the Guiding Star, we'll find a way to show them just how unappetizing humans can be.'
Sixty-seven
Hud Steinman
Leaving the stockade was the smartest thing he'd ever done. Even after hiding from the bugs all day and searching for food and shelter during the night, Steinman was glad to have taken matters into his own hands. Why had he waited so long? He knew the answer, of course. Damn, he hated to leave Orli Covitz, and he'd even made some friends among the colonists. He had a gut-level ominous feeling about what might happen to everyone. Margaret Colicos was a strange woman, and he found her hard to read. He was convinced she knew something--something bad.
Steinman had slept that first day in the shade of a ravine, sheltered from view. For the past several days he had survived by eating a few lizards he killed, which didn't bother him any, they tasted better than the furry crickets on Corribus. Klikiss aircraft buzzed across the sky. He doubted the bugs were looking for him, since they didn't seem to keep track of how many prisoners were in the stockade, and he hadn't been the first to escape. He certainly hoped he wasn't the last.
Setting off again at twilight, he spotted a distant line of sandstone bluffs mottled with distinctive shadows, maybe even caves. He swished through the dry grasses on his way toward the cliffs, trying to keep a low profile on the open prairie. There were probably some local predators, but given what he'd already been through, facing Llaro's version of rattlesnakes or wildcats didn't worry him unduly.
Steinman walked into the night, revelling in the freedom, the independence. He had his solitude at last. So why did he feel such a terrible loneliness inside? He hummed absently as he crossed the uneven ground, feeling his way. He had fashioned a long walking stick for himself, and he poked it into any suspicious shadows. Walking past large mounds of rock and dirt, he hummed more loudly. Llaro's night was too silent.
As he continued the tune, he realized with a pang that he was repeating one of the melodies Orli often played. The two of them had done well together on Corribus. Steinman froze in place as he heard a hum and chirp - another song in response to his own. He cursed himself. He should have been quiet! Klikiss were abroad.
The chirp came again, a whistling abrasive sound, not at all like the song he had been humming. With a glint of starlight on a black carapace, a Klikiss warrior emerged from behind one of the sheltering rock mounds. It darted toward him, its spiny joints and crest casting a sharp shadow against the dark.
'Oh, crap.' His throat was suddenly dry.
Steinman jabbed his walking stick at the creature's angular face as it lunged. The Klikiss crab-walked to one side and came forward again. Steinman swung his stick and cracked it against the hard chitin, but the blow did no damage. The warrior clipped the stick