Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [117]
'I've already been informed about the Klikiss by Admiral Willis. King Peter said his green priests had reported that nonsense.'
'Then are you making defensive plans? What are we going to do about it?' Lanyan looked at a hovering Deputy Cain, who seemed just as troubled. 'If these Klikiss are as great a threat as I fear, and they decide to expand beyond their worlds--'
'I believe they're only interested in a few formerly abandoned places.' Basil gave a dismissive wave as Lanyan stiffened. 'General, you're not focusing on the things that matter the most. I had hoped to secure those Colonization Initiative worlds, but now we'll have to change our priorities. Not long ago the Hansa consisted of nearly a hundred unified planets. Now I can only be certain of a few worlds, and Earth. If the Klikiss do become a threat, then the Hansa has to be strong. We need our planets back. We need our people all under the same banner. My banner.'
Seventy-one
Roberto Clarin
While Mayor Ruis worried that Margaret's terrifying revelation would spark panic and confusion among the trapped colonists, Clarin didn't care. 'By the Guiding Star, I'm not going to just bare my throat and let those damned bugs have lunch. We're Roamers, colonists, pioneers. With all our brainpower, we've got to be able to figure out something.'
'I wish Davlin were here,' Ruis said. 'He saved us from the hydrogues, and from freezing on Crenna. He'd have a good idea now.'
'Since he's not here,' Clarin said pointedly, 'I've got a few ideas of my own, and somebody else might have a brainstorm, too. Let's pull everyone together and come up with a way to protect the rest of us.'
So they called a town meeting of the jittery colonists. Orli Covitz stood by Crim and Maria Chan Tylar, and DD brought Margaret to join them. The Governess compy stood with the seven children she watched.
Waving his hands and raising his voice, Clarin climbed onto the bed of an engineless harvesting wagon that had been left inside the stockade. Men and women milled about, all wanting to know what was to become of them. None of them expected to hear good news.
'I won't kid you. This is bad, real bad. That doesn't mean we can't fight. We've got to do something before the Klikiss kill all of us.' Pushing his words through the rising swell of dismay, Clarin called on Margaret to explain what she expected the Klikiss to do. The xeno-archaeologist's words were raw and unforgiving. She laid out the facts, and some of the listeners collapsed, weeping, others clenched their fists and began looking for weapons. Clarin took hope from that. He could rally them.
'Before he left us, Davlin buried caches of explosives and fuel and weapons outside the wall. We need to retrieve them, but we've got to be unobtrusive about it. The Klikiss don't pay much attention to us, but who can tell?' He shook his head. 'No matter what happens, we can still make a difference. We're going to show that breedex thing that humans aren't going to sit around waiting for the dinner bell to ring. We're damn well going to fight back with everything we've got.'
'We didn't ask for this,' Ruis said. 'We didn't try to make the Klikiss our enemies. I admit, I didn't believe they'd turn against us. It doesn't make sense.'
From the crowd, Crim Tylar shouted, 'Shizz, Roamers are used to being picked on for no reason!'
With a grim smile, Clarin added, 'We're also used to surviving impossible situations.'
* * * * *
The Klikiss had cannibalized components from the Llaro structures and equipment, but shoved some items aside, leaving piles of cast-offs. Fortunately, perhaps because it was unlike their open-framework flying machines, the Klikiss had discarded the second Remora like so much junk. Though the EDF ship was partially disassembled, Clarin and three Roamer engineers slipped out at night, working with small handlights to surreptitiously repair the small craft.