Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [66]
Later, he met with Mayor Ruis, Roberto Clarin, and some of the more prominent Roamers, including Crim and Maria Chan Tylar. Davlin explained what he had done and where to find the weapons should they need them. 'And groups of people have to start sneaking away from here. This town is not defensible if the Klikiss decide to come after us.'
Ruis was alarmed. 'Do you really think they'd do that? We don't plan to provoke them.'
'I don't presume to understand bugs,' Clarin said. 'But it doesn't sound like a good idea to have people just wandering around the countryside. Look at the bodies that were just brought in… helpless farmers caught out in the open. If people escaped from the town, how would they survive out there, even if the Klikiss didn't get them? They'd need food and shelter.'
'I'll give them a place to go.' Davlin looked at each of their faces. 'Start asking questions, figure out who wants to go, find resourceful people, because out there we'll be scraping out an even tougher existence than they'll be leaving behind.'
Even before the Klikiss had arrived, Davlin had ranged far afield, exploring the countryside, noting interesting landmarks and anything that might prove useful. Now he had a good idea of where he wanted to go for a temporary staging area - a line of sandstone bluffs pocked with caves that the Klikiss would not be inclined to find. Places where refugees could defend themselves…
Mayor Ruis was smiling. 'You've been planning this.'
'Yes, and I intend to leave.'
Astonishment rippled around the room. Clarin said, 'Davlin, you're one of the smartest people we have. If you go--'
'I need to find and set up a new hideout, a base we can use if things get too bad. Once you get a group of people, tell them to head east and keep to cover as much as they can. After a day or two of hard walking, they'll come to some sandstone cliffs riddled with caves. That's where I'll be.'
He assessed them again. 'Now I have an important question to ask: One of the Remoras in the hangar has been disassembled. It needs to be put back together and made flightworthy. Does anyone have aeronautical knowledge, spacecraft design, engineering?'
Clarin chuckled. 'We're Roamers! Most of us could take that thing apart and put it back together blindfolded - maybe even make it run better while we were at it.'
Davlin could not hide his relief. Then several of you should slip into the hangar and get to work. The Klikiss will destroy it sooner or later. You'll want to be ready.'
Then… are you just going to walk out of here?' Ruis asked.
'Not walk. I'm going to fly. I'm taking the other Remora.'
In the dead of night, he climbed into the cockpit of the functional craft, activating the systems, looking at the status grid. With a starry field overhead and one small moon illuminating the landscape ahead, he powered up the Remora's engines. While the breedex watched its hive, with the humans kept rounded up and helpless, Davlin flew out of the hangar.
Before the Klikiss could investigate, he streaked away, hoping that the bugs couldn't, or wouldn't, track him. The other colonists looked to him for answers, and he intended to be worthy of their trust. He had to offer them a safe haven.
Thirty-eight
Anton Colicos
Hordes of black robots glistened in the slanted sunlight, though fire and smoke from the warliners' bombardment blurred the sky. In the battle on the ground, Anton raced across freshly cratered terrain, trying to keep up with Yazra'h in the belief that she would save him. Judging by the look of bloodthirsty glee on her face, though, she intended to throw herself into the thickest part of battle, and maybe Anton should run the other direction after all.
Even after Adar Zan'nh's thorough aerial attack, black robots continued to boil out of underground warrens. Anton would have preferred