Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [173]
Unlike many Roamers who died suddenly in accidents, killed by equipment failures or the vagaries of space, Cesca's mother had had time to come to terms with her imminent death. Lyra Peroni had flown her own merchant ship, and because of a failed sensor panel, she didn't know that one of her cockpit radiation shields had slipped away. Cesca's mother flew a dozen runs before a routine maintenance check noticed the problem. By then, the dosage she'd received was several times the lethal amount.
Denn had rushed her to Rendezvous for treatment, but there was nothing Roamer doctors could do. Cesca had been there, training to become Speaker Okiah's heir apparent. Cesca and her father had hovered over Lyra for weeks as her condition deteriorated. The previous time her mother had come to Rendezvous was to help embroider the symbolic Roamer chain and dress her daughter in colorful ribbons for her betrothal to Ross Tamblyn.
A million years ago, and in a completely different universe . . .
Denn had begged his wife to go to a Hansa medical facility, which he believed had better equipment, a better chance of saving her. But Lyra refused. She knew, as did the Roamer doctors, that there was no chance. She had instructed Denn to "get over it." To live his life. To adapt to the changes. After his wife's death, he'd followed her last request with great difficulty.
"I guess we've got more changes ahead," Denn said.
"Major changes," Cesca said. "And we need your help."
When she went outside again to meet the crowds, Denn and Kotto helped keep a wide perimeter around Cesca. She took nearly an hour to explain the crisis point of the Spiral Arm, and the listeners showed as much awe at hearing her tales as they did from seeing the unearthly changes in her body. Her father was shocked to hear about the tainted-wental nightmare on Plumas, which he had only recently visited. Cesca doubted she would have trouble convincing the Roamers to follow her.
"Tell us where to go, and we'll do what we have to, Cesca," Denn said. "Seems a better use of our time than to sit here waiting for the drogues to come to us. I'd rather fight them on their own turf."
"Give me a chance to show Roamer ingenuity in action," Kotto said, struggling to find his determination. His two compies came forward carrying rolled-up polymer mats. Kotto took one and spread it out in front of Cesca like a red carpet. "This is one of my doorbells, Speaker. It's how we mean to fight the hydrogues. With enough of these, we can crack open drogue warglobes like rotten eggs."
Denn laughed. "We've already made over a hundred thousand of these little things, and we expect to double that number within a few days, now that the production lines are up and running. By the Guiding Star, the drogues'll wish they'd never crawled out of their gas giants."
Cesca wanted to kiss him. "Excellent work, Kotto. I'm very proud of you."
He beamed. "You're the one who gave us the challenge, Speaker. I never stopped thinking of new things that might defeat the drogues."
"As long as we have minds like yours, Kotto, the Roamers will survive. Keep manufacturing those doorbells. I have to go to Charybdis, where our largest tankers are gathering--and as many of you who can come. The drogues are in for more of a fight than they could ever imagine."
102
SAREIN
Prince Daniel's coming-out banquet was a "private" affair for two hundred of the Hansa's most important representatives. It was impeccably produced, every dish, every seat, every bouquet of flowers arranged with exquisite care. Sarein hadn't seen such extravagance since Peter and Estarra's wedding.
Unlike the royal marriage, however, there were no representatives of Hansa colonies, no Mother Alexa and Father Idriss from Theroc, no governors or dignitaries from planets that were now cut off from EDF protection. Sarein was the only offworld ambassador in attendance.
Hansa-approved camera drones flitted about, transmitting the spectacle to viewers across Earth. The signals were also beamed into space