Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [185]
"Oh, the weapons just grazed me. I can jury-rig the systems, and I should be flying out of here within a day. I never assumed anyone would find me."
Jess wrestled with the tides of anger and urgency. He'd been about to rally the wentals, send them off to hydrogue gas giants. All the players were now ready. But the drogues had captured his sister! He knew where he had to go first. The wentals would communicate the details to Cesca.
Jess prepared to set out, sending one last transmission. "Even after what the Eddies have done to our clans, Lieutenant Brindle, we Roamers are on your side. We're fighting against the real enemy. Go back to Earth and tell your Chairman it would be best if he did the same. Meanwhile, I'm going to rescue those hostages in Qronha 3."
Brindle was surprised. "If you're going to try to rescue my son, then I'm coming with you."
"I am going where you cannot follow. Deep inside a gas giant."
"With the environment down there--the pressures, the poisonous atmosphere--it's impossible!"
Jess cut him off, already preparing to depart. "Then by the Guiding Star I'll have to do the impossible."
107
NIKKO CHAN TYLAR
The turnout at Charybdis was even larger than Nikko had prayed for. All those Roamer volunteers ready to deliver wentals! Obviously, a lot of people held a grudge against the drogues. The new arrivals came to the stormy water world with the utmost resolve. At least he could be sure this conflict would not be lost due to a lack of enthusiasm or manpower.
The planet-sized ocean surged and swelled, crashing against the scattered rocky landing areas. The turbulent environment made a profound impression even on hard-bitten Roamers who thought they had seen it all.
Nikko landed the Aquarius near some big Roamer ships donated by Del Kellum and other skymining families from Golgen. Zhett Kellum flew one of the cargo haulers herself, insisting (repeatedly and loudly over the open comm channels) that she was as good a pilot as any other clan could dredge up. No one challenged her assertion, certainly not Nikko.
Fourteen water tankers from Plumas arrived, along with many smaller craft, so it was only a matter of loading the ships and telling them where to go with their holds full of wental water--and that was an administrative problem he did not relish. Nikko Chan Tylar had never been good at organizing even his own routes and schedules. Speaker Peroni was supposed to be here soon to help him.
Nikko's fellow water bearers had spread the word of the impending assault across the Spiral Arm. They had called volunteers to the numerous ocean worlds where clan volunteers would fill their ships with the potent water before flying off to every known drogue-infested gas giant. So far, well over a hundred Roamer craft had been drawn into the overall operation. In small clusters, the ships could hit an overwhelming number of hydrogue worlds. Soon enough, the enemy would have no place to hide.
But it had to be a coordinated effort. Roamers were notoriously independent, and Nikko couldn't let them fly off wherever they chose. Some key planets might be missed while others were hit twice. If the wental distribution took too long, the drogues might find some way to block it. Or they might escape in their warglobes.
Nikko had no idea how many hydrogue gas giants there were. Hundreds? Thousands? Thanks to the renewed skymining operations at Golgen, the Roamers at least had enough ekti to make all those runs . . . but unless it was organized, the whole plan would be one big mess!
He already had a headache.
He went outside to the barren, spray-swept black rocks where Roamers milled about next to their ships, impatient to get moving. Del Kellum and several other clan heads were good organizers, but he didn't delegate the work to them, yet. (They probably wouldn't have listened to him anyway.) He glanced up at the sky, hoping to see Speaker Peroni.
Finally, he decided to get