Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [20]
A second spiny vessel towered in the distance, and a third settled nearby in the devastated worldforest. Then dozens more, until almost two hundred had come to Theroc.
Looking at the enormous branches overhead, Celli felt the majesty about them, an organic construction even more impressive and terrifying than the rooted worldtrees themselves. When her eyes burned, she realized she had forgotten to blink.
Beneto seemed to know what was happening, and he was not afraid. Her wooden brother stood motionless in the clearing near the fungus-reef city, as if his sculpted feet had taken root. His smooth grain-streaked face looked satisfied as it tilted upward. "They will stand guard above Theroc."
She thought of her sister Estarra, who served as the Hansa's Queen. "What if the hydrogues attack somewhere else? What about Earth?"
Beneto turned his polished face to her. An alchemical mixture of blood and sap now flowed through his artificial body. "This war is far more extensive than Theroc or Earth, larger than humans or Ildirans. This fight can be won only with a wealth of allies. Fortunately, the hydrogues have created many powerful enemies." He gestured to the forest that was bursting with fresh green after the deluge from the vaporized comet. "Already the wentals have joined us, and we are stronger."
That much was readily apparent. After the Theron people had spent months clearing, rebuilding, and replanting, the trees now exploded with life after being drenched with water from the wental comet.
Standing next to her, still holding Celli's hand, Solimar said, "In the first war, wentals and verdani clashed with the far superior might of the hydrogues. They nearly drove themselves to extinction, but then the faeros turned against the enemy as well."
Beneto said, "Faeros shift their loyalties like a candle flame flickering in the wind. Sometimes they may fight the same battles as we do, but they are not necessarily our allies. We hoped the enemy was vanquished so long ago, driven back into their gas-giant planets. But after hiding for thousands of years, the hydrogues have recovered from their wounds."
His wooden face seemed sad. "Sometimes it is easier to leave an issue unresolved, but it is never wiser. The worldtrees and their allies must not make that error again."
Beneath the jagged shadow of multiple verdani battleships, the grounded worldtrees shuddered as thoughts rippled through their interconnected mind. Celli sensed millennia of rage, fear, and hurt there.
The golem's expression shifted. "The hydrogues are already battling the faeros, and they will never survive the wentals and the verdani as well. Now that the treeships are here, we will go on the offensive."
12
ADMIRAL LEV STROMO
For two days the Manta continued its search for signs of the rammer fleet, lifepods with the human captains, or even hydrogue wreckage. The crew expected Stromo to know what to do, but he'd never been briefed for a situation like this. The original orders were straightforward. Fetch any escape pods you can find and come home. Report how much damage the rammers caused. It shouldn't have been complicated.
From the Manta's bridge, Clydia had sent a message to the WhisperPalace's green priest, and Nahton dutifully passed along the question. Distracted by the arrival of a small hydrogue derelict and thirty EDF survivors from the battle of Osquivel, Chairman Wenceslas promptly sent back an unhelpful response: "Continue searching. Further instructions to come."
Stromo was uneasy around this pastel gas giant, where hydrogues had recently obliterated a Hansa cloud harvester and, quite possibly, all sixty EDF rammers. One Manta cruiser wouldn't do much good if warglobes showed up