Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [245]
The Roamer detainees, Crenna colonists, and original settlers had decided to think of the stranded soldiers as "protectors" instead of prison guards or babysitters. With the uproar and turmoil out in the Hansa, even the Roamer detainees were resigned to staying here for the time being. The EDF troops were not at liberty to leave either. They were all cut off, while the rest of the Spiral Arm went to hell.
From messengers passing through the transportal, the Llaro colonists had heard about how Soldier compies had seized much of the EDF fleet. Orli lived in fear that the robot-controlled battleships might attack here, just as they had wiped out Corribus. And no one had any explanation for why the eerie faeros ships had come here searching, destroying one of the patrol Remoras in the process. She did not feel particularly safe.
If anything bad happened now, Llaro had no defenses at all--except for those fifteen soldiers. So the colonists took turns making meals for the troops, sharing some of their fresh produce from the fields. Best to keep their options open. It was a good thing for everybody to get along, she thought.
Orli and Mr. Steinman trudged uphill to the barracks, carrying the day's baskets. "My legs are getting too stiff to make this walk every single day," the older man said.
Orli was used to Mr. Steinman's complaints. "You don't make it every single day. And if you were all alone on a planet, like you wanted to be, you'd have a lot more work to do just to keep yourself alive. The house you're living in now is a thousand times better than the rickety shack the two of us built together."
"I was proud of that shack."
"So was I." Orli grinned. The whole settlement seemed to have adopted her. She had rooms of her own in one of the large multifamily structures, a place where she slept and had private time to play her music synthesizer strips. Since the colonists liked to listen to her melodies, she often sat in the communal areas at night and played and played.
Seeing the two approach, the EDF soldiers waved a greeting. Orli and Mr. Steinman were bright and cheery as they handed over the meals. The lonely troops plowed through the baskets, making appreciative sounds as they saw fresh breads and vegetables.
"We're gonna have to go back to basic training," said one of the soldiers. "I never ate this well in the EDF! I'm bound to gain so much weight that I won't fit in my uniform anymore."
"Just find a colonist wife," his comrade chided him. "Maybe she can let out some of the seams."
"These colonist women? She'd make me do it myself."
"And so you should," Orli said. "It wouldn't hurt you to be self-sufficient."
The soldier guffawed. "Would you listen to this girl?"
Behind them, a buzzing sound crackled through the air like static electricity. The guards snapped to their feet as the transportal wall thrummed. "Something's coming through!"
"Nothing's scheduled that I know of--hey, maybe it's our replacements."
"Keep dreaming."
Other EDF soldiers rushed out of the barracks, eager for any change in the monotony. Anybody who came through the transportal wall might be bringing good news, or at least fresh supplies.
The trapezoidal sheet of stone grew murky, and two figures stepped through. It was not anybody they knew. The EDF soldiers grabbed their weapons and looked uncertainly at each other. "Who are you? Identify yourselves!"
Orli saw an older woman with weathered features, tattered clothes, and bedraggled hair. Her face had a distant, haunted look. Beside her walked a silvery compy, a Friendly model with bright golden eye sensors. The little compy spoke, as if happy to make introductions. "This is Margaret Colicos, and I am DD." Orli thought the woman's name sounded familiar.
Weirdly disoriented and unearthly, Margaret focused her eyes, spotted Orli and Mr. Steinman, then the EDF soldiers. "It has been so long since I've seen other humans."
"What happened to you, ma'am?" Orli said. "Where did you come from?"
The transportal wall flickered again, and more shapes appeared behind her.