Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [45]
"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself," he said, but the commandos weren't interested in conversation. The first silver berets rushed toward the door with their wounded comrade. Swendsen ran as fast as his shaking legs could take him. Before reaching the relative safety outside, he looked back over his shoulder.
In spite of the grenade explosion and weapons fire, the assembly facilities were still thrumming and rattling with a speed and efficiency that far surpassed Swendsen's wildest design estimates. At this amazing capacity, the production lines continued to make more Soldier compies. He didn't see how it could ever be stopped.
24
KING PETER
After Nahton delivered his news to the King, further reports of the compy revolt came swiftly. The EDF scrambled--too late--to avert a total disaster. Royal guards had hustled Peter out of the interrupted awards ceremony and back to the WhisperPalace to "safety." Basil had shot him a cold look that clearly said, I'll deal with you later.
On strict orders from the Chairman, the guards now watched the King so closely that he had little room to move. Peter had overstepped his boundaries, and he would certainly be punished for it. But how could Basil argue with what he had done? Soon after the King's emergency announcement, trouble had begun at the Soldier compy factory--exactly as he'd feared--proving that Peter was absolutely right to send in troops without delay. The Chairman would never commend him for quick thinking, however. Being "correct" was not a sufficient reason to go against Basil Wenceslas.
If only Basil had listened earlier, if he had looked at the suspicious evidence against the Soldier compies, rather than dismissing the concerns simply because they came from Peter, the military could have been prepared for this.
Flanked by a new set of uniformed royal guards, the King held his head high, knowing he'd done the right thing. Others could see it, too. Would that be enough of a shield to save him, and Estarra, and their unborn baby? He hoped at least he'd set the proper wheels in motion. Maybe it would save a life or two.
Inside the Palace, the guards ushered him to the Royal Wing's conservatory, where Queen Estarra met with her older sister Sarein and the Teacher compy OX. Shielded from the crisis, entirely unaware of the news, they examined transplanted botanical specimens. Peter envied them their innocence, now that everything was about to change. He couldn't blame the guards for hovering closer than usual.
Estarra's face lit up when she saw him, and for the briefest instant all of Peter's cares washed away. Her face glowing with pleasure, she pointed at a display of veined leaves and unusual decorative frills around fan-shaped flowers. "See the new specimens Sarein brought back from Theroc? I remember these from when I was a girl exploring the worldforest."
Sarein's lips curved in a faint smile. The woman's pointed chin and high cheekbones sometimes gave her an innocent elfin appearance. But Peter knew that she was also Basil's occasional lover; therefore, he didn't trust her. "Because Theroc came so close to being destroyed, our people asked me to bring samples of our most dramatic species here to Earth. We're also using Hansa ships to distribute green priests and treelings to as many colonies as possible, as an emergency preservation measure."
Nahton had already told the King about the second hydrogue attack on Theroc and how the deep-core aliens were driven away by a fantastic-sounding "living comet" as well as a flurry of highly effective weapons brought by Roamers. Chairman