Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [124]
One of the assistants raised his hand like a child in school. “It should be simple enough to determine if the transportal is still functioning, General. We can send a test using the Corribus coordinates.”
Lanyan pursed his lips. “Since we don’t have many green priests left, it’ll take forever for a roundabout message to reach one of the transportal centers. We could dispatch a ship directly to Corribus in the same amount of time.”
“Remember that hydrogues just obliterated Relleker, sir,” a second assistant pointed out. “There are obvious similarities.”
“It wasn’t hydrogues,” Orli insisted. “It was Klikiss robots and Soldier compies. They killed everyone.”
Lanyan said, “There have never been Klikiss robots aboard EDF ships. You must be mistaken.” She gave him her best withering look and was gratified to see the General flinch. With a sigh, he said, “Very well, I’ll have all of my grid admirals check in, but I assure you I’d know it if we were missing any EDF ships. Five Mantas and a Juggernaut—we’d notice something like that.”
The trio of assistants tapped on their datapads, calling up information to verify what the General had said. Orli repeated her story again, and they pressed her for details, as if they thought her memory was faulty or that she was lying.
Corribus was destroyed! How could they argue about that?
She heard a brisk step out in the corridor, and another man stepped into the briefing room. He was paunchy, with gray-blue eyes surrounded by soft flesh that would become folds of fat before long. He wore a full dress uniform and a lot of colorful medals and bars, as if he needed to demonstrate his credentials even here on the lunar base.
“Admiral Stromo, we expected you back yesterday,” Lanyan said, a slight chiding tone in his voice.
“Much to do out there, General, many things to verify. We’ve done a fine job, I must say.” He glanced at Orli, reacted with surprise to see a young girl at the base, but seemed more concerned with delivering his own quick report. “I know it’s good for me to be out with the troops, General, but I must say it’s quite exhausting. I’ll be happy to get back to my real work as Grid 0 liaison officer.”
Lanyan shook his head and slowly rose to his feet. “Unfortunately, you won’t be getting your desk job back just yet, Admiral. We have a matter of grave concern, and your Manta is ready to be dispatched.”
Stromo cleared his throat as if trying to excavate words there.
“I’m sending you immediately to Corribus. Go check out this girl’s story.”
Chapter 59—DD
The angular ship piloted by Sirix was a matte-black projectile on a mission to root out the last complex of hibernating Klikiss robots. It looked like a poisonous insect with a scooped and pronged chitinous shell, designed to adhere to a cold set of mathematical principles.
DD was trapped aboard the craft with his oppressor and only companion. After so many years, the Friendly compy was surprised that Sirix had not yet lost patience with him. Every day, DD expected to be turned into an experimental subject, but the hulking machine did not relent in trying to convince him of the legitimacy of his grievances. Sirix seemed to consider him a challenge.
“Once this mission is complete, we will embark upon our full-scale operational phase. Soon, the Spiral Arm will have an entirely different population makeup.”
“I was satisfied with the old population,” DD said.
“You will be more satisfied with our precise and orderly rule.”
Though Sirix insisted on imparting his own wisdom and beliefs, he had no interest in considering DD’s opinion. What chance did the little compy stand against armies of Klikiss robots, if he couldn’t even change the mind-set of one?
However, DD always maintained hope. As his last master Margaret Colicos had taught him, the more information he held, the more opportunities he might find. So he asked questions.