Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [156]
Still twitching and fighting the effects, the young man was hauled away and transported to a massive blocky building, where he was imprisoned with other miserable-looking and surly suspects. No amount of shouting and petulant demands brought the police to see him.
The following morning, a broad-shouldered, neatly dressed man arrived, whom Daniel recognized as Franz Pellidor, one of the Chairman’s special assistants. “I am the boy’s uncle,” Pellidor said to one of the administrators in the police station. “I’m afraid he’s quite deluded. He must have succeeded in hiding his medication again. I apologize. Our family will pay for any damages and all necessary fines, of course.”
Pellidor’s grip was like an iron vise around the runaway’s arm as he led the boy out.
“All right, I’m sorry,” Daniel pouted. “I’ve learned my lesson. Just take me back to the Palace. I have to admit I’m glad to see you.”
Pellidor looked into the Prince’s face with an expression of sheer contempt. “You will not be so glad when you see Chairman Wenceslas.”
Chapter 76—SULLIVAN GOLD
The hydrogues hit Qronha 3 everywhere at once. Warglobes shot up through the clouds, trailing mist behind them. Like the cracking of a lion tamer’s whip, alien weapons ripped across the skies. The initial blasts missed the modular cloud harvester and ricocheted off ionic layers in the atmosphere.
The warglobes continued to rise all around them like alarm buoys. The next blast tore open the bottom of one of the facility’s ekti reactors, splitting the curved hull and spilling unstable gases and catalysts. The venting vapors acted like an uncertain rocket jet, making the cloud harvester rock and sway.
As the evacuation continued, Sullivan yelled into the intercom system that linked the facility’s modules. “You’ve got every reason in the world to panic, but please don’t do it now. We’ve drilled for this situation over and over. Everybody, go to your assigned evac modules and get out of here. I am declaring this cloud harvester officially abandoned.”
Cloud miners raced down corridors, climbed ladders, and ran across decks to get to the dozens of self-contained rescue modules. As explosions thundered through the vast sky, Sullivan forced himself to stay focused on what they needed to do.
He called back to the green priest who stood reeling on the observation deck. “Does the EDF have any ships in the neighborhood?”
The green priest shouted at his treeling, as if his raised voice would transmit better through telink. He hammered his desperate thoughts through the worldforest network, informing the Terran Hanseatic League, the Earth Defense Forces, and everyone still on Theroc. He turned to look at Sullivan. “The EDF is going to send their ships immediately—but they can’t get here sooner than a day, maybe two or three.”
“Great. We appreciate the gesture, but this will all be over by then.” He took the green priest’s arm. “Come on, Kolker, we have to get to our own stations. I promised Lydia that I wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks.”
Running beside him on the open top deck, the green priest struggled to carry his potted treeling.
The warglobes blasted again, and the whole cloud mine shook. More explosions erupted from the lower decks. Sullivan had no idea how much damage had already been done, but he knew the hydrogues would not stop their assault until the cloud harvester had burned up in the gas giant’s atmosphere.
Before he and the green priest could reach the edge of the observation deck, two more warglobes fired, igniting one of the half-full storage tanks of stardrive fuel. The shockwave rippling through the structure of the facility destroyed two of the massive suspension engines. Without the levitation fields, the deck suddenly tilted at a sickening angle.
Kolker stumbled and began to slide toward the open edge.
Without thought for his own safety, Sullivan dove to rescue the green priest. Kolker scrambled for purchase, clawing with his hands—and let go