Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [158]
Inside the evacuation module, his companions grumbled with anxiety. The green priest looked up at Sullivan, his misery increasing. “Hroa’x said there wasn’t anything he could do,” Kolker said.
“Ildirans won’t modify their older designs. They don’t plan ahead.” Sullivan scrutinized his comrades in the escape module; the rest of the autonomous vessels also had plenty of room for other passengers.
He made a decision, knowing he’d never hear the end of it from Lydia. “I’m not going to let them all die. We’ve got the means to do something about it.”
His people looked at him in disbelief. Tabitha spoke for all of them. “You’re not actually going back down there!”
“We all are.” He turned to the communications officer. “Open a channel to the Ildiran skymine, if anybody’s listening. Tell Hroa’x we’re on our way. I want all our modules to rally. We’re going to rescue as many Ildirans as we can. We can make a difference.”
Kolker’s look of amazement gradually transformed into something akin to respect. He gave a faint nod.
“But Sullivan...” Tabitha said, aghast. “We can’t take that risk.”
“I don’t see that we have any other choice.”
Chapter 77—TASIA TAMBLYN
General Lanyan sent a direct EM transmission from the lunar base to the sixty clustered rammers out in the asteroid field. “All right, it’s showtime!” Thanks to the instantaneous communication from the green priest Kolker, the EDF knew about the hydrogue assault on Qronha 3 while the attack was still happening. As Tasia and her fellow dunsels snapped to attention at temporary training stations, she found herself thinking of how Ross had never had a chance to call for help when the hydrogues obliterated his Blue Sky Mine...
Lanyan’s message continued, wasting no time. His hard face wore an eager smile. “The rammer fleet is parked, fueled, and waiting. We’ve been looking for someone to slug, and the drogues have finally shown themselves. It’ll be like cracking a few eggs with a whole bunch of sledgehammers. This is what the six of you have been waiting for. Now get going.”
Tasia and her companions shouted in response, though it would be almost an hour of signal delay before Lanyan heard them back at the Moon base. As the other five dunsels prepared to depart, she ran to get EA.
The sixty rammers launched in less than an hour. Practically speaking, Tasia knew they would not get to the gas giant before the drogues finished their job. But rescuing the miners wasn’t the primary thrust of this operation.
Since her rank was highest, Tasia was in charge of the overall mission, with the other dunsels responsible for ten rammers each. She stood on the bridge beside her quiet compy. Though the small Listener could do little of the technical work compared to all the burly Soldier compies manning the stations, EA was a reminder of her home and her upbringing. Soldier models required neither personality programming nor conversational skills, but they would follow Tasia’s orders precisely, and that was all that mattered. EA, at least, could offer a little moral support and be good for some conversation along the way.
The heavily armored warships accelerated above the ecliptic and prepared their faster-than-light stardrives. Qronha 3 was deep in Ildiran territory, not far from the alien capital world. Tasia didn’t concern herself with trespassing into Ildiran space: If this military action succeeded, she doubted the Mage-Imperator would complain. And if the rammer ships failed, Tasia wouldn’t be in a position to worry about it.
Mission briefing data streamed to their ships even as they departed, and Tasia reviewed the details of the attack. All telink signals from the green priest had cut off, and the modular cloud harvester was already presumed destroyed. Though the Hansa facility had been active for less than a year, it had produced a respectable amount of ekti, enough to pay for its construction twice over...but not the lives of the crew. The Hansa skyminers had escape systems in place—identical to the ones on these rammers. Even so, Tasia assumed that all personnel