Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [176]
Even so, Anton couldn’t let them all run into a possible trap.
He looked around, seeing Klikiss robots moving with mechanical precision. Off to one side of the city dome, he saw a hangar shelter identical to the one at Maratha Prime. He counted three Ildiran spacecraft there, available for shuttling supplies and materials.
Finally the Klikiss robots noticed the tiny group of refugees. As if reacting to a simultaneous signal, the beetlelike machines froze in their activities, swiveling angular heads and brightening their red optical sensors.
Designate Avi’h managed to pull ahead of the digger and the engineer. He continued to shout, “We are here! We have survived the journey across the nightside.” He stopped in front of the nearest black robot. “We need your help.”
Incredible numbers of the insectile robots had begun to move, closing in like a noose drawing tight. Increasingly uneasy, Anton looked to his right and left. “Where did they all come from?”
But Vao’sh, his eyes glazed, his face still flickering through its palette of colors, said, “Save your questions, Rememberer Anton. We can ask them all as soon as we are safely inside.”
The nearest machine rose up to tower over the Designate. Its articulated arms extended, each one ending in a different sharp implement. The carapace on the robot’s back cracked open as if to make the robot larger and more intimidating.
In the suddenly silent work site, Anton heard the buzzing words of the Klikiss robot like blades slicing through the air. “Ildirans have broken our long-standing agreement.”
Designate Avi’h looked up at it. “What agreement?”
The Klikiss robot swung one of its scythe-tipped arms and slashed brutally through Avi’h’s neck, severing his head. The Designate did not even have time to cry out as blood spouted from his neck stump. He toppled forward.
Vik’k and Nur’of stumbled to a halt, unable to endure any further horror, any additional betrayal. A buzzing sound echoed through the gathered robots, hundreds of giant black machines humming and sizzling as they activated their defensive systems. Moving with skittering swiftness, they closed in on the four remaining refugees.
“Run!” Anton shouted. “They mean to kill us all.”
Vao’sh simply shook his head. “This is not possible.” The old rememberer appeared ready to collapse. “The Klikiss robots have always been our allies. We unearthed them from the ice five hundred years ago. They have—”
Anton dragged his friend away, urging them both into a run, though he didn’t know where else they could go. The Secda work site was vast and complex. They could find places to hide, a barricade or a shack suitable for making a last stand. But without weapons he and Vao’sh could not resist the Klikiss robots for long. There had to be a different way.
After seeing the Designate slaughtered, burly Vik’k didn’t need or ask for explanations. When the murderous machines hemmed them in, he balled his horny fists and began swinging. Engineer Nur’of stood at the digger’s back and grabbed a metal bar from one of the construction scrap piles. The two Ildirans stood together as the armored robots came forward, their claws clacking.
Nur’of swung his metal bar. It clanged resoundingly against the black shell of the nearest Klikiss robot, but caused no damage. He swept it back and forth like a club, smashing off one of the extended articulated arms; then he brought the metal rod up to crush the crimson optical sensors of another machine. Though the round glassy eyes shattered and went dark, the robot continued to press toward him.
Fearless, Vik’k threw himself against two of the robots. Even as their claws tore his protective garment and tough skin, the digger continued to howl and thrash. But more and more of the robots surrounded him, slashing with their cutting implements and powerful mechanical arms. Both the Ildiran digger and the engineer went down under a swarm of giant beetlelike attackers.
Anton and Vao’sh ran, hearing the clatter and