Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [198]
Udru’h double-checked the preparations with the tanks. “Since we’ve got to succeed the very first time, I propose we unleash a massive dose to rip this crew free from the Hyrillka Designate’s control.”
The Adar still frowned. “If we detach all of these rebels from Rusa’h’s corrupted thism web, won’t he sense them slipping away? He will feel a hole in his network and know that it is unraveling.”
“And what can he do about it?” Udru’h raised his eyebrows. “He will be as powerless to stop it as Jora’h has been.”
“But even when we soften Rusa’h’s hold, how do we reconnect them with the Mage-Imperator? I cannot force them back into the legitimate network of thism. I’m not strong enough.”
“Neither am I.” Udru’h’s eyes burned brightly above the gelatinous breathing film. “But at least they will be free of Rusa’h’s corruption.”
The two men opened the canister valves and began dumping shiing gas into the warliner’s ventilation system. The stimulant hissed out in a long sigh. It would spread like venom in a body’s bloodstream, sweeping through the battleship’s ducts and chambers, finally reaching the command nucleus.
Udru’h nodded. “Good. Now let us hope it works before your father’s ships destroy us. He is on his way.”
Chapter 100—TASIA TAMBLYN
Sure that the Hansa skymine was already destroyed, Tasia found the flight to Qronha 3 to be maddeningly long. En route, the Soldier compies performed their tasks exactly as she instructed, but they were damned poor company.
Instead, EA was Tasia’s only friend—even if she was drastically changed. As a Listener model, she was programmed to be a companion, a sounding board, and over the years she had developed a genuine rapport with first Ross, then Jess, then Tasia. As Tasia talked with her, uploaded more of her carefully edited memories, even scanned some of the embarrassing old files from the Governess compy UR, she saw EA developing a personality again. It was somewhat different from her old friend, but at least the Listener compy was another step closer to her old self...
Finally, the sixty rammers roared into the Qronha system. Tasia watched the Ildiran gas giant grow brighter and larger on the ship’s viewing screens. Making contact with her fellow dunsels, she laid out detailed plans for their assault against the drogues. “Check your forward sensors. See if you can find any survivors from the cloud-harvesting facility.”
As the Soldier compies began a scanning sweep, Sabine Odenwald transmitted from her rammer, “This isn’t a rescue mission, Commander. The EDF already wrote off that skymine.”
“Besides, we don’t have the facilities to take aboard refugees,” Hector O’Barr added from his own ship.
Tasia could only think of Ross dying as his Blue Sky Mine was destroyed. If there were any survivors here, she would have to find a way to help them. After checking the quick recon results, however, she knew it was a moot point. “Nothing left anyway but a smear of smoke and a few pieces of debris that haven’t figured out how to fall yet.” She swallowed the lump in her throat and got back to business. “We’ll insert into high orbit and look for drogues down there. We already know they’re spoiling for a fight.”
“Let’s give ’em one!” Darby Vinh let out a foolish giggle.
“You’ve done plenty of drills,” Tasia said. “Be prepared to jump into your evacuation pods. Once we see warglobes, there’s no more practice.”
From high orbit, the sixty rammers scanned the clouds with their sensors. When they spotted the wreckage of a floating facility much larger than the skymine, Tasia’s Roamer experience helped her to identify the materials and old-fashioned configuration of a majestic Ildiran cloud-harvesting city. Apparently, the drogues had destroyed human and Ildiran facilities indiscriminately.
As the rammer fleet cruised around the planet, suddenly the Soldier compies chittered to each other. With machine efficiency, they activated alarms and announced a full battlestation alert even before Tasia saw what they had detected. Part of her was impressed at the speed with