Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [34]
Less than a week after Orli started keeping track of time—the first few days were still a blur—a figure walked out of the wilderness of grassy plains.
In the dusk the scarecrowish silhouette marched through the tall whispery pampas, unafraid of the creatures that lurked out there. The man paused and lifted an arm as if to shade his eyes, but didn’t seem to see her. He trudged closer, carrying a long stick like an old wizard’s staff, using its end to sweep the grass out of his way.
Orli crouched in the ruins, certain that this stranger was some assassin in league with the robots. But then she could tell from his movements, his shape, that the stranger was human. Another person on this abandoned tomb of a world?
Or did the robot attackers have human collaborators? She shuddered and ducked behind a twisted support frame from a storage hut, unable to imagine how anyone else could have survived the attack. She convinced herself that someone must have spotted her campfire, heard her music, seen her moving. Now he was coming to get her, and she would be killed just like all the others.
But he was just one man—a scrawny old man from the looks of him. She found a thin length of metal she could use as a club. It felt solid enough in her hand. Trying to look as fierce as a bedraggled and red-eyed fourteen-year-old girl could, she lifted the club and stepped out of her hiding place to face the stranger.
She immediately recognized the old hermit Hud Steinman, who had befriended Orli and her father on Rheindic Co before their group of colonists transferred here. Once he’d gotten to the colony, the old man had set off on his own, wanting nothing to do with crowds and small-town politics. Of course! His distant bivouac on the prairies would have kept him far from the attack!
Before she could think what she was doing, Orli shouted and waved, rushing headlong toward the unexpected figure. When she called his name, her cracked voice sounded like a wail. “Mr. Steinman! Mr. Steinman!”
He stopped, stunned at first by the destroyed settlement, and now taken aback by this dervish coming toward him. He propped his staff against the ground and waited for her to reach him. She threw herself into his arms with such vehemence that she almost knocked him over.
“I saw the smoke, saw the big ships,” he said, trying to hold her at arm’s length. She was filthy, her clothes torn and sooty, her face streaked with dirt and tears. “Tell me what’s going on, kid.”
“I was exploring the caves at the end of the canyon when the big EDF ships came. They blasted the whole colony—the buildings, the people, the—”
“EDF ships? Are you crazy—”
“I saw them land, and they were full of compies and Klikiss robots. They killed anybody they found.” Her voice hitched. “Everybody.” She looked over her shoulder. “There’s nothing left.”
Steinman stared toward the sheltered canyon that had once held a burgeoning Klikiss metropolis, and more recently a fresh new Hansa colony. “You’d better stay with me for the time being, kid. I wasn’t looking for company, but you’re not a bad sort. And you sure look like you could use some help.”
Orli didn’t argue with him. They gathered the salvaged supplies she had collected, and then Orli followed the old man out onto the plains of Corribus.
Chapter 14—QUEEN ESTARRA
After speeches and a gala send-off, the King and Queen waved to the crowds as they boarded a Hansa diplomatic transport to Ildira. Already settled in before the fanfare began, Chairman Wenceslas was at work in his cabin with the door locked, ignoring the show outside. He’d never had any interest in stealing the spotlight; he preferred to work behind the scenes.
Peter hurried Estarra to their own quarters, hoping to avoid the Chairman’s notice—though obviously Basil didn’t want to be bothered by the royal couple, either.
Without asking permission, Estarra had brought one of the small potted treelings from