Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [81]
“That would certainly be destructive to the enemy ships, Kotto Okiah,” KR agreed. “However, it seems an unlikely prospect.”
Kotto smacked his gloved fist on a curved diamond protrusion inside the central chamber. “I haven’t learned anything yet! The hydrogues are so...alien. And hydrogue thought processes created this technology. That makes understanding it much more complex.”
Battered GU turned his golden optical sensors up at Kotto. “Then perhaps a simple solution would be more effective than a complex approach.”
“GU, if I could think of a simple solution, I would. The only thing we figured out so far was how to open the hatch.”
Suddenly struck with an idea, Kotto stared at the research compy. GU’s colorful polymer skin was still scratched and discolored from when the derelict sphere had been breached. The compy had been shot away in a wild and uncontrolled flight...
Kotto’s face lit up. “By the Guiding Star, maybe that’s good enough! It would be like a...a doorbell. A can opener! All we need to do is open the door when the drogues least expect it.”
“An effective weapon?”
“Absolutely!”
Chapter 38—TASIA TAMBLYN
In the evening off-duty hours of her three-day stay on Llaro, Tasia walked through the mazes of Roamer tents and huts. Because of her EDF uniform, many of the detainees viewed her with suspicion, giving only curt answers to her questions; others, though, saw her as a possible advocate, the best they had. Even so, Tasia didn’t fit in here, or anywhere.
She had asked around, learned a few names, and decided to have a private conversation with Roberto Clarin, the former manager of Hurricane Depot. Since he’d been a capable administrator, and one of the first captives deposited here, he seemed to be the de facto leader of the group. Maybe he could help her.
As he paced along beside her and a perfectly polite EA, Clarin ducked under banners and waved to dusty workers returning late from the cultivated fields. The potbellied man was frank, but not overly bitter or judgmental. “Plenty of Roamers would be offended by the choices you made, girl. Your own father would have been one of them.”
Tasia pressed her lips together. “Probably so. But I tried to follow my Guiding Star.”
“And yet...here you are.” Clarin sighed. “You know, it helps to dump my frustrations on someone wearing an EDF uniform—not that I expect it to make any difference.”
“I’m listening,” Tasia said. “I don’t know how much I can do yet. My Roamer background puts me pretty low on the EDF totem pole, but I am an officer, and I can work the bureaucracy. Maybe.”
“Worth a shot. The Eddies stationed in that new base don’t even seem to speak plain Trade Standard. I’ve made reasonable requests, things that would help this whole damned settlement. You think I could get so much as an acknowledgment? Maybe they’ll listen to you. You could forward our complaints.”
“I’ll do that.” Tasia gave a bittersweet smile. “I need to warn you, though, it’s been a long time since my superiors listened to me. In fact, they’ve been cutting me out of the loop. I didn’t even know about the operations against Roamer bases until everybody was patting themselves on the back for a job well done.”
Clarin turned to her in frustration. “What do they really want? Explain it to me. They put us here on Llaro, without giving us any demands or guidance. It seems like they just want us to do the work of setting up a colony for them. Of course, we’ll do a better job than these amateurs would. Hah! Still, it’s the strangest prison I could ever imagine.” He looked intensely at her. “We didn’t do anything wrong, Tamblyn. Are we going to be charged with a crime of any kind? Or are we just being held here for no reason?”
“I honestly don’t know—and I’m not convinced they do, either. The Eddies simply want you out of the way for