The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [196]
“Deputy Cain freed them. He claimed he had the authority. He also released the hostage families of Admirals Diente, Pike, and San Luis — and now they’re denouncing you on all the newsnets! The deputy is nowhere to be found.”
Basil could feel a flush creeping up his cheeks, but he clamped down on his temper. “Apparently, Deputy Cain and I have something to discuss. Find him. Bring him to my bunker.”
Andez looked smugly satisfied. “Shall I send out search parties for Fitzpatrick as well? If we move quickly, we could possibly round up — ”
“That is not for you to do anything about, Colonel Andez. Not my immediate priority.” He did not dare admit to yet another crack in his armor, a flaw in his own trusted inner circle. “I will take care of it. For now, escort me to my headquarters.” He needed to be away from the madness, somewhere he could think, where he could control every detail of his environment.
“Yes, sir.” She led him briskly toward the projectile-proof vehicle in which she would transport him from the landing area. Even though she chose a route that avoided the worst of the demonstrations, Basil was shocked to see the sheer number of frightened fools demanding his resignation and the return of King Peter. People with too much time and too little mental acuity would follow any charismatic charlatan who promised to change their lives for the better.
He turned away from the vehicle’s window, from the angry faces and shouting mouths, from the mob. He wished he had tens of thousands more troops under Andez’s control so he could round up every one of these demonstrators. But it was futile to continue cracking down. The stunnings, beatings, and arrests had only inflamed them further.
Why did they blame him, when the problems were caused by people who didn’t listen to him? Did they think the Chairman could have negotiated with the flaming elementals, or the fanatical Ildiran Adar?
Sarein and Cain should have known better, and yet they had deserted him, too. Apparently in killing McCammon he had executed the wrong traitor . . . or maybe he just hadn’t executed enough of them. Why were all those closest to him prone to weakness and betrayal? And Sarein . . . He saw a fringe of deep red around his vision.
Goodbye, Basil.
Yes, he very much wanted to go underground.
Andez and four guards accompanied him through multilayered security checks into the headquarters building and to a lift that would plunge him down to his internal, windowless office deep beneath the Hansa pyramid.
As soon as the elevator started its descent, though, security alarms began to ring. Andez touched the communications stud in her ear, listened. She visibly paled. Basil hated when other people knew more about what was going on than he did. “What’s happening?”
“An invasion fleet just entered our solar system. Sensors have picked up eleven enormous vessels.”
Basil leaned against the vibrating wall of the descending elevator, so that his knees wouldn’t buckle. “What sort of invasion fleet? From whom?” And, he wondered, exactly how big was “enormous”?
The elevator came to a stop, and its doors hissed open. In the heavily reinforced command center, technicians rushed from station to station. The alarms were deafening. Screens displayed images from space.
Andez touched the communication stud again and finally said in a husky voice, “It’s the Klikiss, sir. The Klikiss have come to Earth.”
Basil pushed aside a technician and took his place at the primary display console. What the hell were the Klikiss doing here? Was this a belated response to General Lanyan’s botched attack on Pym? He tried to focus, dragging his mind from one thought to the next, as if each problem were a heavy stone he had to lift and discard.
The eleven alien swarmships came closer, completely silent, absolutely terrifying.
Basil’s diplomatic and administrative skills would presumably be useless against such creatures. Admiral Diente had proved that negotiation did not work, that the Klikiss did not understand human thoughts or expectations. They did not play by the same rules.