The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [206]
When they marched into the spectacular chamber, Peter found King Rory sitting on the throne, dwarfed by the massive chair. He was alone in the big room. The boy stood indignantly when he saw them swarming toward him. “Guards! Help!”
Peter walked up the stairs to the throne and stood directly before the boy king. “You have nothing to fear from us, Rory.”
The boy looked uncertain. “Colonel Andez ordered me to come here after the Chairman went to the swarmship. She said I had to sit in my place as the Hansa’s King . . . but there’s no one else around. The deputy’s gone. I know Captain McCammon is dead, but where are the rest of the royal guards? I’ve heard explosions outside. The demonstrators are bound to come into the Whisper Palace!”
Admiral Willis gestured, and the guards fanned out to protect the other entrances to the throne room. “This chamber is secure, King Peter.”
“You don’t need to worry about the protesters,” Peter said to Rory. “In fact, I might be the only one who can save your life.” He spoke with genuine compassion. “I’ll keep you safe from the Chairman, too. I know what he did to you, because he did the same thing to me.”
* * *
143
Robb Brindle
The gigantic alien vessels shimmered and pulsed, like several huge beating hearts formed of countless individual specks. Sarein and Estarra waited with Robb on the bridge, all of them trying to hide their anxiety. Captains Kett and Roberts sat unobtrusively at two empty stations. Nobody spoke.
By now, Admiral Willis and King Peter should have made it to the Whisper Palace, but there had been no word from the King . . . or from Chairman Wenceslas since he’d disappeared into the gigantic Klikiss vessel.
“Anybody bring a deck of cards?” Rlinda finally said, breaking the silence.
Suddenly, perhaps responding to some kind of silent, simultaneous transmission, the eleven conglomerate ships began to move. Though Robb saw no engines, or any means of acceleration, the insect vessels lumbered through space like small asteroids, picking up speed and heading straight toward them.
Robb shouted orders. “Evasive action! Don’t let those things roll over us.”
His helmsman was already scrambling at his controls, but the swarmships plowed past on a course directly for Earth, barely missing the Confederation vessels. The bugs took no notice of them.
“Something’s sure got the breedex riled up,” Robb commented.
“Probably something the Chairman said,” Estarra added.
Sarein’s face was hard. “Basil can be irritating.”
Robb’s father spoke across the priority comm channel from the Goliath. “I am going to withdraw to Earth to set up a defensive line in case those swarmships attack.”
Leaving the channel open, Robb called out, “You all heard General Brindle. Let’s not have him fight this battle alone.”
The Confederation vessels drew back into formation and sped after the Goliath and the EDF fleet, who were already on the move. The Klikiss seemed to ignore them altogether as the swarmships plunged forward, hell-bent on reaching Earth.
Two of the swarmships split from the others and shot off to pursue a specific target. Robb called for long-range scans and saw the exotic angular vessels constructed by the black robots. Their engines blazed as the robots headed away from Earth, rising up out of the plane of the solar system, and a group of newly repaired EDF ships flew with them.
“They’re sure in a hurry to get out of here,” Captain Roberts said. “With good reason, I suppose.”
When the two swarmships veered off toward the robot ships, Robb realized that the breedex must have discovered the Chairman’s bargain with Sirix. “That’ll make the bugs really unhappy.” Countless