The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [216]
“Good enough for me,” Orli said.
Steinman looked at the immobilized insect bodies. “That’s damned impressive.”
“Judging by their bodily configurations, these sub-breeds appear to have been members of a subhive different from the Llaro Klikiss,” DD said. “They might be part of a larger consolidated hive mind, or perhaps a tenuously connected group of . . . leftovers.”
Tasia grabbed the antigrav handles and hauled the bulky Siren back through the transportal wall to empty Llaro. “Definitely a successful test. Now we can get down to business.” As soon as they had all returned, the trapezoidal frame shimmered back to solid rock. She turned to DD. “Give us some more possible coordinate tiles. I plan to keep hitting the bugs until we knock out whatever’s left of all the subhives.”
* * *
150
Chairman Basil Wenceslas
In the center of the alien swarmship, the breedex spoke in a shuddery voice that did not sound at all like the cool and collected Davlin Lotze. “You were not lying, Basil Wenceslas.” The voice carried an odd and annoying note of surprise. “The black robots are destroyed.”
“Then you saw the trap I planted for Sirix,” Basil exclaimed, unable to conceal his joy and relief. “A fatal defect. I caused it. All the new robots shut down as soon as they tried to open fire.”
“The black robots are destroyed,” the breedex said again, finally sounding satisfied. “Every one of them. At last.”
Margaret Colicos looked strangely at him. “Sirix killed my Louis. I am glad he’s gone.” Beside her, Anton put his hand over hers.
Basil ignored them, focused only on the seething hive mind. “I helped you. I made the black robots vulnerable so the Klikiss could wipe them out. I set the wheels in motion long before you arrived.” With both Sarein and Cain stabbing him in the back, Admirals Pike and San Luis deserting him, and Peter’s rebellion, Basil found himself grasping at straws. But the Klikiss were the biggest prize of all. Given the proper incentive, maybe the One Breedex could overwhelm all of the Hansa’s other enemies. “You owe the Hansa due consideration. We’re partners. You have no reason to harm us. You need me.”
But the hive mind no longer showed any vestige of Davlin Lotze. In fact, it seemed more Klikiss than ever, as if thrown into bloodlust by crushing the last robots. He had thought that might be the end of Klikiss aggression, but now the creatures were ready to move on Earth.
Margaret and Anton looked very uneasy. The domates and warrior insects standing guard outside the central chamber shifted their serrated limbs and edged closer, poised to kill the hostages.
Suddenly, though, the warriors jittered and froze, as if they had all been stunned at once. The shapeless breedex mass quivered and cringed, and the simulated face reappeared. “What is happening? Klikiss . . . paralyzed . . . shutting down . . .” The artificial face slumped into millions of writhing components, but the voice continued. “Subhive remnants . . . one after another. Too many losses from my mind . . .”
The breedex mound writhed through a series of configurations — faces of other human colonists, random Klikiss heads, and then nothing more than a soupy, staticky mass. “Losing segments of my mind. Treachery! Destroy — ”
Basil didn’t know what was happening; apparently, neither did Margaret Colicos. She spoke in a crisp voice. “What trick is this, Mr. Chairman? A new EDF weapon?”
“I’d love to take the credit, Dr. Colicos, but I have no idea what’s happening.”
A shockwave rippled through all of the Klikiss warriors in the breedex chambers, and every insect nearby froze in place. One domate collapsed, falling in front of an arched doorway.
At the center of the chamber, the breedex became a quivering disconnected mass. Even the buried persona of Davlin did not respond.
Throughout the swarmship, and presumably all the other swarmships, the Klikiss had gone catatonic. If someone else — the Confederation? — had developed a weapon, Basil did not want to remain aboard the swarmship. With the monstrous creatures locked in place,