The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [221]
“Sir, in your absence King Peter has reclaimed the Whisper Palace. The people on Earth are . . . celebrating.”
Basil felt as if an airlock had suddenly popped and depressurized the shuttle’s cabin. And was General Brindle pleased to deliver this news? Basil felt a rage swelling within him. “General, I gave you an order. Open fire on the Klikiss swarmship. I’ll deal with Peter myself.”
Before the Juggernaut could launch its first volley, though, a transmission spread like a bombarding wave across all channels, as pervasive and overpowering as the first Klikiss broadcast that had demanded his presence. The volume was thunderous through the cockpit speakers, and this time it actually sounded like Davlin Lotze — his voice, his personality!
“Chairman Wenceslas, I do not understand this weapon you used against us, but I am impressed. Dozens of my separate subhives have been incapacitated. Only a few remain functional.” A harsh undertone filled the speakers during a long pause before the breedex continued. “Many parts of my hive mind are now . . . offline. Klikiss parts. Therefore, I was able to reassert my influence.”
Margaret Colicos pushed her way into the cockpit. “Davlin — you’ve got to stop the Klikiss advance. The One Breedex wants to exterminate humanity.”
“Ah, Margaret. Many subhive remnants are stunned, and now my own mind controls them all. The Klikiss parts of the breedex are . . . safely locked away now.” Basil could clearly hear nuances of wry humor in the response. “I trust you’ll find my solution acceptable. Observe.”
The swarmship began to come alive again, more ominous than ever. The components shifted and flickered. The once-paralyzed insect warriors were reawakening aboard the gigantic conglomeration vessels.
The Davlin-breedex continued. “But you are not to be trusted, Mr. Chairman. I heard you give the order to destroy us while we were paralyzed. You are a danger to us. You have proved regrettably faithful to all of my expectations and memories of you.”
Basil was alarmed. “Remember, I booby-trapped the black robots. I betrayed Sirix — destroyed them for you!”
“It is not in your nature to be altruistic. No, you would have allowed the robots to fight us. Afterward, if any robots survived, you would have used the kill switch to wipe them out anyway, neatly taking care of both sides.”
Basil froze. Davlin was right, of course.
During the transmissions, the nine separate and enormous swarmships looming over Earth re-formed into a single incredible mass — shifting, fusing, and coalescing into one conglomerate sphere the size of a small moon. The other two swarmships that had pursued the black robots also returned and joined the main mass. Basil had never seen a single artificial unit so huge, with so much potential for destruction.
The pilot looked at him In shock, as if sure the swarmships would open fire on them at any second.
“You did exactly as I expected of you, Mr. Chairman.” The Davlin-breedex fell silent, and as Basil stared in awe at the inconceivably powerful conglomerate ship, he could think of no way to defend himself or justify his actions. The giant swarmship sent one last transmission. “You are more like the Klikiss than you know.”
To Basil’s astonishment, the enormous vessel did not fire, did not attack the EDF battle group. Rather, the conglomerate unit hovered in place ominously for a long moment, then began to withdraw from Earth orbit, from the scattered and ruined EDF ships, and past the uneasy Confederation defensive line.
Basil was stunned into silence.
Margaret smiled. “It seems Davlin found a way to perform one last service for humanity — by saving us.”
Anton breathed, “Thank you, Davlin.”
The flickering, shifting vessel hauled itself out to the edge of the system. Basil watched it go, feeling simultaneously giddy with relief and defeated. Like a swollen, swirling cloud of angry wasps, the last of the Klikiss headed out to open space. Gone . . . At last something was going right.
A substantial part of him, though, wished General Brindle had just blown all the bugs