The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [238]
Margaret watched the two ships go with a bittersweet feeling, uneasy at being left behind with the Klikiss again, though it was what she had requested. Anton stayed with her, looking somewhat uncertain about his decision, too.
The Klikiss workers, engineers, and scientists had used their technical skills to repair the damaged Curiosity, guided by the Davlin-breedex, who had now established complete and clear control of the remainder of the species. When Captain Kett had brought her two passengers to Llaro, she’d been skeptical at first about letting the bugs do all the repair work, but when it was finished, she was quite pleased to discover that her ship’s systems were as good as new. The two captains flew away to meet their other obligations for the Confederation.
Margaret saw her son looking nervously at the thousands of clattering workers, high-crested warriors, and tiger-striped domates. “Don’t worry, Anton, the Klikiss won’t harm us. Not now.”
“How could I argue with you? You’ve got more experience with the Klikiss than anyone in history.”
“Are you just trying to convince yourself?”
He swallowed hard. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
Margaret and Anton had brought their own supplies, and the breedex provided a hive tower for them to use as a temporary residence. After Rlinda and BeBob departed, she and her son settled in and began their work. They felt awkward at first, mostly about being together, but quickly formed a workable partnership. They grew closer than they had ever been. Margaret told him stories about his father, and Anton described his years of dealing with university politics and how he’d been accepted among the Ildirans to translate their Saga of Seven Suns. And he also talked a lot about Vao’sh.
“I’ll get used to it,” Anton said. “We’ve got plenty of Klikiss stories to record. That’s the main thing.”
“Then it’s time for us to meet with the breedex again.”
Of all the scattered subhives, the only Klikiss that remained functional were those that had been closest to the One Breedex aboard the swarmships at Earth. The rest of the bugs remained in hibernation, perhaps permanently. The Davlin-breedex had not been able to override the effects of the crippling Klikiss Siren, but Margaret wasn’t sure how hard he had tried. The sudden attrition of so many parts of the hive mind had given Davlin the opening he had needed to take over permanently with his strong and independent personality.
Inside the putrid-smelling main chamber, the great mass of grubs and pieces formed itself into a swirling, seething sculpture of Davlin Lotze’s face, much more concrete now than it had been before. Margaret stepped close to the terrifying visage. “The rest of humanity may not know it, Davlin, but you alone probably saved us all.”
“I’ll make certain to tell that part of the story,” Anton insisted.
“There are other stories you must preserve,” the breedex said.
“Indeed, there are,” Margaret said. “You need to help us understand, Davlin.”
“I will,” he said in his eerie, overlapping voice. “Listen.”
Together, they spent days in the hall of the breedex as the Davlin persona drew upon genetic memories. He told the never-before-heard history songs of the Klikiss, the former swarmings, the One Breedex, the creation of the black robots and their subjugation . . . and the treachery that had nearly exterminated the race.
Anton recorded and annotated all the tales, even capturing the alien melodies as background, while Margaret interviewed the breedex. Her son was engrossed, awed to know that he was setting down an untold epic to rival even the Saga of Seven Suns. With a sigh, he looked up from his datapad and flexed his sore hand. “I wish with all my heart that Vao’sh could have been here with us.”
Margaret understood his affection for his old colleague. “And I wish Louis could be here.” She smiled. “But we’re together. That’s enough of a miracle for right now.”
* * *
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Sullivan Gold