The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [28]
Another victory. The annihilation of another breedex.
Margaret felt sickened at the thought that the monstrous Llaro hive mind might actually win the struggle for species domination and control all of the Klikiss.
* * *
16
Captain Branson Roberts
On the day he got his rebuilt ship back from the Osquivel shipyards, BeBob hoped for a certain amount of fanfare. At the very least, he would have liked a small crowd to admire the new Blind Faith, wish him well, and offer a toast for the old ship, which the EDF had blown up.
Instead, no one came for the christening. In this damned unending war, a new crisis seemed to appear every single day. Tasia Tamblyn and her group had come back from Llaro, clamoring about the Klikiss invasion, and then the green priest had raised the alarm about the faeros attacking Theroc. Just that morning, Jess Tamblyn and Cesca Peroni had arrived at the shipyards in their wental ship, asking for help against the fiery elementals, and then they had rushed off.
Always an emergency. BeBob felt left out.
Like a proud parent he walked around the vessel. The paint was perfect and unscuffed, with no corrosions from cosmic radiation, no scratches or pits from micrometeoroids. And the Roamers had finished building the ship ahead of schedule!
During the reassembly he had hovered near the construction site every day. He had watched the frame put into place, the hull panels riveted on, extra armor layered over standard reinforcement alloys. The attitude-control thrusters, the in-system engines, and the stardrive had been tested on racks, then installed and tested again in situ. The modified computer systems and the full range of defensive weapons checked out. The old Faith had never sported projectile launchers or jazers, but in times like these, no ship could afford to be without them.
The new Blind Faith was seven meters longer than the original, with an expanded cargo bay and more compact engines, which yielded a twenty percent increase in carrying capacity; according to the specs, she was faster, too. BeBob couldn’t wait to see what the ship could do.
He particularly would have liked Rlinda Kett to fly with him on the maiden voyage, but he wasn’t going to wait around for her to come back from Earth. Long ago, she had helped him inspect the original Blind Faith, back when he had joined her shipping company. And then there had been their ill-advised marriage . . . but all that was so much gas down a black hole. Now the EDF had a death warrant out for him and probably one for Rlinda, too.
He still felt nervous that she had gone to the Hansa by herself. BeBob had wanted to go along, but Rlinda had laughed at him. “I’m the Confederation’s Trade Minister. I can take care of myself — but I’m not letting you anywhere near that planet. It was enough trouble breaking you out of EDF prison in the first place.” He had lost his ship, and they had lost Davlin Lotze in the process.
BeBob had every confidence in Rlinda Kett. He just wished she could be here for the launch. He had his first delivery mission already on the books, and he could set off at any time.
Toying with the external controls, he opened the main entry hatch. The boarding ramp hummed out smoothly, all tracks perfectly oiled. Bright panels lit the ship’s interior. He could smell the polymers of the control deck, freshly welded compartments, polished doors, and soft upholstery.
Poking his head back out again, he saw a curly-haired Roamer man enter the chamber. “Sorry I’m late, Captain Roberts,” Kotto Okiah said. “I see you’ve begun the inspection already.”
“Everything’s fine.” BeBob ran his hand along the inner hull. “Hand over the keys and I’ll take my ship out for a shakedown cruise.”
“Keys? We don’t use keys anymore. I have your access