The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [99]
“All EDF ships will be polished and ready to present to the Terran Hanseatic League by tomorrow,” QT said. “In time for General Lanyan’s departure.”
“Good as new,” PD added. “The humans will be very happy.”
Such cosmetic repairs did not require a great deal of effort. The stolen ships already functioned correctly because the robots had maintained them properly. The work primarily involved cleaning, the reinstallation of unnecessary life-support systems, and the removal of any modifications that increased the power in the EDF engines. Sirix had no intention of giving the humans such advantages.
The next step — the reassembly of damaged ships and the construction of new robot vessels from the piles of uncataloged space wreckage — was far more ambitious. Sirix had already dispatched the majority of his black robots to comb the orbital battlefield and round up any salvageable components of damaged battleships. From there, his robot workers speedily began assembling new ships. Though humans in spacesuits could perform this labor, the black robots were far more efficient at it.
Despite the supposed goodwill of the Hansa, however, any restored EDF ships could conceivably be turned against the robots. Sirix had taken measures to ensure that would not happen.
He and the two compies entered the Thunder Child’s engine room, where large stardrives filled the giant chambers. Stripped-down compies with specially modified maintenance programming had crawled deep inside the reaction chambers, then inserted tiny automated drones that would pass into the smaller and smaller constrictions of the drive train. They would sit like Trojan horses, waiting to be activated.
From the engineering console Sirix uploaded detailed readouts to learn where the surreptitious modifications had been made. EDF construction engineers and Hansa inspectors watched every part of the work, but they were easily fooled. Modifications could be so subtle, and the complex military vessels had so many weak points. . . .
While PD and QT observed attentively, Sirix confirmed that any one of the restored vessels could be detonated, whenever he chose.
Sirix was pleased. General Lanyan could prove the worth of these ships against the Klikiss at Pym. But if Chairman Wenceslas reneged on his agreement or ever attempted to trick and destroy the black robots . . . or if Sirix believed it would be to his advantage, he could scuttle the EDF fleet at any time.
* * *
69
Sarien
When she met Deputy Cain and Captain McCammon in the rarely used canal levels beneath the Whisper Palace, Sarein was fully aware of what they were doing. She realized with a heavy heart that this would be no game with hooligan “dissidents” dropping subtle messages into newsnet broadcasts. The time had come to do something more concrete.
There was no polite word for plotting the overthrow of the Chairman, but it had to be done if they were to salvage anything of the Hansa. She wished she could have made Basil see the truth for himself.
Few people maintained the dank grottoes now that King Peter’s private yacht had been decommissioned. Peter and Estarra’s last colorful procession had been a spectacular event years ago, though it held dark memories for Sarein. That had been the day hydrogues attacked both Theroc and Corvus Landing, killing both of her brothers. Later, Sarein learned that Basil had also intended to blow up the King and Queen’s boat, then blame the assassination on the Roamers.
For too long, she had called Estarra’s suspicions nonsense. For too long she had refused to see the obvious. Not anymore.
She, Cain, and McCammon had concocted a cover story, suggesting that the royal yacht should be renovated so that King Rory could make a similar procession. After all (they would argue to Basil, if he should question them), why not invest Rory with at least as much majesty and grandeur in the people’s minds as the former King and Queen had enjoyed? The Chairman wouldn’t disagree with that.
The three conspirators followed the