Horizon Storms (36 page)

“I’m sorry to say the situation has only grown worse. I am convinced that the rebellious clans have stockpiled stardrive fuel and other resources that, by rights, should have gone into the Terran war effort. Their selfishness is hampering our ability to protect the Hansa and its colonies. They are hurting us by their stubbornness, and we cannot ignore it.”

Admiral Stromo barely contained his anger. “They’ve picked the worst possible time to hit us with this childish embargo. Their unwarranted re-

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fusal to trade ekti delivers a severe blow just when our new colonization initiative is gathering momentum.”

Lanyan continued, gathering steam. “Remember several years ago, just before the hydrogues, when the Roamer pirate Rand Sorengaard preyed upon Hansa colonies? Think of the damage he caused—but more important, it shows the mind-set of these lawless clans.”

Stromo picked up the thread, as if they had practiced this interchange.

“I say, if they have chosen to withdraw our resources when we need them most, then they have chosen to become our enemies. It is in our best interests to declare war on the clans, trounce them quickly, and be done with it. Such a plan could easily be accomplished, and would provide a clear example for all humans who might want to hoard resources.”

Peter had intended to sit quietly and observe, but he could not keep himself from pointing out the obvious. “Excuse me, Basil, but Speaker Peroni’s demands seem reasonable enough. If a crime was indeed committed, why not simply track down the perpetrators of the alleged piracy and renounce any such actions in the future?”

“Because it’s outright blackmail,” Lanyan snapped. “And we don’t cooperate with blackmailers.”

Basil was cooler. “We have never been shown any incontrovertible proof of such piracy. It’s likely the Roamers are simply jumping at shadows and trying to blame others.”

Peter pressed his lips together. “I notice you didn’t actually deny the allegations. Do you intend to authorize more such raids on Roamer cargo ships?”

“Oh, please! This is ridiculous,” Stromo snapped.

“Admitting to such acts is politically out of the question, whether or not the allegations are true,” Basil said. “We cannot let a gang of undisciplined space gypsies dictate terms to the Terran Hanseatic League. In times of war, we can no longer turn a blind eye to their lawless independence.

Instead, we should do everything in our power to unify the fragmented factions of humanity against a common enemy. The Roamers must submit to the strength of the majority for the good of our race. It may be our only chance.”

Eldred Cain spoke with a quiet, calm confidence that cut through the drone of murmured responses at the table. “It may interest you, sir, that I

have found a legal means by which we can simply and legitimately annex the Roamer clans.” The pale deputy looked at Peter. “It’s tidy enough that even the King should have no objections.”

Peter tried to show his dutiful willingness to listen. “It’s completely legal?”

“I have undertaken a thorough analysis of the original treaty and documentation signed by all eleven generation ships before they departed from Earth over three centuries ago. Each vessel—including the Kanaka, which provided the seed for the Roamer clans—agreed to certain irrevocable terms.

“At the time of departure, the colonist families assumed this would be a one-way trip. The generation ships were slow-moving vessels, and the passengers hoped to find a habitable world and settle there forever. Even so, the governments of Earth feared that someday these prodigal children might become warlike and set their sights on returning home as conquerors. So they required the captains and colonists to swear in a binding document—one that specifically applies to themselves and all of their descendants—that they would ‘take no action, direct or indirect, that would harm Mother Earth.’”

Cain looked around, waiting for them to understand the implications.

Basil finally smiled. “I see. And cutting off our main source of stardrive fuel at such a critical juncture certainly qualifies as being harmful to Earth.”

“Without question, Mr. Chairman. It is barely even open to debate.”

“Superb reasoning, Mr. Deputy!” Lanyan said. “It provides all the justification we could possibly need. The EDF can move on the Roamers anytime we please.”

Peter leaned forward, angry but careful not to overstep his bounds and give the Chairman reason to eject him from the room. “Excuse me, but why must we ‘move’ on them? If you are confident in your legal argument, we should present it to Speaker Peroni and give her a chance to revise the Roamer response, perhaps begin a limited number of ekti shipments again to establish goodwill while we negotiate the matter. In fact, I see no reason why we can’t announce that we condemn further acts of piracy against Roamer ships, without addressing the question of whether or not their accusation was true in the first place.”

“That would solve only the immediate part of the problem,” Basil said.

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“But I refuse to reward their efforts at coercion. Without question Roamer unruliness would become a thorn in our sides again and again. We need to decisively put an end to their . . . disruptive manipulations, so that we can concentrate on winning the important war. The hydrogues have been relatively quiescent, even after we used four more Klikiss Torches against them.

It is time to swiftly and decisively defeat the Roamers and earn wholehearted public support for the victory.”

Admiral Stromo distributed his printed summaries. There weren’t enough copies for Peter, but the King extended his hand and waited, until the liaison officer surrendered his personal copy. Stromo said, “Truly, King Peter, this will provide the greatest benefit in the long run. You’ll see.” He linked his display screen to the table, and enlarged diagrams were projected across the matte crystal surface.

With a growing lump in his throat, Peter looked at the descriptions for a direct invasion of known Roamer outposts.

Stromo continued: “I assigned a team of my best tactical experts to develop alternative strategies. The Roamers have always been notoriously secretive, but we know more than they realize about their movements, distribution, and activities. By backtracking flight paths and analyzing elemental breakdowns from processed materials in their shipments, we have estimated the locations of some of their mines and factories. Though we’ve been aware of several important sites for years, we have kept that information until it could be put to good use. Now it is time. Several of these places have large ekti stockpiles just waiting for the taking.”

“The stockpiles are probably even more bloated now,” Lanyan pointed out, “since the Roamers aren’t selling ekti to us anymore.”

Looking pleased, Basil tapped his fingers on the table. “I suggest we put together a powerful EDF crew to sweep into one of these depots and confiscate the fuel for our war needs. A surgical strike to show them we mean business. They’ll see they’re out of their league.”

Peter could not believe what he was hearing. “But now you are talking outright piracy, Basil.”

“Deputy Cain has just offered a legitimate legal rationale; therefore it is merely an exercise of eminent domain, not piracy at all. The Roamers have little or no military defense and rely on their secrecy for protection.

They know we outgun them, and they cannot afford long-term hostilities.

We’ll force them to join us, to everyone’s benefit.”

Eldred Cain turned to Peter, sounding reasonable. “King Peter, we have always been willing to pay for the stardrive fuel supplied by the Roamers.

We have even accepted their exorbitantly inflated prices over the past several years. But if they will not sell to us, we have no choice but to obtain ekti in some other fashion. It is a strategic imperative.”

“What about our new cloud harvester on Qronha 3?” Peter offered.

“Another shipment is already on the way, now that they’ve worked out a truce with the Ildirans there.”

“A good start, but far from adequate,” Cain said. “We would need several dozen more cloud harvesters running at full capacity just to meet our minimal defense needs.”

Basil tapped his fingers impatiently on the tabletop. “No, as a matter of principle, the Roamers must join us. Their professed independence must be subordinate to humanity’s survival.”

“Those damned clans have been overconfident for too long,” Lanyan said. “They’ve gotten too big for their britches.”

Peter understood the Hansa’s logic, even felt part of the same desperation, but he was sure the Roamers would not acquiesce as easily as Basil expected. The open aggression would only confirm their negative view of the Hansa. “Do you expect the Roamers to just roll over and surrender?

They will hate us for generations.”

As if in partial concession to the King’s objections, Basil pondered the military plans. “Bear in mind, General, that we don’t want to cause any more harm than is absolutely necessary. Pick one of the depots and form your plan. I want a clean and efficient operation, with minimal blood-shed—preferably no loss of lives at all.”

“That may be difficult, sir,” Lanyan said.

“We want to make a point, not rack up civilian casualties. We need to show the Roamers who’s the boss and put an end to this damaging behavior, nothing more.” Basil stood up. “Once we get enough ekti to establish solid colonies on the rediscovered Klikiss worlds, we won’t need the Roamer clans. Then they can go out and starve themselves, for all I care. But first we have to get the stardrive fuel we need. That is our high-

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est priority.” The Chairman dismissed the meeting. “Now get to work, gentlemen.”

605JESS TAMBLYN

Get in your ships and follow me,” Jess said to the eleven Roamer volunteers. He climbed back aboard his water-and-pearl vessel, stepping through the permeable film and immersing himself in the enclosed ocean microcosm. Once away from any possibility of touching another person in the crowded confines of Rendezvous, he felt a wash of relief. He had already said his loving and bittersweet farewells to Cesca, standing as close as he dared.

Like a departing parade, the group of Roamer “water bearers” left Rendezvous, followed by calls of good luck. A small vessel piloted by Nikko Chan Tylar sprinted forward, catching up with Jess’s pearly ship and sending a message via the standard Roamer comm system Jess had installed to stay in contact with his new followers, though it had required modifications to operate in the watery environment. “We’re ready to get to work, Jess. Lead the way.”

Jess accelerated the spherical vessel, and the Roamer ships raced along beside him. . . .

When they reached the first uncharted world, they dropped to slow orbital speed, and Jess guided his volunteers through a murky fog of clouds.

This had once been a sterile place, swept with storms, but now the open water was filled with wental life force, like a great battery supercharged and ready to burst with elemental power. He could see the surging tides of light and power, crackling lines like a circulatory system through the entire ocean, the entire planet, like a storm of sparkling and benevolent life.

On its descent, his wental ship attracted silvery tendrils of lightning that skittered gently across the metallized coral framework. It was a probing touch, a soft brushing of electrical fingertips controlled by the wentals that had infused the whole isolated planet. They welcomed Jess and his companions.

The sentient water contained within his bubble vessel thrummed with unmitigated joy. On his first visit, this had been a dark and forbidding world, but now the angry storms had been purified by living water that stirred the cauldron of thriving wentals that filled the energized sea below.

Already the dispersed water entities had grown and separated from the first body of wentals, developing their own thoughts, but each wental remained a facet of the same overall being.

Jess’s vessel landed on the open sea, where it floated like a giant soap bubble. Whitecaps lapped against the sides of the ship, alive and glowing.

Nearby, the eleven Roamer ships dropped down, seeking a place to land on a flat atoll.

Nikko emerged from his family craft, drinking in the rough, brisk air.

Suffused with the wental life force, the environment had changed enough that the humans no longer needed breathing masks, as Jess had on his first visit. He glanced at the distant patterns of lightning that danced from thun-derheads to the ocean, and shouted to Jess. “Looks like you followed your Guiding Star back to the Garden of Eden. This whole planet’s an ocean, but it’s completely . . . alive.”

“Yes, every droplet of water, every cloud. It’s charged with living energy.”

Jess used his own connection with the wentals to be part of this sentient ocean. He stepped out onto the choppy surface of the water and walked from his globular vessel across the wavetops. Enhanced surface tension buoyed each step, keeping him from sinking, until he reached the rocks where the others waited for him. The Roamers stared at him in awe.

Jess gestured past the wave-swept shore. As if on cue, a symphony of lightning played like musical notes across the sky. “See what the wentals can do? We’ve got to help bring them into the fight against the hydrogues.”

Nikko grinned. “We’re ready.”

“I could easily have given you water from my own ship at Rendezvous . . . but I didn’t want you to accept this mission just on the basis 224

of my words. Look around you! I needed you to see this power, this gathering storm the wentals can command against the hydrogues! Witness the potential.”

All the Roamers stared at the fervid ocean. Currents of glowing life force streamed through the waves, anxious to be turned loose. The water elementals made the alien seas thrash and seethe. Jess’s companions muttered appreciatively.