The Battle of Corrin by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson

Author:Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson [Herbert, Brian & Anderson, Kevin J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780340823361
Published: 2004-08-31T23:00:00+00:00

“But the mites still strip any useful elements. There can"t be any exposed metal.”

Vor raised his eyebrows. “You mean we should make wooden flyers to deliver bombs?”

“Something far simpler. What if we cover ourselves with a blanket or tarpaulin, something made of organic materials the mites won"t find usable. We could get close enough to those factories to cause some true harm. It won"t provide us with any physical protection, though. If the ruse fails, then we"ll have exposed ourselves—fatally.”

“We"ll have to take the risk, Abulurd. I like the sound of this deception,” Vor said with a hard grin. “Should we call for volunteers, or are you thinking what I"m thinking?”

“Supreme Bashar, you are far too valuable for—”

Vor cut him off. “Remember how I was just scorned by the League Parliament and declared a useless old war fossil? You"ve seen how ineptly the younger soldiers are reacting in this crisis. How many of them would you trust on a dangerous mission?”

“I trust myself, Supreme Bashar.”

Vor clapped him on the shoulder. “I trust you, too—and me. Beyond that, I am not willing to say. Let"s put this plan into action, you and I.”

VOR DELEGATED HIScommand to a group of local officers, each in charge of defending against an individual piranha mite factory. He left an explicit explanation of what he and Abulurd intended to do, so that if it worked, the others could immediately put the same plan into practice. And if Vor and Abulurd failed, there would at least be some record of what they had attempted; those who followed might be able to come up with something more effective.

Vor was delighted with Abulurd"s idea. “You"ve been studying my military strategies, haven"t you?”

“What do you mean, Supreme Bashar?”

“This plan rivals some of my own schemes,” Vor said as he pulled out the thick draping cloth. “Fooling the machines, tricking their sensors—like I did with the hollow fleet at Poritrin.”

“This is not at all comparable to your triumphs, Supreme Bashar,” Abulurd said. “The piranha mites are stupid opponents.”

“Tell that to the people we"re going to save. Let"s move out.”

Their time was short and options scarce, but Vor and Abulurd did their best under the circumstances. Other soldiers helped them to cover the two mobile suspensor pallets with layers of tent fabric and sheets, all made of natural fibers that the mites could not possibly see as valuable resources for the factory cylinders. Then Vor and Abulurd draped themselves and the floating pallets with the tentlike covering; so that as each man moved along with his equipment, he appeared as a wide, shapeless mass.

Abulurd"s pallet contained a large plaz tank of intensely corrosive liquid connected to a dispersal nozzle. Vorian held a plasma howitzer that should incinerate the factory—if they could get close enough to it.

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