Anderson, Kevin J - Saga of the Seven Suns 04 - Scattered Suns by Anderson Kevin J

Author:Anderson, Kevin J. [Anderson, Kevin J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science-fiction
ISBN: 9780316003483
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2007-11-01T08:02:21+00:00

A few escapees fled to nearby systems, spreading word of Rusa’h’s swift and bloody victory on Alturas. Some even made a desperate flight all the way to Ildira, where their urgent news only added to what the Mage-Imperator had already learned from the Dobro Designate.

When Thor’h took his warliners to Shonor—the next Ildiran colony in the Horizon Cluster—the forewarned and intimidated local Designate and his people simply surrendered without a fight.

Chapter 64—ANTON COLICOS

Every step brought them closer to Maratha’s dawn. When they finally crested a rise of rocky hills, turning toward the glorious pastel suffusing the sky, the abrupt daybreak was like a jolt of energy to the Ildiran survivors.

Anton stumbled ahead, hungry and weary beyond words. Their food and water supplies had run out a while ago, but he had stopped counting the amount of time that passed. Actual hours didn’t matter anymore—only closing the gap between them and the sunlight. After that, they would still have to cross the landscape to the oasis of Secda, the planet’s other domed city.

“We will survive,” Designate Avi’h said, thrilled by the light. “Follow me, and I will lead us to our salvation.” He strutted forward, exerting a semblance of authority, then hesitated as if expecting someone else to tell him which direction to go. Without his bureaucrat companion to attend to the details, his confidence came only in short bursts.

Anton knew that Ildirans needed dozens of their people together to keep themselves sane, to reinforce their mental needs, to feel the necessary thism connection. Now only four of them remained, plus himself, and he began to see the frayed edges of disoriented irrationality and unpredictable desperation. They would not recover unless they got back among others, and soon.

When the small group hiked into the brightening illumination, they spread their arms and turned their faces to the sunlight, as if drinking in nourishment. The landscape was flat and featureless, broken by cracked canyons turned into lines of deep shadow by the angled sunlight. They walked on and on.

Eventually, a sparkle shone on the horizon, a glitter of domes that caused engineer Nur’of and the burly digger Vik’k to cheer in unison. Designate Avi’h proclaimed, “Onward to Maratha Secda! We are no longer alone—the Klikiss robots will help us there.”

Rememberer Vao’sh stopped next to Anton as they looked toward the far-off domes. “Previously we visited Secda only in darkness. Now I have never been so glad to see it.”

“It’s still many kilometers away, Vao’sh,” Anton cautioned.

“Nevertheless, it is within sight. The end of our ordeal is at hand.”

But Anton’s true uneasiness stemmed from doubts about what they would find in the empty city. While ancient tales about the Shana Rei might have had some basis in fact, the true culprits were likely much more tangible. He recalled the labyrinth of tunnels Nur’of had discovered deep in the crust. In his mind, the Klikiss robots themselves were most probably the saboteurs, despite the fact that Ildirans had coexisted with them for many centuries. Who else was there?

Though he couldn’t shake his feeling of foreboding, they had no other choice.

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