Sewell shoved a couple of snowlilies aside and dropped his cylinder into the clear patch of water. The hovercraft began to take shape, its gossamer-thin silicon membrane unfolding in a strict sequence, following the pattern built into its molecules. A flat boat-shaped hull was activated first, five metres long, fifteen centimetres thick. Water was pumped into its honeycomb structure, ballast to prevent it from blowing away. The gunwales started to rise up.
Theo Connal dropped lightly to the ground beside Kelly. She gave a slight start as he turned off his chameleon circuit.
Anything interesting? Reza asked.
The cloud is still shifting about. But its slower now.
Figures, the spaceplanes have gone.
All the birds are flying away from it.
Dont blame em, Pat said.
Kellys communication block reported that a signal was being beamed down from the geostationary satellites, coded for their team. It was a very powerful broadcast, completely non-directional.
Kelly, Reza, dont respond to this, Joshua said. It looks like our communications are wide open to the invaders, which is why Im transmitting on a wide footprint, a directional beam will pinpoint you for them. OK, situation update; weve got big problems up here. Several spaceplanes were taken over while they were on the ground, the invaders are now busy hijacking starships, but nobody can tell which ones. You know Ashly wasnt sequestrated, so that means you should be able to trust me. But dont take orders from anyone else, especially dont broadcast your location. Problem two, a navy squadron has just arrived and shut down the strike mission. Jesus, its a total fucking shambles in orbit right now. Some of the hijacked ships are trying to run for a jump coordinate, Ive got voidhawks blocking the Lady Mac s patterning nodes, and two of my fellow combat-capable trader starships are heading up to intercept the navy squadron.
Your best bet is to turn round from that cloud and just keep going, out into the hinterlands somewhere. Theres no point in trying to locate the invaders bases any more. Ill do my best to pick you up in a day or two, if this cockup gets sorted by then. Stay alive, thats all you have to worry about now. Ill keep you informed when I can. Out.
The two hovercraft had finished erecting themselves. Sewell and Jalal were unpacking the energy matrices and superconductor fan motors ready to slot them into place.
Now what? Ariadne asked. The team had all gathered around Reza.
Keep going, he said.
But you heard what Joshua said, Kelly exclaimed. Theres no point. We have no orbital fire-power back-up, and no mission left. If we just manage to survive for the next few days its going to be a bloody miracle.
You still havent grasped it yet, have you, Kelly? Reza said. This is bigger than Lalonde; this isnt about doing a dirty job for money, not any more. These invaders are going to challenge the entire Confederation. They have the power. They can change people, their minds, their bodies; mould whole planets into something new, something that we have no part in. Some time soon those ships in orbit are going to have to try and attack, to put a stop to it all. It doesnt matter whether it is Smith or the navy squadron. If the invaders arent stopped here, theyll keep on coming after us. Sure we can run, but theyll catch us, if not out in the hinterlands than back at Tranquillity, or even Earth if you want to run that far. But not me. Everyone has to make a stand eventually, and mine is right here. Im going to find a base and let the ships know.
Kelly held her tongue, she could well imagine how Reza would react to her wheedling.
More like it! Sal Yong proclaimed.
OK, Reza said. Finish fitting out the hovercraft, and get our gear stowed.
It took a surprisingly short five minutes to complete their preparations and clamber in. Fully assembled the hovercraft was a simple affair, with a big fan at the rear and two cycloidal impellers filling the skirt with air. It was steered mechanically, by vanes behind the fan.
Kelly sat on a bench at the rear of her craft, riding with Sal Yong, Theo Connal, and Ariadne. Now the decision had been made, she was quite glad to be free of the pack and walking through the jungle.
Rezas lead hovercraft moved out from the bank, skimming easily over the snowlilies, and turned downstream. Fenton and Ryall sat in the prow, blunt heads thrust out into the wind as they picked up speed.
Chapter 09
One thing Princess Kirsten had always insisted on after ascending to the throne of the Principality of Ombey was keeping breakfast a family affair. Crises could come and go, but giving the children quality time was sacrosanct.
Burley Palace, where she ruled from, was situated at the top of a gently sloping hill in the middle of Ombeys capital, Atherstone. Its pre-eminent location gave the royal apartments at the rear of the sprawling stone edifice a grand view over the parks, gardens, and elegant residential buildings which made up the citys eastern districts. Away in the distance was the haze-blurred line of deeper blue that was the ocean.
Atherstone was only fifteen degrees south of the equator, putting it firmly in the tropical climate belt, but the early morning breeze coming in off the ocean kept the temperature bearable until about ten oclock. So Kirsten had the servants set the table on the broad, red-tiled balcony outside her bedroom, where she could sit amid the yellow and pink flowers of the aboriginal tolla vines that choked the back of the palace, and have a leisurely hour with her husband and three natural-born children.
Zandra, Emmeline, and Benedict were aged seven, five, and three respectively, the only naturally conceived children she and Edward had produced. Their first five offspring had been gestated in exowombs after the zygotes had been carefully geneered to the latest physiological pinnacle which the Kulu geneticists had achieved. It was the Saldana family way; incorporating the freshest advances into each new generation, or at least that part of it destined to actually hold high office. Always the elder children, following the old Earth European aristocratic tradition.
Kirstens first five children would probably live for around two hundred years, whereas she herself and the natural-born three could only hope for about a hundred and eighty years. She had been sixty-six in 2608, when she was crowned in Atherstone Cathedral, two months after her brother Alastair II had assumed the throne on Kulu. As the ninth child, she had always been destined (barring an accident among her older brothers and sister) to rule Ombey, the newest principality.
Like all her nine exowomb siblings, and the five natural-born children of her mother and father, she was tall and physically robust; geneering gave her dark red hair and an oval face with well-rounded cheeksand of course a thin nose with a tip that curved down.
But geneering could only provide the physical stamina necessary for the stresses resulting in a century of wielding the supreme authority vested in a reigning monarch. She had been in training for the intellectual challenge from birth; first loaded up with the theory, endless politics and economics and management didactic courses, then five years at Nova Kong University learning how to apply them. After serving a twelve-year naval commission (compulsory for all senior Saldanas) she was given divisional management positions in the Kulu Corporation, the massive kingdom-wide utilities, transport, engineering, energy, and mining conglomerate founded by Richard Saldana when he settled Kulu (and still owned solely by the king), graduating up to junior cabinet posts. It was career designed with the sole intent of giving her unrivalled experience on the nature and use of power for when she came to the throne.
Only the siblings of the reigning monarch ruled the Kingdoms principalities on his behalf, keeping the family in direct command. The hierarchy was long established and extraordinarily successful in binding together nine star systems which were physically spread over hundreds of light-years. The only time it had ever come near to failure was when Crown Prince Michael germinated Tranquillity; and the Saldana family would never let anything like that happen again.