Blood of the Cosmos (74 page)

Lurking inside their shadow cloud, the five Shana Rei hex cylinders showed no reaction to the arrival of the gigantic Ildiran fleet. They simply kept spilling out a rain of hex plates to seal the last gap in the enveloping sphere.

“Adar!” cried the comm officer. “We've retrieved the human ship. Osira'h and Prince Reynald are safe aboard.”

He felt a rush of relief, then he glanced at the tactical projection of space around Kuivahr. “Are there any other refugee ships from Kuivahr? We have to get them off planet before that shell closes.”

“No indications, Adar.”

His heart felt heavy. Whoever had been down there was surely lost—including Tamo'l.

As the robot battleships plunged toward the Solar Navy cohort, the grouped warliners continued on their course toward Kuivahr.

“Laser cannons,” Zan'nh said. “Target that black sphere and cut open a hole. That may give Tamo'l and her people a little more time.”

The first septa to reach the planet used high-intensity laser cannons like a hot scythe to chop at the obsidian shroud. The bombardment of coherent light was powerful enough to dislodge a section of hex plates, ripping open a hole in the shell and allowing light through again. The laser cannons continued to slice away, widening the gap—but more hex plates showered down onto the damaged area, like platelets forming a scab on a bleeding wound.

Zan'nh remembered how much effort they had expended in trying to knock apart the nightshade above Theroc or the huge Dyson sphere surrounding the Onthos system. The Shana Rei cylinders seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of dark material, and they managed to repair the shell as fast as the warliners could damage it.

The flagship's science officer groaned. “Adar! The planet is gone. The sphere is complete.”

Kuivahr was nothing more than a jet-black ball orbited by two lost moons.

Adar Zan'nh set his jaw, knowing that was not a battle he could fight right now. He reached a cold conclusion. This would be a fruitless effort. He could waste the destructive resources of the entire cohort, ultimately for no purpose. No, he needed to do something more significant, and this might be his last chance not only to demonstrate hope for the Ildiran Empire and the Confederation, but to make the creatures of darkness reconsider this fight.

The black shroudsphere around Kuivahr healed itself, leaving no scars, as if nothing had happened at all.

The first robot battleship crashed in among the warliners, opening fire with enhanced weaponry at the nearest Solar Navy ship. All Ildiran shields were at maximum, but even so the bombardment cut through and damaged one warliner. Two other warliners were destroyed by the combined onslaught of the gigantic enemy ships. The black robots flew in like rabid animals, attacking everywhere—and more than three hundred Solar Navy warliners rallied to defend themselves. They hammered at the robot ships, but the enemy armor was stronger than expected.

Meanwhile, the Shana Rei hex cylinders hung inside their shadow cloud, motionless, while the robots fought for them. They seemed invincible.

Adar Zan'nh made his choice, and he announced how to direct his attack. “We can either try to scoop spoons full of sand from a beach, or we can
make a difference
. It is questionable how much effect our attack will have against the Shana Rei, but the robots are their foot soldiers—and we know that our weapons can destroy them. If we combine our forces, we can eliminate the robots entirely. Let us hurt the enemy there!”

The great Adar Kori'nh's astonishing all-or-nothing gambit at Qronha 3 had sent the supposedly invincible hydrogues reeling and demonstrated an effective new way of fighting. Zan'nh could not hold a spark to the bravery of Adar Kori'nh, but he meant to do everything possible.

Tal Gale'nh and Muree'n appeared on the comm, their faces filled with despair. “Tamo'l is gone, Adar! We felt her … wink out.”

Looking flushed, Osira'h arrived in the command nucleus, followed by Prince Reynald and their companions. Osira'h struggled to keep her balance as she was buffeted by storms inside her mind. “Tamo'l was intending to evacuate all her people through the Klikiss transportal. Maybe she escaped. I also felt Rod'h reach out to all of us, screaming—but then Tamo'l went through the transportal, and I felt nothing more from her.”

Zan'nh turned to face the oncoming robot ships. “We will have one victory today, at least. Drain your laser-cannon batteries, unleash all your sun bombs, including the new ones—and turn them against
the robots
. Wipe them out.” He hardened his voice, knowing the risk he was taking. “If we save anything for later, there may not be a later.”

The warliners responded, and the space battleground around Kuivahr became a firestorm of destructive light, like the core of an exploding galaxy.

 

CHAPTER

127

TAL GALE'NH

Beside him in the command nucleus of his warliner, Muree'n was ruthless and eager for the fight, but Tal Gale'nh did not let her impatience distract him. He filled his mind with tactical projections, the tightly coordinated dance of the other warliners as they prepared for their full-forward press. For years, the Solar Navy had incessantly practiced coordinated maneuvers. Each one of the warliner captains knew the plan and the pattern of complex battle maneuvers, and now they had to adapt as best they could.

“More than ninety robot ships, Tal,” said his weapons officer. “They are larger and more powerful than the previous models.”

“We are more powerful as well—they have not seen the new sun bombs yet.” He gave a brisk nod. “Laser cannons first to cause initial damage as we get into position. When those are depleted, we unload our sun bombs—our original ones, as well as the new designs that General Keah provided. And more than three hundred warliners will do the same.”

“They do not stand a chance,” Muree'n said with a smile.

Spears of blinding coherent light impaled the nearest robot ship as it swooped toward them, three warliners concentrating on the same target. The black vessel's shields held for a moment, shimmered, strained. Gale'nh watched the enemy ship's weaponry brighten as it prepared to fire; then the laser-cannon broadside broke through the protective barrier and destroyed the robot battleship.

“More,” Gale'nh called. “Open fire, any target—until they are all eradicated.”

Around him, more warliners unleashed their full laser batteries, which pummeled the black robot battleships, but were not sufficient. The robots launched a merciless counterattack, destroying three warliners. Gale'nh felt a sick fury at seeing the expanding clouds of hot wreckage in space.

Another energy blast slammed the shields of his warliner, causing some of their power systems to fail, but backup loops kicked in. “More laser cannons!” he yelled, and another broadside crashed into two robot battleships.

Hundreds of warliners turned their laser cannons loose as well, and before long, a brilliant flash signified the eruption of the first sun bomb—one of the new models. As the shock wave expanded and rolled over two black battleships, he saw that General Keah had not exaggerated when she bragged about the new design. The nova explosion was breathtaking, and it took the robots completely by surprise.

“Press our advantage. Select your next targets,” Gale'nh said. “We want each detonation to take out several enemy vessels, so place each sun bomb accordingly.” He believed Adar Zan'nh was correct—if the Solar Navy could exterminate the Klikiss robot fighters, they would hamstring the Shana Rei conventional attack. Gale'nh's warliner launched three sun bombs toward clustered robot ships, and the command-nucleus screens filtered dark when nuclear flashes blossomed across space, a vaporizing explosion several times more powerful than the robots had faced before.

The full cohort of Solar Navy ships struck again and again, holding nothing back. Sun bomb after sun bomb. The black robots reeled, not knowing what had hit them.

Adar Zan'nh kept shouting on the comm line. “We have destroyed more than fifty enemy ships already! Time to wipe out the rest.” Then he added, as if it were a matter of personal pride, “We will have something impressive to show General Keah, next time we meet.” The warliner commanders needed no further encouragement.

On the tactical screens, Gale'nh watched his weapons inventory diminish, but he did not slow his attack. He calculated they would have enough sun bombs to achieve their mission.

Beside him, Muree'n's expression was intense yet happy.

Three more sun bombs detonated, and the nuclear shock waves collided and interfered with other explosions. The combined energy was enough to wreck one robot ship after another. The last remaining black battleships fought back, but with a desperation now. Their improved weapons and armor were impressive but insufficient.

Only twenty-one robot ships remained of the original ninety-eight.

Gale'nh concentrated the last reserves of his laser-cannon fire on the two nearest enemy vessels. He did not bother with short, conservative bursts, but told the weapons officer to continue the barrage, allowing no time for reset or recharge. He drained his laser batteries—and two more robot vessels were gone.

“We have only three sun bombs remaining, Tal,” said his weapons officer.

“What are the losses in the cohort?”

The sensor technician scanned space. “Fifty warliners destroyed, Tal. Twenty-three more severely damaged and unable to fight.”

“A great cost,” he said, “but the robots have suffered a much higher toll.”

More than two hundred battered but determined warliners closed in on the ragtag remnants of the robot battle fleet, harrying the last enemy survivors. Five more black battleships exploded. Panicked now, the remaining enemy vessels turned about and fled, racing pell-mell back toward the safety of the shadow cloud.

Adar Zan'nh transmitted, “Forward! Wipe out the last of them.”

Muree'n pointed at the tactical screen. “Right there—a sun bomb would take out two more.” Gale'nh directed the weapons officer to take the shot.

Muree'n flashed a fierce smile as the pinwheeling sphere hurtled toward a pair of robot ships struggling to get away. When the sun bomb went nova, the shock wave was enough to vaporize both robot vessels before they could reach the fringe of the dark nebula.

Gale'nh showed no overt joy though he felt a swell of inner pride. Behind them, the planet Kuivahr was entirely black, smothered. If they had enough weapons remaining at the end of this engagement, they could crack through that impenetrable shell, but he was sure that everyone down there was already gone. Tamo'l had vanished. He could feel nothing from her.

Muree'n sensed her brother's thoughts. “Osira'h is safe aboard the Adar's flagship, but Rod'h … I will try again to reach him.”

Gale'nh pressed his lips together as he looked at the looming shadow cloud. What could they do for Rod'h now?

Only five robot battleships remained, and they were careening toward the shadow cloud. The Shana Rei cylinders began to rotate, swiveling on their axes to prepare for the oncoming remnants of the Solar Navy. The creatures of darkness had finished with Kuivahr, and they had no reason to stay here and risk further damage—except perhaps to destroy more Ildiran warliners.

On-screen, Adar Zan'nh shouted, “Stop those last robots.” Gale'nh had never seen the commander so agitated. “Do not let any survive!”

Seven warliners accelerated forward to catch the damaged black battleships. Ahead of them, the shadow cloud was a necrotic flower that swallowed up all the surrounding starlight.

The pursuing warliners launched three sun bombs, and two struck straggler robot ships, vaporizing them. Of the original ninety-eight attack vessels, only three robots survived. One of the launched sun bombs missed its target and streaked into the black hexagons, erupting there and searing away a deep divot of ebony material.

Finally, the last of the frantic robot ships reached the fringe of the dark nebula. The black hex cylinders turned toward the rest of the Solar Navy fleet. Adar Zan'nh ordered, “Launch the last sun bombs, a final concentrated salvo against the Shana Rei—and then withdraw immediately. We are finished here.”

When the seven warliners in hot pursuit plunged into the haze of shadows, the hex ships unleashed rippling waves that struck the Ildiran vessels with a thunderclap of entropy. The warliners reeled, spun, and all systems went dark. The Solar Navy pilots screamed out, and the comm burst into random static. As Gale'nh and Muree'n watched from the command nucleus, all seven warliners crumbled apart in space, as if the very material that composed them no longer maintained its integrity.

“Withdraw!” shouted the Adar.

Gale'nh did not wish to retreat until he had depleted his sun bombs, so he launched them directly into the hex cylinders. Two more bright stars erupted, damaging the shadow ships. Fifteen additional sun bombs, perhaps the last remaining armaments in the entire cohort, pinwheeled out from other warliners and struck the heart of the shadow cloud. The nova explosions substantially diminished the long black cylinders.

“If only we had thousands more of those,” Muree'n said.

Gale'nh nodded. “We are manufacturing them as quickly as we can.”

The shadow cloud turned into itself and enfolded the hex cylinders as well as the last three robot battleships. The dark nebula collapsed, whisked away like blackness down a drain, and the tear in space sealed, leaving the sorely wounded remnants of the Solar Navy hanging there in space.

At the last instant, both Gale'nh and Muree'n reached out with their minds, calling for Rod'h, trying to make a connection, but their brother was surrounded by darkness, despair, and insanity. They held on to him for just a moment, giving him a taste of hope, before the connection snapped. Rod'h faded away until he was only an echoing wail in memory.