The Ashes of Worlds

“Admit it, Tamblyn — you’re happy to see them. And Admiral Willis, too.”

Tasia relaxed her stern expression. “Damn right, I am. And we sure as hell could use someone who knows more about command than either of us does.”

“So, you’ve been faking it all along?”

She clapped him on the shoulder. “Never with you, Brindle. Let’s send out the welcome wagon. With all those weapons and ships, we could go on a real bug hunt!”

When the two of them formally presented themselves aboard theJupiter, Tasia looked around the bridge with fond nostalgia. Willis had put on her best uniform and told all her officers and crew to make themselves presentable: polished shoes, razor-edged creases, neatly combed hair. Tasia wasn’t sure why the Admiral felt the need to impress anyone, since the Confederation was in no position to turn down the offer of functional warships.

Willis returned Tasia’s salute. “I swear, I never thought I’d see you two alive again.”

Tasia dropped all pretense of formality and gave her a quick hug. “Glad to see you, too, Admiral — and doubly glad to be on the same side again.”

Robb, brought up in a more rigid military family, settled for a warm handshake. “I prefer combat duty to being held prisoner among the hydrogues, ma’am.”

“Well, I did bring the hydrogue derelict back here to deliver to Kotto Okiah, in case you have further pie-in-the-sky ideas,” Willis said.

“No thank you, ma’am. One excursion down into a gas giant was enough for me.”

Leading them into her ready room, the Admiral ran her eyes up and down their grease-smudged jumpsuits. “Your uniforms could use a bit of attention. Is this the look of the Confederation military these days?”

“Roamers and colony volunteers don’t need costumes to know which side they’re fighting on,” Tasia said, feeling defensive.

“We haven’t had time to design new uniforms,” Robb admitted. “In fact, I don’t even know what rank we should call ourselves.”

“Sounds like you need an organizational chart,” Willis said. “Though I shudder to think about imposing that kind of structure on a Roamer-based society.”

After Willis had called up coffee and a plate of sugar cookies from theJupiter ’s galley, Tasia said, “The EDF has more than its share of butt-head commanders, but you weren’t one of them, Admiral. Even back when the Eddies were preying on Roamer clans, you had second thoughts.”

Willis raised her eyebrows. “I may be slow, but I do get it eventually.” She plucked a third sugar cookie from the plate, then told the story of how she had left the EDF after General Lanyan’s crackdowns at Usk and Rhejak.

Robb was clearly sad to hear that his own father had refused to switch sides. “He’ll have his head set on staying with the EDF, no matter what.”

Tasia cleared her throat. “I’m not sure how best to integrate your ships and soldiers into the Confederation military, ma’am. Our setup is certainly different from what you’re used to.”

“No matter how it shakes out, this old dog can learn new tricks,” Willis said. “All my soldiers understood what they were getting into, and they’re ready for it. You’re welcome to interview the crew if you like.”

Tasia snorted. “Like I don’t have anything better to do than chat with several thousand soldiers? If you vouch for them, Admiral, I’ll take your word for it.”

Willis’s ships traveled to the far side of the sweeping rings where Kotto had unveiled a brand-new spacedock facility that could accommodate the entire battle group at once. “Quite an operation, Tamblyn,” the Admiral mused. “Not at all like what we saw when we ran our operation here against the hydrogues. Was all this built in the last couple of years?”

Tasia flinched. “Oh, it was all here before, ma’am. We just didn’t want you to see it. Back then, Roamers were content to lie low and let all the fighting pass over them, but now we’ve changed our philosophy. Considering the persecution we’ve faced, we can’t just be merchants and couriers anymore — we have to be warriors, too. You can thank Chairman Wenceslas for that.”

The Juggernaut pulled into a huge construction framework. Dazzling lights illuminated the geometric hull lines as docking clamps secured the giant vessel, anchoring it into place for the work to begin. Roamer engineers in environment suits swarmed over the hull, beginning a full assessment.

Tasia quickly issued orders to the spacedock crews. “Every one of these ships needs to be checked out and refurbished.”

Over the next few hours, shipyard managers juggled the scheduling of the whole refit facility so that Willis’s ten Mantas could settle into individual slips. Connectors, telescoping bridges, and fuel lines extended across to the hulls.

When the work was ready to begin in earnest, Tasia and Willis peered through the angled observation window of the spacedock’s management center. Grinning, Tasia clicked her comm and transmitted to the busy crew, “First things first — get some abrasive blasters and take off that EDF logo! I want Confederation markings painted on every hull.”

36

Orli Covitz

TheBlind Faith rushed back to Osquivel with their startling news about the Klikiss at Relleker. When Captain Roberts displayed their images to the Roamers inside the main admin dome, Robb Brindle was baffled. “But what were the bugs doing there? They never had a claim to Relleker. That was a legitimate Confederation outpost.”

Tasia was even more incensed. “The bugs want to conquer everything. I say we mount an offensive! As soon as Admiral Willis’s ships get out of spacedock, we’ll have more than enough firepower to squash those critters.”

“There’s no one left to save at Relleker,” Orli said. “Nothing to salvage.”

Roamers were grumbling, especially those who hadn’t previously faced the Klikiss. “There’s been too much running and too much hiding,” said a leathery-faced old female pilot. “Somebody needs to teach those bugs a lesson.”

“But what about the faeros?” asked Liona, the green priest. “They just attacked Theroc.”

“And the Eddies just attacked Golgen,” Robb pointed out.

“It sure is wonderful to have plenty of enemies to choose from,” Mr. Steinman said.

Despite his muttering about wanting to relax and retire, Steinman spent most of his days in the lab chambers where Kotto Okiah dabbled with new concepts. Steinman had been a risk taker in his earlier career, exploring the uncharted Klikiss transportal network. Now he wanted a quieter life, but events kept preventing him from having the quieter life he wanted, so he decided to find a purpose.

With DD walking faithfully at her side, Orli found the two men in Kotto’s lab. She didn’t have any other home to go to, and she was old enough to take care of herself, to shoulder responsibilities. Among the Roamers, any girl her age already knew how to pull her weight, and Kotto seemed amenable to letting both her and Mr. Steinman help him.