“I heard Fitzpatrick had gone over to your side,” Admiral Willis mused. “Ourside, I mean. Caused quite a scandal, considering who his grandmother is. Deserted the EDF and went off to points unknown. It could be useful to hear what he’s got to say for himself.”

The three went to meet theGypsy as it docked. Since Fitzpatrick had been her nemesis during their training days on the lunar EDF base, Tasia couldn’t wait to see the expression on his face. When the space yacht’s hatch opened and he and Zhett stepped out arm in arm, his eyes went wide. “Tamblyn — and Robb Brindle? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Though years had passed, it was hard for her to forget all the mistreatment Fitzpatrick had heaped on her, how he had bullied her and sneered at her Roamer heritage. “Don’t expect a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.”

He looked away sheepishly. “Yeah, I was an ass back then — although you stood up for yourself perfectly well, Tamblyn.”

“I keep him in line,” Zhett teased. “Even the most insufferable jerks can be redeemed with a little hard work and patience — well, maybe not General Lanyan.”

Tasia gave Zhett a disbelieving look. “I’ll believe that when I see it.” She was shocked to see how close the two stood, adoring each other. She and Robb had never been so sappy. at least, she hoped not.

Fitzpatrick turned to Willis with an automatic salute. “Admiral! Good to see you again. I heard you’d come to join the Confederation forces.”

“You figured it out well before I did. It’s not my place to throw stones and muddy up the water that’s already under the bridge, to mix a handy metaphor.” The older woman turned sternly to Tasia and Robb. “And it’s not for either of these two to do, either.”

Fitzpatrick explained how he had spoken to his grandmother on orders from King Peter, and that she would be coming to Theroc to work against Chairman Wenceslas. The Admiral nodded. “It’ll be all over for the Hansa soon. Now, if we can only find a fat lady to do the singing. And if General Lanyan stops poking his battleships where they don’t belong.”

Fitzpatrick smiled. “The General’s taking a large group of battleships to fight the Klikiss on Pym. It’s his next big mission.”

“Now that’s good news for a change!” Tasia’s eyes brightened. “At least he’s after the right enemy for once.”

Robb saw her expression shift. “Don’t even think about it, Tamblyn.”

“Too late.” She spun to face Willis. “Admiral, I’ve been ready to launch a similar offensive of our own. Seems to me that two fleets would be better than one.” She shrugged. “Besides, we can’t let the General do a half-assed job.”

Willis blew air through her lips, considering. “It’s certainly one way to wrap this mess up with ribbons and bows. But we’ll need to depart immediately if we’re going to fight alongside the EDF ships. It’d be damned embarrassing if we arriveafter the General’s already done the hard work.”

“Shizz, I’ve been writing mission proposals for weeks now,” Tasia said. “Let’s get going.”

Robb cautioned, “Even if we help him, don’t expect the General to become a real convert to our cause.”

Tasia couldn’t stop grinning. “Either way, this is going to be fun.”

68

Sirix

Aboard the former flagship of Admiral Wu-Lin, Sirix inspected the work his robots had completed as part of the agreement with Chairman Wenceslas. Sirix had nearly finished the restoration of the stolen EDF vessels, including this Juggernaut, which had now been rechristened theThunder Child. Surrendering these hard-won ships was a high price to pay, but in return he would receive thousands more black robots to replace all those that had recently been lost.

General Lanyan was taking this Juggernaut off to fight the Klikiss on Pym, and Sirix wanted theThunder Child to function perfectly, so long as the humans fought against the sub-hive, rather than turning their weapons against the black robots.

“This alliance is advantageous to both sides,” PD said brightly. The two compies had been returned to him as a goodwill gesture. He was proud of them; their behavior was exactly what he had hoped to achieve from DD.

“We’re glad we suggested it,” QT added.

But Sirix knew how quickly things could change. Humans had very short memories and limited attention spans. They could not hold a grudge long enough to achieve any significant historic impact. Throughout their existence, they had forgotten feuds at the drop of a hat, switched from enemies to allies and back again and again; it was dizzying. Conversely, Sirix and his robots had hated the Klikiss without wavering for more than ten thousand years.

“For now, the terms are indeed mutually beneficial. Come with me.”

PD and QT dutifully followed him as he stalked down the Juggernaut’s corridors. The black robots and the remaining Soldier compies were hard at work scrubbing decks, removing old bloodstains, repairing obvious damage from weapons blasts, like torn doors and smashed wall plates, which had occurred during the trapped human soldiers’ final desperate hours.

“All EDF ships will be polished and ready to present to the Terran Hanseatic League by tomorrow,” QT said. “In time for General Lanyan’s departure.”

“Good as new,” PD added. “The humans will be very happy.”

Such cosmetic repairs did not require a great deal of effort. The stolen ships already functioned correctly because the robots had maintained them properly. The work primarily involved cleaning, the reinstallation of unnecessary life-support systems, and the removal of any modifications that increased the power in the EDF engines. Sirix had no intention of giving the humans such advantages.

The next step — the reassembly of damaged ships and the construction of new robot vessels from the piles of uncataloged space wreckage — was far more ambitious. Sirix had already dispatched the majority of his black robots to comb the orbital battlefield and round up any salvageable components of damaged battleships. From there, his robot workers speedily began assembling new ships. Though humans in spacesuits could perform this labor, the black robots were far more efficient at it.

Despite the supposed goodwill of the Hansa, however, any restored EDF ships could conceivably be turned against the robots. Sirix had taken measures to ensure that would not happen.

He and the two compies entered theThunder Child ’s engine room, where large stardrives filled the giant chambers. Stripped-down compies with specially modified maintenance programming had crawled deep inside the reaction chambers, then inserted tiny automated drones that would pass into the smaller and smaller constrictions of the drive train. They would sit like Trojan horses, waiting to be activated.

From the engineering console Sirix uploaded detailed readouts to learn where the surreptitious modifications had been made. EDF construction engineers and Hansa inspectors watched every part of the work, but they were easily fooled. Modifications could be so subtle, and the complex military vessels had so many weak points.