They were waiting, languishing, in a lesser sifting com-
partment, a 50-foot-long vault with battered, pitted,
metal walls which were also shiny from the abrasion of
rock dust. In here, complex forcefields winnowed the
immense tonnage of interstellar debris gathered by the
harvester's scoop fields, probably sorting it by mineral
type and grade then funnelling it off to various silos.
Kao Chih also suspected that these same field projectors
were being used to scan and probe both himself and
Drazuma-Ha*, but when he mentioned it the mech
would only answer in a taciturn, uninformative manner,
suggesting some measure of displeasure. Five or six
hours they had been kept waiting in this steel box by the
harvester's steerer, a paranoid Voth by the name of Yash,
and that was in addition to the six or seven spent wait-
ing aboard the Castellan after docking.
At least that earlier period had given Drazuma-Ha*
plenty of time to explain the ins and outs of the crucial
and perilous (yet dramatic and fabulous to Kao Chih)
mission he was engaged on. Back on the ship, Kao Chih
had sat agog, listening to the mech's tale of the leg-
endary Forerunners, the vast war they had fought
against the Legion of Avatars, and the warpwells they
had built to defeat that terrible enemy. And now, a hun-
dred millennia later, an undamaged warpwell had been
uncovered on the world Darien, colonised by a lost off-
shoot of the Human race. Remnants of the Legion yet
survived, trapped in the lowest, darkest, most
inescapable depths of hyperspace, but their servants,
those three combat droids, knew that the warpwell
could be used to release them. Which was why the
Construct, an old ally of the Forerunners, had sent
Drazuma-Ha* to find Kao Chih and help him on his
quest.
'He sent you to find me?'
'Just so,' Drazuma-Ha::' had said. 'You know, for a
millennia-old machine, the Construct has acquired some
curiously sentimental traits - he once told me that
Humanity was a species a little out of the ordinary, that
they possessed an inner fire which set them apart from
others. I was sceptical of these comments, yet now that
I've accompanied you on this quest and shared its dan-
gers and triumphs, I can see and openly say that he was
right. After all, sometimes greatness is buried and must
be brought to the surface, so be alert, Gowchee, to the
greatness within.'
Now, half a day (and a couple of books) later, Kao
Chih found his thoughts winding back to the mech's
compliments and his own reaction to them. He had been
surprised to the point of amazement, and then sombre
and humbled, but now that he'd had time to ponder he
realised that he had also felt embarrassed at being the
recipient of such praise. Almost unbidden, one of his
father's favourite sayings came to him - 'Beware the
unearned handful of gold, for somewhere another hand
is holding a knife' - which made him smile and shake his
head. Sometimes it felt as if he had tiny versions of his
mother and father in his mind, popping up now and
then with a pithy adage.
His thoughts were interrupted by a heavy clank and
the sound of rough servos as the wide door at the end of
the vault began to slide open in three layers. At last, he
thought.
'Apologies for the delay,' came a voice from the red-
lit passage beyond. 'My precautions are exhaustive out
of necessity - too many wily, tricksy bandits skulking
between the stars for anyone to lower their guard . . .
follow the corridor round and up the slope, then turn
right at the top and stop at the blast door.'
The Voth's voice was coming from grilles spaced
along the corridor ceiling. Stubby rounded cones on the
walls shed a ruby-red light and Kao Chih's shoes made
a strange, reverberating noise as he walked. The other-
wise featureless corridor sloped up past a heavy,
dark-coloured door flanked by sensor posts and bearing
an odd, circular keypad in its centre. The blast door
they arrived at a few moments later was identical,
though without the keypad.
'Please wait.'
'With respect, honourable Yash,' Kao Chih said, 'we
have done little else but wait, and for many hours. We
are engaged on a task of the gravest importance . . .'
'Yes, yes, yes, one which may profoundly affect the
fate of trillions, tragedy, war, and so forth, but you've
thus far neglected to say what you want from me. Once
I find out, we can then negotiate a price for this service.'
'A price?' said Kao Chih. 'Disaster beckons and you
wish to haggle over a fee?'
'Wait a moment, Gowchee,' said Drazuma-Ha*,
breaking his hours-long silence. 'The honourable Yash is
merely protecting his interests, and our imposition on
his time can only detract from the attention which the
refining process requires. We must be patient and allow
him to determine the course of our deliberations.'
There was a moment of silence. 'So you know some-
thing about cloud-harvesters, then.'
'A little,' said the mech. 'Just that Viganli is a Star-
Eater-series harvester, I believe, which combines the
heavy-duty capacity of the Fireliner series with the effec-
tive range of the Voidgrinders, while including a larger
scoop field than either of them.'
'Very true, my machine guest, very perceptive.
Please - enter.'
The door hummed aside and they advanced into a
low-roofed, patchily lit and untidy room. One side was
a clutter of odd furniture grouped around a holotank,
while the other side was dominated by a long work-
bench backed by racks of tools, probes, leads and
weapons. Their host was sitting cross-legged on a high
bucket seat next to the bench, smoking a triple-bowl
pipe while resting a large, intimidating weapon on one
knee. For a Voth, Yash was lightly dressed, with only
two jackets, a toolpouch kirtle over long and dusty oil-
streaked pantaloons, and a pair of worn multigoggles
pushed back onto his bare forehead, their data cable
dangling loose by his side. Dark, deepset eyes regarded
them suspiciously through a smoky haze.
'Welcome to my living room,' he said around the
pipestem. 'It's a mess and it smells a bit but I wasn't
expecting visitors.'
So what have you been doing for the last thirteen
hours} Kao Chih wanted to say, but kept smiling
instead.
'Our thanks for inviting us aboard your impressive
vessel, friend Yash . . .' Drazuma-Ha* began.
'I'm not your friend,' the Voth said. 'Not yours nor
this odd-looking Human's. What is he, anyway - your
slave?'
'I am no one's slave,' Kao Chih said, stung by his
insulting manner. 'I am on an important mission to the
Human colony on Darien - we both are.'
/>
The Voth shrugged and puffed some more smoke.
'So what do you need me for?'
'Our ship, sadly, is only capable of Tier 1 hyperspace
travel,' Drazuma-Ha"' said. 'So we originally hoped to
persuade you to either lend us your shuttle for the last
stage of our journey, or even that you might pilot it
yourself...'
The heavy weapon in the Voth's lap whined, previ-
ously opaque sections flickered with dull glows, and
Yash shifted it to aim at the mech.
'Before you begin your persuading,' Yash said, 'be
aware that the walls and ceiling of this room contain
enough targeted multiwave projectors to fry every sub-
quantal pathway in your cognitive core.'
'Yes, I know,' said Drazuma-Ha*. 'But be assured
that my persuasion does not rely on brute methods. No,
honourable Yash, I feel that it is only my duty to let you
know that if war comes to this region, then the mining
opportunities for independents like yourself will become
very risky. It is my task to get to Darien and stop war
breaking out, or, failing that, to send a message to allies
who will come out to collect us.'
This was a complete surprise to Kao Chih, who
glanced at the mech. I thought he was prepared to seize
the harvester's shuttle by force if necessary. What is he
planning}
'I cannot leave the Viganli,' the Voth said bluntly.
'And I'm not giving you my jelking shuttle. So a message
it'll have to be.' Putting down the triple-bowled pine, he
slid off the bucket seat and landed on muscular, bowed
legs, still carrying the big gun, which Kao Chih thought
could be some kind of exotic plasma cannon. 'The
bridge is up that way - after you.'
He guided them up another sloping passage to a
small lobby with three doors and a mop and bucket in
the corner. They pushed through the door directly ahead
and found themselves in a long, narrow control room
with viewports, consoles, screens, analysis stations and
holodisplays on both sides. The bridge overlooked most
of the Viganli's upper hull, from the midsection's che-
querboard of big hold hatches to the oval intake
manifold of the flaring bows from which six 100-metre-
long booms angled forward and outward, three above,
three below. These were the emitter masts which pro-
jected the harvester's 2.5-kilometre forcefield before it to
scoop in dust and debris.
Yash entered after them, plasma cannon balanced on
one shoulder. 'And I'm just as protected here,' he said.
'Plenty of EMP gear, and all keyed to my commands.'
Unpleasant and paranoid, Kao Chih thought as he
watched the Voth brush food fragments and a few
empty packets away from one particular console. Away
from the lounge and the pipe smoke, he noticed that
the Voth had a strong, pungent, almost nutty odour. It
was not pleasant.
'So, honourable Yash,' he said. 'How much are you
charging for this aid?'
Yash grinned widely. 'How much have you got?'
Kao Chih met his gaze for a moment before reluc-
tantly pulling out the pouch that held their remaining
funds and emptying it into the Voth's outstretched hand.
Yash looked over the stems and triangles for a moment
then stuffed them into a side pocket.
'Help yourself - but touch nothing else, only the
comms.'
'As you wish, most generous Yash,' Drazuma-Ha*
said, floating over to the communication console, effec-
tor field rods stabbing out even before it had come to a
halt.
Kao Chih watched, confused and not understanding
the mech's actions or how this was going to get them to
Darien. Yash also kept a mistrustful eye on the comms
station, probably out of a twisted need to find some-
thing amiss, Kao Chih guessed.
A few moments later Drazuma-Ha* withdrew its
effectors. 'I have sent a T2 message to my allies' tiernet
handler - they should respond in a short while to tell us
when ...'
The mech was interrupted by a high-pitched peeping
alert from another console further along. Yash cursed
and hurried over, examined the displays and muttered
angrily as he swiftly prodded several keys then grabbed
an overhead monitor and swung it round for them to see.
'So are those your allies, eh? Thought you could just
stroll in here and take my ship, did you? Jelk-eating
pirates! - I should kill you right here and now . . .'
'Wait,' said the mech. 'These are not our allies , . .
'My God,' Kao Chih said, staring at the monitor. 'It's
those droids again - how did they find us? . . .'
'They must have backtracked along that hyperspace
course and found our exit point,' said Drazuma-Ha*.
'Perhaps the tesserae fields leave behind an emission
residue when they collapse ...'
'Wait, wait, who or what are these newcomers?' Yash
said to Kao Chih, pulling the goggles down over his
eyes. 'Are they working with you or not? The truth
now!'
'Honourable Yash, I swear to you that these droids are
not our allies,' Kao Chih said, glancing at the familiar
image of the trashed freighter. 'They've been following us
for days, trying to stop us fulfilling our mission.'
The Voth nodded wearily and pushed the goggles
back up. 'You're telling the truth. So, in other words,
you brought your bad luck with you and dumped it on
my doorstep.'
'Is the Viganli armed, honourable Yash?' the mech
said.
Yash snorted. 'Two beam turrets, particle cannon,
and a missile carrel - they automatically arm and target
unless I countermand them.'
'They may not be sufficient to the task,' the mech
said. 'As you can see, their ship is a hulk but it has
strong fields protecting its engines. . .'
'So I'll pound it into a million jelking pieces,' the
Voth said. 'Just watch.'
Kao Chih heard a muffled charging drone and a faint
resonant thrum, repeating again and again. On the
external monitor shafts and knots of energy and matter
in various combinations flew out at the pursuers' vessel,
which somehow managed to evade them. On the few
times that it was hit, the damage seemed scarcely notice-
able and failed to slow their approach. During all of
this Kao Chih had moved over to watch the Voth keying
in attack variations, but after several fruitless minutes
Yash threw up his hands in disgust.
'Jelk it! - I should be heating up components and
metal filings by now! They must have some other
shields . . .'
He was interrupted by a high, peeping alert. The
Voth frowned and punched up another display and Kao
Chih felt his heart sink when it showed a second similar
ship accelerating towards the Viganli.
'Another one?' Yash was grim and angry, suspicion
returning to his features as he rounded on Kao Chih.
'What's going on
... and where's your mech friend?'
Kao Chih suddenly realised that Drazuma-Ha * was
no longer on the bridge, but before he could profess
ignorance of the situation the mech's voice came from
the comm system.
'Greetings, honourable Yash and Gowchee - the
enemy has called on reinforcements, so you must fire
upon them while I pilot the Castellan towards our first
pursuer. I will attempt to ram their stern and thus make
them an easier target.' Sure enough, another screen
winked on, showing the Castellan manoeuvring away
from the ViganWs underside. 'I shall, of course, leave in
the escape pod before the collision.'
'Crazy jelking machine,' Yash said, his long dark fin-
gers dancing over the weapons controls. 'Now, let's see
if we have better luck with this . . . whoaV
The first volley of particle bolts struck the second
ship in a line from amidships to the stern. Impacts tore
large holes in the ravaged hull, ripping out cascades of
shattered metal, then a couple of bolts found the
engines. Something blew out immediately in a while
eruption behind the main drives, perhaps the coolant
reserves. Then the thrust fuel went up, cracking open the
stern like a silver eggshell fracturing along cold blue-icy
white lines. In seconds the stern had become an expand-
ing cloud of debris and hot, glowing vapour. Astounded
and relieved, Kao Chih applauded.
'Well done, honourable Yash - excellent targeting!'
'Heh, well, yes it was,' the Voth said. 'Now what is
your mech friend up to?'
Another small screen whined as it unfolded from an
overhead recess, flickered once then showed a medium-
range shot of the Castellan. Its main thrusters were
burning intermittently, in concert with the positioning
jets, while further off was the first pursuing ship, the
hulk freighter. Kao Chih watched the two vessels con-
verging with what looked like agonising slowness, even
though he knew they were moving at several hundred
metres a second. He felt horribly powerless and wished
he was out there with Drazuma-Ha*.
'Is your channel still open, Drazuma-Ha *?' he said.
'It is, Gowchee.'
'I hope that you will take the appropriate precau-
tions - I have little desire to attempt to carry out your
task as well as my own.'
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