Seeds of Earth

  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.'