While Rlinda Kett unloaded the necessary supplies and took aboard seven volunteers who wanted to seek their fortunes on an untamed Klikiss world, Davlin walked alone to the main colony settlement, head held high. It was time to admit who he was and what he had done, and hope his former neighbors accepted him back among them.
When he had lived here before, the people had liked him, and he’d pretended to feel the same . . . or at least it started out as pretending. None of them ever guessed he was a “specialist in obscure details” assigned to study the evacuated Ildiran settlement here. Davlin determined that the Ildirans had left nothing behind, however, and the Chairman had eventually called him secretly away, presumably much to the shock of the remaining settlers.
If they had somehow learned that he was a Hansa spy, they must have wondered if he had kept files about their private lives. A spy was a spy. Davlin braced himself for well-deserved censure. But if he intended to live among them again, he had to be honest. Would they ever forgive him?
Now he entered Crenna’s small meeting hall and administrative offices, rehearsing again how he would explain himself to the mayor. Originally, the mayor—a chubby, bronze-skinned farmer named Lupe Ruis—had taken care of bureaucratic matters in only a few hours a week. Lately, as the colony prospered, running the settlement had become a full-time job.
When Mayor Ruis saw him, however, the man’s wide face split with a grin. “Davlin Lotze! Welcome home. We’ve all been hoping for your return.” He opened his arms and stepped forward, full of good cheer. “Is your secret mission completed now?” He sounded conspiratorial . . . and delighted. “We’ve heard about all the important work you do for the Hansa. And here we thought you were just a run-of-the-mill colonist like the rest of us, but you’re a celebrity!”
“How—how did you know?”
The mayor waved his hand dismissively. “You must be kidding, right? Captain Kett’s been back here. She and Branson Roberts have quite a thing going, you know. She’s told us how you’re an expert investigator in Ildiran sociology and that you were the one who discovered the Klikiss transportal network. Great job!”
“Captain Kett was with me at the time. She helped me discover—”
Ruis put an arm around his shoulder. “You’re a hero, Davlin! We’re so proud of you. And to think you were one of us, just laying low here.”
Nonplussed, Davlin could think of nothing to say except, “Thank you.”
With an abrupt gesture, Ruis pushed aside the paperwork on his desk as if to show just how unimportant it was. “And now you’ve come back to settle down for a while? Until duty calls again? I can’t tell you how delighted we are. Captain Roberts and his ship just left to do shuttle work for the colonization initiative, and a few of our people volunteered to go off to the Klikiss worlds. We could certainly use someone versatile and . . . uh, competent among us again.”
“I . . . appreciate your confidence and your enthusiasm, Mayor Ruis. I wasn’t sure how I would be received. Is my old dwelling still available, or did someone else claim it?”
The mayor looked surprised. “It’s still waiting for you. Our colony hasn’t exactly had the need for much expansion, Davlin. We’re just trying to hold our own here.”
“Any further outbreaks of Orange Spot?”
“No, sir. The amebic filtration system you installed in the drinking water conduits has kept us all safe.” The ruddy-skinned mayor broke into another grin. “I hope you’re ready to be put to work, though. We could use your help with our infrastructure, especially the electricity and the sewers. And then we’d like you to look at our comm systems and transmitting towers. Heavy solar activity and ionic storms have been messing up our local network for the past year.”
“That isn’t my area of expertise, but I’ll have a look at it.”
Ruis gave him a wink. “According to Captain Kett, you know a little bit about everything.” The mayor walked with him out of his office. “We’re certainly glad to have you back.”
That night, contented yet somehow restless, Davlin walked along the low hills on the outskirts of town. It felt oddly satisfactory to be here. Overhead, Crenna’s highly reflective moon bathed the landscape with silvery light, challenging the darkness. Lunar brightness had been a factor that originally made this world attractive to the Ildirans, who did not at all like dark nights.
The hills were rocky and low, covered with gnarled, hollow trees called flutewoods. The empty branches were perforated with tiny holes through which the breezes blew, turning them into natural woodwind instruments. As the wind rose and fell, the whistling atonal melody played like a strange lullaby, ranging from high-pitched piccolo notes in the narrow branches to deep bassoon tones in the wider, hollow trunks.
Many of the stars were washed out by the moonlight, but he stared up at them, picking out constellations, reflecting on how far he had come in his travels across the Spiral Arm. The rushing sounds of small streams trickling along the hillside and the rattling of tall grasses accompanied the flutewood symphony.
So much better than the nightmarish world he had last visited through the Klikiss transportal. No flying jellyfish-creatures or giant centipedes here. He stood alone, completely at peace. He was glad to be back on Crenna. It seemed almost like . . . home.
Suddenly Davlin saw the diamond points of several stars moving, then streaking across the sky like meteors, though they did not burn up in the atmosphere. Instead, they passed rapidly across the backdrop. Ships? Visitors?
Three pinpoints traveled in a direct trajectory, then another six. Line after line shot across the vault of stars. Davlin narrowed his eyes. He had never seen such phenomena before. High up, ten more pinpoints streaked by until dazzling lights filled the night sky like the flakes of a driving snowstorm.
Davlin felt a cold dread in his chest.
Several pinpoints changed course, swerving around and expanding their coverage. He began to hear sounds now, the rapid passage of something immense and distant. Shooting stars ripped across the sky, swooping lower.
In the village below, he heard confused shouts. Other colonists had emerged from their dwellings to stare up at the sky. Davlin remained on the rise where he had the best view.
When he heard a sizzling, rushing sound, he turned to look toward Crenna’s horizon. He knew what it was even before four of the large craft hurtled overhead, cruising in ominous reconnaissance.
Hydrogue warglobes.
The glowing spheres tumbled across the sky like spiked balls. Faint sparks of blue lightning crackled from their pyramidal protrusions. Davlin had heard of the devastating attacks on places such as Theroc and Boone’s Crossing. But the aliens had not attacked Crenna. Not yet.
The colonists in the village were in a panic now, shouting and rushing to shelter, pointing toward the sky. At least they were wise enough not to activate blaring alarms, which might have attracted the drogues.
A spiked warglobe roared overhead, scribing a turbulent wake against the starry backdrop. For a moment it eclipsed the bright moon, then passed by. The enemy gave no sign that it had even noted the human settlement. Then five more warglobes cruised across the sky. Still, none of them opened fire. These hydrogues must simply be on their way to another target.
Finally the flurry of warglobes dwindled into the distance, leaving the colony untouched. Even more of the white pinpoints crossed in front of the distant stars, a huge alien battle fleet converging somewhere in the Crenna system.
When the monstrous spheres had departed, Davlin drew a deep breath to focus his thoughts and to calm himself. The simple colonists here were in no position whatsoever to know what they were dealing with. They hadn’t the resources or experience to know how to react.
Davlin sprinted back down to the settlement. Unfortunately, given the tall tales and adventures Rlinda Kett had related about his exploits, all of these people would look to him for answers.