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.“Our debts in this war are staggering.Our credit is stretched beyond its limits, and some of our most vital suppliers will accept nothing but hard currency—like soostones.”In the months since leaving Oculiat, the Mother Commander had traveled from planet to planet, studying humanity’s defenses.Realizing their great peril, local kings, presidents, and warlords provided independent battleships to add to the newly constructed Guild vessels being released by the Junction shipyards.Every government and cluster of allied worlds scrambled to invent or acquire new armaments to use against the Enemy, but so far nothing had proved effective.The Ixians were still testing the Obliterator weapons, which had proved to be more difficult to manufacture than expected.Murbella continued to demand more work, more material and sacrifices.It wouldn’t be enough.And the war continued.Plagues spread.Machine fleets destroyed every human-inhabited world they encountered.Near the edge of one of the main combat zones, three more Sheeana surrogates rallied the people caught between a hammer and an anvil, but to no avail.So far, since the beginning of Omnius’s march across space, Murbella could not claim a single clear victory.In her bleakest moments the odds seemed poor and the obstacles insurmountable.Millennia ago, the fighters of the Butlerian Jihad had faced another impossible situation, and humankind had won only by accepting an appalling cost.They had unleashed countless atomic weapons that not only destroyed thinking machines, but also trillions of human beings who had been held in slavery.The Pyrrhic victory had left a horrendous stain on the human soul.And now, even after that monumental sacrifice, Omnius was back, like a noxious weed whose roots had never been destroyed.Gauging the progress of the thinking machines, in the next year or two the human race would be forced into a climactic showdown.Once the Ixian industrialists delivered their long-awaited Obliterators, all the collected militaries from planet after planet would draw a line in space.As far as she was concerned, that opportunity could not come soon enough.“Our soostone shipments have increased every month for the past two years.” As she spoke, Corysta did not remove her gaze from the frolicking aquatic creatures.“The Phibians are more productive, now that the Honored Matres have stopped torturing them.And they never used to play like that before.They consider the seas of Buzzell their home instead of their prison.”Corysta, a former Breeding Mother exiled here for the crime of trying to keep her own baby, had become a stalwart monitor of soostone harvests.She oversaw the grading, cleaning, and packaging of the pearlescent gems, which were delivered regularly to CHOAM intermediaries.“Even so, we need more soostones.”“I’ll speak with the Phibians, Mother Commander.I’ll explain that our need is great, that the Enemy draws near.For me, they might work harder.” Corysta’s smile was strangely unreadable.“I’ll ask it as a favor.”“And that will work?”The other Sister shrugged.The Phibians leapt high into the air and dove back into the water, while Corysta waved to them, laughing.They seemed to know she was watching them.Sunlight glinted on the water.Were these Phibians putting on a special performance?Quite suddenly, something large and serpentine emerged from the depths near the splashing creatures.An eyeless head rose above the waves, its round mouth flashing crystalline teeth.The head quested around, fin-edged gill flaps sensing vibrations, like a sea serpent from ancient legends.Murbella caught her breath.To her amazement it resembled a sandworm from Rakis, though only about ten meters long—and with adaptations that enabled it to live in the water.Impossible! A seaworm?Corysta ran frantically down the rocks and waded into the surf.The Phibians had already seen the monster and tried to swim away.The worm darted toward them, spray glistening from its greenish rings.Two more of the long, sinuous monsters appeared from the deep water and circled around the Phibians [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]