Tower And Hive 05 - The Tower and the Hive by Anne McCaffrey

Author:Anne McCaffrey
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780552146296
Publisher: Corgi Adult
Published: 2011-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

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The announcement that the Washington and its Fleet were moving onward in the Search for other Hiver-occupied systems was at first met with some jubilation, as the militants did indeed believe that their agitation had had an effect on the weasel lovers. Admiral Ashiant's advice to the High Council that an explosive device had been left on board the decre- -pit sphere—as a deterrent— rought a loud demand for its immediate detonation.

The Admiral had Commander Yngocelen announce that detonation was automatic should the sphere be boarded, and the militants would have to be happy with that.

Thian sent Earth Prime a message tube full of the recordings taken of the Hivers, complete with the

interesting altering "panels" which the queens had been watching. He copied all ten boards in the various queens' quarters. Maybe some expert could find the Rosetta stone that would translate those weird patterns. He also recommended that they see what reaction they got from the Heinlein queen by playing them in her presence.

The euphoria over forcing the Washington to remove itself from the "dangerous Hiver-occupied planet" did not last long. Militant leaders must have engaged in considerable discourse, and they decided that the High Council had deliberately ordered the Washington onward in an attempt to cool the volatile situation. They were certain that an even more egregious plan was being formulated by weasel lovers to subvert what was, to them, so obviously the "will of the people." The Washington was still searching, and who could know what might be the next attempt to pollute Earth or one of the other civilized Star Leagueworlds. The only sure answer to the threat posed by the spheres was the complete annihilation of the Hiver worlds. Renewed agitations stressed the formidable weaponry of the Washington and the other ships in that Fleet: the availability of weapons that could scorch the surface of any planet, wiping out all life-forms, including the hated Hivers. The rebuttal that this would only put Humanity on the same level as the Hivers was scorned and ignored.

Two of the larger yachts attempted to bomb the Heinlein Base where the captured queen was being "coddled." The missiles were repulsed by the automatic shields that guarded the facility against stray meteors. The resultant explosions midspace caused damage to ships that had not been warned of the action. There were forty fatalities on nine of the small craft ringing the moon, some of which did not have escape pods so that all aboard perished when the hulls of their ships were penetrated by debris. The crews of both large yachts were arrested on charges of manslaughter, endangering the lives and property of twelve other ships and malicious damage to a government facility.

A more devious mission by dedicated militants came closer to success when a heavily armed and well-drilled group, using moon vehicles, made an assault on the installation. Their advance was seen in time by

Til lown and lie Hive in

the observation post and marine units were 'ported in—again arousing intense criticism of FT&T—to deal with the invaders.

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