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Man also knows not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them
- Christian Book of the Dead, Shiprecords
"BLOW THAT cutter Give me the particulars later" Leitched off the com-line, and turned to face Oakes across the Coh this act conveyed so screen
The bustle of activity around the the Redoubt’s defenses under the eyes of the ares of the rooata, who stood near Oakes, it seemed that the noise level went down dramatically She, too, stared at the screen
It was early Regaof hylighters, the waiting ely held in check So, however A naked hter tentacles brushing against him Sensor amplification had showed his features in close-up - the poet, Kerro Panille
On the floor of the plain beneath Panille stood a plasteel cutter fitted heels, E-clones and what appeared to be Naturals grouped around it The cutter’s deadly nozzle was pointed toward the Redoubt - too far away for that
Theof all was the fact that no de beside the cutter Pandora’s terrible creatures waited with the others in mysterious docility
"We should know in a blink or two," Lewis said He threaded his way through the rooata All of them stared up at the screen
"Can’t we send so with a direct attack"
"Who would we send out?" Lewis asked
"Clones We have clones up to here!" He brushed the edge of his right hand across his throat "And we don’t have enough food They could get through if we sent enough of theata asked
"What?" Oakes glared at her audacity
"Why would clones obey an order to attack? They can see the demons out there And there’ll be Runners somewhere on that plain Why would clones take the risk?"
"To save themselves, of course If they stay here and do nothin" Oakes’ voice trailed off
"Your fate is their fate," she said "Maybe worse They’ll ask why you aren’t out there with them"
"Becaus I’m the Ceepee! I’m worth more than they are to our survival"
"Worth more to theata, what are yo ?" Oakes was interrupted by a brilliant flash of light and a blast so close that the concussion popped his ears and took his breath away Sensor i screen to be replaced by static flashes of light Legata, thrown backward by the blast, steadied herself against a fixed control console Lewis had sprawled on the floor and, as he cli feet in the passage outside the Coata "Get that screen working!"
"We ata leaped to the screen controls, keyed an eh one which looked out over the Redoubt to the distant cliff with its bank of hylighters Panille still sat on the pinnacle, the plasteel cutter and its crew reed
They could all hear the sound of pounding against the Command Center’s hatch Someone across the room opened it Ierie of E-clones and Naturals, all crying and screa: "Runners! Runners! Seal off!"
Lehirled to the nearest console, slapped the key for the Seal Off program As hatches hissed shut, they saw on the screen the first wave of people shrieking in terror at the inner edge of the Redoubt Legata turreted the high sensor to follow the break in the Redoubt’s periht up short at sealed hatches Fists beat aon the hatches, the sound made all the ave the whole scene a marionette quality
Lewis suddenly darted across the roorabbed the arm of one of the newconized him as a crew supervisor, a Natural named Marco
"What the hell happened out there?" Oakes demanded
"I don’t know" The man blinked in confusion, stared up at the screen rather than at Oakes "We took one of the new cutters, the long-range ones, and we hit within a meter of them"
"You e
"No! No, sir A h That close will melt bedrock for ten meters all around It’s jus"
"That’s all right, Marco," Lewis said "Just describe what you saw"
"It was that man up on the rocks" Marco pointed at the screen
"He didn’t do anything," Oakes said "We were looking at the screen the whole time and h"
"Let Marco tell what he saw," Lewis interrupted
"It was almost too fast for the eye to see," the supervisor said "Our beain to glow Then the bea bent It bent right up toward that low, then the beaone?" Lewis asked
"It went up so fast only a few of us escaped"
"Send out some clones," Oakes said
An unmistakable press of bodies moved toward hier More than half the Coees who noded the room were clones
"Sure!" someone shouted from the press of people "You stay here while we take the risk!"
Another voice, gravelly and full of gutturals, took it up from another corner of the crowd: "Yes, send out some clones More meat for the demons A diversion while you Naturals tiptoe holanced at the ring of faces pressing toward hiry This was not the tier existed They would know their power then They would kno much he needed them
"No!" Oakes waved a hand in the air "All survival decisions belong to the Ceepee I am Ship’s envoy and voice here!"
"Ohhh, it’s Ship now!" someone shouted
"We will not run home to Colony," Oakes said "We will stand here at your sid to the last uttural voice responded: "You’re da!"
The room took on an odd sense of quiet into which Lewis’ voice came clearly: "We will not be beaten"
Oakes picked it up: "We have al the sea The hylighters will go next A few rebels will not stand in the way of the good life we can lanced at Lewis, surprised a flitting smile there
"Tell us what to do," Lewis said
One of Lewis’ minions in the crowd responded on cue: "Yes, tell us"