Sarai, стр. 30
Which was why he now found himself in thelibrary, reading quietly while Bram and Eled studied. Alekyn andTig were on duty, which was where Bram would join them later. Eled,still recovering from being poisoned, would be staying with Jamiewhen the rest of the pard went back on patrol, although the baby’sdue date was rapidly approaching.
The television was murmuring away quietly,unheeded by any of them. Suddenly, Eled gasped and reached for thetelevision remote.
“No, wait!”
The screen was showing an artist’srepresentation of a Zill battle fleet craft waiting in space.
Eled put the remote down. “Jamie…,” he beganbut Jamie ignored him, his attention fixed on the screen and thevoiceover.
“Thesituation in the Solris void is becoming dire. Reports from the newworld of Terra — ” That’s what they were calling Earth now; heguessed they didn’t know it had the same meaning in two differentlanguages. “ — indicate that Zill forces are massing on the farside of one of Neptune’s small moons. So far the inhabitants ofTerra, the humans as they call themselves, are refusing tonegotiate with PanGal representatives, with the sticking point thehumans’ refusal to allow Naferi to select sarai, unlike every otherknown world…”
Thecommentator’s amazement was not feigned. Why were the humans beingso unreasonable? Didn’t they know how carefully the Naferi lookedafter their sarai?
Silly humans, thought Jamie sourly, wantinguseless things like freedom and self-determination.
Sensing his interest the television screenbulged outwards reforming into a hologram of huge circular spacecruisers, which within nanoseconds were disgorging silver shipsshaped like darts. They looked small against the space cruisers,but Jamie knew that meant nothing — those small ships would bebigger than anything ever built on his planet, and there weremasses and masses of them, thousands of thousands of them, millionsof them, swarming in a huge, impenetrable cloud heading off …
… to wrap itself around a small defenselessblue planet, which disappeared in a swirling mass of cold silverthat undulated slowly like a snake consuming a rabbit. Thenabruptly the swarm retreated, its constituent parts speeding backto their motherships, leaving a dead planet in their wake.
As he watched, the hologram showed what wasleft of the planet dissolve into cinders that crumbled into thedark void of space, leaving nothing, not even a memory behind …
Jamie stared at the empty space where once aworld had been. The Lyrians, he thought, numbed to the bone withsudden realization — this was what the Naferi wanted him tounderstand, wanted the humans to understand.
He thought of those he loved — of Matt andTheo, and of Glynn and some of his other friends. He thought of theEarth herself, and the complex wonderful play of life she shelteredand nurtured, the storms and shadows and sunlight that made up thelives of every creature that lived, small and great, seen andunseen, known or unknown.
Memories flashed rapidly and randomlythrough his mind, their significance not knowingly measured at thetime of their creation — his mother holding him by the hand as hetoddled with her to feed the chickens and pet the latest sheepdogpuppies; the big soft eyes of a poddy calf he’d raised when he wastwelve; his first kiss — with Glynn, behind the bike shed at school— sunlight-drenched paddocks and the sound of magpies caroling; thescent of the earth after rain. Petrichor.
All of it flashed into his mind,overwhelming and unmanning him. His stomach roiled, acid fillinghis throat as he accepted the reality now facing humankind.
His kind.
Because all life as he’d known it would end— that beautiful world, with all that it meant and all that itcould be, would be consumed by the Zill’s insatiable rapaciousappetite before they fixed their attention on another world, andanother world and another world beyond that.
For as long as infinity lasted.
The baby moved, as if reminding him of allthe children who would die and all the children who wouldn’t beborn if the Zill reached Earth. He stood up, swaying. Bram sprangforward and grabbed him before he could fall. He thought he heardEled talking to someone on his communicator…but another need wasoverwhelming him.
“Bathroom!” he muttered urgently and strongarms helped him to the nearest toilet, where he proceeded to losehis breakfast.
He felt so sick, so shaky. A gentle hand wasstoking his head, which he had dropped to the toilet seat.
“I’m okay. Just give me a minute. It’s justa shock,” he muttered weakly. “I didn’t think they were soclose.”
Bram sighed. “Yes the news is not good, butit could be worse. “
Jamie stood, his knees wobbling. “I justknow you’re going say it could be worse because they haven’tattacked yet. Why haven’t they attacked yet?”
Bram grunted. “The Zill are an insectoidspecies and they are led by queens. They won’t attack until theirqueens are ready to brood.”
“What has that got to do with it? Don’t thequeens just send the troops out to do their dirty work?”
“Well, yes, but it’s for the…er…” Bramhesitated, his face wary, and then added resolutely, “The droneswill eat almost anything, but the queens need fresh food to brood,Jamie — to fight among themselves for the best males and then toraise their young.”
It took a moment for his words to penetrateJamie’s brain, and then he instantly turned back to the toilet, hisstomach spasming violently.
He had a good idea where that food would becoming from, knew the queens gathering would spell the end of hisworld. He thought of the thousands of Zill readying themselves forthe coming attack. He thought of the billions of lives that wereshortly going to be lost.
“Bram,” Tig stuck his head around the doorand said angrily, “he didn’t need to know that.”
Tig was wrong, Jamie knew. Even if he wishedhe could unhear it, he needed to know it.
Bram wiped his face with a warm cloth andwas helping him to stand again when Jamie heard the sound ofsomeone else coming into the bedroom. He nodded his thanks at Bramand then staggered a little, his knees dipping uncertainly.
Then Alekyn was there, lifting him into hisarms. Jamie was too drained to resist or to stand on his anger. “Idon’t know what’s wrong with me,” he mumbled into his mate’s