"Jacqueline Lichtenberg - Dushau Trilogy 03 - Outreach" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lichtenberg Jacqueline)

Above the rush of wings and the clicking, twittering, and clattering sound of the animals, they heard
screams of anguish, shouts of former military commanders rallying a defense, and finally, the searing
crack of weapons fire.

No! the Oliat protested as one mind, and Jindigar half heard Krinata's echoing of that. The blinding pain
of burned animals plummeting out of the sky was added to the panic of the colonists on the defensive.
The Oliat shuddered.

Jindigar held them firm, not daring to reduce their sensitivity. As one, they pounded around the curved
ends of interlinked walls that formed the inner gate and emerged into the walled courtyard outside the
gate. Their ephemeral Outriders, led by the Lehiroh, Storm, and the human Cyrus Benwilliam Lord
Kulain, half dressed in his wedding finery, fell into step around the Oliat, replacing the Dushau guards.
Jindigar didn't even break stride but headed around the curved ends of the outer gate and onto the trail
leading northwest, toward the cliff face.

As they ran, the weapon fire increased. A section of the invading swarm peeled off and attacked their
attackers. A few animals penetrated the shield of fire and flew, claws extended, beaks slashing, at the
heads of the colonists behind the weapons.

The colonists' valiant effort did not distract the swarm from its main target, though. Above them, in the
mouth of the cave, another Holot woman went down under a living blanket of the small beasts, her fur
torn away, her eyes pecked out. Below, the Holot men raged, aiming futile barrages of fire into the
swarm that stretched in an arched cone all the way to the eastern horizon.

Jindigar detected an animal intelligence in that swarmтАФ cohesive but not truly coherentтАФguiding this
warrior vanguard to seize a haven for the new hive. All of this planet's higher life forms were organized
into hives, and spring was a time of swarming.

He increased his pace, closing with Krinata and Cy. After a year of harsh pioneering life, they were all in
good condition, but the humans were tiring fast. He chose a spot and left the path, forging out toward the
cliff and the caveтАФtrying to get some distance between them and the frantically firing defenders. Then he
brought the Oliat up short. Without pausing to let them catch their breath, he set the linkages wide-open
againтАФ hoping their increased balance was still his to command.

It was. The shaleiliu hum was still with them. Within two heartbeats, Venlagar, as Receptor for the Oliat,
had steadied into a better focus than he had ever achieved before. The roiling ferment of life forces
flowing around them resolved, and Jindigar breathed a sigh of praise to VenlagarтАФhis strongest officer.

Without reasoning it through, Jindigar simply Received that this swarm of clicking quasi-rodents was here
because, months ago, the colony hadтАФon the advice of a subform of the OliatтАФ discouraged several
other hives from settling near the colony. They had accidentally created an ecological vacuumтАФand the
Holot had topped it off by sending out an irresistible reek of food on the winds. Thus the hive entity
perceived this as their rightful dwelling place.

Krinata whimpered deep in her throat and sagged against Cyrus, who threw Jindigar a piercing look.
Jindigar ignored both touch and glance, and reset the linkages, muting the information flow to Krinata.
She could not modulate for herself. During her first encounter with full Oliat awareness, she had nearly
lost her sanity. She was the Oliat's weakest officer.

"//Cy,//" said the Oliat through Krinata, "//the Guard Commander must order cease fire. They're making it