Read Requiem for Anthi: Anthi - Book Two for Free Online

unexpected Bban development, or had the Bban’jen received help from Aural? It sounded as though they were able to blow a hole into the Tchsco Mountains. If so, Anthi was in danger.
    His fists clenched, but there was nothing else he could do. The Bban’n thought Anthi had been destroyed, so the computer wouldn’t be a primary target, but she could be inadvertently damaged if the lower chambers were breeched.
    Loosing a sigh, he slumped across the console. The first glimmers of a plan occurred to him.
    “If desired, we can drug you for the pain,” said Saar as one of the guards tipped Asan back into the uncomfortable seat.
    He did not have to feign a groan. “No. Nothing. I would like to see the battle.”
    Saar snorted. “Fool. You do not leave this machine until the elders are ready.”
    “You are the fool. We can watch it on the viewscreen. Push those two green buttons on that panel over there, and the scanners will pick up everything.”
    “A trick—”
    “Pan’at cha,” said Asan in contempt, and all three Bban’n reached for the knives at their belts. “What trick is it? I am touching nothing. I cannot operate an alien machine such as this. It requires several men all working together. Surely you saw us take them.”
    “We saw,” said Saar, but his voice remained suspicious. “Little men with striped eyes. N’kai .”
    “They are called humans,” said Asan. “They are small, yes, but very clever. They know how to make machines even more wondrous than this.”
    “It is the Tlar’n who worship machines! Not Bban’n!”
    “But even the Bban’n see the use of some machines,” said Asan softly. “This ship has scanners that can show us the battle. All you have to do is turn them on.”
    They glanced at each other, clicking behind their masks in curiosity.
    “Why should you wish us to see the battle?”
    Asan held back a smile. “Because I wish you to see Bban blood spread upon the sands. You will fail.”
    “Ny!” said Saar, and strode over to the sensors. “These?”
    “Yes. Push them together.”
    The viewscreen winked to life with a crackle of static that made all three Bban’n jump. The snowy interference cleared almost immediately to show the panorama of desert.
    “That is the area surrounding the ship,” said Asan. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply a moment. “To see the battle you must direct the sensors toward the mountains.”
    “How is this done?”
    “The controls to your right. No, lower. Yes. Those. You calculate the angle and…May I?”
    He reached forward for the auxiliary panel on the helm console before him, his fingers brushing sensor controls even as one of the guards whipped a fire-rod on him.
    “Take care, Tlar-dung!”
    Asan moved his hands away. “Look at the screen.”
    Unwillingly they turned. The viewscreen waved badly out of focus, but it showed the mountains in black silhouette against the amethyst sky. Brilliant bursts of fire shot rubble into the air. The Bban’n cheered, releasing so much musk Asan nearly choked.
    “We are destroying them! Cha’hoi , brothers! Cha’hoi! ”
    “I think I can clear that picture,” said Asan after a moment. “If I am permitted to try?”
    “Yes,” said Saar, caught up in watching. But his fire-rod remained aimed at Asan.
    Hiding a grin, Asan improved the magnification. But at the same time he let his left hand drift over a linkup to pull in all functions except communications and life support to his console. The lower hatch closed, and the engines began warming with a subliminal whine.
    Saar turned at once. “What is that? What have you done?”
    Asan looked directly at him. “If you want to watch the whole battle for the next several hours, then power has to be on. We can’t drain the short-term batteries.”
    Saar cocked his head to one side, and his hand twitched uncertainly on his weapon. But another explosion caught his attention, and Asan eased out a breath of relief. He sagged back in the seat,