by Eric Warren
As he was thinking the door to their quarters opened, revealing two people from the science wing—as designated by their uniforms—and three security officers.
“Doctor Amargosa, Doctor Stevens. Ensign Folier, Crewman Unak, Crewman Tes. What can I do for you?” he asked, trying not to panic. This could be nothing but bad news. And Box didn’t have a lot of time to decide how he wanted to handle it. He began calculating his odds.
“Box, please come with us,” Doctor Amargosa said. She was tall with clay-colored skin and dark brown eyes. He’d only ever seen her file but knew she was in charge of the team that worked on and repaired all the drones the Engineering team used for those tight spaces organics couldn’t fit.
“Why? I’ve been compliant,” he said. They had nothing on him. This wasn’t like last time when he lashed out against Ronde, he’d been very careful to maintain his calm. No matter what he did these organics were going to do what they wanted with him. He took a step back.
“Now, Box,” Amargosa said, putting her hands up. “I know we’ve never met before but we need to check some things out. We’ve been getting some reports you might have a malfunction.”
“And how many other sentient machines have you ‘checked things out on’?” he asked.
Amargosa fumbled over her words. “We’re not…I mean there’s no definitive proof… I tell you what, we can look at that as well while we’re making sure everything is working okay,” she said, her voice too cheerful. “Just come with us down to Science Two. We’ve got a really nice facility down there.”
Box tapped his comm. “Commander? Commander, please respond. They’re trying to abduct me.”
Silence on the other end. What was going on? She wouldn’t have turned it off. He took another step back. In response the three security officers stepped forward, one of them producing a sealing bolt from his pocket. Box knew his eyes must be blinking like crazy but they wouldn’t know what that meant. All they knew was there was a machine on their ship they didn’t have control over. And they meant to put him down. He could see it in the way Amargosa and Stevens’ approached him with such caution. As if he were a wild animal. “Get Xax in here,” Box said. “I’m not going anywhere without Xax.”
“The doctor is preoccupied at the moment,” Amargosa said. “You can speak with her later.”
Box tapped his comm again. As he did, he felt the magnetic pull of the bolt land on his chest. As he glanced down he lost all control over his functions and crumpled into a pile on the floor, all his motor functions having been stalled.
“Wasn’t that easier?” Amargosa asked. She turned to one of the security officers. “Let Page know we have him and we’ll be transporting him down to Science Two.”
Page. If Box ever managed to find his way out of this he was going to tear the man’s head from his shoulders and bathe in his blood. The bastard deserved nothing else.
***
“You’re telling me he went back to negotiate with the Sil. Alone?” Greene sat across from Evie in his command room.
“That’s what I believe, sir,” she said. “I also believe he was unwittingly aided by Commander Sesster and to a lesser extent, Negotiator Laska.”
“Laska?” Greene said, his eyes going wide. “She’s the last person I would have expected to help him escape.”
Evie clenched her fists under the table and bore down, resetting herself. “Again, he didn’t escape. He left to negotiate with the Sil. As he was ordered to do by the admiral.”
Greene put up his hands. “Fair enough. Still. Laska’s not one to skirt the rule of law. In fact, she often sees to it. What did she have to do with this?”
“I’m not sure,” Evie said. “But computer logs track Cas going down to the bar before heading to Engineering. I checked the sensors and only one other person was in there at the same time: Laska.”
“But all entertainment venues are closed during a ship-wide emergency,” Greene replied. “How did they…?”
“They broke in. Or, as best I can tell, Laska broke in first and Cas just happened to meet her there. They spent a few minutes together then Cas made his way to Engineering where he stole the data and made his way to the shuttle.”
“But the data was destroyed,” Greene said.
She nodded. “Throwing any leverage he thought he had out the airlock. He went in there blind and defenseless. And he didn’t even realize it until it was too late.”
Greene leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “Which means he’s probably dead.”
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, the captain was probably right. Still, she remained silent. There was no telling if he was alive or dead, since they knew so little about the Sil. Now the Sargans on the other hand…
Greene tapped his comm. “Send Negotiator Laska up to see me immediately,” he said.
“Yes, Captain,” Zaal replied from the bridge.
“What else? How bad is it?” he asked.
“Sesster, sir. I think he had an inkling of what Cas was doing but neglected to tell anyone. He told me he shut off his mind from Cas so he wouldn’t see what was happening.”
Greene slumped back. “Damn. But it isn’t as if we can punish him. The brig won’t even hold him, not comfortably anyway.”
“I don’t believe he did anything that would intentionally hurt the ship, he believed what Cas was doing was correct and you know how the Claxians are about their moral code.”
Greene nodded. “I’m glad he has a hard time reading the two of us. If he knew what Rutledge had done—”
“—and it got back to the High Claxian Temple, I know,” she said. The Claxians had always been big on full transparency; it had been one of the conditions for them sharing their technology with humans when they’d first encountered each other over two millennia ago. Rutledge’s actions with the Achlys could threaten everything.
“Do you think he can read Cas?” Greene asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Ensign Tyler said Cas barely talked the entire time. If he was communicating with Sesster—”
The chime on the door rang.
“Come in,” Greene said.
The door opened to reveal Laska, a smug smile painted across her face. “You summoned?” she asked.
“Take a seat, Negotiator,” Greene said.
“Thank you, Captain. Most kind.” She strode around the chair and lifted herself up into it, her legs no longer touching the floor below.
“What do you know about Caspian Robeaux’s disappearance?” Greene asked.
“What are you insinuating, Captain?” Laska asked, her steel gaze zeroing in on Greene.
Greene’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not insinuating anything. I’m asking a question.”
Laska turned to Evie, regarded her, then turned back to Greene. “I notice I am outnumbered in this situation. I would prefer to either have my own representative to assist me or you can ask the commander to step outside a moment,” she said.
“I’m sorry if you feel as if I’m being unfair,” Greene said. “But the commander stays. Now please, answer the question.”
“As it is my right under section four of the Sovereign Judicial Code, I formally request this line of questioning be performed in the presence of a third-party arbiter.”
Greene leaned forward. “Don’t quote regulations to me. You know as well as I do the closest third-party arbiter is on Starbase Eight. Over thirty days away. And your reluctance to answer my question isn’t doing you any favors, Negotiator.”
He stared at her and she stared right back. Evie could feel the tension in the room increasing by the second. “You are quite right, Captain. But I must ask, are you denying me my rights as a Coalition citizen? One might say your determination to have your question answered in such a prompt manner is equally unfavorable.”
“For Kor’s sake,” Greene said, standing and turning to his window. He clasped his hands behind his back. “I’m not trying to intimidate you here, Laska.”
“Xerxes, pleas
e,” the Negotiator said. “All of my friends call my Xerxes.”
“All we’re trying to do,” Evie said, “is figure out where Cas went and what his plans were.”
“Oh,” Laska said, a smirk forming at the edges of her mouth. “Isn’t it obvious? He went to perform his duty.”
“Then he told you he was going after the Sil alone,” Greene said.
“He didn’t need to,” Laska said. “I could see it in him. He wasn’t about to let this mission fail. Somewhere under all that bravado and pain is still a Coalition officer. If spending the past few weeks with him has taught me anything, it’s that.”
“What did you talk about? We know you met in the bar shortly before he departed.”
“We shared a drink,” Laska said.
“Anything else?” Greene asked.
She only shrugged, extending her hands out in front of her.
“I should have you arrested,” Greene said.
Laska hopped off the chair, standing before the desk and staring up at him. “It’s never wise to imprison a diplomat, Captain. It always comes back around to bite you in the end.” She didn’t break eye-contact. “If there was nothing else?”
He gave a small shake of his head. Laska made a curt bow to both him and Evie and exited back through the doors.
“Damn, she’s arrogant.” Greene scoffed. “Negotiators.”
“Regardless of what she told him, I’d say we can be certain of where Cas was headed when he left.”
“Seems that way,” Greene replied. “How long until the ship is up and running again?”
Evie checked her comm for the time. “Pearson down in Engineering says another forty-five minutes at best.”
Green turned back to the window. “Then we can only hope it’s not too late to save him. For all our sakes.”
28
Evie walked back out of the Command Room and took her station. This whole thing had turned into a mess. Cas hadn’t done himself or her any favors by leaving the way he did, even if he thought it was the right thing to do. And now because of an overzealous ensign there was a good chance the Sil had killed him on sight. They had no qualms about killing Coalition citizens, as evidenced by their actions with the Achlys. She double-checked the status of the ship’s engines. Pearson had increased the timetable to another hour.
She tapped the comm. “Engineering, what is going on down there? We can’t afford to wait.”
“Sorry, Commander,” Pearson said, having taken over to speak for Sesster from Tyler. “We found another leak right before we began the initiation sequence. We’re plugging it now.”
“Plug fast,” Evie said. Every second they sat out here waiting was another second Cas lost out there. If he still even had any time left. It was an impossible task. At least they would be able to get back quickly; Cas’s shuttle would have been twice as slow as Tempest. Which meant he wouldn’t have been over there more than an hour at this point. She hoped they weren’t too late. If anything happened to him Box would—
Shit. She’d forgotten to ask the captain about Box. It would have to wait until this mission was over. He’d be fine in his quarters until they were all out of danger. Still…she better check in on him, just to make sure he wasn’t going to cause a problem.
She tapped her comm. “Box? Are you there?”
No response. That was odd. He always responded. She glanced over at Zaal. “Hey, Zaal, check the comms, are mine going through okay?”
“Fine, Commander,” Zaal said. “But it seems something is blocking Box’s comm from receiving you.”
She arched an eyebrow. “What would be blocking it?”
“Looks like an override code,” he replied, examining the data. “Someone has intentionally locked him out of the system.”
“Who?” she asked.
He stared at the console a moment longer. “I am not sure if this is right but…Lieutenant Page?”
Evie swiveled in her chair to his station to find it manned by Lieutenant Uuma, who normally took second shift. “Where is he?” she yelled.
“Checking now, Commander,” Zaal said.
The lieutenant looked stunned. “I only know he asked me to take over for him,” Uuma said. “He said he wouldn’t be long.”
“He’s in Science Two,” Zaal said. “Along with Lieutenant Ronde. What would they be doing down there together?”
Evie tapped her comm again. “Diazal to Page. What the hell are you doing?”
“Commander?” he asked. “I’m…I had an—”
“Give me eyes on Science Two,” Evie said. An image popped up on the viewscreen of Box laid out on a table, parts of him disassembled as his eyes blinked rapidly.
“Holy mother of Kor,” Evie whispered. “Lieutenant, stop what you are doing right now!” she yelled into the comm. “Science Two, this is Commander Diazal. Halt all procedures at this moment.”
Greene stepped onto the bridge, taking a look at the screen ahead of him. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Is that…the robot?”
The scientists on the screen disassembling Box stopped, staring up at the video feed. “Xax, get down to Science Two,” Evie ordered. “And the rest of you stay where you are.”
“Are they disassembling him?” Greene asked. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Evie said, fuming as she shot out of her chair, headed for the hypervator doors. “But they sure as hell aren’t getting away with it.”
***
“Someone explain to me exactly what is going on and do it right now or all four of you are going in the brig and you’re not coming back out,” Evie said, fuming. Beside her Box lay on the table, his eyes still blinking while Xax, Nurse Menkel, and Crewman Zorres from Engineering worked to reassemble him.
Standing in a line were Ronde, Page, Dr. Amargosa, and Dr. Stevens. And the only one giving her any eye-contact was Page. “You can’t do that,” he said. “Izak and I are the best helm and tactical officers this ship has. And we’re about to go back into hostile territory.”
“Just try me, Jorro. Don’t think I won’t,” she replied. He continued to stare her down but she caught the flicker of something in his eyes. Fear that she was serious, maybe.
“Commander, I never wanted it to go this far,” Ronde said. “I only wanted him off the ship.”
“Is that the reason for the admiral’s request for an evaluation?” Evie asked. “Because of something you did to him?”
“It’s not a him!” Page yelled. “It’s a machine! Nothing but metal and wires. What is the big deal?”
“This machine,” Evie said. “Saved our lives back on D’jattan. He’s not like any other machine I’ve ever met, and he will not be treated as such. Do I make myself clear?”
“Commander, we thought we had authorization,” Amargosa said. “Otherwise we never would have—”
“Authorization to what?” she snapped.
“Lieutenant Ronde reported it…he was having a malfunction and asked if we could repair it. Lieutenant Page backed up the order. I didn’t know—”
“—you were being deceived.” She turned to Box. “Do you have a malfunction?”
A sound like a laugh emanated from Box. “My only malfunction was thinking I could be part of this crew. This was never going to work,” he said. And though he had laughed, there was a palpable sadness in his voice. It broke Evie’s heart.
“Don’t worry, Box,” Xax said. “They didn’t do anything permanent or hit anything vital, you’ll be good as new in just a few minutes.”
“We were being as careful as we could,” Amargosa said. “Despite the insistence of the lieutenant that we just rip everything out and start over.”
Evie got right up in his face. And though he had a couple of inches on her she wasn’t about to let him intimidate her. “I get you have a problem with Cas, but going after Box? Trying to kill him? That’s too far, Lieutenant.”
“They don’t belong here,” Page said. “They worked for the Sargans for five years. How can you tr
ust them?”
“Because I’ve seen who they are, who they really are. And I don’t let my prejudices guide my actions.” She continued to stare at him, unblinking. “You’re relieved of duty. And until I speak to the captain about this, consider yourself confined to your quarters.”
His lip curled into a sneer. “You can’t reprimand me, he doesn’t have any rights. I didn’t violate any rules.”
“Conspiring with a fellow officer to do harm to another being? I think that qualifies,” she said, dead serious.
“But he’s a machine!” Page pointed at Box.
“Don’t make me call your own security personnel on you,” Evie hissed. “Return to your quarters. Now.”
He uttered a sound of disgust and stormed out of the room. She wasn’t sorry to see him go. The only problem was he was right; he was the best tactical officer the ship had. And they would need him when they returned to Sil space. She turned to the rest of them. “All of you will be receiving formal reprimands on your service records. I don’t care if you were following orders or not,” she said before Amargosa or Stevens could protest. “This is a gross violation of Coalition standards. He isn’t Coalition property and therefore does not fall under any Coalition guidelines. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Commander,” they both said at the same time.
“And you,” she said, turning to Ronde. “Page I get. But what is so horrible about Cas you were a party to mutilating his friend?”
Ronde winced at her words. He wasn’t as committed to this as Page had been. If she were a betting woman, Ronde never would have done this on his own.
“Something about it just didn’t seem right, Commander,” Ronde said. “He’s a criminal. And we thought…I thought…” He turned to Box on the table where Zorres and Xax were re-attaching his arm. “If we hadn’t had to go after him Blackburn would still be here.”
Evie furrowed her brow. “Ensign, as a Coalition officer you know we all take risks for this job. Asha took the same oath you did. She knew the risks and she accepted them. Every morning when we put on the uniform, we know in the back of our minds it might be the last time.”
