“-so if you wish to move the window left or right at any point please tell me so.”
From the outside, Aranimas’s ship looked like a fat arrowhead trailing bits of the twine which had held it to the shaft. The arrowhead was in fact an atmosphere-piercing lifting body, and the twine the tattered remnants of several transfer corridors which had been attached to the hexagonal junction between the engine exhaust bells at the stern.
Together Derec and Katherine watched as the rescue robots fit a self-cutting emergency hatch to the upper hull. When the hatch’s contact ring had burned through the hull and fused itself in place, the robots entered-one at a time, the witness first.
“This is where Aranimas had me living,” she whispered as the hypervision panned the atticlike upper deck.
“How long were you there?”
“Two months. Believe me, it seemed longer.”
When the witness robot led the way down to the main deck, the first thing they saw was a robot standing in the central corridor.
“Alpha,” Derec cried.
“Capek,” Katherine said at the same instant. “Where’s my robot?”
Hajime suspended the recording. “This robot was removed and taken away for diagnostic examination and repair.”
“I want him back, just the way he was,” Derec said. “You’ve got no right to tinker with him without a work order.”
“The robot resisted our efforts to rescue you. It was judged to be operating in a substandard and hazardous manner and was deactivated. Standard procedure in such cases is to perform a full examination so that the anomaly may be reported to the manufacturer.”
Katherine was nodding in reluctant agreement, and Derec took his cue from her. “All right,” he said. “Go on.”
When the recording continued, they saw themselves for the first time. They were lying head to foot along one wall in the central walkway of the main deck. Katherine winced and turned away at the sight of her own burn-blistered face and bloody clothing. Derec gritted his teeth and tried not to feel the pain all over again that was reflected in his burned skin.
“I thought so,” Derec whispered under his breath. “I thought so.”
“What?” Katherine demanded. “What are you talking about?”
“Alpha. He kept us alive.”
“You heard Hajime-the robot was abnormal. He wouldn’t let them rescue us.”
“That was just the PD cube being careful. Look,” Derec said, gesturing. “Those aren’t positions that you fall into naturally after an accident like that, or even crawl into. We were moved. And more: we were at least five days out when I tripped the booby trap. It took the rescue ship two and a half days to reach us. There’s no quarreling with the fact that we were badly injured-”
“No,” she said with a little shiver.
“I was wondering how we survived until the paramedics got to us. We should have died right there on the ship. All they should have found were corpses. Alpha is the reason they didn’t.” Derec looked toward the robot. “Hajime, could you pause the recording and give us privacy, please?”
“Of course, Derec.” The image and the robot both froze.
“What? What’s going on?”
“I just want to point out that someone else might have been on the ship, too.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“I had wondered why Wolruf and the robot were taking so long to get back from their errand. What if Aranimas regained consciousness? They might still have been trying to lock him up when the bomb went off. Alpha would have come running back. He wouldn’t worry about Aranimas. He probably wouldn’t even worry about what Aranimas might do to Wolruf. Aranimas and Alpha could both have gotten back into Hull A before it was cut loose.”
“And Alpha would have protected us from him, just as it tried to protect us from the rescue crew.”
“That might even explainwhy Alpha gave the robots trouble.”
“He could have hidden,” Katherine said thoughtfully. “It was his ship. He would have known where he’d be safe. Until the ship was brought in-”
“Just what I was thinking. If he doesn’t have the key, he’s looking for it-or us. If he’s got it, he still may be looking for us. Either way, the key’s not safe, and neither are we. And we can’t just sit around and tell ourselves there’s no rush. We have to start doing something right now.”
Katherine cast her gaze downward into her lap. “All right,” she said at last.
“Hajime,” Derec said. “You can rejoin us.”
The robot stirred again. “Thank you, sir. Shall I continue with the recording?”
“No. Terminate the replay. We’ve seen enough,” Katherine said.
“Very well, madam,” the robot said, complying. “Do you have other questions?”
“Yes. Where is Oh Seven B now?”
“I do not know, madam.”
The answer brought Derec up off the bed, his face reddening. “What do you mean, you don’t know?” he demanded. “You’re the second highest ranking staffer on the station.”
“That is correct, sir.”
“And you don’t know where our ship is?”
“I only know that Oh Seven B is no longer in the berth at which it was moored when first towed into the station.”
“Was it stolen?” Derec pressed. “Are you trying to tell me it’s gone?”
“It was not stolen. It was moved under the authorization of the station manager.”
“Why didn’t you say so from the start?” Katherine snapped.
“Derec asked if I knew where Oh Seven B was berthed. I do not, and so informed him.”
“Then find out where our ship is. I want you to take us to it.”
“I am sorry,” Hajime said. “I am not permitted to do that.”
“Then find us a robot who is permitted,” Derec snapped.
“I have been instructed to refer all inquiries of this sort to the station manager.”
Derec sighed. “All right. You can go.”
“Thank you, sir.” The robot paused. “May I make an inquiry, sir?”
“What about?”
“Do you continue to refer to Oh Seven B as ‘our ship’ out of habit or as a matter of affection?”
“What do you mean?”
“I have been informed that the vessel known as Oh Seven B is no longer your property.”
Chapter 16. Into The Darkness
The station manager, a robot named Anazon, would not come to see them, but agreed to a brief vidcall.
“Is the care you are receiving satisfactory?” Anazon asked politely. “I hope that Hajime is seeing to your other needs-”
Derec did not waste any time on pleasantries. “Where is our ship? Where is Oh Seven B?” he demanded.
“I regret, sir, that I am not permitted to tell you,” the robot said without a hint of regret in his voice.
“Who gave that order?”
“I regret, sir, that I am not permitted to tell you that, either.”
Derec was determined not to be thwarted. “Who is your supervisor? What’s his name?”
“My supervisor’s name is Aram Jacobson.”
“Get him on this channel.”
“Mr. Jacobson may not be available at this time-”
“Do it. Use whatever priority you have to to get him to answer. And keep the line open. I want to hear what you say.”
The robot reached forward for the hyperviewer controls. “This is Anazon, Manager of Rockliffe Station, requesting a conference with Mr. Jacobson.”
A voice said “One moment,” and there was a pause.
“Yes, Anazon,” a new voice said. The words were muddied by the faint electronic echo which was the telltale sign of a scrambler somewhere in the link. “What is it?”
“Anazon called you on my behalf,” Derec cut in. “Your robots have appropriated my ship. I expect you to order them to return it.”
“And our robot,” Katherine added. “We want Capek back, too.”
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The hypervision image of Anazon faded and was replaced an instant later by one of a round-faced man with narrow eyes and shiny black hair. In sharp contrast to the robot’s slender physique, Jacobson’s stout body was perched precariously on his executive chair like an egg on a teaspoon.
“Excuse me, by whom do I have the pleasure of being ordered about?” he asked with exaggerated politeness.
“My name is Derec. This is-”
“Just Derec? No last name, like a robot?”
“Don’t be cute. You know all about me. I’m sure there’s a file on me in your library.”
“I have many files in my library,” Jacobson said. “I’m responsible for facilities which employ twenty-six hundred humans and nearly eight thousand robots. Believe me when I tell you that neither your name nor your face are familiar to me.” His gaze flicked toward Katherine. “And you, miss?”
“Katherine Burgess. And don’t call me miss.”
“My apologies if I insulted you,” Jacobson said, bowing his head slightly. “Now if I could ask you to restate your complaint-this is most irregular, to have someone barge in on a private call. I’m afraid it rather distracted me.”
Derec was too furious for words, but Katherine took over smoothly. “We were found on a damaged spacecraft and brought here to Rockliffe Station. Now the station manager refuses to allow us access to our ship.”
“Refuses you access?” Jacobson asked, wrinkling his forehead. “Whatever for?”
“It won’t tell us,” Derec said. “It says it’s been ordered not to tell us-my guess is by you.”
“I assure you not,” Jacobson said, reaching for his computer. “If you’ll just allow me a moment to check the records-” He turned his back to them briefly. “Oh yes, of course,” he said to himself as he studied the screen.
“Of course what?”
Jacobson turned back to face them. “I do recall hearing about you after all, Derec. You’re the amnesia case Dr. Galen is studying. That explains a great deal.”
“Not to me.”
“But it does all the same. You see, the care you’ve been receiving is quite costly-”
“Dr. Galen said my bill would be charged against a station account.”
“I’m afraid Dr. Galen made an error,” Jacobson said. “That would be the case if you were indigent and unable to pay, or if the costs of your care exceeded the guarantee made by your homeworld on behalf of its citizens.”
“But my case is different-”
“Indeed. Your citizenship is unknown. Your financial assets are unknown. Indeed, there is even some question about your majority under Spacer law,” said Jacobson.
“I’m old enough.”
“We have decided to presume so,” he said. “But in any case, since you have not been able to supply us with identification, we have no choice but to seize your tangible personal assets in payment of your account.”
“My tangible assets-”
“Your ship and its contents have been appraised generously, I assure you,” Jacobson said, glancing back at his computer. “Even so, I’m afraid there’s not much left after subtracting the salvage fee and the expenses of the rescue operation. Still, there’s more than enough to cover passage to Nexon on the next shuttle and keep you fed in the meantime.”
Derec gaped disbelievingly. “You can’t do that. You can’t just take everything a man owns.”
“It’s the judgment of the minister of finance that anyone who has assets enough to own such a ship in the first place can quite afford to pay his bills,” Jacobson said, sitting back in his chair. “If we were to let you get away with this, I’d be overwhelmed by freeloaders, all claiming to have forgotten where their funds are held.”
“Are you accusing me of making this up? Ask Dr. Galen-”
“Dr. Galen does not set policy for the station. I do.”
“At least you finally admit that this is your doing,” Derec retorted. “I can’t believe you have the nerve to charge me for rescuing me. You’d have gone out to intercept that ship whether we’d been on it or not.”
“From our point of view, that ship wouldn’t have been there endangering our facilityunless you were in it,” Jacobson said lightly.
“Just a moment,” Katherine said. “That ship is half mine. Maybe you can grab his half for payment, but you can’t touch mine. You know who I am. I authorized a draft on my account at the Auroran Exchange.”
“So you did,” Jacobson said. “Tell me, what sort of account was it?”
“A Living Share-a family trust-” Katherine’s face was beginning to go gray.
“Which is a revocable trust, is it not?”
“I-I guess.”
“I regret to inform you that on May 26, your account was closed and all funds withdrawn. Have you other assets of which we may not be aware?”
“No,” Katherine said, her expression acutely pained. “That was my Living Share. How could they take it back? How could they do such a thing?”
“I cannot say. The fact remains, they did. You are legally an adult and responsible for your own debts. Therefore we have been obliged to exercise our rights to your portion of the property as well.”
“You won’t get away with this,” Derec threatened feebly.
“It is not a question of ‘getting away with’ anything,” Jacobson replied. “We are well within our rights. You should be grateful that you’re alive, instead of fussing over a ship which I understand is not in flyable condition in any case. Since you couldn’t have paid for its repair, you would have had to try to sell it anyway, and I doubt very much you could have gotten anything near the price you were paid by us.”
“You-” Derec sputtered.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other business to attend to.”
The link dissolved before Derec could reply. “Do you believe that performance?” he exclaimed, turning to Katherine. He was shocked to see how empty of spirit her eyes were.
“Performance?” she asked mechanically.
“This isn’t what it looks like. This is just a way of separating us from the ship. To pay us for it they’d have to have proof that we own it-more than our word and the fact that they found us in it. Do you know why they’re not asking us for that proof? They don’t want to know. Just like they don’t want to know whether I’m too young to be responsible for my own debts.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “None of it matters.”
Derec stared at her. “What’s bothering you?”
“My money. My family took my money-”
“Is that any great surprise? The Patrol probably reported you missing when they went out and picked over what was left of theGolden Eagle.”
“They didn’t even give me a chance to explain-” she said despairingly.
“Explain to who?” he asked gently.
But his question seemed to awaken her to her loss of control. The line of her jaw stiffened and her eyes hardened. “Frost them. Frost them all,” she said tersely. “It’s ancient history. What do we do now?”
“What are you game for?”
“I’ll tell you what I’mnot going to do. I’m not going to wait around quietly until the next freighter comes and then meekly traipse off to Nexon,” she declared. “And I’m not about to let a bunch of robots keep me away from my property, even if they are following the orders of that milkface.”
“Sounds like I’m going to need to start calling you Kate.”
Surprised, she smiled. “Maybe you’d better.”
“Good. Because I think we’re going to need her,” Derec said. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
“I know. But there’s a limit to how many places you can hide a ship of that size, even in a station this large. If it’s still here, we’ll find it.”
“Probably so,” Derec agreed. “Chances are they moved it from the active dock to one of the deactivated ones-in the military wing, would be my guess. Even if the station directory won’t tell us where the other
dock facilities are, we can figure it out. But that won’t help us much.”
“Why not?”
“Because the key is what matters, not the ship. Jacobson is right. We don’t have any use for the ship.”
“We find the ship, we find the key.”
Derec shook his head unhappily. “The key won’t be there. The robots have it.”
“Jacobson didn’t say anything about it.”
“Why should he take the chance of being the first to call our attention to it?” Derec asked rhetorically. “I just know that the whole time we talked to him, he was sitting there waiting for us to ask about our personal effects or give some sign we know about the key-waiting to pounce if we did. It was a test. We passed, so they’re going to let us go. If we hadn’t-”
“Why should they take any special notice of the key? It doesn’t look like anything special. They don’t know what Aranimas went through to get it. I do, and I still don’t’ know why it’s so important.”
“So you say.”
“Do you think I’m lying?”
Yes, he thought. Or at least not telling the whole truth. I’m starting to believe that everybody knows what this thing is but me-that you’re pretending that you’re just as ignorant as I am, while all the time you know exactly what it is and why it’s important.
But he said none of that. “I don’t know what to think,” Derec said, frustration thick in his voice.
“I think the key’s still hidden wherever Aranimas kept it. Jacobson didn’t mention the key because he doesn’t know anything about it. He’s just worried about the ship in general.”
“He knows. I’m sure of it,” Derec said stubbornly.
“Look, if Jacobson knows about the key and the robots found it, then it went out onFariis. Which means he has it by now. End of story.”
“Not necessarily,” Derec said, shaking his head. “The packets are contract haulers, not Nexonian nationals. Do you think he’d trust them with something that’s probably ten times more valuable than their whole fleet contract? For that matter, do you think he’d put it on an unarmed vessel with the raiders still sitting out there somewhere trying to figure out how to get it back?”
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