'What of the drone?'
'Will be reprogrammed and fitted with anti-personnel
systems and self-destruct.'
Cora nodded and turned to Kao Chih. 'Well, this is it,
KC - it's been a rollercoaster ride but we got there in the
end. So see you in another life - or another hell!'
She smiled and winked, just as the Henkayan touched
something cold and metallic to his neck. Immediately,
everything below his head went numb and like a puppet
with severed strings he fell but was neatly caught.
Bizarrely, he was still conscious and fully alert but with-
out any control over his neck muscles so that his head
lolled this way and that as Compositor Henach carried
him from the room.
'Your new body will be remarkable, Human - we do
only remarkable things here and you will see it all.'
The Compositor placed him in some kind of cradling
couch which had a row of folded surgical extensors
along one edge, like the hooks and pincers of a
grotesque creature, glittering and retracted. He only
caught glimpses of it as the Henkayan fastened him in.
Kao Chih wanted to cry out, even curse his captor, but
the deadening effect encompassed his vocal chords.
'So - augmentation of legs, arms, hands, chest, and
perhaps spine also.' Kao Chih could see die Henkayan
lean over then heard a series of tiny clicks, and a holo-
gram of a human body appeared overhead, an image
stripped of skin and showing muscles, arteries, organs,
the stark, pale orbs of his own eyes staring up, his
toothy jaws gaping but unable to speak, an exhibition in
red. A sense of helpless despair filled his mind.
'Hmm, no dataweave, no cranial conduit, and no
implants . . . except for molecular attachment in lin-
guistic centre ... hmm, still largely unblemished Human
brain - most refreshing . . .'
Suddenly the couch gave a slight jolt and out of sight
there was a metallic clinking, and the clatter of some-
thing falling to the floor. The Compositor cursed under
his breath, put his grin back in place and looked at Kao
Chih.
'First, we cut open your legs, insert builder seeds and
guide membrane,' he said. 'Quick, easy, you feel noth-
ing, then .. .'
This time the entire room lurched and Henach was
thrown sideways to fetch up against the wall. He let out
a shriek of rage and dashed across the room towards
something out of Kao Chili's sight. Outside the surgery
alarms were warbling in the corridors and a moment
later he heard the Henkayan say, 'This is Compositor
Henach - what is happening?'
'So sorry, Compositor, but the Strigida drone has
broken free of its stasisweb and caused damage to the
inner hull...'
'I am working! - no excuses, recapture it!'
'Yes, Compositor, at once. When we find it.'
'What? How can you lose it?'
'It found a way into the maintenance interstices, sir,
and the security scuttlers aren't reporting anything . . .'
The opencom voice was blotted out by a deafening
crash in the room, the sight of flying fragments of what
looked like deck tiles, and a terrified howl from the
Compositor, swiftly cut off. For a second or two there
were only the ticks and knocks of bits of debris falling to
the floor and an odd, muffled, mumbling sound. Then
the familiar dumb-bell shape of Drazuma-Ha* drifted
into view.
'Greetings, Gowchee - I see that you are about to
undergo some physical modifications, which would cer-
tainly enhance your ability to defend yourself in the
future. Would you like me to return later?'
Robbed of his voice, Kao Chih could only frown,
glare and mouth various demands and imprecations in
an attempt to get his meaning across.
'Ah, I deduce that this would be unwelcome - very
well.'
All of a sudden he was plunged back into the sensa-
tions of his entire body again, as if he had convulsively
awoken from a nightmare, or into one. Shivering, itch-
ing, coughing, he scrambled out of the surgical cradle
and saw that Drazuma-Ha* was restraining the
Compositor with a forcefield extension wrapped around
the Henkayan's mouth and neck. Rage mottled his fix-
tures and despite the forcefield gag he was still trying to
shout and threaten, which accounted for the muted
throaty muttering.
'So, how did you . . .' Kao Chih began, but was
forced to break off by a coughing fit.
'Obtain my freedom? Well, our hosts, who think very
highly of themselves, reasoned that providing our female
hijacker with the specifications of the Strigida design
would ensure success. They failed to realise that over the
course of several thousand years I might have intro-
duced some modifications of my own, like
improvements to my power grid as well as multiple
redundancy in the vital systems. Thus I was able to
reroute my core functions, disable the stasisweb and free
myself.'
Swallowing painfully, Kao Chih looked down at the
long gaping hole in the floor. 'Well, it certainly worked.
What shall we do now?'
'Getting off this space-going torture chamber would
be most preferable,' Drazuma-Ha * said. 'I managed to
tap into the security web and sealed the intermodule
access doors, but that will only last until they splice up
a workaround.'
Kao Chih stared at the unrelentingly wrathful
Compositor Henach. 'Does this vessel have escape
pods?'
'Yes, a small number for each module, but if we
departed in one it would be an easy matter to send a
recovery vehicle to bring it back in.'
'We don't go,' Kao Chih said. 'He does.'
'A diversion, very good, making sure that the pod's
comm device is nonfunctional. Then, I assume, we will
head towards the docking ring and your ship.'
'Exactly - if you can make it appear that you have me
restrained with forcefields, we can play guard-and-pris-
oner.'
'I have a better suggestion,' Drazuma-Ha* said as a
shimmering aura formed about it, lengthened, altered its
outline, swirled with colours . .. and suddenly Kao Chih
was looking at two Compositor Henachs, the real one
glaring with undisguised hate at his impostor.
Kao Chih grinned. 'The appearance is precise - can
you sound like him?'
'Of course, puny Earthling!' said the mech in the
Compositor's voice. 'My vocal simulacrum is unri-
valled!'
'Then let us carry out our plan
'You may like to keep this with you,' said Drazuma-
Ha*, tossing a silvery object which Kao Chih caught. It
was a flattened oval with two springy arms tipped with
dimpled pads. 'That is what our companion used on
you - a nerve-blocker. It may be useful if we encounter
difficulty.'
It was not far from the augmentation rooms to the
&nb
sp; low, narrow escape pod bay, and there were no guards
to be seen. It seemed that when Drazuma-Ha* had
sealed off the modules, locking all the surgery doors in
the process, most of the guards were in the adjacent
module searching for a missing drone.
Once the pod's comm system was disabled, the real
Compositor Henach was thrust inside, his bellows of
rage muffled by the closed hatch. There was a manual
release in a wall niche which Kao Chih took great pleas-
ure in pulling. A heavy thump, a furious hiss, and the
pod leaped away, small chassis nozzles jetting. Another
alarm started sounding so they ducked back out to the
walkway and quickly made for the access door leading
to the next module. Disguised as the Compositor, the
mech paused nearby to crack open a wall panel, uncover
the datalinks and modify the intermodule access status.
As the door opened and the guards rushed in, shouting,
Kao Chih assumed a listless stance, a drooping head
and a vacant expression.
'Compositor Henach!' said the guard sergeant, an
angry Gomedran with saliva gleaming on its fangs. 'You
have left your . . .'
'Do not delay me, cretin! - this ordag must be wiped,
orders of Castigator Vuzayel!'
'But sir, is this the Human recently arrived? Its
machine has caused much disruption . . .'
'Are you calling me a fool? Are you} This different
Human - fugitives use escape pods, cretin!'
'I see, I understand . . .'
'Why are you waiting for them to escape?'
Wilting in the face of such towering rage, the
Gomedran sergeant saluted and hurried off while Kao
Chih and Drazuma-Ha* proceeded through to the next
module. No one stopped them as they continued up the
ramp to the gantry which led along the docking ring.
There was a Gomedran guard who challenged them but
Kao Chih's speechless, shuffling act got him into the
right place to pounce with the nerve-blocker.
This is a useful device, he thought as he pocketed it
and stepped over the sleeping guard. Wish I'd had one
before Cora invited herself on board.
Drazuma-Ha* used a field probe to bypass the dock-
ing ring security and open the hatch. Moments later
they were back in the familiar, cramped, odorous sur-
roundings of the Castellan's cockpit.
'Gowchee, I rigged a two-minute delay on the dock-
ing clamp release,' said the mech, now returned to his
usual, curved, featureless self. 'I would advise strapping
into your couch as I am readying the main thrusters for
a fast burn . . .'
One of the transparent console screens gave a blink
of static before showing the Chaurixa leader, the
Kiskashin Vuzayel.
'My friends, why such a hasty departure? - there is so
much we have yet to discuss, and I would rather
exchange words than weaponsfire
The Castellan lurched free of the docking ring. In the
next moment acceleration slammed Kao Chih back into
his couch and left him struggling to breathe against the
sudden pressure. He had wanted to make an obscene
gesture at Vuzayel's image but Drazuma-Ha::' cut the
link.
'Vile creature,' Kao Chih said. 'And a vile place,
Drazuma-Ha*. How soon can we leave . .. oh, but have
we any usable course data?'
'I'm checking that now . . . interesting, they had
already commenced merging several course data sets
into the navigationals, purely as place-holder templates.'
'So those course data are out of date?' Kao Chih said,
spirits sinking.
'By about thirty-six to forty-eight hours.'
Kao Chih groaned. 'We went through this trying to
escape from Blacknest! Are we going to have to make
another blind hyperjump out among the stars?'
'It may come to that, Gowchee, assuming we cat
evade the small craft that are now gaining on us.'
The screen in front of Kao Chih flashed to a rearward
view, showing two bright objects following - the per-
spective jumped closer to one of them, revealing I
tapered wedge shape with a large impeller drive and
-
two gimbal-mounted work arms, one tipped with grasp-
ing claws, the other with a drill head.
'Engine-modified scavengers,' Kao Chih said. 'But the
Castellan should be able to leave them behind.'
'That would be true if we were not heading into a
debris field.'
Kao Chih looked up at the viewport just as Drazuma-
Ha* banked the ship to dodge a house-sized piece of
wreckage sprouting twisted beams and buckled sections
of deck and bulkhead. Beyond, the widening, bright
crescent of the planet was speckled by an immense cloud
of wreckage. He knew they would have to cut their
velocity to avoid the possibility of a crippling collision,
whereas the scavenger boats could use their superior
manoeuvring to get in close. Not for the first time, he
wished the Castellan had some decent firepower.
'Could we ram them?' he said. 'Or even use our main
thrusters as a weapon? ... of some sort. ..'
'Creative suggestions, Gowchee,' said the mech. 'If a
little fanciful. On the other hand, we could accelerate
along a path I have mapped through the sparsest areas
and thereby evade our pursuers.'
Suddenly optimistic, Kao Chih gestured at the view-
port.
'Forward then, honourable Drazuma-Ha*!'
The mech blipped the thrusters, an intermittent, muf-
fled drone.
'We need to bypass this approaching dense cluster of
debris, then alter our attitude . ..'
Ahead, he could see a portion of the starry darkness
where unstarlike points and splinters of reflected sun-
light hung like a huge shoal of menace off their
starboard. As the Castellan's attitude changed, the glit -
tering, dark shoal shifted to fill the viewport but then
slid away to starboard again as the ship, drifting side-
ways, came into alignment with Drazuma-Ha*'s
intended trajectory. Another long moment during
which a glance at the stern monitor showed the pur-
suers dodging around ragged pieces of wreckage,
swooping ever nearer. Then the thrusters cut in again
and Kao Chih was shoved back into his couch as the
Castellan surged forward. He was about to let out a
whoop of delight when the ship jolted, as if struck from
beneath.
'What. . .'
'Compensating for course deviation,' said the mech.
Then a familiar voice came over the comm system.
'Well, hi there, KC. Thought I'd come along for the
ride ...'
Drazuma-Ha * switched the external monitor to the
ship's underside, and there was another of the boosted
scavenger boats, induction grapples anchoring it to the
hull while one of the gimballed arms reached out with
heavy claws to a nearby housing.
'You've really disappointed me, KC, as well as put-
ting me in bad odour
with my masters - bring you back,
I was told, or don't come back . . . oh, sorry, was that
something important?'
A high-pitched beeping sounded and red symbols
flickered on the console. On the external monitor those
extended claws were holding a torn-off piece of housing.
'Secondary fuel port,' said Drazuma-Ha*. 'I've iso-
lated it. She is coming through on the proximal helmet
channel, Gowchee - shall I shut it off?'
Kao Chih shook his head, reached out and fingered
the channel reply.
'Cora, instead of attacking us, why not come with us?'
'Appreciate the offer, KC, but I have to keep up a cer-
tain repute for the benefit of those who make use of my
services - no repute, no job offers, y'see . . .'
Kao Chih was looking out the viewport as he released
the reply button.
'Drazuma-Ha *, are there any wreckage pieces of sub-
stantial size along our flight path and can you adjust our
course to pass close by?'
'How close, Gowchee?'
'Very close. And can you position us for a 180-degree
roll on approach?'
'Yes. Tracking one now - ninety seconds till flyby
from . . . now.'
'You understand my intention, Drazuma-Ha*?'
'Indeed I do, Gowchee.'
It was the only course of action left to them, and they
had to take it because Cora was determined to take
them back or kill them trying. Because Kao Chih was
done with being a captive or a commodity or some
instrument to be used and discarded. Because he had a
mission, because his family and friends and everyone
back at Human Sept were relying on him.
The dull brown face of the nameless world was loom-
ing ahead, through all the strewn clouds of orbiting
debris. Shafis System was a graveyard and was about to
add to its burden.
A muffled whine started coming up from below -
like those pursuit droids back at Blacknest, Cora was
trying to drill through the hull.
'Thirty seconds till flyby,' said the mech. 'Fifteen till
bank manoeuvre.'
Grim-faced, Kao Chih thumbed the comm reply.
'Cora,' he said. Tm sorry . . .'
In the viewport the brown planet began to turn. A
dark, gleaming mass swung round as it swept nearer
and impact alerts began to sound.
'Well, KC, you'll be the one who's gonna be ... you
Michael Cobley - Humanity's Fire book 1 Page 42
