Who knows, maybe we’ll find her something to do? Crash a bunch of these pods into the dude and see if that keeps him occupied for a while?
She was on the cusp of suggesting it when the pod touched down with a clang.
She winced. Good job stealth was already out of the question.
The circular hatch ground open, lowering to become a ramp. Kyra was first down it, which was a novelty — she was used to being the pilot. She felt the touch of Tristan’s mind as he and Kreon clustered behind her. She reached for the Warden, and got a confirmation from him, too.
Well alright then, she cooed. At least we’ve got that.
I see him, Tris reported.
Yeah, me too. Let’s go say hello.
Moving forward, they spread out along the edge of the platform. The gleaming blue robot was clearly visible now, standing in front of what she guessed was a console.
With no gravity inside the chamber, Gerian had been able to fill his floating laboratory with an enormous amount of equipment. Kyra could see industrial-strength lifting and cutting gear, heavy-duty power generators and several different kinds of talos equipped with everything from surgical tools to mining lasers. No wonder the hangar of the ship above was empty; huge crates of gear were stacked everywhere, leaving the centre open for row after row of work benches. The remains of past experiments were very much in evidence; piles of broken tools and discarded electronic components that must have been magnetised to keep them in place. It was pretty obvious what he’d been trying to do here: break into a sarcophagus and extract the body inside.
And then break that body into pieces — just to see if he could.
From the looks of it, he hadn’t even gotten close.
No wonder he was so thrilled when we brought him Loader. Missing piece of the puzzle…
Judging by the scuffed and battered state of the platform, she guessed it had seen heavy use.
Gerian was holding out on us. He’s been building this shit for a while. That tricky bastard…
But Gerian had paid for his meddling.
They just had to sort out the mess he’d left behind.
27
Kyra gripped the pulse rifle tightly, glancing left and right at Kreon and Tris.
As one, they advanced on their target.
Every footstep produced a metallic click, as their boots magnetised to the surface.
Knock him off the platform? she suggested, as the idea occurred.
He can fly, Kreon reminded her.
In zero-gee? Maybe not.
He got down here without taking a pod, Tris pointed out. All three were there when we arrived.
Damn it! Go be a wet blanket somewhere else! She could feel the kid’s nerves, but he had them under control. For now.
The robot had ignored them so far, focussing on its task.
It’s not threatened by us, Kyra thought. We’re like flies to it. But get too close and we’ll be swatted.
Whatever it was doing, Loader was bound to be close by. They needed to draw the thing away, so that she could slip in for the rescue.
I’m gonna shoot it, she told the others. Dimly, she felt their reactions were mixed, but she didn’t care.
Time to take charge of this bitch.
Cradling her pulse rifle, she aimed for the junction where the neck-like appendage met the torso. It was as good a place as any, she guessed.
She squeezed the trigger.
A bolt of orange fire blazed out, striking the robot right on the target. Kyra sent another shot to join the first, because shooting something twice is always better than shooting it once.
The first blast ricocheted off the robot’s tough crystal hide, disappearing into the void above. The second seemed to dissipate on impact, as that portion of the thing’s skin came alive with glowing circuits.
Absorbing the power, she realised. I could empty this clip, and all I’d be doing was recharging its batteries.
A piercing noise flooded her helmet for a second, before the auto-filters cut in and squelched the volume.
- LEAVE OR DIE - screeched the comm, a sound that went right through her.
“We are here to negotiate for the release of our friend,” Kreon said, his voice coming through hushed with her volume so low.
- NOT AN OPTION - LEAVE OR DIE -
Talkative, ain’t he?
The robot hadn’t looked up from its work.
ALI tells me Loader is right there, within that console, Kreon said.
We need to draw him away! Tristan’s response was suddenly stern. A ball of light flared at the base of his boots and he took off, built-in jets carrying him up to the giant rack looming above them.
Kyra frowned, focussing her mind on Kreon’s. Did you teach him to do that?
Kreon shook his helmet. He appears to be having an episode.
Above them, Kyra saw Tris land with practiced ease atop one of the sarcophagi. Pulling his glaive free and extending it, he drove the blade into the faceted metal with all his strength.
The robot straightened, finally deigning to notice them.
Tris drew his stick back and hacked again. Kyra couldn’t see if he was causing any damage, but it looked like he’d caught the thing’s attention.
I guess that’s our signal to attack? Kyra flipped the pulse rifle onto her back and uncoiled her swords. They might not be lethal to the robot, but she was betting she could find something to damage.
She sprinted forward as the robot rose smoothly into the air. Kreon pounded along behind her, his grav-staff ready to cause havoc.
Then something swung in from the side, a blur of metal so fast she nearly missed it.
Instinct saved her; she sprang aside, tumbling across the floor but coming to her feet facing back the way she’d come.
To see Kreon facing off against a mining talos, its heavy tracks shaking the deck as it ground towards him. Another flash of movement, and Kyra ducked as a razor-sharp blade flashed through the space her head had occupied. She swung a sword, felt it slice into and through something — and the arm of a medical talos stabbed in towards her, nearly skewering her.
Spinning, she used both swords to sweep the area around her. Getting her bearings, she saw movement on all sides. Every piece of mobile gear, every piece of heavy machinery, and every one of Gerian’s hoarded talos were springing to life.
Kreon! The entire lab is attacking us!
Then she didn’t have any concentration to spare, as a stumpy-looking machine with a power drill on the end of a flexible stem lunged towards her. She sliced the drill off first, then took the arm on the back swing. But the machine kept rolling forwards, intent on ramming her.
Shit! Gotta wreck ‘em to stop ‘em! she sent, hoping that Kreon was okay.
Little busy, he sent back, and she caught a glimpse through his eyes. Three large mining machines lay crumpled around him, sparks flying from their innards. But a jet of superheated plasma boiled out from a welding torch aimed his way, and the Warden threw himself behind the wreckage.
Then she needed her eyes back, as another talos trundled forward, armed with an enormous circular saw. She dealt with the drill-bot first, hacking it to pieces in three swift motions. But she was forced to give ground as she did, keeping enough space between her and the whirling saw blade to get her swords up to it. The spinning teeth descended on her as she got her own blades up just in time, severing the appendage mid-strike. She skipped aside as the disc fell, embedding itself in the deck with the force of its own momentum. Fighting in zero-gee was something she hated; nothing could be relied upon to behave as expected.
The same could be said for fighting an aisle’s worth of hardware, she thought, as she lashed out to either side. The machines weren’t infinite; she’d already carved through several of them, and it seemed like Kreon was holding his own, too.
Not being able to tell when they were sneaking up behind her was a real issue, though. She ducked again, damn near losing her head to a welding arm that was fixed to one of the wor
k benches.
Shit! She relied on the Gift to warn her of stuff like that.
She danced a few steps of a sword-form, slicing the welding arm in two and finishing off the buzz-saw wielder.
She felt a savage satisfaction from Kreon as he brought his grav-staff down on another mining bot, crushing its toughened housing like a tin can.
I think you’ve caused a million credits’ worth of damage there, she sent to him.
It’s strangely therapeutic, he agreed.
Okay. You keep doing that. I’m going for Loader!
She dodged between two stacks of crates and ran for the console. She skidded to a stop as a pair of snake-like manipulators barred her path. Two swift slashes cut them free of the benches they were mounted on, and she leapt over them as they writhed on the floor.
Bastard is controlling them remotely, she told Kreon.
ALI is working on blocking him, the Warden came back.
Any chance?
Unlikely. His signals are unlike anything she has experienced.
Kyra tore her mind away from that problem, putting her focus back on her goal.
If she could get hold of Loader while Tris kept the robot distracted…
She glanced up automatically, hunting for a sight of Tris. The robot was easier to spot; it hovered in the air maybe half a klick up, moving its crystalline arms rapidly in response to something.
Tris? You okay?
I can’t damage it! He sounded on the edge of panic. Whatever mental magic had conjured up his new abilities, it was obviously running out of juice.
Don’t try! She flung at him. Get away from there! If it follows you, good. Then get your ass back here. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve got Loader.
Having a plan seemed to help Tris get his shit together. Alright, he sent back, I’m on it.
She felt the moment of consternation as he fired his jets again, not quite as in control of them as he had been at first. Shaking her head for the weirdness of the situation, she set off running again. The console where Loader should be was just up ahead. She leapt over a work bench, grateful that this one had no grasping claws attached.
Then she was there, throwing herself down next to the base of the console.
Loader sat next to it, a nondescript silver container that looked for all the world like a stainless steel shoe box.
“Hey, buddy! You alright in there?”
She didn’t know if Loader could hear their comms, but he was pretty damn resourceful for something the size of a bean-can.
Thick wires came out of a panel that had been torn free violently; that could only be the work of the robot. But the rest was human tech, albeit unfamiliar to her.
She grabbed the cable, tracing it back into the console. She gave it an experimental tug, but it was firmly attached inside.
“Loader! You awake? Listen, I’ve gotta pull this plug. It’s not going to damage you, is it?”
There was a burst of static from her comm, then a sound like someone mashing all the keys on a synthesiser together. “Nooo,” a bass note sounded, almost indecipherable as language.
“Alright. Here I go.” She took a firm grip on the cable with both gloved hands and bent over it.
Another explosion of static made her flinch, and then the sound resolved into words. “No. Do not. Must stay connected.”
“Loader? Is that you?” She glanced upwards, looking for the robot. It had already hacked their comms. Was it smart enough to try impersonating Loader? Almost certainly. Would it want her to leave the talos plugged in? Definitely.
She paused, not sure what to do. Ask him a personal question?
“We’re clear,” Kreon shouted, his voice loud in her ears. Through the Gift she caught sight of his handiwork; he’d been smashing machines left right and centre, including any that didn’t seem to be mobile.
“Tris! Kyra! Rendezvous at the pod.”
Kyra glanced down at the cable in her hands. Shit… What do I do?
No choice.
“Sorry, little buddy. We’ve got to go.” She wound one hand into the cable for extra grip.
“No. Please, Kyra. Kylimnestra. Loreak. Of Esper,” the voice boomed.
She shook her head. Gerian had that info! This thing could easily have gained access to it. “Nice try, Sparkles. But Loader would never call me that.”
“Kyra! No!” The voice was insistent. “Your pink glitter boots were size nine.”
She froze. What the…?
Those boots had been her pride and joy. They’d been amazing. They said, ‘Hell yeah I’m cute, but piss me off and I’ll step on your face.’
She’d loved those boots more than life itself.
Well, not quite.
They’d been incinerated in the engine fire on Wayfinder Mark… 12? she’d honestly lost count.
But only Loader could possibly know they were two sizes too big for her.
“Okay! I’m dropping the cable.” She let go, and poked a finger at the ragged hole where it disappeared into Loader’s housing. “You’d better be right about this.”
“Need another minute. Very close now.”
Something about those words sent a chill down Kyra’s spine. How well did she really know Loader? Faced with the chance to resurrect his entire species, was he still on their side? After all, what could they really offer him beyond another battered talos body and a few more decades of using him as a shield?
Maybe that robot seduced him. Offered him a better life… Amongst his own kind.
Start again. Afresh. Repopulate the galaxy.
“Err… Loader? Are you sure we want to stay here like this? What are you up to in there?”
“Connecting… connecting…”
Oh, crap. I should have known it couldn’t be this easy.
She reached out with the Gift. Kreon? Need a little help here…
What’s keeping you? Stop faffing around! Tris, the same applies to you. Get back to the pod!
Kreon, what if Loader’s gone native?
She felt his confusion. What? Are you mad? I’ve known him for over a century!
Yeah well, he’s been one of them for a lot longer than that.
But…
At any other time, seeing the mighty Lord Anakreon stuck for words would have been amusing. Right now, it was just damn inconvenient.
He wants to stay plugged in. Should I break the connection?
There was a pause — she could practically feel the gears turning in Kreon’s mind.
No, he sent finally. I’ve trusted Loader with my life more times than I can count. I trust him now.
Okay then. But if he resurrects an indestructible robot army and wipes out all life in the galaxy, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
She looked down at the innocent steel box, and sent a silent prayer to Sydon that Loader was still on their team.
She was interrupted by a sudden flash of fear.
“Shit!” Tris yelled. “My jets are out!” Kyra glanced up to see him streaking past overhead, angled sharply into the deck. He hit with a crunch that she could feel through the deck, though she closed her Gift down just in time to avoid the wave of pain.
He wouldn’t die from that; the kid was pretty tough.
He might die from that robot, though.
She swept her gaze around the endless racks gleaming ominously above her.
She spotted the translucent blue form, but not where she’d expected. Instead of arrowing after Tris, it was descending rapidly on the far side of the platform.
The side where the pod was parked…
She opened her Gift again, reaching out to Kreon—
And saw through his eyes as the robot landed, crushing the pod like an eggshell.
Trapped. The single word floated from the Warden’s mind, as he reversed direction towards Kyra.
She refused to give in to the wave of panic that swept over her. She’d never been claustrophobic, but choking to death in a spacesuit surrounded by vacuum featured hea
vily in her nightmares.
Check Tris, she sent to Kreon, feeling the boy’s pain start to bleed over into her consciousness.
He’s alive.
I know that!
Kyra seethed with frustration. She was running out of options. Her suit had jets too. Would they reach the ship on the surface?
Whilst carrying Tris?
With a psychotic robot on their tail…
Probably not.
“Can ALI get us a new pod?” Kyra asked.
“She’s not responding.” Kreon sounded pissed off, but that wasn’t surprising; his plan was crumbling right before his eyes.
“Where’s the robot?”
She was peering upwards, but couldn’t see it. If it had stayed on the ground, the stacks of crates and smashed machinery would hide it until it got close.
“Behind me,” Kreon called to her. “It’s going for a crate.”
“What? What the hell for?”
“Your guess is as bad as mine.”
She watched through Kreon’s eyes again, as those gleaming sapphire arms pushed into a stack of heavy crates, sending them tumbling off in all directions.
Whatever it wanted was in the bottom crate; Kyra had the sudden revelation that they probably didn’t want to know what it was.
But the robot didn’t wrestle with catches; claws like diamonds dug into the metal and the lid was simply torn away. From inside it pulled a long, dark silhouette…
Weapon.
The shape was unmistakable. Every species, at some point, came up with their equivalent of a rifle. This weapon wasn’t blue and shiny, it was black and dull — but every facet of it screamed death.
The robot cast the crate aside, letting it drift away, and levelled the immense weapon directly at Tris.
The kid was just getting to his feet, pain and shock dulling his senses to the danger.
“NO!” Kreon was moving, his mechanical leg propelling him forward. He crashed into Tris at the instant the robot fired; the muzzle flash was like a crackle of electricity.
Something slammed into Kreon, and the Warden was surrounded by a blaze of light. Blue-white tendrils flared around him, a lightening storm of such intensity Kyra had to look away. But when she blinked the after-image from her eyes, Kreon was still standing. His Aegis gem had protected him, though the ferocity of the attack had to have done something. Tris was picking himself up from the floor where he’d fallen, Kreon’s leap having knocked him clear of the weapon’s path…
Warden's Vengeance Page 34
