by Duke, Nathan
The robotic arm pushed his shoulder back into position and continued burning, peeling, and removing affected tissues. The nanobots would soon go back and start rebuilding flesh over those regions.
“Will you keep still?” she said. “I can only fix you up temporarily, and you’re making it very difficult. You’ll need to grow some tissues in the lab or you’ll end up with health consequences for the rest of your life.” She sighed and continued inspecting his wound. “Don’t you realize that it isn’t worth it? Why do you always end up risking your life in stupid ways?”
“Are you kidding? I almost got the stone back. It was a small miscalculation.”
The robotic arm burnt too much and its laser pierced through Rick’s arm. It hurt, it left him a mark, and she’d definitely done it on purpose.
“Hey!” he said.
“I won’t be able to fix you if they cut you in half.” She acted as though she were moving the machines and reading their reports on a tablet. They both knew she was a hologram, but it was a psychological thing: it reassured patients and made them forget that they were being treated by artificial intelligences.
“I don’t plan to let them kill me,” Rick said. “I know whom I’m facing, and it’s going to be easy. I’ll steal a gun before approaching them and they won’t see it coming.”
“Are you affected by the nanobots, or are you really that slow? Don’t you see that your chances of success are very slim? Lord Baylor will have hired bodyguards and he’ll be ready for round 2. Unless you can think of an infallible plan, he’s going to crush you. And if he crushes you, they’ll sell me and the Argonaut as scrap. I’d rather keep my pieces together, mind you.”
“Thank you for your concern,” Rick said sarcastically. “But I’ll have to sell you anyway if I don’t get some money to pay back my loans. You know how these things work…”
“I think I do,” she said, bringing a forefinger to her mouth to think about it. “A young and naïve entrepreneur asks for money that he can’t repay, and he wants to use it to start a business in a sector that he knows nothing about. Am I getting close?”
“You’re getting more cynical by the minute.”
“Thank you,” she said flatly. “At least you could let me help you, you know? Two minds, one of them more agile than the other, will always work better than a single mind alone.”
Was she calling him slow again?
“I can infect their systems with a virus that almost killed me off,” she said.
No, that wasn’t a good idea. The last time the virus had been unleashed, it had almost destroyed an entire fleet over a planet. Releasing it could incapacitate Lord Baylor’s systems, but it could also end up destroying the planet’s life support.
“I’d rather have you as a backup plan,” he said. “Just in case I need you to pick me up while I’m running away.”
“I can also use incapacitating sounds,” she insisted. “A loud, high-pitched tone that you humans can’t hear without going mad. They’d drop unconscious within seconds.”
“I’m going there too!” Rick said. “I’d rather stop my ears from bleeding, thank you.”
“You’re the most closed-minded man I’ve ever met,” she said. “My alternatives are far less risky than your plan of running there and risking your neck. Why are you so stubborn?”
She was right. Her plans were better, but they were also riskier. If she approached the region and they had EM pulses, he could lose her memory and her programming. He hadn’t backed Amy up in years. She needed far too many hard drives to keep her conscience alive, and Rick had been broke for too long. He didn’t want to risk losing her.
“I’ll be fine,” Rick said. “And I won’t do anything stupid until I’ve borrowed a proper gun. I’ve done this a hundred times; it can’t be that difficult.”
“You’ve done it once,” Amy said. “You worked with others and you were younger and not affected by the nanobots’ endorphins.”
“Look at the bright side: if they shoot me, I won’t even feel the pain.”
Chapter 9
Stealing an electric gun, breaking into the hangar, stunning the mechanics, and reaching the Argonaut was way easier than Rick would’ve predicted.
The owner of the workshop didn’t like the idea and made a childish frown when he saw the stun coming. It was almost as if he’d expected to repair a stolen ship without consequences. Rick got rid of him and didn’t hit him once he was on the ground. Well, he might’ve tripped on him, but it was purely accidental and the mechanic wouldn’t know once he woke up.
Aboard the Argonaut, Lord Baylor was sitting in one of the pilot armchairs on the bridge and rotated the seat when he heard him arrive. He wasn’t shocked.
Not a good sign.
Rick didn’t care. He had an electric gun, and it worked. Lord Baylor was unarmed and he didn’t have his men nearby. There was nothing he could do.
“It’s over, Lord Baylor.” Words scratched against Rick’s throat as he spoke them. He’d wanted to catch him for a long time, and now he could barely get himself to speak. He focused on keeping his gun hand still and pointed at the nobleman.
Lord Baylor’s calm expression turned into a forced smile. His hands met each other and he clapped slowly, marking every sound. “Persistent and intelligent enough to catch me twice,” he said. “I knew you were the man for the job. It’s a pity that we’ll have to part ways in unfriendly terms.”
“I don’t care about manners. I want my share of the stone.”
“Materialistic.” Lord Baylor tut-tutted and made an attempt to stand up, but Rick gestured at him with the gun to keep still. He did. “You know, Lewis? You could pass off as a nobleman in many ways. You’re tall enough, and you’ve been luckier than most of the lower classes with your genes. But when you start talking about money, you mark your origins far too much. Polite people rarely mention money.” He wasn’t nervous at all, just like the previous time they’d talked. Maybe aristocrats learned to hide their feelings, but maybe he had something planned for Rick. Either way, it didn’t look good.
“The stone.” Rick’s muscles tensed, but he hid it. He was the one holding the gun, and if anyone tricked him, he was going to shoot without mercy. Even if the result was only a temporary stun.
“Have I ever told you that you act very much like my colleague John?” he said. “Both young, ambitious, thirsty for life and eager to act.”
“I’m not here to hear stories.” Wow, did that sound as unconvincing as it had just sounded? Rick was holding a gun, for goodness’ sake! He was supposed to be terrifying, or at least somewhat imposing. Why was he acting like an intimidated kid?
“Let me continue,” Lord Baylor said, raising and lowering his hands in the air to get him to calm down. “You might find this more educational than you expect.” He cleared his throat and brought his hands to his large stomach, as relaxed as if he were watching a film at home. “John was intelligent, far more intelligent than I’d ever been. He was successful with women, and he charmed anyone with that smile of his. Nobody noticed others who worked for him, not even those who worked with him. I was the one putting the funds into the business, but the press didn’t care. Even my sister fell for his easy smile and his dreams of proving the existence of ancient alien civilizations. He even asked for my father’s permission to pursue my sister, and my father congratulated him and welcomed him into the family.”
“Oh my God, Richard!” Amy said through the intercom. She wasn’t supposed to be listening, but she didn’t care. “He killed him! He really did! And now he’s going to try something with you. Get the stone and run, and stop chatting. You’re only letting him buy time. He won’t let you leave alive if he confesses a crime! Richard! Richard! Don’t you realize?”
Rick shook his head sideways to mute the conversation. That wasn’t the time to argue with Amy. For some reason, he wanted to hear the tale. He wanted to know if the popular archaeologist was really a murderer like Amy had suggested.
&nb
sp; Rick needed to know. He wanted to avenge Lucas’ wound, but he wanted to do so legally. If he proved that a lord had committed several heinous crimes, the world would listen. Maybe he could even change the justice system to make it prosecute the nobility whenever they crossed a red line.
Lord Baylor’s voice became tenser and tenser as the story progressed. He wasn’t telling the story; he was living it. He envied John, his coworker, and he resented everyone for allowing to progress beyond his birthright. He blamed his father, the press, and the world for letting John climb higher than him.
Lord Baylor thought that everyone was too focused on the rags-to-riches story, the poor slum boy who was about to marry into the lower nobility.
Lord Baylor talked about the expenses that an excavation site incurred. Even after finding the stone, much of its price would go to auctioneers and to pay the workers. If he gave Rick his agreed 10%, he wouldn’t have any money left. And aristocrats, apparently, needed more money than mere mortals.
The lord’s expression froze and darkened for an unperceivable instant, but he quickly got it under control. His hurt and resentful voice acquired a musical touch. “You see? Sometimes, society keeps the slum kids in the slums where they belong, but sometimes it needs a little help.”
“He killed him, Richard!” Amy jumped into the conversation again, even though she was supposed to have her volume turned off. “Shoot him! Stun him! Take the stone and run! I’ll run to your aid if you want, but don’t waste more time!”
Ugh. Sometimes, she was worse than the little cockroach that whispered things into Pinocchio’s ear. Or wasn’t it a cockroach? Rick shook his head to mute the sound again before she distracted him.
But she was right: he didn’t have time to waste with Lord Baylor. He’d have to research about it later. “You should be scared, my lord. Very scared. I have a gun, I’m taking my ship and the stone, and I’m leaving you here. Be grateful that I don’t get rid of you.”
“Do you consider me this dumb?” Lord Baylor tapped his fingers on the armrests and played with the upholstery. He snapped one of his fingers, and several metallic objects clanked behind Rick.
Rick turned around. Four huge guys with machineguns came out of different hidden compartments on the bridge.
Crap.
That was the third time that Lord Baylor tricked him.
There wouldn’t be a fourth.
Lord Baylor stood up and walked closer to Rick. He waved a hand in front of the tip of Rick’s gun. “I have more men in key spots around the ship and around the workshop.”
Well, that changed things. Rick turned off his gun and dropped it aside. “Is it too late to reach an agreement?”
Lord Baylor roared in laughter and smashed a hand against Rick’s shoulder, right where he’d been shot. Rick flinched, but he tried to hide it. It wasn’t a good idea to show his weak spots before an enemy. “It’s a pity that you’re such a nuisance. You’re rather fun to be around, much more than most of these dull men. I’m going to feel sorry for killing you.”
So much empathy was going to make Rick’s eyes watery if Lord Baylor continued.
Rick needed a card up his sleeve. He’d always had a plan B whenever he got in trouble. How could he have forgotten that part?
Chapter 10
Amy let out a long sigh through the intercom. “Why do I always have to save the day?” Her shuttle’s engines hummed in the background, and the navigation computer greeted her.
At least she had more common sense than Rick had. He’d lost too much practice since his underground days, and now everything surprised him. Getting in trouble wasn’t like riding a bike.
Around him, Lord Baylor and his men stared at him, measuring his stance. He gave the gorillas a tense smile. With that kind of people, it was best to grin and to stop fear from showing. If they detected a weakness, he was done for.
Lord Baylor got tired of patiently waiting to savor his victory and gestured at the men. They stepped closer to Rick. Their expressions stank of wanting to hit someone while he was immobilized. And Rick was probably the perfect someone for that task.
“So…” Rick began, instinctively stepping back to gain some time. “How’s life around these regions? Sunny? Rainy? Temperate?”
“Do you listen to yourself?” Amy said through the intercom. “Your pulse is racing, Richard, and you ask your enemies about the weather? Are you sure that you haven’t hit your head lately? Because you show all the symptoms of a severe mental trauma.”
Awesome. Even his ship’s AI thought that he was stupid.
Rick couldn’t reply to her, though, or he could trigger the gorillas’ instincts to crush anything that smelled of technology. It was an impulse ingrained in inferior brains that could be a real nuisance if you were within their grasp. The geneticists who created those gorillas for superior strength and the ability to follow orders without question hadn’t thought of the implications of making them so impulsively violent. It had come as a surprise when several of those scientists had accidentally annoyed one of their experiments’ subjects… It hadn’t gone too well for the researchers.
“Make him shut up,” Lord Baylor said with an exaggerated yawn.
“They’re going to kill you unless I do something,” Amy said. “Can you stay alive for a few more minutes, or do you need immediate help? And do you realize that this has been the dumbest thing you’ve ever done?”
Rick would’ve told her not to meddle in the conflict; she’d only make things worse for everyone. She was going to reveal her position, and Lord Baylor would end up selling her as scrap if he noticed her. For any human captain, Rick would’ve been an acceptable loss. Why didn’t computers ever realize that a battle was lost?
The gorillas were almost within an arm’s distance.
“Gentlemen,” Rick said, “I’m sure that we can negotiate a peaceful solution. I won’t end up with a broken jaw, you won’t end up with sore knuckles, and your boss here won’t regret hurting a man who hasn’t done him any harm.”
Lord Baylor chuckled to himself. The gorillas stopped and looked at him, but he gestured at them to keep going. “Who’s told you to stop?” The nobleman shook his head and paced around the bridge, shaking his head at Rick. “I’d have sent you a check… eventually. It wouldn’t have been on the terms we’d agreed to, but those terms would make you have too much. People from your class don’t get on well with money. I was protecting you from making stupid choices, preventing you from losing all your money and running into debt.”
Lord Baylor’s men pushed and punched Rick and soon immobilized him. The largest man in the room stood in front of him and spat on one of his fists.
Now would be a good time to think of something. Rick had spent so long with Amy that he could almost hear her voice inside his head. The worst part was that he couldn’t think of anything useful.
His face wasn’t going to like the minutes that were about to follow.
“That’s it,” Amy said through the intercom, “I’m sending the virus.” A few devices clicked and beeped in the background, and she Argonaut shook with whatever she’d done. The machines around them started buzzing and humming as the virus propagated.
Lord Baylor flinched and looked around. The gorillas stopped and stared at the control panels.
One of the computers exploded. Several other cables along the walls and the ceiling short-circuited and sparks started flowing out of them. One explosion. Then another. Another. The whole bridge was breaking down within seconds.
Rick used the distraction to pull his arms out of the gorillas’ grasp. He elbowed one of his captors in the stomach, then another in the nose. Both fell onto the floor: a lot of muscle, but not much endurance.
The larger guy stood in front of Rick and assumed a combat position. He disabled his machinegun; he wanted to make Rick suffer. Another man stood behind him and mirrored the pose.
There was nothing Rick could do. There were no available weapons, he didn’t have anything that w
ould knock two gorillas down, and it was two against one. Not a good situation.
The gorilla roared and ran towards Rick to ram onto his ribcage and crush his bones. Rick jumped out of the way, but it came close. The gorilla started punching him. Rick dodged or blocked the hits, but they were too strong for him. Evolution brought that kind of problems: men lost their animalistic strength once they developed their brains.
The gorillas hit Rick and kicked in the air. He managed to remain standing, but it was close. They walked closer to the computers and screens, and sparks came out of some of them, giving Rick the distraction he needed. He kicked the larger gorilla in the balls and threw him against the other one. They both fell down, leaving Rick alone with Lord Baylor.
The nobleman was unarmed and rather surprised. Rick was surprised too, but nobody needed to notice. After all, Rick had been a good fighter back in the day.
“You’re welcome,” Amy said through the intercom. “It isn’t as if you’d have managed to do anything without my help. But don’t bother to thank me; computers don’t have feelings and don’t need to be acknowledged for working hard to fix everything that human stupidity causes.”
She was right. She’d saved him, she’d fixed everything that his impulsiveness had caused, and he wouldn’t be alive if it hadn’t been for her. But she was arrogant, annoying, and she liked to rub things in people’s faces, so she wasn’t going to get a proper acknowledgement from him.
“You were supposed to stand aside,” Rick said, hiding a grin.
“I’ll take it as a thank you, Amy,” she said. “And you should be happy that I haven’t needed to connect the sonic cannons. You wouldn’t have liked it.”
No, not the sonic cannons. Those things pierced through everyone’s eardrums and incapacitated them, but at a very unpleasant price. Rick didn’t care that the bad guys went deaf for a few days, but he didn’t like the headaches and the lack of balance that funny ears caused.
