“Doc,” Jamil said, pausing, gasping in agony. He pressed against the side of the Scimitar. “Shut up.”
“That is very good!” said Quong, approving. “Take your feelings of hostility out on me.”
“What’s up there?” Raoul asked suspiciously, halting at the bottom of the ladder.
“A cafe,” said Xris. “Meant to look like a spaceplane.”
“How quaint,” Raoul commented, and climbed the ladder after Quong.
The Little One glanced up, shook his head, heaved a sigh, and ascended the ladder, considerably hampered in this endeavor by the raincoat.
Tess stood at the door, lasgun in hand.
“More coming down the corridor, Xris,” she reported.
“Fall back!” he ordered her. “Come on!”
She didn’t need a second command. Running to the ladder, she halted beside him, her lasgun in one hand, Xris’s arm in the other.
“Up,” he said.
Corasians trundled overhead on the catwalks above the Scimitar. Xris could hear the creak of wheels, the whir of the motors in the swiveling heads, lining up the lasguns.
He tired off a round with the dampener, more to force them to keep their distance than because he hoped to hit anything.
“Get a move on!” he called.
Jamil collapsed, almost fell down the ladder. Quong hung on to him, bellowed for help. Harry popped out of the hatch. Between Harry and Quong, they pulled and dropped Jamil inside the Scimitar.
“Live entertainment,” Raoul remarked, and dropped down inside the hatch.
Hands reached up to catch hold of the Little One.
“You’re next,” Xris said to Tess. “I’ll cover you.”
“Wrong,” Tess returned. She plucked the dampener from his hand. “You’re a civilian, and wounded at that.” She jerked her head. “Get your ass up that ladder, mister.”
Turning, she fired the dampener. Her aim was much better than Xris’s could have ever been, even if he’d had six good arms. She hit one Corasian; it spun out of control and tumbled off the catwalk.
Xris climbed the ladder awkwardly; it was a difficult task with only one hand, but he made it.
“Tess!” he yelled, afraid for a moment that she was going to try to square things by getting herself killed.
She slung the dampener over her shoulder, scrambled up the ladder. Xris waited.
“Go!” She motioned him.
Laser fire struck the Scimitar. Xris jumped down into the hatch. Tess tumbled after him amid a shower of sparks. He caught her, held her a brief moment, long enough for a smile between them.
Xris started to move forward, heading for the cockpit.
Tess stopped him, gently pushing him down into a seat in the passenger area. “There’s nothing you can do. You need attention, and the Doc can’t give it to you unless you sit still. Face it, dear. You’re useless without your arm and with half your systems shorting out.”
“I’m a control freak,” he said. “Don’t worry. I won’t get in the way.”
“You’re hopeless.” Tess gave him a swift kiss on the cheek, then hurried to the cockpit. By the sounds of it, Harry already had the computer convinced that he was today’s pilot, and had taken over the controls manually. The engines wound up. Tess sat down in the copilot seat. Xris propped himself up behind her.
Jamil lay unconscious in a hammock. Quong rummaged through the spaceplane’s medical supplies.
Raoul glared at him. “Waiter!” he finally called.
Xris, Harry, and Tess stared out the spaceplane’s viewscreen into a solid steel wall. The hanger bay doors were shut and the Corasians probably meant for them to stay that way.
“So, any ideas?” Tess asked.
Harry stared at the controls. “It appears friend Harsch had some modifications made to this Scimitar. Watch this!”
Harry depressed a button on the console. Four plasma cannons on each wing blazed. The light was blinding. All of them were forced to shield their eyes.
“Hang on!” Harry shouted. “This is gonna be wild!”
Xris grabbed hold of the ladder.
“Doors gone?”
“Dunno!” Harry returned. “I can’t see!”
The spaceplane lurched, bucked, and suddenly shot forward. Xris, his eyes shut against the glaring, painful light, could only hope that this ride wasn’t going to be really short.
The light vanished. The plane did not smack into a solid steel wall. Xris opened his eyes, pulled himself back to a standing position.
“My God!” Tess whispered. “That was ... amazing.”
The spaceplane, surrounded by millions of tiny pieces of metal, hurtled away from the Corasian ship. The cannons had breached the hull doors, and the pressure of the atmosphere did the rest, blasting the plane and all of the contents of the hangar out into space.
“We ain’t out of this yet,” Harry muttered.
He swung the plane around and began to program the Jump computer.
And then everything came to a halt.
“What the hell?” Xris clutched the seat for support.
“Tractor beam. Damn it! I thought the blast would throw us clear. I can’t break loose!” Harry looked over his shoulder at Xris. “I think they got us this time.”
“Then they can have us,” Xris said. “I’m too tired. I don’t care....”
“Maybe not,” said Tess softly. “Look.”
Shafts of white-yellow light streaked out of nowhere, coining from nothing that any of them could see.
“Lascannon lire,” said Harry.
He looked at his instruments, looked up, somewhat sheepishly, at Tess.
“That’s the King James II out there.”
“Yes,” said Tess. “I know. Took them a bit longer to arrive than I had anticipated, but—”
The Scimitar suddenly lurched forward. Harry was on the controls immediately, took the spaceplane into a sleep dive underneath the lascannon fire.
“Tractor beam shut off,” he reported unnecessarily.
The hulk of the King James II loomed into view, the enormous vessel surrounded by other large warships, all pouring fire into the Corasian mothership.
Nothing Xris had ever seen looked quite so beautiful.
Chapter 44
La verite existe; on n’invente que le mesonge.
(“Truth exists, only lies are invented.”)
George Braque, Le jour et la nuit
Fighters, short-range Scimitars, and Claymore bombers streaked past, wave after wave, heading for the Corasian mothership. The Corasians hesitated, launched a few of their own fighters, almost immediately pulled them back. The enemy decided to head for home.
The King James II battle group, with its six warships, two carriers, and hundreds of fighters, was there to see that the Corasians didn’t make it.
“We’re free and clear,” reported Harry. “Where to?” He was looking wistfully at the fighters, now moving into attack formation.
“Don’t even think about it!” Xris said tiredly. “Take us to the King James.”
Tess looked back at Xris. “All right if I use the comm? I have to report to the Admiralty. I’ll tell them about you and your team, Xris. How you got us off that ship. I’ll put in for commendations.”
At the look on his face, her voice trailed off. She bit her lip, lowered her eyes.
“Commendations.” Xris was bitter. “Just have them send that to Tycho’s mother, will you?”
Tess said nothing. She turned away, reached for the comm.
Okay, it was a cheap shot. Xris knew he’d hurt her, knew she didn’t deserve it, but he didn’t much care. He was feeling rotten inside and out, didn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t feel the same way.
“Good news, guys,” he announced, climbing the ladder, emerging into the small living quarters aboard the Scimitar, “we’re all going to get commendations.”
“Make mine black, with lace,” said Raoul drowsily. He was swaying gently back and forth
in one of the hammocks that served as beds aboard the Scimitar. The Little One sat on a bench below, keeping a worried watch on his friend.
“I’ve given him a sedative,” Quong said. “I believe he has suffered a mild concussion. His memory is starting to return, but he is dizzy and disoriented.”
“Back to normal, huh?” Xris took out a twist, fumbling at the box with one hand, his good hand. He managed to get the twist out, but dropped the box onto the deck. Swearing, he started to give it a kick.
Quong intercepted him, picked up the box. He handed it back to Xris.
“I will give you a sedative, too, my friend. Are you in pain?” He looked at the mangled hardware, the frazzled wires sticking out of Xris’s left shoulder.
“Hell, no!” Xris chomped down on the twist, almost bit it in two. “It doesn’t hurt, Doc. It’s not real!”
“I wasn’t referring to your arm,” Quong said quietly, he handed Xris a cup of coffee.
Xris shook his head, accepted the coffee. “That kind of pain, no sedative in the world can touch.”
Quong nodded his head, returned to Jamil, who lay stretched out in a hammock, his leg bandaged. He was now awake and alert.
“Boy, I can pick ‘em, can’t I?” Xris said to Jamil, while sitting down on the bench beside the Little One. “What are we down this job? One Claymore, one PRRS, one Lane-sucking robot, one civilian, my arm, your leg, Raoul’s mind, and two friends.” Xris leaned back against the bulkhead, closed his eyes. “Two friends.”
He raised his coffee cup. “Here’s to Darlene Rowan and Tycho.” He sipped at the coffee, took too big a mouthful, burned hell out of the inside of his mouth. He suffered in silence.
“I dunno,” Jamil said after a moment. “I think it was better Tycho went the way he did. When he found out how much money we’ve lost on this job, the shock alone would have killed him.”
“And we don’t know for certain that Darlene is dead,” Quong said.
Xris shook his head again, sat holding the cooling coffee. It tasted like mud.
Tess climbed the ladder, came to join them. “How are you feeling?” she asked Jamil.
“Terrific. Nothing like a little shrapnel tearing through your leg. Makes you appreciate life. Grab me some coffee, will you, Doc?”
Quong moved over to the small dispenser, poured coffee, brought a cup for himself and one for Jamil. The Little One huddled into a ball, buffeted by waves of rough emotions. Raoul fell asleep. Down in the cockpit, Harry could be heard, talking to the King James II, requesting clearance to land.
Tess stood, hands on her hips. Her gaze swept all of them, halted when it came to Xris. “Look. I’ll say it. I’m sorry. I’m damn sorry. About your friends, I mean.”
“Don’t apologize,” Xris said. “You did your job. You did what you set out to do. At least, that’s what I’m guessing.”
“I’m not apologizing for doing my job,” Tess said. “You’re right. I did do what I set out to do. I stopped Nick Harsch from selling technology to the Corasians. I kept that robot out of his hands and out of the Corasian galaxy. Who knows how many lives we saved?”
“I only know that we lost quite a few on the way,” Xris said.
“Stop whining! So the job didn’t turn out to be the easy, cushy chance to make a fortune that you expected. The mercenary trade is a risky one. If you can’t take it, I suggest you find another line of work!”
She was angry now, too angry to talk. Small red dots burned in her cheeks, her eyes glinted. She headed for the ladder, for the cockpit below.
“Tess,” Xris said. “One question.”
She halted, not looking around. “What?” Her voice was hard.
“Why didn’t you tell us the truth?”
“We would have helped you nail that bastard,” Jamil said.
“You only had to ask politely,” Quong added.
Slowly, Tess turned back, faced them. She glared around at them, truly exasperated. “Tell you the truth! How the hell could I? How could I trust you?”
“Ah,” said Xris, enlightened. “You couldn’t trust us! I get it now. This from a woman with so many angles she would have made an honors class study for geometry.”
The corner of Tess’s mouth twitched. She tried to stay mad, bill she couldn’t. She even managed a small chuckle. “All right. I guess I earned that one. I’ll tell you everything, okay? Then you can judge for yourselves.
“Navy Intelligence has known about Nick Harsch and his dealings with the Corasians for years, but, like I told you earlier, Xris, we could never catch him. He had a contact in the top levels of the Navy, someone feeding him information. We found out who the person was and took him out very quietly, no publicity. What we refer to as ‘early retirement.’ We figured Harsch would try to find someone else. NI chose me for the job. I set myself up. Lost lots of money at the gaming tables, let it be known that I needed credits and needed them bad or my career was down the toilet.
“NI thought for a while Harsch wasn’t going to bite, but then we intercepted one of his shipments to Corasia, confiscated the weapons. Harsch lost big. Shortly after that, one of his agents contacted me. After some negotiation, I agreed to work for him.
“I proved my worth, warned him in advance of a couple of raids. Problem was, I never met the man. He handled everything third- or fourth-hand. We needed something big to lure him out.”
“Lasairion’s sad-eyed robot,” said Quong.
“Exactly. It was perfect. The Pandorans were kicking up a fuss about the robot. The Admiralty promptly over reacted, made it all hush-hush, level-one security, lot your-eyes-only, DNA-check-your-spit type of stuff. Of course, as you said. Dr. Quong, these Lane-laying robots were programmed to respond only to Lasairion. So we didn’t think there was much danger.”
“I can’t believe Harsch didn’t know that,” Xris said.
“He was a deal maker, an entrepreneur. He’s like a used vehic dealer, who wouldn’t know a gravator from a generator. What he did know was his customers and what they wanted and needed. When he told the Corasians about the robot, they were wild to have it. They promised to set him up in luxury for life.”
Tess sighed, ran her hand through her hair. “That’s when everything started falling apart.”
“Coffee?” Quong asked, and went to get her a cup.
“Thanks. Everything was going according to plan. I became Captain Strauss of the Army and managed to get myself stationed on Pandor, which was easy, because most military personnel are busy trying to get themselves transferred off Pandor. No one on base knew I was working for NI, not even the colonel. That’s how secret this operation was.
“I examined the robot myself. I swear to God”—Tess gave Xris a wry grin—”that ‘bot was broken. I couldn’t get it to function. Of course, I didn’t dare move it, not then, not while we were trying to smooth things over with the Pandorans. But I scanned it and it checked out as unworkable. What the devil did you do to it?”
“Bumped into it. Jostled it. I don’t know.”
“A broken connection,” Quong said. “A short in the wiring. Something that wouldn’t necessarily show up on scans.”
“At any rate, I reported to NI that the ‘bot was safe. Boy, was I wrong on that one!” Tess sighed, sat nursing the coffee cup in her hands, as if trying to warm them. “We figured Harsch would ask me to steal the robot. We had it all planned. I was going to snatch it, put the bomb in it, hand it over to Harsch. I made sure it would go to Harsch himself. That was part of the deal. I refused to deliver it otherwise. He agreed.
“We wanted to catch him alive, of course, to interrogate him, find out just what secrets he’d passed on to the enemy. But if that didn’t work out, the bomb would see to it that he never sold anything to the Corasians again. Unfortunately, Harsch had other ideas. He didn’t want me to steal the ‘bot, he didn’t want to risk my being caught. He said he would hire someone to steal the robot for him. He asked me if I knew anyone.”
“You recommended us
,” Xris said, starting now to see the whole picture.
“The Lord Admiral recommended you. I gave your name to Harsch. From that point on, you know what happened. I arranged for Jamil to be transported to the King James II without causing suspicion, arranged for you, Xris, to sneak off base. If everything had gone according to plan, you and Jamil would have put the bomb in the robot yourselves, delivered it to Harsch at Hell’s Outpost—”
“He sells the ‘bot and us to the Corasians.” Xris shook his head. “Thank the Lord Admiral for the recommendation, but tell him from now on we find our own jobs.”
“I don’t think Harsch planned to double-cross you. Not at the beginning. He was a sharp businessman and he knew when he had a good thing going. But nothing went according to plan.”
“I still don’t see why you couldn’t have told us all the truth,” Jamil said. “You told us part of it.”
“Well, I didn’t want to blow my cover, for one thing. II this failed, NI would still need me to spy on Harsch. And for another, what was I to think when the whole damned team showed up? Maybe you’re going to try to double-cross Harsch. Maybe you’re working for him. Maybe you’re in this up to your eyeballs. Maybe you’d help me and maybe you’d sell me out. How could I know?”
“You knew,” Xris said softly. He stared at the cold coffee.
Tess sat down beside him, put her hand on his knee. “All right. I knew. And if it had just been me—my life— on the line, I would have told you. But there were more. Countless more. Everything was falling apart, all around me. First the robot works when it isn’t supposed to.
Then Grant shows up with the professor’s unit. Then the robot escapes and takes Grant with it. Then the blasted robot begins taking out Lanes. Then Harsch hears that the robot’s taking out Lanes—”
“From you.”
“Not from me. Apparently he’s got more than one spy in the Navy. Anyway, he passes the news to the Corasians, raises the price.
“The Corasians are so excited that they send one of their motherships over here to pick up the ‘bot in person. They tell him to bring the ‘bot to the ship directly.
“Harsch wasn’t pleased about that, but he didn’t have much choice. The Corasians let Harsch know that they would be very unhappy if he didn’t deliver, might start attacking a few of our outposts.
Robot Blues Page 39
