Expert Assistance

by Robert Collins

  Thorne shook his head. “That’s not the only problem, and you know it. Your methods of running this planet have also become dangerous. People know about all the corruption. It’s only a matter of time before they act, or they expose us.”

  The other man shrugged. “Hey, if they try anything we’ll flee. I have a way out just in case.”

  “Cut and run? After you just said we have this stake in all this? What if we do run, then what?” The room was silent for a long moment. “Haven’t thought that far, have you? Look, Sordius, just go along with me on this, follow my lead, and...”

  “No. I’m in charge around here. I don’t follow anyone’s lead. I’ll make my own decisions, and I’ll start by firing you. I’ll offer your job to some ALG leader next week, and you can have their job, since you like those whiners so much.”

  Thorne took a step towards Sordius. He looking into the other man’s eyes. “You’d do that to your friend?”

  “Friendship only goes so far. If you’re not going to back me, then you’re not my friend.”

  “Even if you’re wrong and I’m right?”

  “Hey, leaders are never wrong. If you were my friend, you’d be on my side.”

  Thorne exhaled a long breath. “Fine. Boot me down. But don’t come pleading to me if that doesn’t work.”

  “Fine. Now get out of here, prole. I’ve got work to do.”

  Thorne took one last look at the man who he had been friends with for as long as he could remember. He shook his head, walked out of Sordius’ quarters, and returned to his own. He loosened his tie. He took Jake’s communicator out of a jacket pocket.

  “Jake, did you get that?”

  “I got it. Sorry.”

  “Yeah, well.” He turned off the mike in his tie. “Now what?”

  “Depends on you, Del. What do you think should be next?”

  He sighed. “Sordius isn’t going to change and he doesn’t see where’s heading. We gotta oust him before he gets really desperate and does something stupid. Is that the right term? Oust him? Do we put him into custody? Both?”

  “Both, I think.”

  “Yeah, both.”

  “Look, Del, tomorrow’s Sunday. Early in the afternoon I’ll introduce you to the leaders of the workers, and we’ll come up with a plan.”

  “Sordius has already vetoed any meetings tomorrow.”

  “Not there, here. It’s way more secure up here.”

  “Oh, right. I forgot. Yeah, that’ll work.”

  “You want anyone on your end?”

  “No, I guess not. I suppose the fewer the better. Besides, calling anyone might get noticed by security.”

  “We can get around them.”

  “Nah.”

  “Okay. Stay in your quarters and keep that comm unit handy. No sense setting a time that someone else might find out about.”

  “Right. I’ll see you tomorrow, Jake.”

  “Sure. For what it’s worth, sorry again.”

  Thorne smiled. “It’s okay. I guess we’ll now see how smart we both are.”

  Eleven

  Up With Liberty

  The next morning, before any great plans could be hatched or explained, Jake got up early so he could see the first episode of the new season of RoboJoust. This would be his one chance to escape from the plotting, the predictability, and the endless machinations of greed and stupidity. One hour to enjoy the clever minds and sharp strategies of the only sport worth following.

  Or so he thought.

  He stretched out on the couch across from the big screen on the lower deck of the bridge. He let out a breath and said, “Okay, Odin. Play the recording.” The screen came alive with the images of the opening of the program.

  Almost immediately a sense of dread came over Jake. The usual opening of the show simply featured stock footage of battles of previous seasons. Sometimes there were hits and sometimes not. This time, however, the opening images were nothing but robots hitting each other or slamming into each other. The sequence ended with two large animated robots crashing into each other, exploding, and the word “ROBOJOUST” bursting through the smoke.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Jake muttered.

  The opening was followed, as usual, by the studio introduction. Bill Martin was in his place, his hair still cropped and his smile still exuding confidence. Dinesh Ral was not next to him. Instead there was a busty woman in her late twenties with bright red hair and a sprayed-on tan. The caption below her face read “Lyssa Kreeger.”

  Jake let out a muffled groan and closed his eyes. He knew of Lyssa Kreeger; there were few men in known space who had not heard of her. She was the former star of the space-bound action series Protector: M. I. S. S., an endlessly hyped pinup babe, and notorious for having about as many ex-boyfriends as her yearly earnings. Yet for all the publicity directed her way, she never had much success except when it came to getting publicized. Jake thought she was as naturally sexy as an animated character in a hologame but only a little less intelligent. Seeing her as an addition to RoboJoust was not encouraging.

  The image of Martin and Kreeger froze before either could speak. As a voice-over came up new images superimposed themselves in front of the pair. “RoboJoust is brought to you this week by Colonial Constructors. Whether you’re building a world or adding onto your home, come see Bucky Beaver’s helpful staff and stocked aisles.

  “Also by OmniPharmaCo, bringing you a wide variety of important pharmaceuticals to make your life easier, from Relaxafin to Digestol.

  “And the hit of the week is sponsored by Nova Media Group, where hits are our business, from the flicks of Max Shaft and Lena Rennie to the tunes of J-World and Evvie Martini, Nova rocks the galaxy!”

  Jake pinched his nose and closed his eyes. “Turn it off. Turn it off. Turn it off!” he said, getting progressively louder each time.

  “You don’t have to shout,” Odin said. The screen went dark.

  “Why didn’t you warn me?”

  “I merely recorded the program for you. I have no interest in watching that program on my own.”

  “Well, I think I’ve lost interest in it, too.”

  “Any other programs that you wish to view at this time?”

  “No. I’m afraid what else I might come across. I suppose I should start figuring out how to bring this other story to its obvious conclusion.”

  ***

  Later in the morning Jake brought the Rosens and Del Thorne up to his ship to plan how to bring about the overthrow of Maxis’ regime. Daniel, Clarissa, and Evvie sat on the couch; Thorne took the chair next to it; and Jake took the chair next to the screen and dragged in front so he wasn’t looking at everyone at an angle.

  Jake took care of the introductions in the teleport room so as not to take up too much time away from the discussion. Once everyone was seated and ready he said, “Okay, gang, I think the time to overthrow Maxis is now. Anyone disagree?”

  Evvie raised her hand. “By now, do you mean today?”

  “No. Tomorrow.”

  “Lunch would probably be the best time,” Thorne said. “That’s when all the workers will be assembled.”

  Jake nodded. “My thinking exactly.”

  “So what do we do?” Daniel asked. “Throw things at the bots? Attack the guards? What?”

  “The first step has to be taking out the bot control complex,” Thorne replied. “The only problem is how to do that without alerting security that the bots are no longer under their control.”

  “I believe Odin has worked out that problem,” Jake said. “Evvie and I will take care of that matter. Del, you need to make certain a team is heading to the complex during lunch.”

  “It’ll be tricky, but I think I can arrange it.”

  “Good. Daniel, Clarissa, I want you to carry that comm unit with you tomorrow. Once we’ve taken care of the complex, I’ll send an audio signal. Nothing vocal, probably a beep or something like that.”

  “Do we need to know some prearran
ged...?”

  “No. If it makes noise, it’s time. You rally your people and disarm the guards in the cafeteria. Del, carry yours, too. When yours sounds, gather the friendly execs and guards and head for the security room. When both groups have accomplished their tasks, call me. I’ll have Odin scan to find out where Maxis and his allies are.”

  “I think I can find that out once we take security,” Thorne said to Jake.

  “Then Odin will be our backup. Either way, we’ll see if Maxis makes a stand, or if things go too fast for him to organize his side. If he can’t organize, the Rosens will take a few of their people up to security to join Del’s group. Together you’ll move on Maxis and the others and arrest them.”

  “If he does organize?”

  “We’ll see where he makes his stand and figure out a way to get at him that avoids bloodshed. If everything goes well, it should all be over in a couple of hours.” Jake glanced at the others. “Any questions? No? Great. I’ll have Odin relay messages to everyone later tonight to be ready to follow your leads. That’s all the details they’ll get. Keep this to yourselves. Call throughout the day if something comes up or something occurs to you. Once the day starts, keep quiet and wait. I don’t think there will be any need for a drastic change in plans as long as everyone goes to work normally. Well, if no one has anything else to say, let’s get you three back down to the planet.”

  Jake, Del, Daniel, and Clarissa stood up. Jake led them back to the teleport room and returned them to their quarters. He jogged back to the bridge. Evvie was still sitting on the couch, being unusually passive.

  Almost as if she’s on her best behavior, he thought.

  “Nothing to say?” he asked her.

  She shook her head. “Nope. I thought if I said too much, you’d toss me out.”

  “Good.”

  “So how are we gonna take out that complex thing? Why didn’t you tell the others that?”

  “To answer the second first, I’m not sure about either of them. Thorne’s a convert, but a recent one. Best not to give him too much info. As for the Rosens, well, they talk too much sometimes. As to your first question, I don’t know. Odin said he’s come up with something. Odin?”

  “Yes, Jake?”

  “Have you come up with something?”

  “I have.”

  “What would that be?”

  “A bomb.”

  “A bomb?”

  “I knew it!” Evvie said, almost as a yell. “I knew sometime there had to be some action to this revolution thing.”

  “Odin,” Jake said slowly, “please tell me you don’t mean a suitcase full of plastic explosive wired to mechanical clock.”

  “Of course not. I am talking about an explosive no bigger that one of Evvie’s little fingers.”

  “Thank God. Now, how is this supposed to work?”

  “If you both recall, if the Antioch Two guardbots lose the signal from the transmitter, they contact dome security for new orders. The transmitter has a sensor on the CPU; if the CPU loses power the transmitter signals security under its own power. The guardbots constantly scan frequencies for pings from the transmitter if one frequency is interrupted. The planning is for either all connection is lost, or no connection is lost.

  “The flaw in this system is that no one has thought of an interruption of the line connection between the transmitter and the CPU. The line exists so that contact between them can’t be interfered with. The design was to not have a broadcast signal that could be interfered with. The line is a fiber-optic cable surrounded by synth-steel, and is a common way to maintain secure connections, even now.

  “As Jake remembered, two guards visit the complex regularly to test cables, the CPU, the transmitter, and to replace or repair parts. This is how you two will gain entry to the complex. Once inside you should place what’s known as a ‘cable burner’ bomb on the line to cut the connection.”

  Jake nodded and smiled. “I get it. The transmitter won’t see anything wrong. The bots will still be getting pings, so no alert there. There just won’t be any orders coming in. The bots’ programming is to wait for orders to react to new situations. Security won’t be getting any alerts that there’s a problem, because nothing loses power or stops transmitting. I like it.”

  “Sounds way too simple to me,” Evvie said.

  “As a colorful character once said, Evvie,” he answered, taking on a Scottish accent, “‘The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to clog up the drain.’ Still, Odin, the girl has a point.”

  “To some degree,” the computer agreed. “I also plan to address that contingency. Once I have verified that the explosive has had its effect, I shall crash the computers in the dome security office. I will keep them off-line until Mister Thorne and his associates arrive.”

  “Excellent.” Jake put his hands on his hips and nodded in satisfaction. “Evvie, I think it’s time we go into rehearsals.”

  “For what?”

  “For your big scene where you help me take out that complex.”

  “Oh. Then what?”

  “Then we wait for tomorrow and the real thing.”

  ***

  Jake and Odin kept watch over the main dome on Antioch Two throughout that following Monday morning. They did this because Jake wanted to be certain that Thorne was on their side. They monitored the situation to see if the orders did go to the maintenance team to visit the control complex. Jake was pleased not to be disappointed, for an hour and a half before lunch, and over the protests of the two workers, they were ordered to make another inspection trip over lunch.

  “We were just there nine days ago,” one of the two insisted.

  “Orders,” a superior replied.

  “We’ll miss lunch.”

  “The boss is expecting trouble, I guess. You won’t miss lunch. You eat, then you get the rest of the day off.” That seemed to pacify them. Ten minutes before the main lunch was to begin their hovercar left the dome.

  An instant later Jake tapped the intercom keypad. “Evvie, are you on the platform?”

  “Here, Jake.”

  “Odin, teleport her down.”

  Jake rose from his seat and jogged to the teleport room. He picked up a stun pistol sitting on a chair in the room, slipped on a teleport bracelet, and stepped onto the platform. “Ready, Odin.”

  “Teleporting, now.”

  Jake materialized on the planet’s surface. He was close to a cluster of rocks, and a stone’s throw from the path the hovercars used to get to the complex. He waved to Evvie. She was standing right next to the path. She waved back, then plopped down onto the rocky terrain near the path. Jake climbed over the rocks to get into a position of cover behind them.

  Jake knew that the hovercar would be moving along at a good clip. The odds were that they’d run over anyone lying in the path while trying to stop the vehicle, even if they saw the person well beforehand. Although it was tempting to have Evvie lie in the middle of the path, Jake decided that getting her run over would expose him to legal problems. Instead she’d lie down where she was, the men in the car would see her, stop it, and if they had to back up to find out why a young woman was lying next to their route.

  Maxis had not been able to outlaw curiosity so, sure enough, when the car came onto the scene it slowed. It overshot Evvie by several meters. When it came to a stop one of the two men hopped out. He started walking to Evvie while the other man, still in the hovercar, backed it up to where she was. Once it was within a meter of her the other man stepped out.

  The first man had already bent down. “Miss? Are you okay?”

  “Who is it?” the second man asked.

  “Dunno. Miss?”

  “Mother?” Evvie asked, her voice a mediocre imitation of hoarseness. “Is that you, Mother?”

  Jake let out a small groan as he took aim. He fired at the second man first; he was still standing, and could get away. A small burst of light exploded on the man’s torso, and he fell backward to the ground
. The first man leapt up and turned to look in Jake’s direction. It gave Jake time enough to aim at him and fire. Light exploded on his chest, and he too fell. Jake came out of cover and ran to Evvie.

  She stood up and looked at herself. As he arrived next to her she started dusting herself off. “Look at me,” she said. “This outfit is ruined.”

  “Yeah? Well, your performance sucked.”

  “I didn’t have enough time to prepare, and I’m lousy at improvisation.”

  “Isn’t that the truth. Help me get these guys restrained and into the hovercar.”

  They put simple handcuffs on both workers’ wrists, pinning their arms behind their backs. There was just enough room in the back of the vehicle for the two men’s sleeping bodies. They were almost stacked on top of each other. Once they were placed inside Jake took the driver’s spot, Evvie the other spot, and they headed for the complex.

  They arrived about ten minutes later. The complex was nothing more than a light tan building slightly larger than fancy hotel suite’s closet. There was one sliding doorway on the side facing the path, and no other entrances. Centered on the roof was a tiny transmission dish. Jake brought the hovercar up to the structure. Once it had stopped he and Evvie stepped out of the vehicle.

  “That’s it?” she asked.

  “Yep.”

  “I have shoe closets bigger than that.”

  “I don’t doubt that.”

  Jake walked up to the entrance. A few steps before the doorway two small doors opened next to the main doorway. A black tube slid out of each, one at roughly head height, the other just under chest-high. Jake put his right eye in front of the top tube and his right thumb against the lower tube. Seconds later the main door slid open.

  “Wait a sec,” Evvie said. “You’re not a worker.”

  “Odin, remember?”

  “Huh? Oh. Oh, right.”

  Jake shook his head. “Wait there.” He stepped through the door.

  The inside was just as stark as the outside. Jake turned left to face the equipment. Sitting on the floor in front of him was a large gray steel box. Hums came from within, and lights in front blinked in sequence. He had no trouble determining that was the computer.

  Sitting on a thick steel shelf half a meter above the computer was a much smaller beige box. Lights on its face simply shone. A thick black cable went from the back of that box up to the ceiling to where the dish was. A second dark blue cable connected the back of the box to the back of the computer. That, then, was clearly the transmitter unit.