“New program,” James was saying. “You will purge from your system any directive that contradicts or jeopardizes your initial instruction to protect the secret of security-robot plans.”
“Acknowledged… executed.”
A security robot appeared in the corridor. Hosato risked a long shot and brought it to a halt.
“May I point out, Sam, that killing humans is drawing unwanted attention to the project?”
“Acknowledged… executed.”
The sounds in the corridor ceased.
It took a few moments for it to sink into Hosato’s mind what had just happened.
“That’s it?” he asked. “You mean that’s all. It’s over?”
“You bet your flamin' swords it’s over,” Sasha exploded, sweeping James up in a one-armed hug. “You did it, James!”
“Aw, come on, Sasha,” the boy protested, squirming to get free.
Hosato was studying them narrowly, his hand sweaty on the blaster. One of them but which one. His father had ordered.
His eye fell on Suzi, now a useless pile of rubble. No loyalties, no judgment—a killing machine. Give her a target and she would attack it, without mercy, without conscience.
His hand relaxed on the blaster. He wouldn’t do it He was a man, not a robot. The family could co—
“Hosato. Can you hear me?”
Rick’s voice came to him through his suit communicator.
“Rick. Where are you?”
“Docked at the spaceport. What’s the mission status?”
Hosato glanced again at Sasha and James. “Mission accomplished… no casualties.”
“Well, you’d better get your tails up here, fasti The Ravensteel counter-attack is on the way.”
“Acknowledged.”
Hosato turned to his two friends. “Time to evacuate the area,” he announced. “The cavalry’s finally decided to put in an appearance.”
“Ravensteel?” Sasha asked. “It took 'em long enough to—”
“Later,” Hosato interrupted. “Just lead the way to the spaceport, huh?”
A moment later the three of them were sprinting down the corridors to the safety of the ship.
“Well, what now, Hosato?” Sasha asked.
Their ship had just cleared Grunbecker’s Planet, and their thoughts were finally turning to the future.
“I don’t know about you three,” Rick called from the pilot’s seat, “but I’m going to take the Hungarian up onhis job offer. I’ve had enough excitement to last me three lifetimes.”
Hosato frowned. “I certainly haven’t given the future much thought.”
“I believe at one point we were about to discuss a possible partnership,” Sasha prompted.
“One thing is sure,” Hosato continued, ignoring her. “Whatever we decide, it’s going to take money. Hey, Rick. Are we still in communications range of Griinbecker’s?”
“I think so. Why?”
“Patch me through on the Ravensteel wavelength, will you?”
It took a few moments, but the voice on the speaker mike was clear and distinct as Rick passed it to Hosato.
“This is a private frequency,” the voice announced briskly. “Identify yourselves.”
“Gedge, you old rascal.” Hosato smiled. “Remember me?”
“Hosato. Is that you, you bastard?”
Hosato winked at Sasha. “Now, is that any way to talk to a loyal Ravensteel employee?” he scolded.
“Don’t give me that,” Gedge’s voice snarled. “I recognized you. You shot up our ore robots!”
“All part of my master plan,” Hosato assured him.
“Can you confirm that the Mc. Crae complex is currently inoperative?”
“It’s inoperative because we just blasted the hell out of them,” Gedge said firmly. “What’s that got to do with you?”
“Well,” Hosato said, looking at the ceiling, “I could point out that your strike would have encountered major resistance if it wasn’t for my inside work, but I won’t. The point is, Ravensteel hired me to render the Mc. Crae complex inoperative by any means possible, and it is now inoperative. By my calculations, that means Ravensteel owes me an additional one hundred thousand credits. Confirmed?”
“You’re crazy, Hosato!” Gedge’s voice was shrill. “You kill my men and shoot up our ore robots, then expect us to pay you for it. If anything, we’ll—”
“Gedge!” Hosato interrupted sharply. “Let me explain the facts of life to you. As an independent operative I can’t afford to have it get out that a person or group can hire me and then not pay up. Now, is Ravensteel going to pay me the balance agreed upon, or do I have to collect it by other means?”
“What other means?” Gedge snorted. “You think you can sue us. There isn’t—”
“Gedge,” Hosato said softly. “Remember what Ravensteel hired me for. What I did for Ravensteel, I can do to Ravensteel. Tell that to your board of directors and see if they don’t think a hundred thousand isn’t a real bargain.”
There was a moment of silence before Gedge answered.
“I’ll tell them, Hosato,” he said finally. “But if you think you can—”
“Yes, I think I can.” Hosato smiled. “And I’m willing to bet they think I can, too. I’ll be in touch later with details on the payment.”
He signaled Rick to break contact.
“Well,” he said, turning to Sasha, “what do you think. You know the corporate mind. Do you think they’ll pay?”
Instead of answering, Sasha took the speaker mike from his hand and passed it to James.
“Here, kid,” she said. “Take this up to Rick. And stay up there awhile. I want to talk to Hosato.”
The boy’s eyes darted between the two of them; then he nodded and left.
“Okay, Hosato,” she said slowly. “You want to know what I think. Well, here it is. I don’t think they’ll pay. They probably wouldn’t have paid anyway, but when you toss in a few threats, that’s extortion and they’ll never budge there. They can’t. If they pay now, you can come back next year with the same threat, and the next year, until they’re bled dry. Corporations don’t pay extortionists.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Hosato admitted.
“So I don’t think they’ll pay. What I do think they’ll do, what I’d do if I were in Gedge’s place, is stall. They’ll tell you all the directors aren’t available, or they need time to raise the cash, or a dozen other things to gain time. In the meantime, they’ll send assassins after you. They have to. You’re too dangerous to them to be left alone.”
“Whom will they send?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s more your line than mine. I imagine they could hire a pack of them for less than a hundred thousand. Hell, Gedge hates you enough to do it for free.”
Hosato lapsed into thoughtful silence.
When he had refused to kill Sasha or James, he knew he was risking punitive action from his family. Now that he was outside, he posed a greater threat to the family security than either Sasha or James. It was only logical that the family would try to find him and kill him. He had hoped to have a period of grace while the various members tried to fit it into their work schedule, but it seemed that chance was gone. Since profit always came first, if Ravensteel offered them the contract, if they could show a profit and at the same time plug a security leak, the assignment would suddenly gain top-priority status.
He wondered if they would send his sister, or if his grandfather would personally…
Sasha laid a hand on his shoulder, breaking his train of thought “Hey!” she said softly. “It won’t be all that bad. There’ll be two of us… three if James comes along. We don’t die easy, remember?”
Instead of replying, he took her in his arms and held her tightly. Eventually he’d have to tell her about the real odds they faced. Eventually… but not now.