I can’t help it, I like it when the humans are decisive. (Especially when it’s the human who’s in favor of not shooting me.) I said, “Consultant Rin has instructed me to help you in any way necessary.” I kept my gaze on Abene because I was a SecUnit and that was what a SecUnit would do. You talk to the client and leave the people holding the guns to decide if they should feel threatened by what you said or not. (They should, they should feel really threatened.)
Wilken said hurriedly, “We’re your security team, Don Abene, of course we’ll go. But you should get back to the ship with Gerth and the others, and I’ll go after Hirune with Rin’s SecUnit.”
Ejiro struggled to stand and Brais got under his good arm and levered him upright. Brais said, “I’m on the feed with Kader, Abene. Vibol’s prepping the medical bay.”
Since I was the SecUnit now and everything, I said, “Don’t take a lift. The hostile may take control of the system and bring a lift to its position.”
“I know that,” Gerth snapped.
I know you know that, asshole.
Brais nodded at me and promised, “No lifts.” She told Abene, “Please be careful.”
Abene said, “You, too. Keep in contact with Kader.” She turned to Wilken. “I don’t have time to argue. We need to go.”
Miki turned and started down the open corridor. Gerth had to step out of its way. Abene picked up her helmet and followed Miki. Wilken hesitated but gave Gerth a tap on the feed. Gerth motioned to Ejiro and Brais. “Come on, it’ll be okay.”
I waited until Wilken started after Abene, lengthening her stride to get in front. I moved up level with Abene, and backburnered Brais’s feed so I could keep tabs on the group heading back to the shuttle.
Chapter Five
SOUNDING PROFESSIONALLY COMPETENT and not at all like someone who had just let a client get abducted, Wilken said, “My scan’s not showing anything, but my range is limited. As long as Hirune’s feed is still up, we can track her with it.”
Really, you think? Miki had already set that up and informed Abene. I hadn’t done anything yet but try not to panic.
I tapped my private channel to Miki and then had no idea what to say. (“Thank you for not exposing my lies” seemed a little too blatant.) Then Miki said, You saved Don Abene, Rin/SecUnit.
I had the feeling I needed to review my conversations with Miki and see where I went wrong. Did you know I was a SecUnit, Miki?
I don’t know what being a SecUnit means. It’s not included in my knowledge base. What should I call you if you’re not Rin anymore?
Call me SecUnit. I had somehow committed myself to acting as a security consultant and I wasn’t even going to get another hard currency card for it this time. As usual, I had no one to blame but myself. I thought it could turn out okay, though. All we had to do was retrieve Hirune, and then I’d think up a reason for why I needed a ride back on their shuttle, say I had to return to Consultant Rin, and then run off.
And possibly it could turn out better than okay. If GrayCris was behind the attack, then I could get video evidence of it to send back to Dr. Mensah along with my geo pod data.
The corridor was dark, and from her camera video Wilken was using her night-filter. Marker emergency lights on the floor and walls came on as we passed. Swearing softly, Abene tried to get her helmet back on, but I had broken the tab getting it off. She leaned down to leave it on the floor and asked Wilken, “Do you have any idea what attacked us? Some kind of bot? A retrieval device?”
That was a good guess, actually. I had one good image of the spidery hand thing, and I figured a comparison with the inventory of the bio pod would show it was something intended to work with or as part of a device designed to obtain surface samples. With the facility’s system cores removed, there was no way to run that inventory. My theory was that the hostile that Miki had heard approaching had activated and used the retrieval device to distract the team while it grabbed Hirune. Wilken said, “My camera didn’t pick it up. I believe raiders are in the facility and using the equipment left behind here against us. SecUnit, does Consultant Rin have any confirmation of that?”
I said, “Consultant Rin has no additional intel,” because why should I do her work for her when I wasn’t even getting a hard currency card, am I right?
On the feed, Abene asked Miki, Miki, are you sure about this Consultant Rin? When did she contact you?
On the station, Miki replied. Rin is my friend. GI sent Rin to help you stay safe. It added, You were almost hurt, and Wilken and Gerth didn’t try to help you at all.
They were trying to protect Ejiro and Brais, Abene said absently, her mind obviously on something else, probably how terrible my cover story was. There was no time.
I didn’t want her thinking about the likelihood of mysteriously appearing SecUnits and their (possibly apocryphal) security consultant contractors. I tapped her feed and said, Don Abene, you can speak to me privately on this channel. I maintain contact with my clients at all times. Please note that Consultant Rin has specified that you are my principal client, not your security team.
I was trying to let her know I was on her side, not theirs. I probably could have phrased it better. But I was pretty certain there were going to be sides, since Wilken and Gerth clearly didn’t believe it would be possible to recover Hirune.
That’s the other problem with human security: they’re allowed to give up.
Abene took a second to regroup, then asked me, Do you know what took Hirune?
I noted she had asked me again, directly, despite having heard the exchange with Wilken. Abene figured there were going to be sides, too. I said, I think you’re correct, I think it was a retrieval device. The hostile intended to take at least one member of the team and kill or injure others before retreating. That is not something a party of raiders would do. I added, Its plan is probably to draw you further into the facility to kill the rest of you, and hopefully cause more members of the team to leave the shuttle so it can kill them, too. Trying to make things sound less dire than they are never helps. The client has to believe your assessment of the situation is accurate. (And I know, not my client.)
She took three seconds to process the fact that we were doing what the hostile probably wanted us to do. But we have to find Hirune. Is there a way to counter it?
You’ve already countered it. It doesn’t know you have a SecUnit with you. For a human, that would be a hormone-fueled ego talking. For a SecUnit, it’s just a fact. Like I told Tlacey before I killed her, I’m just telling you what I’m going to do.
Abene went quiet for five more seconds while we walked along the dark corridor. Then she asked, Did you know there was something dangerous here? Did you know we would be attacked?
I didn’t know, not until Miki alerted me that something was approaching your position. That was true. I would much rather be hiding on the shuttle watching entertainment media right now. Consultant Rin had no intel on hostiles inside the facility.