Where were you? What did Rin really send you to do here?
I flailed mentally. Did I lie, did I tell the truth? It had to mesh with what I’d already told Miki, which was only partly a lie, sort of, and Abene might not register my hesitation but Miki would notice it unless I answered right now—I was in the geo pod, I said in desperation. I was gathering data about a possible violation by GrayCris of the Strange Synthetics Accord.
Ah, Don Abene said. This begins to make sense. She hesitated. Can you save Hirune? If she’s still alive.
Yes. I’m pretty sure.
Abene let out her breath. Good, then. We’ll work together.
Telling the truth was sort of working out for me.
We came out of the dark section into another corridor with low but active lighting. Wilken said, “Have you ever worked with a SecUnit before, Don Abene?”
“No. They’re illegal in the homesystems.” She was impatient. Right now she didn’t want to hear anything from Wilken that didn’t involve getting her friend back.
We were nearing a junction. Wilken signaled a halt through the feed, and paused while she took a scan. I was scanning continuously, but my readings were shit. The static had to be interference from the storm. Wilken continued, “I know you’re close to your bot, but that thing is not like Miki. It’s a killing machine.”
Abene looked up at me and it was probably a mistake, but I looked down at her. It was surprisingly easy to make eye contact and not be nervous, maybe because I was used to seeing her face through Miki’s feed. She touched her neck, the mark where the helmet rim had pressed in when the retrieval device had tried to wrench her head off. Her gaze went to Wilken’s back again, but on our private channel she said, I’ve never worked with a SecUnit before—I’ve never seen or interacted with a SecUnit before—so please tell me if you need any information or instruction from me.
I had never had a human ask me how to give me orders before. It was an interesting novelty. I have standing orders from Rin to assist you. I can do the rest.
Wilken’s scan picked up some interference, the same static at the edge of the range that both Miki and I were getting. We started to move again, taking the right-hand corridor leading away from the junction. Abene asked me, Can you tell me why GI didn’t inform me that there was a second assessment underway?
I had an answer for this one and everything. GrayCris has been accused of killing the members of a DeltFall survey team and attacking a PreservationAux team on a Corporation Rim assessment world. When you have access to newsfeeds again, check references to Port FreeCommerce for more information. There was reason to suspect GrayCris used this terraforming facility for interdicted activity and might try to prevent a reclamation effort. That was all true, and it even sounded good when I said it.
I see. Abene sounded grim. So GrayCris was using the facility to mine strange synthetics instead of to terraform, and they suspected a detailed survey of the remaining equipment would reveal it.
Probably. I was certain of it, but it was longtime habit to give myself wiggle room if it turned out I was wrong. It didn’t usually manage to prevent punishment from the governor module, but it was always worth a shot. Until the geo pod data is reviewed and analyzed, we won’t know for certain. Consultant Rin decided it was best to combine the data retrieval with additional security for your team.
Ahead the corridor ended in an open space. Wilken signaled a halt, five seconds after I would have done it. The schematic said this was a transition zone between pods. The shadows ahead moved, but I could tell it was reflections from outside. There was a large view port to the left, like the one in the geo pod but in the wall, and the play of light and clouds cast shadows across the floor.
Wilken used her scan unit, then motioned us to move forward with her. The interference was worse but I was getting nothing on audio. I asked Miki, Can you tell what’s causing that scanner noise?
No, SecUnit. I compared it to the static caused by the weather, and it looks the same, but it has a different source. That’s strange, isn’t it?
Wilken led the way into the large space, into the shadows from the storm churning on the other side of the transparent wall. Most of her attention was still on her scanner. Supports curved and twisted overhead, solid stationary metal somehow mimicking the constant motion of the cloud layers outside. There were three tall arched locks, open now to dark corridors leading off toward different pods. A gallery ran three quarters of the way around, opposite the transparent wall, with more corridor accesses. Miki’s feed locater pointed toward the third corridor on the right on this level.
It’s not strange, it’s strategic, I told Miki. Something is using the interference caused by the weather to mask a signal. It was also frustrating. I missed having a SecSystem to do a real analysis. Even if we could break down the signal, I just didn’t have the databases to match it to anything.
Miki switched to the general feed, Don Abene, there is a signal using the storm interference to—
I sensed motion, the whisper of sound as joints moved, and I flashed a warning to Miki just as a shape exploded off the gallery overhead. I caught Abene around the waist and bolted for that third corridor on the right, because that was the direction we needed to go to achieve our mission objective. Step one was to get there while the hostile was busy with Wilken.
I stopped far enough down the corridor to get Abene out of range of any stray friendly fire. (Wilken’s weapon was discharging so rapidly I assumed she didn’t have a lot of time to aim.)
Miki arrived a second later. I deposited Abene on her feet and she staggered before Miki caught her. Now this is something else I hate about human security. If Wilken was a SecUnit, my priority would be clear: continue ahead to retrieve Hirune, get her and Abene to safety, then return to retrieve/clean up what was left of Wilken and the hostile. But Wilken was human, so I had to go back and retrieve her stupid ass now.
Miki sent an image into my feed and said, It’s a combat bot!
Yeah, thanks for the newsburst, Miki. I’d managed to get a clear picture of it while it was in mid-leap, when I was crossing the room with Abene. I told Miki, Stay with Don Abene, and ran back down the corridor.
Again, I know in the telling it sounds like I was on top of this situation but really, I was still just thinking, Oh shit oh shit oh shit. Combat bots are faster, stronger, and more heavily armed than me. Even if a SecSystem feed had been available, I couldn’t hack a combat bot without making a direct physical connection, and trying for that would result in me being torn apart. (I’ve been torn apart before, and on my list of things to avoid, it was right up there at the top.)
The only good thing about combat bots is that they aren’t combat SecUnits. Those are worse.
I exited the corridor at close to my top speed and had time to get one clear image of the situation to plot my attack. (I should put “plot” in quotes because it’s really hard to plan under these circumstances.)
Wilken was on the floor and her large weapon had just been knocked out of her hands. The combat bot stooped over her. In shape it was close to a human-form bot. Sort of like Miki if Miki were three meters tall, had multiple weapon ports in its chest and back, four arms with multiple hand mods for cutting, slicing, delivering energy bursts, etc., and a not very endearing personality.