Robot Blues (45 page)

Xris entered the
galley, where the others were seated around the table. Raoul had made more
sandwiches, but only Harry was eating.

“Well, what is it?”
Xris asked.

Harry, mouth full,
chewed rapidly, swallowed. “I ran the computer scan for the bomb. I found it,”
he said, and took another bite.

Xris reached over,
snatched the sandwich out of his hand. “You can eat later. Where is it?”

“It’s attached to
the recovery bay structural girder, about three-quarters back.”

“That bomb’s the
size of Harry’s brain,” Jamil commented. “If it did go off, how much damage
could it do to this spaceplane? The plane’s built to withstand laser blasts.”

Quong corrected
him. “The
shields
are built to withstand laser blasts. That’s why they
are there, in order to protect the hull. The bomb wouldn’t have to do much
damage at all. We are in hyperspace. The tiniest crack could rip us apart.”

Xris chewed a wad
of soggy twist. “Okay, we’ve found the bomb. Can we disarm it, Doc?”

“Not without
risking setting it off. I examined the bomb when it was in Jamil’s possession.
It is very sophisticated, very delicate. Face it, my friend. She has us by the
shorts, as Tycho would say.”

Xris spit the
twist into the trash compactor. “How’s this? We set off the bomb, blow up this
plane and everyone in it. Including the robot.”

Tess’s voice came
from behind. “That would be the noble thing to do.” She stood in the doorway,
was regarding Xris gravely. “But you won’t do it.”

“I won’t, huh?”
Xris eyed her. “You think I don’t have the guts to do it? Or that maybe these
guys wouldn’t go along?”

“Do it,” said
Jamil briefly.

“Sure, go ahead,
Xris!” Harry was grim.

Quong nodded his
head. “An appropriate sacrifice in the name of humanity. I concur.”

Tycho nodded. “My
insurance is fully paid. And I have set up a tax-sheltered annuity for the
death benefits. My family would make considerable profit.”

Raoul’s eyes
glistened. “I have often wondered what it would be like to die by some violent
means. And this ... the terrible expectation, the mounting fear, and then the
blast itself ...”

The Little One
made two fists of his hands, slammed them together in a gesture Xris had come
to know meant the telepath was emphatically with them.

Xris turned to
Tess. “The vote’s in and counted, sister.”

Tess stood leaning
against the door, her arms crossed over her chest. “Oh, you’d do it. I have no
doubt. If Xris gave the order, you’d blow up yourselves, me, the robot.” She
snapped her fingers. “Like that. But Xris won’t give that order.”

Xris knew darned
well that he wouldn’t, but he was interested in hearing her reason. “Why not?”

She looked at him
and smiled, not a cocky smile, not a smirk. Just a smile, a warm smile. An
affectionate smile. “Because that would be giving up, admitting that you were
defeated. And that’s something you’ll never do, not as long as there’s breath
in that shiny metal body of yours. Am I right?”

Xris took out
another twist. He said nothing.

Tess spread her
hands. “Look, guys. Nick Harsch is a businessman. He made a deal. He’ll stick
to it. The worst that can happen is that he’ll dock you a couple of thousand
credits for being late. But seeing as how the robot is more than he ever
anticipated, he might give
you
a bonus. You’ll be on your way home soon
enough, with money in your account.”

“And a Lane-sucking
robot in the claws of the Corasians.” Xris rolled the twist between his thumb
and forefinger. “A robot that’s already killed a thousand people.”

“We don’t know
that for sure,” Harry said.

Xris ignored him. “Sorry,
sister. Counting money may help you get to sleep at night, but it doesn’t do
much for me.”

Tess regarded him
thoughtfully. “Harsch misjudged you. I guess I did, too.”

“It’s a common
mistake—misjudging people. I made it, too, sister,” Xris said. “Big-time.”

Tess Hushed
faintly. “What I came in to tell you is that I just looked in on Jeffrey Grant.
He’s coming out of sedation. I informed him of what was going on. That there’s
a bomb on the plane and we’re flying it to take the robot to Harsch. I’m not a
doctor, but it’s my opinion that Grant might need to be sedated again. Well, I’m
back to work. You
will
let me know if you plan to blow up the plane, won’t
you?” She walked off.

“Resourceful,
energetic, an expert on explosives. You know” Jamil gazed after Tess in mock
admiration—”I believe I might marry that woman. That is, if you don’t want her,
Xris.”

“Personally,”
Quong said coldly, “I would enjoy shoving her out the air lock.”

“Doc,” Harry
asked, “is there any way we could sabotage the robot? Make it useless to the
Corasians?”

“Yes,” Quong returned,
in a bad mood. “Bring me the bomb. I’ll put it in the robot and we’ll blow it
up. That would be the only way it would be useless to the Corasians. They do
not need to know how to use the robot to build Lanes. Not anymore. All they
need to know is how to use it to take the Lanes out.”

He left to attend
to his patient.

Tycho shut off his
translator, said something no one understood, and went out after the doctor.

“Does this mean we’re
not
going to blow up the plane?” Harry wondered.

“I trust we’re
not,” Raoul said. “The more I think about it, the more I think that such a
catastrophic event would absolutely ruin my day. To say nothing of my outfit at
the time.” He looked at Xris, the usually vacant eyes suddenly snapped into
focus. “I could poison her coffee.”

“And what would
you do about the bomb that’s set to explode in six hours? Poison it, too?”

“Ah. I had not
thought of that. Oh, well.” Raoul smoothed his hair with a delicate hand. “That’s
why you are the leader, Xris Cyborg, and I am around for visual effect.”

Xris left, walked
back to the empty cockpit, sat down, stared out into the black nothing of
hyperspace.

He should blow up
the plane. He knew that. Admit failure. Admit that Tess and Harsch had
outsmarted him. Admit that he’d been beaten at his own game.

Corasians would
get hold of the robot. They’d use it to take out the hyperspace Lanes. Make the
Royal Navy useless. Leave planets isolated, cut off. The Corasians could come
in and pick them off, one by one.

He should blow up
the plane. He knew he should.

You won’t,
she had said.

Xris took out a
twist, put it in his mouth. This time he lit it, watched the smoke twine up
from the glowing end. No one would be able to enter the cockpit until the
noxious fumes were sucked into the ventilation system. But then no one was
likely to come in here anyway.

She was right, of
course. She knew him inside out.

Damn it all to
hell and back again.

Tempt them with
profits, instruct and retain them.

Thus double agents
can be obtained and employed.

Sun-tzu,
The Art of War

They emerged from
hyperspace into empty space.

The frontier—the
galaxy’s outer rim of stars—looks very much like the more civilized interior:
black, with pinprick smatterings of light. But those who live and work on the
frontier will tell you that it is different, a difference which they swear they
can feel on board ship or spaceplane, planet or inhabited moon. It is the idea
of living on the edge—literally. Of being far removed from the majority of
living species. It is a loneliness that can drive you mad—or become addictive.

Xris knew the
frontier. In the “old days,” when he was just starting out in the mercenary
line of work, it had been his custom to frequent the moon known as Hell’s
Outpost, conduct business in the infamous Exile Cafe. Xris was not one who had
been seduced by the romanticized loneliness. He had stayed at Hell’s Outpost
only long enough to pick up work. He was always glad to return to the interior,
to the realm of breathing, snuffling, gurgling humans and aliens. He enjoyed
the knots, the twists, the tangles, the challenge of life among the teeming
masses.

Right now, though,
he had to admit—he kind of liked it lonely. He’d been afraid he’d find himself
surrounded. As it was, there were no planes or ships in sight.

Odd. Hell’s
Outpost wasn’t exactly overpopulated, but there were generally planes in the
vicinity. The Exile Cafe attracted a small but loyal clientele.

“So where’s your
boss, sister?” Xris asked Tess.

“Sister,” she
repeated, frowning. She glanced back at him. “Do you realize how insulting you
make that sound?”

“Yes. Where’s your
boss? That moon over there is Hell’s Outpost. Do we land or what?”

Tess swiveled the
copilot’s chair away from him, stared out the viewscreen. “We’re to meet Harsch
at this location. You’ll receive your instructions at that time.”

“There’s no one
out there,” Harry reported, peering at his instruments and seeing no signs of a
plane, or a ship.

“Hey,” said Jamil,
“we got here on time. If the client can’t make it, screw him. Turn this thing around,
Harry, and let’s go home.”

“That would
not
be a good idea,” Tess said.

“He’s there,” Xris
guessed. “He’s looking us over. Isn’t that right, sister?”

Tess didn’t reply.

“We’re being
scanned,” Harry reported at almost the same instant. “Pretty damn powerful,
too.”

“I assume you gave
your boss a complete description,” Xris said.

“Right down to
every last nut and bolt,” Tess returned.

“You referring to
me or the PRRS?” Xris asked.

Tess flicked him a
glance. The strain was showing. She had been staring intently out into space,
tapping a fingernail on the console. When she caught Xris’s gaze on her, she
ceased the tapping abruptly, turning away.

Interesting, Xris
thought. What the devil is she afraid of? She’s bringing home the bacon.

“Something’s out
there,” said Harry in an ominous tone. “I’m picking it up now. According to my
readings . . . hell, I’ve never seen readings like this! What— Holy shit!”

Darkness engulfed
the stars, swallowed them up. A darkness that grew and solidified as they
watched. A huge ship, devoid of lights, emerged from behind the moon that was
Hell’s Outpost. The bullet-shaped ship came into view, visible on their
instruments, visible to the eye only as a black hellish mass that blotted out
heaven.

A Corasian
mothership.

So that’s it, Xris
said to himself, defeat a hard, cold knot in his stomach. Tess isn’t bringing
home the bacon. She’s bringing the pigs to be slaughtered.

Harry turned. His
eye lids were open so wide, his eyeballs looked as if they might roll out of
his head. “Xris! Do you know what that is? A Corasian mother—”

“I know. Get us
out of here! Fast!”

Harry was already
on it. The engines roared, the PRRS bucked and lurched, went nowhere.

“Tractor beam,”
Harry said. His cheeks were blotchy. “They got us.”

“Break loose!” Xris
shouted over the whine of the engines.

“No way in hell!”
Harry yelled back.

The PRRS was a
gnat trying to free itself from the sticky web of an enormous spider.

“Shut down the
engines. I don’t want to burn out.” Xris was on the comm, ordering everyone to
the bridge. Stat.

Tess hadn’t moved;
she hadn’t said a word.

Xris grabbed her
by the shoulder, spun her around to face him. He leaned over her in the chair,
put his hands on the armrests, fencing her in.

“You knew they’d
be waiting for us.”

She sat cold and
still beneath his touch, her jaw muscles clenched tight. She nodded once,
stiffly.

Xris stood up,
released her.

“They’re hailing
us,” Harry reported. He switched on the comm.

“Greetings,
gentlemen,” came the voice over the comm.

“That’s Sakuta,”
Xris said, “for the benefit of those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of
meeting him.”

“Not quite
correct, Xris. Sakuta is one of my personae. Another is Nick Harsch, to whom
you are now speaking. I understand that you are bringing Professor Lasairion’s
robot to me. Well done, gentlemen. Well done.”

“Yeah, well, it
was one hell of a job,” Xris said, chewing on a twist. He took it out of his
mouth to add, “You weren’t exactly up front with us. A few little details you
neglected to fill us in on. Like how much your flesh-eating friends are
planning to pay you for bringing them a real live Lane-laying robot in prime
working condition. My guess is that what you’re paying us is squat compared to
the profit you’ll be making.”

“Your point being?”
Harsch sounded amused.

Xris put the twist
back in his mouth. “We want our fair share. That’s all. Cut us in for a
percentage.”

Tess was looking
at him in undisguised admiration, a half smile on her face.

“Captain Strauss
told me you were the best,” Harsch said. “That’s why I hired you. I only hire
the best. Captain Strauss herself is extremely impressive, don’t you agree?”

“Yeah,” Xris said
through teeth clenched over the twist. “Impressive.”

Tess turned away,
stared back out the viewscreen at the Corasian ship.

“I was considering
making you an offer to join
my
team, but Tess tells me that you can’t be
trusted. You have a streak of common decency in you.”

“It runs right up
my back,” Xris said wryly. “I take it this means we’re not going to get any
extra money?”

“No,” said Harsch
pleasantly. “But I am. The Corasians are paying me an additional sum.”

“Let me guess—for
the fresh meat?”

“A very crass way
of putting it, but yes, if that’s how you want to refer to yourselves.”