by James McEwan
“You sure?” Thad asked.
“Yeah no problem. I bet the guy saw a spider or something,” St. Claire said as he left the front room to go check on Masters in the entryway. He was gone only a few seconds before the apartment filled with the deafening roar of gunfire.
St. Claire dove back through the doorway just as the doorframe and walls were peppered with laser bolts. He slid to a stop and rolled to his back, “I don’t got this!”
Mortlock was the closest to St. Claire. He reached over and with one massive hand grabbed St. Claire. Like a father picking up his child’s toy Mortlock pulled him effortlessly from the field of fire, just as the floor erupted in laser bolts. “Thanks,” St. Claire said to his rescuer. Mortlock just grunted back.
Thad grabbed up a cone rifle and waited to see what had chased St. Claire back into the room. He didn’t wait long. The eight-foot tall armored military police robot stormed through the door still holding Masters in one hand, who was wiggling to get free, and a heavy laser rifle in the other. It was issuing commands for everyone to lay down their weapons and surrender.
Thad acted on instinct and took a bead on the robot’s head and fired. He squeezed off a nice burst that slammed into it and bounced off the bot’s armor. “Shit,” he exclaimed. Then he cursed himself for being so stupid. All of his training was on how to kill humans; he had never received training for combating robots. Yet he still felt he should have known that his cone rifle was little more than a popgun to the armored beast.
“Cease fire human or you will be fired upon,” the robot said as it leveled its weapon at Thad.
Thad had two choices, surrender or do as St. Claire had. He chose St. Claire’s method and dove for cover. The robot didn’t seem to like that and opened fire. The laser bolts missed him, but they did a number on the balcony door, which shattered, sending hot glass fragments everywhere. One struck Fiona in the face, which burned as it sliced a nice line across her right cheek.
The next sound was that of Kára’s voice, loud and commanding, “Robot, you will release my friend and face me!” She stepped straight into its path. That seemed to have an effect on the police robot as it stopped and looked at her. It scanned her for weapons and finding none on her it lowered its massive rifle. Because her armor was unlike anything in its database, it didn’t register it as armor. Basically, he didn’t see her for the walking ambush that she was.
Using a built in hand stunner, the LPM-48 stunned Rod. His body convulsed for a second before going limp. The big bot released its grip and Rod Masters crumbled to the floor out cold for the near future. Then it turned its attention to Kára, “You are under arrest, turn around, and place your hands behind your back.”
When Thad dove for cover he had landed near the twins who were transfixed as they watched Kára. They had no idea what was about to happen, but Thad did. He grabbed each woman by the arm and pulled them flat to the ground. St. Claire and Mortlock followed suit as they had both seen what this female Eli could do.
Kára stood her ground as the blue electricity built up around her waist and moved up to her right shoulder. The police bot stepped up right in front of her, “I repeat, you are under arrest.”
Kára held up her right hand and all the electricity pooled in her hand. “I am Eli, you walking toaster!” she screamed proudly. The bot was confused by the energy that it was detecting, but with no weapon and no other means to generate the power the robot figured that what she was doing simply wasn’t possible, and the last command that processed through its CPU was that its sensors must be damaged and it needed to stop in at maintenance to check it out.
Kára brought her hand down like a martial arts master. She slammed her open armored palm against the midsection of the armor plating. The electricity shot through the bot as if it were made of clay and the electricity a high presser water jet.
The robot shuttered as it was cored out. When it was all done Kára walked away leaving a perfectly fine robot chassis, well except for the twelve-inch smoking hole burned through the midsection.
“I’m glad she’s on our side,” Freya said, impressed to see Kára in action for the first time.
“Me too,” Thad said as he helped Fiona up. He looked at the robot and then back at Fiona, “Fi honey, after we tend to your cheek I have an idea.”
She understood her husband without him having to say it, “Hey Archie, how would you like a new body?”
Meanwhile St. Claire had extracted himself from the floor and headed back out into the entryway to find the young ensign hiding behind the service bot in a puddle of his own piss. “Who are you people?” He asked.
St. Claire answered, “Invited house guests, which is more than I can say for you and your robot pals.”
“Why are you so heavily armed?” Was his next question.
St. Claire rolled his eyes and wanted to say, really? There’s fucking war on, but he didn’t. Instead he said, “Rough neighborhood.” But, before the young man could say anything else Mortlock appeared behind St. Claire and his massive bulk and large rifle he was carrying was enough to make the young officer pass out.
“Would ya look at that? You scared the poor kid to death,” St. Claire said jokingly to Mortlock.
“Oh I am so sorry. I had no such intention,” Mortlock said genuinely upset.
“Ah he’s still alive, just passed out,” St. Claire laughed as he gave the gentle giant a pat on the arm, “don’t worry about the kid,” St. Claire said as he bent down and checked the young officer’s pulse.
“I’m so relieved; I can’t tell you how distressed I was. You must understand on my world if you kill something by accident you have to eat it, and you would have been bound by cultural edict to eat him with me as you were a party to his death. I find eating humans to be a little bit disconcerting, don’t you?” Mortlock said with a perfectly straight face.
“What?” St. Claire asked with a look of abject horror. “Would you have really eaten that boy if he had died?” Mortlock couldn’t hold back anymore, a smile started to creep at the corners of his mouth. “Touché, my friend, nicely done,” St. Claire said knowing he’d been had.
“Nothing like a touch of one’s own medicine to tarnish a sliver tongue,” Mortlock laughed and gave St. Claire a pat on the shoulder.
A while later the young officer woke to find himself tied to a chair and his clothing gone. He was naked save for a fine black silk robe someone had been kind enough to put on him. At first his head seemed a bit foggy, and there was a dull throbbing pain on the back of his head. Thad noticed he was awake and came over to the table and pulled out a chair. He spun it round backward and sat down, placing his folded arms across the top of the back of the chair.
“So what should we do with you?” Thad posed the question.
“Let me go?” He answered.
Thad pursed his lips and his head moved to the side as if he was thinking it over, “Alright.”
“Really?”
“No. At least not yet,” Thad said having a little fun at the young man’s expense. “What’s your name son?” Thad asked surprised at how much he sounded like Doctor Hammer just then.
“Cory Willis, Ensign in what was the StarGuard. Not sure what military I’m in now.”
“Alright Cory, if untie you do you promise to behave?” Thad asked. The young man nodded his head. Thad pointed to his restrains and Freya who had been standing quietly behind him went to work untying him.
As soon as his hands were free he rubbed the back of his head, “Why does my head hurt so much?”
Thad slid an ice pack across the table to him, “When you fainted you hit your head on the ground. That’s why you’ve been out for so long. Actually, I was beginning to wonder if you didn’t suffer a little more than a bump on the head. However, you seem like you’re okay. Feel like throwing up?”
Cory picked the ice pack up and placed it on his head, “No, but I don’t mind telling you I’m scared shitless right now.”
“Completely
understandable, but you can relax kid, we have no designs on hurting you,” Thad said trying to put him at ease.
Cory let out a sigh of relief at the news, “That’s good. I really didn’t want to die. I mean I just signed up for the StarGuard to pay for my schooling and because the girls like a sharp uniform. But, I’m no soldier that’s why I became a fleet officer. I just wanted to push buttons and look good doing it. I never thought that I would be right in the middle of a damn war. I just want to go home.”
The kid was rambling on and Thad just let him talk, while Freya put some ice in a glass and then poured some dark rum into it. She topped it off with some cola and handed it to the kid. She found it funny to think of him that way, as he was only a year younger that she was. However, with all the things she had been through over the last few years she felt much older than she actually was. “Here drink this, it’ll help.”
He took the glass gratefully, “Thank you,” he said and then took a long drink. When he put down the glass he asked, “Is it okay if I ask a few questions?”
“Go ahead, but I can’t promise you that I’ll answer them all,” Thad said.
“First, where are my clothes?”
Freya answered that one, “Oh, you soiled yourself, so I took the liberty of removing them and I’m having them cleaned for you. Don’t worry, they’ll be returned to you soon.” He turned bright red, clearly embarrassed at having a women he had never even meet see him naked. Freya smiled at this and thought she would ease the young man’s embarrassment a bit, “You have nothing to worry about, some day you’ll make some luckily girl very happy,” she winked at him. This however, didn’t quite have the effect she was hoping for as it made him turn even a darker shade of red.
Thad thought he would rescue the lad before he passed out again, this time from embarrassment, “Cory what is your next question?”
Thankful for a chance to change subjects he asked, “Ah yes, who are you people?”
“Before I answer that question I have a few for you. How much do you know about the woman who owns the apartment that you’re in?” Thad asked in return.
“Admiral Hayes?” He asked not sure where Thad was going with his question. Thad nodded. “Ah, she’s a, or was a StarGuard fleet Admiral and I’ve met her once or twice at Fleet Command. She seems like a nice enough lady. Why do you ask?”
“I need to know which side of the fence you’re on,” Thad answered.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Cory said in return.
“What I mean is, are you still loyal to the StarGuard even though it seems to be in disarray or even defunct?”
He thought about it for a minute then he took another long drink draining the glass. Freya picked up the empty glass, “Another?”
“Yes please,” he said. “I guess so, but it’s hard to imagine the StarGuard still in existence. Almost all of the senior officers were executed yesterday. Frankly, I was surprised to learn Admiral Hayes was still alive. I never took her for a turn coat.”
“She would never turn on the StarGuard. No, she’s a survivor and she’s doing whatever she deems necessary to survive. My guess is that she’s trying to gather as much intel as she can and when she has an opportunity to get out she will. That’s where you come in,” Thad said with a large smile.
“What?”
“Yes, you’re going to help us get in and get her out,” Freya said as she sat down the refilled glass.
He picked up the glass and drained it, “Okay, but you have to promise me something first.”
“I’m listening,” Thad said.
“You take me with you. I want out. If the StarGuard is done then I just want to go home. Just get me home.”
“Sounds fair. I will promise you that when this is all over I will see you get home, one way or another,” Thad extended his hand. Cory took it and they shook over the bargain.
While Thad had been dealing with their newfound ally, Fiona had been working as fast as she could to remove Archie’s core from the house computer and install it in the LPM-48 chassis. She was trying to work around Kára’s constant and incessant need to care for the wound in her cheek. “Kára sweetie I’m fine really. It’s nothing that a few hours in the healing tank won’t take care of.”
“Fi, I know that, but you are far too beautiful to be scarred, and even with a healing tank that will scar if I don’t do something right now. Besides we don’t have the time to put you in a healing tank,” Kára said as she continued trying to clean the micro glass fragments out of the wound while Fiona kept working on repairing the damaged wiring inside the dead robot.
Fiona finally relented and let Kára work on her. She held still while Kára used her armors abilities to stich the wound closed. Fiona found it strange as a small blue jet of electricity flowed from Kára’s finger into her cheek. It was warm and tingly, but not painful. When Kára was finished, she was amazed. She looked at her cheek and there was no sign that she had been injured at all.
St. Claire and Mortlock had busied themselves by going down to the car park, which was still devoid of anyone. A large percentage of the building’s tenants where high ranking military officers who were no longer alive to return to their homes. The rest of the people were far too scared to leave their homes, and with its own power supply and food replicators the remaining tenants had no reason to go anywhere anyway.
They had come down to the garage to salvage whatever parts they could from the other LPM-48 as well as Archie’s old chassis. St. Claire had taken a few chucks of the armor plating and found the buildings maintenance shop. There he had the tools he needed to fashion a new front and back mid plates to cover the hole that Kára had created.
After a few hours of hard work they had collectively restored Archie inside the LPM-48 chassis. Fiona switched him on and closed up the front panel. “So Archie, how does it feel?” She asked.
“Strange,” he said as he worked through the list of startup programs. Full power came on and he was able to move. He checked the movement servos to insure they all worked. It looked much like a dancer doing the robot as he moved robotically at first. “All systems seem to be in perfect working order, damn it!”
“Excuse me Archie, but damn it?” Fiona asked a little confused.
“Sorry cock breath, but something seems to be wrong with my shit speech center, damn, hell, farrrrt.”
St. Claire lost it and through bouts of laughter said, “Oh my, you’ve created the only robot ever known to have Tourette’s.”
“It’s a voltage interface penis problem, stand by ass butt. I am running a titty correction program, the fuaaaaa ingggg problem should be correctttted shortly,” Archie said as his speech started to break up. After a minute and a reboot, Archie spoke again, “Everything should be corrected. How is my nipple now?”
“Better, but I think I need to power you down and do a few more tweaks. I can’t have you going into the enemy’s base and telling the bad guy that his nipples are hot or something like that. Funny as it would be, it wouldn’t do any of us any good,” Fiona said.
“Okay, sounds freaking ass lick, lick, lick to me.” Archie said.
St. Claire continued to laugh. Fiona gave him the look of death, “Not helping.”
“Okay laser eyes, I get the point,” and he left her alone to finish.
Chapter 33
“Took you long enough!” said the desk sergeant who was in charge of security for the living quarters at Fleet Command. “Sir,” he added remembering that the kid was still an officer.
“Yeah well I don’t know if you have been out there lately, but with sky traffic still restricted and roads a mess it took a long time to get there and back,” Cory said. Then he added “Sergeant,” to remind him that he was an officer and it wasn’t his place to question him.
The sergeant had been around long enough to know when he had spoken out of turn, “Sorry sir, go right in they’re expecting you.”
Ensign Cory Willis thanked the sergeant and then led the servi
ce bot and his security escort into the building. After passing the security checkpoint, he began to shake from head to toe. He took a deep breath and carried on. He got to the lord marshal’s quarters and standing guard on both sides of the door were two more LPM-48 military police robots. He showed them his ID and they let him pass. He pressed the button and waited. It wasn’t long before the door opened and Admiral Hays stood in the doorway.
“Can I help you ensign?” she asked kindly.
“Yes sir, I have some personal things I was ordered to bring from your apartment. Where would you like them?” Cory answered trying his best to hide his fear.
“Personal items? I gave no such order,” she replied.
“No sir, it was the Lord Marshal himself who gave the order,” he said.
“I see, well come on in then,” she said as she moved out of the doorway. Cory entered the quarters followed by the two robots.
As soon as they were inside, she closed the door, “You didn’t happen to bring a laser pistol did you?” she asked half sarcastically and half-serious.
“Sorry sir, but I brought something better I hope,” Cory said.
“Oh?” she replied her interest peaked.
“I bring news and a friend,” he said.
“A friend? Where are they hiding, in one of those cases?” She asked wondering what was going on.
“No sir. I bring you a message from your son,” he was going to continue, but she interrupted him.
“He’s a live?” She asked as her heart leapt into her throat.
“Yes sir and he wanted me to tell you that he and the twins are okay and that they have picked a few friends for a party that they hope to invite you to soon.”
A tear came to her eye, “That’s great news, now where is this friend?”
“Archie,” Cory said pointing to the LPM-48, “Say hello.”
“Hello Admiral Hayes,” Archie said.
Amanda looked stunned, “Archie, you don’t seem quite like your old self, and you sure don’t sound like it.”
“Yes ma’am, it is me. I had a little run in with a couple of these brutes, but Miss Fiona fixed me up and put me in one of these chassis,” Archie said.