Asger shifted to the side so the mercenary captain wouldn’t be at his back. Maybe Rache was fantasizing just as much about strangling him. He hadn’t seemed daunted by the idea of another skirmish.
“Casmir, where’s your armor?” Rache asked. “You came aboard wearing some.”
Casmir looked blearily at him, as if Rache were some desert mirage he was trying to figure out. “I was hot so I took it off. I left it…” The bleary expression shifted around the submarine. “Somewhere. Maybe in the refrigerator? I was wishing it would be cooler.”
Asger gazed bleakly at Casmir. He sounded loopy. He ought to be sleeping, not infiltrating enemy networks.
“Why do you ask?” Kim leaned out of the sickbay compartment. “He can’t go anywhere.”
“He has to,” Rache said. “He’s going to have to deactivate the gate before we can take it anywhere.”
“Why? You must have already accepted that we’re all going to be exposed to the pseudo radiation again.” Kim frowned darkly at him. “We’ll have to head to Tiamat Station for medical treatment and hope they have everything we need.”
“It would be preferable to deactivate the gate pieces before infecting everyone all over again. I’m assuming the astroshamans were smart enough to quarantine it. Either that, or this battle is going to be very easy since everyone will already be dead. But as soon as we remove it—”
“You were going to have to bring the pieces back out here to carry it out, right? I saw the chains and winch and everything you’ve got attached to the back.”
“Yes. But we need him.” Rache pointed at Casmir. “In addition to tinkering with the gate, he’s our best bet for getting past whatever security system is in place. It hasn’t escaped my notice that he’s rather educated and bright when it comes to hacking.”
“When it comes to many things.” Kim lifted her chin. “Which is why he needs to stay here and rest until we get out of here and figure out how to help him recover. You know his life is at stake.”
Asger jerked his head up. What?
He looked at Casmir. He’d assumed this was some flu or random space-station bug that was vexing him. Was Kim being melodramatic? Asger hadn’t known her to be so before.
For the first time, he noticed splotches on Casmir’s face and the backs of his hands. They were faint, but it had to represent the beginnings of a rash.
“I’ll watch out for him,” Rache said. “I’m not going to thrust him into any battles, but we need him or—”
“Or what? Some government leader who isn’t you might get a wormhole gate? Who cares? You can go take your minions and break into Jager’s secret vault and steal it later if you can’t let your damn whale get away.”
Now, Asger really didn’t know what they were talking about. Most of the mercenaries were standing and staring at the arguers. Asger started to worry that Rache would snap at Kim out of some macho fear that he was being undermined in front of his men.
“This isn’t about—” Rache started.
“It’s completely about you.”
“Uhm.” Casmir raised a finger, but neither of them looked at him.
“It’s about keeping my men alive while we complete a mission that is far more important than you seem to believe.” Rache stepped toward her and reached for her arm.
Kim stepped back and jerked it away. “Don’t touch me. And don’t keep pretending you rescued us out of some altruistic act. All you wanted all along was to drag Casmir into that base to be your damn computer hacker. That message you intercepted just gave you a convenient excuse. A justification for kidnapping him.”
“Let’s talk about this in private.” Rache’s tone was flat and clipped, but he didn’t reach for her again.
“I’m not letting you take him.”
“Uhm.” Casmir pushed himself to his feet this time before raising his finger. “If I could speak—”
“No,” Kim and Rache snapped at him as one.
“Well, I’m going to do it anyway. Roboticists are recalcitrant, you may have heard.” Casmir managed a wan smile. “I’ll go along. Thank you, Kim, for trying to help me, but I’d rather be doing something to keep my mind off the thing you and Dr. Peshlakai have been very careful not to tell me.”
Kim turned her frown onto him, but some of her anger faded. “Casmir… It would be better for your health if you rested and stayed quiet.”
“I have not observed that Casmir Dabrowski is capable of resting or being quiet,” Zee said, stepping up to peer at Casmir, “except during his nocturnal periods of unconsciousness.”
“Sleep,” Casmir murmured. “Humans call that sleep.”
“Even then, he sometimes talks to himself of equations and ideas for homework problems to challenge students in his upcoming classes,” Zee continued.
“Do I really?”
“Yes. Even though you are a poor rester, I believe you should heed Kim Sato’s advice. My scanners show that your vital signs are subpar, with an elevated heart rate, poor heart rate variability, and a temperature of approximately one hundred and two degrees Fahrenheit, which is above the optimal human range.”
“Thank you, Zee, but I’m going.”
“Rest is the superior choice,” Zee stated.
“See?” Kim said. “If you won’t listen to me, maybe you’ll listen to your crusher. Casmir, I’m serious. You need to stay here while these burly idiots—” she looked squarely at Rache, “—run off and play protagonists in some adventure novel.”
“That sounds extremely boring. And if I go with Rache, I might get the chance to puke on him. That would be delightful, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation.
“Really,” Rache murmured.
“Let me find my armor.” Casmir pushed himself into the aisle and wobbled lopsidedly toward the back.
Kim steadied him with a hand as he passed. She looked like she wanted to plant it on his chest and stop him, but she didn’t. She glared at Rache, stalked into the office they’d first been put in, and closed the hatch behind her.
“Suit up,” Rache barked to his men. “Get the explosives and all your weapons.”
“Yes, sir.” Their responses seemed more muted than usual.
Asger watched with new worry as Casmir disappeared into a cabin, looking for his armor. While the men scrambled to grab all their gear, Yas leaned his head out of sickbay, like a rabbit in a briar patch checking to see if the hunters had moved along and it was safe to come out.
Asger came up and gripped his arm before he could retreat again. “What’s wrong with Casmir?”
“It’s nothing you should need to worry yourself about.”
“I’m worrying about him, not me.”
Though Yas’s statement promptly made him wonder if he should be worrying about everyone.
“I’m bound to keep the confidences of my patients,” Yas said, “and I don’t think anyone would be served by—”
“He’s not your patient. He’s my friend and the man your loathsome leader kidnapped.” Asger kept himself from squeezing Yas’s arm—he didn’t want to be a bully about it—but it was hard.
Yas pressed his lips together in stubborn silence.
Asger growled and released him, then stalked into the office. Kim hadn’t locked the hatch. When he opened it and strode in, she dropped into a defensive crouch with her fists up before realizing it wasn’t Rache.
“What’s wrong with Casmir?” Asger asked.
Kim lowered her fists, her shoulders slumping. “He’s contracted the Great Plague.”
“What? That shouldn’t be poss—” Asger stopped, remembering the explanation he’d been given as to why Casmir was immune to the gate’s defenses. “Oh, hell. There’s no cure, is there?”
“No.”
13
The single remaining enemy turned out to be dead, thanks to stepping on one of the explosives, so Qin and Bonita left the body for the Kingdom people to deal with when they arrived. Bonita found the
controls for the cargo hold and activated the auxiliary lighting and was also able to get oxygen pumping back in. That was good since the exit into the corridor had locked itself during the breach. Qin knew she could force it open but didn’t want to damage the Machu Picchu further if it wasn’t necessary.
“I guess we should find the droid professors and report to them,” Bonita said. “And then twiddle our thumbs until the Kingdom ship arrives and we have to explain this mess. I’d feel better about all this if it hadn’t sounded like Kelsey-Sato was here in secret rather than as an authorized representative.”
“They picked Professor Beaumont,” Qin offered. “At least according to him.”
“According to a quirky loaded droid we’ve only just met. I knew I’d regret coming over here.”
“We weren’t injured. Much.” Qin rubbed her shoulder, a twinge of pain coming from something she’d twisted while falling off the crates. “And we thwarted the bad guys.”
“In an ideal universe, we’d get a reward for that.”
Bonita didn’t mention that she’d never found the universe ideal. Qin knew her well enough that she didn’t have to.
A clang-clang-clang came from the airlock hatch, and they both jumped.
Bonita swore and slung her rifle off her shoulder. “One of them must have used jet boots to get back over here.”
“Does he know this is the ship where all the guns are?” Qin couldn’t believe those men would try to come back here after they’d been routed. She dropped her Brockinger into her hands and strode to the hatch. “We’re answering it, right?”
Bonita grunted. “I suppose. Answer it and then blow a hole in whoever’s presuming to knock.”
The panel on the wall showed that the outer hatch was operational and securely shut, and that the airlock was pressurized and not leaking air. All the damage had been to that tube.
After Qin unlocked the hatch, she jumped back, ready to shoot.
Johnny stood inside, a pistol pointed to the head of a sneering graying man that Qin didn’t recognize. Captain Amazing? He wore armor, but his helmet was missing, so the pistol pressed against his thin hair. A small shuttle was docked behind them, so Qin could no longer see the Maze Runner. Was the other ship still out there?
“Mind if we come in?” Johnny asked brightly.
“Where did you go?” Bonita strode up and peered into the airlock, then jerked with surprise at the sight of them.
“To retrieve a gift for you, of course.”
“A gift?” Bonita sneered to match the stranger’s sneer. “That’s not a gift. That’s the wad of furry, linty crap that you throw out after Viggo’s vacuums cough it up into the filter.”
“I don’t think she likes you,” Johnny told his prisoner.
“Screw you,” the man said. “And screw you too, Lopez.”
“It’s Captain Lopez, and I’d take Dagger-face there to bed before you.”
“Ah,” Johnny said, “you acknowledge that you do find my tattoos appealing. And that you’re imagining me in bed.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” His prisoner glanced at him. “She’s old and horny and desperate.”
Johnny pushed him, and his head cracked against the side of the chamber. “Oops.”
As Amazing, who did not look that amazing, winced, Johnny shoved him into the hold and stepped out behind him, keeping the pistol pointed at his head.
“I’m not sure about imagining you in bed,” Bonita said, “but if you keep abusing my enemies, I might start to have warm fuzzy thoughts toward you.”
“I would be honored, dear Laser. I’d bow to you, but my prisoner is in the way. We either need to find a cell to stick him in or stun him. I’d like to hand him over to the Eagle so he can explain why he thought pilfering goods from a Kingdom ship full of wounded people was a stellar idea.”
“The professor took the stunner, remember?” Qin asked.
“Can’t we just pummel him soundly in the head to knock him out?” Bonita waved at Amazing’s face—he had an old scar at his temple, and Qin remembered her saying she’d shot him before. “I believe that’s how they did it in the old pre-stunner days.”
“I do appreciate a woman who has a place in her heart for brutality.” Johnny winked.
Soft clangs sounded again, this time from the corridor side of the hold. The door slid open, and Kelsey-Sato and Beaumont peered around the jamb, his head up at human level, hers down at monkey level.
Amazing stiffened, as if he recognized them. There wasn’t any reason he should if he’d only come for salvage. Could he have known about the gate and the data they carried?
“Maybe we should question him before brutalizing him,” Qin said.
“At the same time works,” Bonita said.
“I’m not telling you rejects from the gene bank anything.”
“No need,” Johnny said cheerfully. “When I couldn’t find you right away—who knew a captain would hide in his cabin while his men were raiding another ship?—I had a chat with one of your officers. The squirrelly woman with diamonds drilled into her teeth. In truth, they may have been lesser gems that only look like diamonds. I didn’t ask her about that. Only about what you were really doing here.” Johnny’s eyes narrowed, some of his affable nature fading.
“Roxy wouldn’t have told you anything, not without a truth drug jacked into her veins.” Amazing spoke belligerently, but Qin read a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.
“Oh, but she found me terribly charming and agreed that it would be worth speaking up if it meant you mysteriously disappeared into a Kingdom prison mine, along with most of the crew of your ship, and she was the only one left to claim ownership of the Maze Runner. It’s registered in System Cerberus, I understand, and finders-keepers is how legal ownership is determined there.”
Amazing clamped his mouth shut and glared. The scholars walked in, and he glared harder.
“What did the new owner of the Maze Runner say?” Bonita asked.
“That a certain mining ship failed to do a sufficient job of destroying the Machu Picchu here. Not only did they leave some of the crew alive, which was not the suggested course of action, but they failed to acquire an android with a database of important information in his memory.” Johnny extended a hand toward Beaumont.
“Tsk, tsk.” Beaumont shook his head.
“They did try to find us,” Kelsey-Sato pointed out. “Well, not me, since they shouldn’t have known I was here, but Beaumont. But we hid. I just wish the rest of the crew had hidden instead of trying to fight.” Her tail twitched in what might have been agitation if she were a cat.
Qin wondered if it was strange that she was a touch envious of that tail. The scientists who’d mashed her genes together must not have thought a cat-woman warrior needed one.
“So Prince Dubashi tried again,” Johnny continued.
“He’s throwing money around left and right to get to Kingdom people, isn’t he?” Bonita asked.
Kelsey-Sato tilted her head.
“He’s got a fresh bounty on Casmir’s head,” Bonita explained.
“I must meet this Casmir that keeps getting mentioned,” Beaumont said.
“He’s a roboticist from Zamek City,” Qin said. “I don’t know why some Miners’ Union prince would want him dead.”
“I would think the prince would want him captured,” Kelsey-Sato said. “For the same reason he wants Beaumont’s memory. Casmir might be able to help whoever has him understand and deactivate the defenses of…” She glanced around. “The quasar.”
Bonita rolled her eyes. Only Amazing looked confused. Maybe he had only been told to get the android, not what Beaumont’s digital brain contained.
A soft ping sounded on Qin’s comm helmet.
“Are you two still alive?” Viggo asked her and Bonita on the same channel.
“Yes,” they said.
“Good. The Eagle has commed me and asked if I’m in contact with the Machu Picchu. Apparently, its comm is still down.”
“Ship’s comm down?” Bonita asked Kelsey-Sato and Beaumont.
“We’ve been trying to fix what we can,” Kelsey-Sato said, “but having to hide frequently in storage closets tends to slow down repair times.”
“Go ahead and tell us what they’re saying, Viggo,” Bonita said. “How far out are they? I’ll take a look at the comm and see if I can figure out how to fix it.”
“They asked what was going on and if I knew anything about it since I was just there. There may have been suspicion in the comm officer’s tone. I look forward to you straightening it out so that Kingdom combat shuttles don’t zip after the Dragon.”
“Me? Toes here is going to straighten it out. He’s a knight, remember.”
Johnny raised his eyebrows. “I can only hear your half of that conversation.”
“That’s the important part,” Bonita said.
“They say they’ll be there in a few hours, and they want to speak with Professor Beaumont in person. And that if there’s a knight there, they’ll want to see him. It seems they have no knowledge of a knight on the Machu Picchu.”
“I’m shocked,” Bonita said.
Qin thought about pointing out that none of them were supposed to be on the Machu Picchu, at least not according to the plans they’d entered the system with, and it was only the distress call that had brought them here. But they could sort it all out later.
“Let’s lock this prisoner up somewhere while we wait,” Johnny said. “Is there a brig?”
“I know of some nice storage closets.” Beaumont adjusted his glasses and smiled, like he would enjoy shoving someone else into one of his hiding spots.
“I guess that will do.”
“I’ll put him away.” Bonita waved for Johnny to push Amazing toward her. “You two scholars can show me where, and then show me to the bridge so we can look at the comm.”
Johnny hesitated to relinquish his prisoner. “He may make trouble for you.”
Bonita walked up to Beaumont, took the pink Lady Shufflebottom from his hand, then stalked up to Amazing.
“Bitch,” he snarled.
She shot him in the face. He crumpled, unconscious, and she slung him over her shoulder in a move that she wouldn’t have tried a month earlier, even with her armor giving her legs extra strength and a bunch of support for her skeleton. Her knees wouldn’t have allowed it. Qin smiled, pleased that she was feeling so much better.
Gate Quest (Star Kingdom Book 5) Page 21