The first two crushers sprang toward the Dragon as the hatch-ramp lifted from the pavement. The process wasn’t fast enough, and they caught the lip of the hatch before it closed all the way.
“Shit,” Bonita swore, sprinting for the small armory between engineering and the hold. “Qin, weapons!”
“Bring me my Brockinger,” Qin yelled back as she sprang in front of Kim, landing in a fighting stance with her fists up.
One of the crushers made it inside and sprang toward her. The second leaped for Asger.
The only one with weapons already, he whipped his pertundo from its holder, telescoping out the handle and using it like a spear. He jabbed the long point at the crusher, trying to keep it at bay.
Zee pushed Kim backward as he rushed to intercept the crusher attacking Qin.
The banging of metal on metal came from the hatch. The hands of the third and fourth crushers gripped the edge, just their fingers visible. The hatch kept trying to shut but it got stuck on them. The hands shifted into levers, and more warping and wrenching sounds echoed through the cargo hold as the crushers pried open the hatch.
“Casmir!” Kim yelled over her shoulder. “We need the rest of your robots.”
She looked at her own empty hands and ran behind crates ratcheted to the deck near the corridor leading into the ship. The idea of hiding made her bristle, but it wasn’t as if her fists would do anything against crushers.
“Captain Lopez,” Kim yelled, “bring me a weapon too.”
Zee hurled one of the crushers across the cargo hold so hard that its head dented the hull. Unfortunately, the blow did nothing to damage it. The crusher landed and sprang to its feet. Kim expected it to leap back into the fray against Zee, Asger, and Qin, but it paused in a crouch, its quasi-human face turning slowly as it looked around the cargo hold.
Looked? Kim had no idea where whatever optical sensors it had were. From what she’d seen when Casmir had constructed Zee, all of their programming was in the nanites in their matrix, and she had the impression that those worked akin to cells rather than the cybernetic sensory organs in an android.
However it saw, she shuddered when its face pointed straight at her. She couldn’t be its target, could she?
Its head shifted a couple of inches to the side as Casmir ran out of the corridor. He halted abruptly, gaping at the mayhem as Qin was hurled into a bulkhead. Bonita ran into view with three rifles and Qin’s huge shell gun.
“Qin!” Bonita threw the big gun across the cargo hold.
The crusher that had been watching Casmir and Kim leaped higher than any human could and intercepted the throw, catching the gun out of the air. It landed as Bonita cursed and opened fire with one of the DEW-Tek rifles. Crimson energy bolts hammered the crusher as it sprinted toward Casmir.
Kim grabbed him and pulled him behind the crate, though she knew that wouldn’t do anything to protect him.
Several of his battle-bots ran out of the corridor. Clunks, bangs, and screeches erupted as they plowed into the crusher at top speed. Something flew and clanged against the wall behind Kim and Casmir.
She ducked as she pulled him farther from the melee. A robot arm tumbled to the deck with a clatter.
Casmir swore. “I just attached that.”
His robots weren’t going to be up to battling a crusher; Kim could tell already.
Then the crusher flew past, disappearing backward into the corridor. Kim was confused until another crusher sprang after it—Zee.
“Go, Zee, go!” Casmir hollered.
“Shush.” Kim tugged him through the narrow aisle between crates and the bulkhead, hoping to work their way around to Bonita, so they could get a couple of those rifles. “They’re here for you.”
“All the more reason to cheer my guys on.”
Casmir scrambled after her, and when they reached the end of the crates, they found Bonita, her back to them as she leaned out and fired. Two of the extra rifles she’d grabbed lay at her feet.
Without glancing back, she somehow sensed their approach and kicked the weapons behind her to Kim and Casmir. She kept firing methodically, her entire body steady. Nobody seemed to be targeting her—yet.
The cacophony of robots and crushers—and Qin and Asger—battling for their lives echoed from the bulkheads, slamming at Kim’s eardrums like a hammer on an anvil. She grabbed the rifles and thrust one into Casmir’s hands. Judging by his expression, he felt she’d just given him a poisonous snake, and she doubted he would use it. Kim didn’t know what it said about her that she would.
“Watch our backs,” Kim told him, jerking her chin along the wall the way they had come.
“Right.” Casmir faced the indicated direction, the rifle loose in his grip. “I’m placing two of the robots in the way as barriers.”
Kim eased into the gap between Bonita’s shoulder and the wall so she could get a view of the main battle by the hatch. The hatch that was stuck halfway open with the men in combat armor now swarming through. Kim groaned.
Bonita was targeting them—four had already made their way in—while Qin, Asger, and Zee kept the enemy crushers busy. Casmir’s other robots were harassing the armored men, whoever they were. Not Kingdom Guard or Fleet—they would have been in matching armor in the same colors as their uniforms. Nor were they knights. Knights all dressed like Asger. Kim feared these were the terrorists that had been sending the crushers after Casmir all along. But maybe that was good. If they could capture and question one…
The trouble was getting to them through their armor. Bonita was targeting their seams with impressive accuracy, but it wasn’t doing much.
Growling, Bonita leaned back and pulled a grenade from a cargo pocket. “Didn’t want to do this on my own ship, but we may not have any choice.”
Kim barely heard her over the cacophony of the battle.
A thunderous boom rose over the noise, and the deck shuddered. Two of the armored men flew backward as something exploded right in front of them.
“Looks like Qin got her gun,” Bonita said calmly. “Good.”
She’d been prepared to throw the grenade, but she pocketed it again and aimed her rifle at the two Qin had hit. They’d struck the hull and crumpled to the deck, their armor sooty and cracked. One dropped to all fours, shaking his helmet. Bonita targeted the seam between his arm and torso pieces—it had broken open slightly. Her bolts found the spot, and a blood-curdling scream escaped his lips.
He dropped his rifle and sprinted up the slanted hatch, sprang from it, and disappeared outside.
“Try to capture one if you can.” Kim had to yell so Bonita would hear her.
Bonita glanced at her. “I’m just trying to stay alive, kid.”
She opened fire on the second man who had been caught in the explosion, seeking another weakness in his armor. Kim lifted her rifle to help, but drew back to poke Casmir in the back instead. He jumped but fortunately didn’t swing the rifle in her direction.
“Try to get Zee to capture one of them,” she said. “These have to be the terrorists hunting you down.”
“I gathered that,” Casmir said over his shoulder. “I’ll try.”
Right, who else would have crushers and be after him?
Kim eased out again and almost lost her ear as an orange energy bolt slammed into the bulkhead. One of the men was firing back at Bonita now, Bonita and anyone standing next to her.
“Stay back,” Bonita barked, then leaned out and returned fire. She only shot twice before ducking back again. Two more bolts slammed into the bulkhead where her head had been.
Kim feared she would only be in the way if she jockeyed for position there. She felt useless but didn’t know what she could do to help. Jump up on the crates and fire from above? Her father had often mentioned how advantageous high ground was in a fight, but that presumed everyone was barefoot and in a gi in the dojo, not that one’s enemies all wore combat armor or were nearly indestructible robots.
A man shouted in pain and frustration
—was that Asger?
“Look out!” Qin yelled.
Kim couldn’t see either of them.
Before she could think better of it, she tossed her rifle atop the crates, then leaped, caught the lip, and pulled herself up. She grabbed the weapon again and belly-crawled across, careful to keep her head very low. She found a spot where she could peer over the edge and see everything happening below.
Zee and the robots had all except one of the crushers busy in the corridor. The remaining crusher battled with six armored men against Qin and Asger. Asger’s helmet was up, and he was fully armored now, but poor Qin still wore only her clothing. And was surrounded by three men. Asger kept trying to block them from getting to her, but he was dealing with two of his own and the crusher. The last armored man was trying to get to Bonita, shooting every time she stuck her head out to fire.
One of Casmir’s robots appeared to have been helping, but it lay on the deck now, one of its legs half ripped off. Other pieces of robots were scattered among the combatants.
In the close quarters, Qin used the Brockinger more often like a club than a projectile launcher. An effective club—she connected with a man’s helmet and knocked him ten feet—but she surely would have preferred to fire more explosives.
One of her shells lay on the ground behind two of the men who still faced her. She must have been trying to load her gun when someone knocked it out of her hand.
Kim eased her rifle over the edge of the crate and targeted the shell. She waited, trying to time it so it would blow up and damage the men’s armor without hurting Qin.
Qin must have seen her, for she sprang backward, doing a backflip in the air before landing several meters away. The men started after her. Kim fired.
From the awkward position, she almost missed the little shell. But she clipped the end, and that was enough. It blew up, yellow fire and black smoke filling the cargo hold. Men shouted, some in surprise, some in agony.
Zee startled Kim by running through the mess, another crusher slung over his shoulder, the thing’s neck twisted and its head hanging off to one side. Zee ran to the broken hatch and hurled his foe halfway across the pavement. Kim didn’t see where the crusher landed, but it was well out of her sight.
“Retreat!” someone cried, and one of the armored men who had been caught in the explosion limped toward the hatch. “There are too many robots!”
“Not just robots,” Kim whispered.
She fired at his soot-covered back, hoping to find a weakness in the armor. If they didn’t capture one of these people, they would never find out how to keep them from hunting down Casmir. Yes, Asger had given Casmir a name of a terrorist organization, but it wasn’t as if that came with an address and directions to their hideout.
The man sprang from the hatch without slowing down. She cursed as her energy bolts struck his armor but did nothing. Three more men raced after him. She groaned. They were getting away.
Zee had run back into the corridor to battle the other crushers.
“Casmir!” Kim called. “Get him to—”
“Zee!” Casmir yelled from atop the crates behind her. “Stop one of those men, please!”
Kim couldn’t believe he added that please. Maybe the ticket-taking robots did give him a discount on train fare.
The biggest of the crushers charged into view again—Zee. The last armored man glanced back as he sprinted for the hatch. He was fast, but Zee was faster. He caught the man around the waist as he jumped, and yanked him back inside.
“Good work, Zee!” Casmir cheered, scrambling to the edge of the crate beside Kim and dropping to his belly.
Sounds of fighting still came from the corridor, so Kim assumed the other crushers continued to be a problem.
“How’d you get up here?” Kim asked.
“I jumped, the same as you. I’m not that helpless, you know.”
“I apologize. I just assumed from the vomitus towel tucked into the neck of your shirt that you might be in a weakened state.”
Casmir grimaced and touched the towel. “I am, but that should be a testament to my prowess. I pulled myself up here even in a weakened state.”
“You’re a true action hero.”
Zee strode toward Casmir, his captured man shouting and flailing. He kept clunking the crusher in the head with armored knees and elbows, blows that would have felled a person, but Zee was impervious.
Four of the battle-bots ran out of the corridor, a warped crusher strung between them. This one’s head and one limb were half-liquefied, and it was trying to re-form itself as they ran, but they reached the hatch and hurled it outside. Three more robots dragged another one out and threw it after the first.
“Gotta get that hatch shut,” Casmir said and slithered off the crate.
“Hold fire!” Kim shouted, envisioning some stray bolt striking him.
But Qin and Bonita had already stopped shooting. Asger ran to the hatch with his pertundo shaft mostly retracted—he held the halberd over his shoulder like an axe, ready to attack any crusher that tried to get back in. The armored men outside had dispersed, but two of the crushers had already recovered. They ran back toward the hatch as Casmir clambered up to reach the pneumatic arms that were stuck. He opened his satchel and yanked out tools, working almost under Asger’s feet.
One of the crushers launched itself at them. The armored man must not have shared his order to retreat with them.
Asger met the crusher with his pertundo, the blade of the halberd striking it in the chest. It only bit in a half an inch, but white arcs of lightning surged all around his attacker. For an instant, the crusher froze, as if shorted out. Asger spun and slammed a side kick into its waist. The crusher flew backward, slamming into another one that was trying to get in.
Qin leaped past Casmir and fired her anti-tank weapon at both of them. The shell struck one in the face, and the explosion knocked them apart, their torsos warping and deforming.
Kim dropped off the crate and ran past Zee, who still held the squirming man. Before she reached the hatch, Casmir shouted a triumphant “Hah!” and rolled back down to the deck. He jumped up and slapped the control panel.
Qin and Asger backed inside as the hatch finally closed.
“Take us to another air harbor,” Asger barked at Bonita.
Bonita scowled at him. “Please.”
“Please take us to another harbor before those crushers get sent back and we have to deal with them again,” Asger said.
“What harbor? Where aren’t we going to get ambushed?” Bonita looked at Casmir instead of Asger.
Casmir’s shoulders slumped. He had to know the crushers had come for him. Again.
“Drachen Landing,” Asger said.
“Isn’t that right by the castle?” Kim asked. “And used exclusively by knights, nobles, and royalty?”
“Yes,” Asger said. “No terrorists will ambush us there.”
Right, just knights, nobles, and royalty…
“Got it.” Bonita ran toward navigation.
“How did they know to ambush us here?” Casmir asked.
“I don’t know,” Asger said grimly.
“Well, thank you for fighting them. All of you.” Casmir looked at each of them, his eyes full of sincerity. They widened when his gaze landed on Qin. Blood ran down the side of her face and from a cut in her side that had left her shirt and her flesh torn open. “Damn them, I’m sorry, Qin.”
“It’s all right.” Qin shrugged easily. “I heal fast. And it’ll teach me never to walk about on Odin without armor again.” Her expression held a sad wistful tinge that didn’t seem to have anything to do with the battle. “This place isn’t safe for people like me.”
“No, no,” Casmir said. “There are safe places. Once we deal with these jerks who are trying to kill me—if it helps, Qin, they probably don’t have anything against you.”
Judging by Qin’s lopsided smile, it didn’t help.
“I’ll take you somewhere safe as soon as I�
�ve convinced them to stop attacking us.” Casmir gripped Qin’s forearm. “To my parents’ apartment for Sabbath dinner. My mother would love you. All of you. She’s a physical therapist, so she can help with any lingering injuries from battles.” He smiled cheerfully at Qin and Asger, nodding to include Kim. “And my father is an excellent cook. He makes a mouthwatering brisket. And blazing matzo ball soup. You’d like that, Asger. Matzo balls are high carb. Good for your macros.” Casmir used his other hand to clasp Asger’s forearm. “You’ll come, right?”
Kim watched this exchange in bemusement, wondering if he was trying to set them up on a date—of a sort—or if he was merely trying to show appreciation for their assistance. She couldn’t imagine Asger ever doing more than fighting beside Qin. Kim was a little surprised he could even manage that since he ignored her the rest of the time.
“Uh,” Asger said, eyeing both Casmir and Qin warily.
Qin’s expression was more wistful than wary as she looked at Casmir. “I’ve never had a mother. Or a father.”
“Oh, they’re highly recommended.” Casmir patted her arm. “I’ll be happy to share mine.”
Qin looked uncertainly toward Kim. Wondering if his parents would let her in their apartment without calling her a freak?
Kim nodded in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. She would remind Casmir to warn them first, but the Dabrowskis were warm, open-minded, and largely unflappable. They had to be to have survived someone building robots out of their kitchen appliances.
“We’ll see,” Asger said. “After Casmir has his appointment with the queen.”
“Oh,” Casmir said brightly. “Did you arrange something?”
Asger nodded, though he looked down at the hand on his forearm and didn’t meet Casmir’s eyes. “Right before this started, I did.”
“That’s a relief.”
Kim wished she could say it was a relief that she was going to meet the head of Royal Intelligence. She didn’t want to meet that person, and she wouldn’t have wanted to meet the queen either. If she had her choice, she would get a huge steaming latte with extra shots of espresso, and go to the lab to check in and see what work she was behind on.
Hero Code Page 5