by M. Garnet
"Can you tell me where this load is going? I'm the official auditor." Traci showed the small pin on her label. She turned to her robot and dug into the bag, then and pulled out a pad.
"Hey, boss. Someone official is here about a problem." The girl on a crate turned to yell over her shoulder.
A tall skinny guy walked out of the back of the loading ramp of the small ship. "Can I help you, Mistress?"
"I'm the Chief Auditor. I need to see the license YX123Y2643 Outgoing Supplies for this load, please." Traci spoke with a firm voice but smiled as she turned on her pad to a page that had a spreadsheet full of numbers.
Working with his pad, the skinny guy was frowning. "You know, my invoice doesn't have that long number. It just has this…." he held out his pad for Traci to see the screen. She pretended to examine it carefully and smiled.
"Hey, no problem. I have to get some items straightened up, and I will clear this on the other end. I will ride with you. Go ahead and finish loading." Traci walked up the ramp and through the crates to find a seat. Then she stood back up and looked around. "Ah, have my personal service unit find a place among your crates and out of the way. It will be needed."
Shifting a few cartons and crates, there was room for the robot, and soon the last of the items was on the airship, and they were aloft. Fortunately, they headed for the main city and into the landing area near where the big spaceships had their noses docked on the high area.
The busy auditor was walking through the hallways with a service unit right on her heels. There was nothing unusual about the scene, as others moved with service units full of bags and boxes. There were some that held totes for professionals. Traci did notice that there were some small differences in the service units. Most of the changes were in the headpieces, as some didn't have any, and some had large round bulbs with almost faces.
Going into a shop with Toy behind, Traci made a couple of purchases. She bought a plain dark-colored one-piece work suit. She also purchased a small tote and added some plain underclothes and personal items. Leaving the store, she let Toy carry everything.
"Do you have a cleansing room? My stomach is acting up." Traci frowned and rubbed her stomach as the last of her purchases were handed off to her personal unit.
"Sure, right by the back exit." The girl turned with the wait robot and went to help another shopper.
When Traci came out of the small room, she was wearing the dark clothes and had a scarf tied over her head. Toy was standing calmly outside the door and followed her out the back exit. Soon they were going from one dim alleyway to the next, heading to the work elevators to go up to the docking areas.
Back in this area to take a work elevator, everything was darker and dirtier and not near as busy. Traci led Toy over to an empty elevator, and they started up alone to get to the big ships.
"Can I talk now, Mistress?" The one-tone tinny voice spoke low near her.
Without turning, Traci nodded and then answered. "Yes, you can speak while we are in this elevator. Be careful."
"What are we doing?"
"We are getting off this world."
Toy made no response, and they rode in silence until the work elevator opened to a dark and busy area. It was full of large machines moving supplies and big crates across the docks from one section to another. The actual ships could not be seen here, but it was apparent this was where the supplies and trade items were moved onto and off the planet.
In this work area, Tricia stooped over, put her hand onto the floor, and then rubbed her fingers across her chin. She knew she was making a small streak of dirt on her face. Now she was in the disguise of a worker. But workers did not have shiny personal server units. She had to find some way to hide the looks of Toy.
Thinking of the problem had her looking around the area as they moved slowly along the inner wall. This was difficult as there were all kinds of items pushed against the walls. Also, the walls were not even and not connected. There were outsets with storage rooms, and then there were piles of junk.
At last, in a dark corner, Traci stopped and just leaned against an empty crate. Why was she trying to save this robot?
"You are sad." It was the tinny voice with Toy's head up, as it was looking around as if amazed.
"I need to take you with me as we get off this planet, but I need to make you look different. You don't look like a working robot because you are too clean and shiny. I don't know what to do." Tricia picked up a bit of metal from the pile near her.
"You don't like the way I look?" Toy asked without emotion, but Traci felt that the bot felt sad. Strange.
"I need to make you look different so that you will look like a worker robot, and then no one will be looking for you. It is why I changed into dark clothes and put a little dirt on my chin. We need to fool anyone who might be looking for us."
"I understand."
With those flat words, Toy sat her supplies on the ground and disappeared into the pile of junk that was piled almost too high to see over. Traci stepped back to watch the pile move, and small things fell off the top, but nothing that made much noise. Traci tried to relax and wait, wondering if the bot had enough understanding to get something from the pile of trash to help them. She was getting worried as minutes went by but did think that at least he would get dirty in the mound of litter, metal, and broken crates.
At last, there was a rustle at the front end of the stack, and Traci looked both ways to make sure there were no eyes on them. Out of the heap came a wide robot with a small one attached to it.
"Toy?" Traci spoke as she approached the wide worker with a small head on top with a blue eye.
"Yes, Mistress. Have I done good?"
Taking a deep breath, Traci walked around the metal and plastic of the wider robot with the small one attached to it. "You did great, and who is this?"
"It will help carry things. It is dumb, but two robots might fool someone who is looking for just one. Have I done good?"
"You have done good. Now pick up my things, and let's get a job on an outgoing ship. I will tell them I own you, and you can work on the ship loading and repairing."
If only things were that easy.
Chapter Seventeen
Once Traci and her worker bot got down in the area where the spaceships were docked, she felt that it was important to avoid the one station where the nice guy named Rud worked. He might not remember her, but it could be trouble on the off chance that he did.
It seemed that the sector that she had taken to come up into this landing zone was far away from where she had first landed. That meant that she didn't know the ships or people who were now located on these docks. There is no way Captain's can post for help needed on this planet. So, Traci needed to ask different crews if they knew of any positions open.
The best way was to get on the best side of someone. What she was looking for was someone who needed some assistance. So Traci walked slowly and watched. She also needed to pull up a new identity. That was not a problem as she had some reserve information on her wrist.
Stopping and making it look like she was making a change in the robot's programming, she opened a slot on its side. She spoke slowly to it and wondered if it had enough intelligence to understand.
"Toy, I need to change my name to help us get off the planet. I am no longer Traci Cen. From this point forward, I am Roma Bea. Can you adjust to that and call me Mistress Bea?" She waited a moment, looking at the blue eye.
"I can do good, Mistress Bea."
To say that Traci/Roma was shocked was an understatement. How fast was this bot learning and changing? Still, she was not going to have the bot's programs wiped. While she was thinking about brains, she began to squeeze her wrist in what most would call an odd way. She was resetting the ID so that it would announce her new identity and get her access to additional funds when it was scanned.
It was almost an hour of wandering before she saw her opportunity. A crewman was cussing at a small mover that had stopped. It see
med it had broken down, and he was unloading some small boxes to get at the brain.
"Need help?"
The guy looked up with a frown. "Yes, I need a new carrier." He turned back and pulled a panel off the floor of the unit.
"Hey, I just thought my repair bot might be what you need but forget it." Roma turned away.
"Damn, sorry, lady. That was rude of me. The boss knew that this floater was a mess for weeks, but we keep using it. I don't have any funds to pay you." He now was down on one knee.
"Look," Roma smiled and touched his shoulder. "I know what it is to have problems. I'm out of work and looking for a job. Let me take a look, or my repair bot might be able to help. No charge."
The guy moved over, and Roma stooped over, but before she could do anything, a long metal rod came over her shoulder. It was Toy, and it put its long prehensile tools into the open slot. Within seconds the floater rose from the metal floor. Her bot drew back and moved away.
"Okay, that works." He began to restack the small boxes, and Roma helped him. "Look, the big freighter called Some State is looking for help. They lost three crew, so tell the XO that Art from the Surveillance recommended you, and thanks."
After saying goodbye to the busy crewman, Roma and Toy made their way through and around other moving loads and big crates stacked in the middle waiting to be claimed. There were no moving walkways in this active working area around the noses of spaceships. It was a long walk, and Roma and her work bot just trudged on through the dim lights.
Looking at the signs and the lettering on ships, there was a clean nose of a yacht before the heavy forefront of a freighter. Roma was hoping that the big square prow of the one past the yacht was the carrier called Some State. There were a lot of people coming out of the front airlock of the yacht, along with luggage and floating haulers.
Suddenly, Roma found herself with no way around but to politely move through the crowd. She had bumped and been considerate in her apologies as she looked up at the large dark ship that was her intended destination. Another slam into a person who almost knocked them both down; the other person grabbed her to keep them both from falling.
"Traci?"
Looking at the young man holding her by the upper arms, she decided fate had dealt her a folding hand. Damn. She had no words as she looked at Fargo.
"What the hell are you doing up here?" Fargo looked at her when he stepped back. "And why are you dressed that way. If there has been trouble with Ada, I will pull him naked behind a Drawn."
"No, Fargo." She looked at the people who were stopping and watching them. "No. Everything is fine. It is just that my job is done." She took some steps backward to put distance between them.
"What do you mean? Your job is supposed to be permanent. Let's go meet with my father right now." He stepped toward her and reached out as if to grab her. A long metal rod with a plate came over Roma/Traci's shoulder to get between Fargo and what he was reaching.
Two men, all dressed in plain blue tight suits with weapons, moved forward to protect Fargo. Roma recognized bodyguards.
"It is okay. This is my robot, and it probably thought you needed help."
"Perhaps it is the female that needs help." The deep voice came from behind and over several other people. Roma/Traci saw the surprise in Fargo's face. It probably matched the shock on hers as she remembered the voice.
To Roma/Traci's surprise, she leaned back against her robot, as she didn't want to turn and face the speaker. She needed the support of Toy to keep her knees from folding on her. Here she was, so close to a ship where she could escape into the deep dark with the robot to protect, and the two males she didn't want to see had both arrived.
Life could get worse, but she couldn't think of anything except falling into a sun that might meet that scenario. At last, she realized she had to face the big man with dark eyes she knew as Bridge. He wasn't alone. There were two others, big and mean-looking and dressed like him, long coats and dark clothes.
Great, what went through her mind was a fight between these big guys, and Fargo's bodyguards would draw all kinds of attention. That would draw too many eyes, and her plan to escape quietly was blown away. Even Toy's disguise would not stand up to that much survey.
The problem was that Fargo was the son of a crime lord and didn't understand the word about stepping back. "Maybe we should hear from the lady." Again, Fargo stepped toward Roma, and she hoped Toy would not react.
She wondered if the robot would get into the melee if one began between the men who were frowning at each other. Maybe if she stayed in contact with the bot, it would stay calm. That brought forth another thought, did the bot have emotions, and could it stay calm?
It took her a second to realize that Toy was moving her backward as the people around them shifted. All of the uneasy movement of the people while no one was sure which side they wanted on or how to get out of the way. The other thing was that the area workers were still shifting crates, and there was the noise of machines on the metal floor.
The docks area was never a quiet area, with the large echoes and machinery moving all the time, both day and night. Ships came and went, both delivering and taking off items that involved the planet below. The workers and automatic machines were not interested in the small group that was gathered in one place. There were deadlines to meet.
Suddenly, as tension gathered among the men facing around Traci, there was a loud sound that reverberated around them. It almost sounded like a weapon shot. She never did find out what had caused the noise, perhaps just a metal box being dropped, but it caused a reaction, and some around her hit the floor.
Others pulled out weapons and began firing, some were slug throwers, and others threw out the blue streaks that were more dangerous. A few of the crew and people that had just stopped to watch began to run in all directions. This hid the fact that Toy was pulling her backward into a cardboard crate behind them.
The two of them disappeared into the front of the crate and out the back. The large box remained standing with a couple of holes that were new. Traci didn't resist because Toy was taking her out of the strange small war that was taking place in front of the polished nose of the yacht.
With its next turn, still moving backward, they were in a shadowy area against the back wall.
"Toy, can you get us over to the ship called Some State?"
"I am good now." The tinny voice was low, but the noise in the docking area was loud. It could have used an announcer and probably not be heard out where the fight was taking place. She had no idea what was going on the floor or who was winning? Could anyone win against the big men that Bridge called Dark Guardians? Did the Dark Guardians kill at random, or did they incapacitate and take prisoners?
Finally, the metal and multi-bending armatures let go of Traci, and she stood up next to Toy. "Let's be quiet and see if we can get around these people that are fighting."
Now she began to lead the way, and they moved along the wall in an area that was not cluttered with piles, so they were able to work their way behind crates and cartons and silent machines to move in the direction of the Some State.
At last, there was an aisle between some packing items, so Traci decided to see if she could discern if they were close to the big freighter. As they exited the dark area into the dim portion where floaters were moving, all she heard were workers. There was no noise of weapons.
"Hurry, Toy. Let's get across to the ship before any of the fighters come this way." She stepped out and waited a second for a large load to move by; they both ducked between a couple of slow-moving floaters and stepped toward their destination.
Just as she was about to move forward, there was a heavy hand on her shoulder, stopping her progress.
"Who is your friend with all the clutter on it?"
Freezing in place, she tried to decide if she could turn and kick him fast enough. Yet the hand felt solid, and she sighed.
"Bridge, meet Toy. It is what I want to save, so they don't wipe
its memory of a friend that helped it." The hand released her, and she turned to look up at the figure in the dim light. "So, you came to rescue me?"
She saw his head move and thought he was probably scanning to make sure that she was safe and that they were alone. "I came to give you a choice."
Traci also looked around to see only the workers and the delivery machinery in the close area. "What happened to Fargo?"
Now the tall head tilted down towards her. "Do you care for him?"
"Yes." She was surprised by the question. "He was very decent to me at the ranch." There was silence, and she wondered if he was judging that answer. "Look, I know who he is and who his father is, but I still have to judge people by how they treat me."
"You should also judge a man how he treats others. Do you know how many have died at the orders of Big Query?" The words were low and harsh.
"A child does not always follow in the steps of their parents." She was thinking of herself and the fact that she could not do what her mother had found so wonderful to practice daily.
"Big Query is training Fargo to take over his business. That young man has already been blooded. His hands are not clean." Bridge reached over and pulled a large piece of metal off the side of Toy. He held it up and looked at it before he gave it a toss that sent it sailing to the top of a pile far away. The man was really strong.
"Well, that doesn't matter. I was done with my work at the ranch. I am going to get a job on that big freighter over there. And I think that I can convince them to take my work bot along if you stop pulling him apart." She watched as Bridge pulled another piece of metal from Toy and tossed it to follow the first piece.
Toy rolled back to move behind Traci. Like a little child fussy with its clothes, Toy had small tools out trying to reattach different metal pieces to cover the spots that had been opened on his shiny sides.
Bridge looked at the robot over her shoulder and then down at her. Even in the low light of the docking area, she could see reflections in his dark eyes. Still, it was so hard to tell any emotions in his face.