Micah continued to lead the group. From the Hawkoids, she’d learned that this road would take them to the same place the Bots had taken Brandt. According to Zyena, they could enter the building from her side, the other side from which they approached. They’d get a good look at the warehouse door, as Skirill called it. They’d continue past that, around the building, and enter.
That was the plan anyway.
When a Security Bot appeared from between two buildings to her side, she immediately ‘yelled’ ‘Scatter!’ in her thought voice, while she tried to nonchalantly walk past. It’s tentacle arm shot out in front of her and blocked her way. The others scurried in all directions, trying to put buildings between them and the Bot.
Everyone except Bronwyn. She walked forward, apparently without concern, staying on the far side of the street from Micah and the Security Bot. She passed and kept walking without looking back.
Braden and Bounder had gone between two buildings on the far side of the street from the Bot and Micah. Pik had jumped into an alley on his side of the street, the same side as Micah. He rushed away towing Aadi behind him, on a path to get behind the encounter. Fea and Treetis ran with him while G-War joined Braden.
‘I suggest you let me handle this,’ Aadi offered. Pik reached a corner where he could look down the alley and see the Security Bot at the other end. Aadi let go of the rope and swam slowly around the corner, continuing straight toward the Bot. ‘If you would be so kind as to back up a step or two, I would be most grateful, Master Micah. Please confirm that it does not have its energy shield active.’
‘No shimmer, Master Aadi,’ she said while in the standoff with the Security Bot. ‘I’ll try to move backward, but I don’t want to get zapped by that thing again. I was just starting to feel normal.’
The Bot stayed still as Micah cautiously wriggled her feet backward, one toe-length at a time. Aadi was halfway down the alley and Micah still wasn’t far enough away when another Bot showed up behind the Security Bot. It looked different, round with two small tentacles and a bubble dome atop, little bigger than Aadi in both size and shape.
It hovered past the Security Bot, making a circle around Micah, then it came close enough to touch her. Inside the bubble dome were various lenses and lights. One shone directly into her eye, the same one that contained the neural implant.
Aadi continued to swim, cursing his slowness as he watched the new Bot examine his friend. From the far side of the street, Braden ran, stopping at the corner to aim his blaster, but both Bots were too close to his mate. He didn’t have a good angle and there was no place else to find cover. He kneeled, aimed, and waited.
“Yes, you have the implant. Where did you get it?” the small Bot asked in a feminine voice.
“I’m sorry, what?” Micah replied, trying to buy time for Aadi.
“Now, now, don’t try any of that. My name is Gloria, and I run Atlantis.”
Run!
Aadi continued swimming forward, but the effects of the last Security Bot he had tangled with were weighing on him. He stopped, collected himself, and prepared his focused thunderclap.
“Gloria, nice to meet you. I’m here to pick up my father. Once we do that, we’ll be on our way, if you don’t mind,” Micah said, thinking of Gloria as she did the AI from New Sanctuary. Treat her like a real person and she may respond.
“I do mind. We need you more than you need him. We need you and the mutants who travel with you. We need their genetic material to build the army.” Gloria’s tone was flat and measured, unlike the old Professor, who’d sounded maniacal when he said the same words.
‘Cover your ears, please,’ Aadi warned, not a heartbeat before the Security Bot exploded spectacularly, throwing Gloria’s Bot into Micah and Micah to the ground. The smaller Bot fell on top of her and toppled to the side. Micah’s arms and legs hurt where shrapnel from the explosion had hit her.
Braden ran to where the sparking remnants of the biggest piece of the Security Bot lay. He pulled Micah out of the wreckage, then fired his blaster into the Bot until it too lay in ruin.
“Building!” Braden said, pointing. They ran through the nearest door, while Bronwyn ducked into a building further up the street. Pik joined Braden with Aadi in tow once again.
“Aadi! You taught that Bot a lesson, both of them,” Braden said slapping the Tortoid on his shell.
‘I think the second Bot was just a way for Gloria to get around without a system like Holly uses,’ Aadi said in a tired thought voice.
“Are you okay, old man?” Braden asked gently, bending down to look into the Tortoid’s eyes. He blinked slowly.
‘I’ll be fine, but a nice bit of rest would come in handy, I think,’ Aadi replied, bobbing his head. ‘But I know that won’t happen so we’ll just make do, won’t we?’
“We won’t just make do. I think we need to protect you. You’ve already lost more than anyone else here, so no, Aadi, I think you should stay here, wait for us.”
‘I appreciate the consideration, Master Braden, but I might be the only one who is successful against the Bots.’
“And we may need you again, so that’s why it’s important to rest. Give us a chance to prove ourselves. Nothing would make me happier than not having to fire another shot down here. We’ll call you if we get into trouble, which is probably a given, but we’ll hold that off as long as we can. Make yourself scarce, A-Dog. We’ll be in touch,” Braden said, rubbing the Tortoid’s shell and heading for the door.
He ran into the street, past the smoldering wreckage and down the alley on the opposite side. One by one, the rest of the companions followed him. Bronwyn casually walked back into the street and toward the center of the undersea city.
Micah was last, and she stopped at the corner of the alley, letting the others get further ahead as she wanted to increase the spacing between the companions. She looked back at the wreckage as a Maintenance Bot arrived and started scooping the pieces into its trailer. Micah ducked around the corner and walked slowly away, covering the group’s rear.
Braden was at the front. Bounder behind and to the left, Pik at the far right. The ‘cats walked as they desired, seemingly unconcerned about anything.
Treetis stopped to bat at something in the street. Fea made a beeline toward him, slapping him in the head as she passed. He shook his head and batted at whatever he was playing with one last time before running to catch up with the female ‘cat. Because of all they’d been through, it was hard to remember that Treetis was still a kitten as far as Hillcat aging went. He’d get there, eventually, and he would make G-War and Fea proud.
Just not yet.
Braden walked boldly forward, past one and two-story buildings on both sides of the street. He couldn’t tell what any of them were for, maybe small shops, but he didn’t see items or spots for trade, no markets, no traders. He didn’t like Atlantis.
He didn’t like anywhere they didn’t have trade, but here, he had no desire to change things. He only wanted to get Caleb and Brandt, then leave.
‘Me, too,’ Micah added over the mindlink. Braden smiled and chuckled. His mind was an open book.
The last buildings before the street ended on the windowless side of the large structure were bigger and looked to be busier. A number of people milled about, doing nothing. Many seemed to be simply waiting. He stopped one of these people.
“What are you waiting for?” he asked.
“Lunch, of course,” the young man said. Braden nodded.
“Me, too. Do you mind if I join you?”
“Why would you do that?” the man replied.
Braden noticed that everyone seemed to be the same age, the two they talked with earlier and everyone here. “No reason. Actually, I think we’ll move on. Enjoy your lunch.” Braden ended with a close-mouthed smile and tip of his head. The young man returned his full attention to waiting.
‘G? The same?’ Braden asked in his thought voice.
‘The same,’ the Golden Warrior answered with
out elaborating.
Braden walked away, paying no further attention to the young people because they were no threat. He continued past the large gate through which the Bots had carried his friend. He looked at it without turning his head, using his peripheral vision. There was no one there. He didn’t see any Old Tech monitoring devices, although his limited experience with them suggested he needed to see a flashing light to identify it as such.
He continued past the largest part of the building where there were no windows. Skirill and Zyena shared that there was no unusual activity from anywhere around the complex that dominated the center of the dome.
Braden stopped at the corner and looked back. No one seemed to be paying any attention to a Wolfoid walking down the street, trying to look inconspicuous, or the Lizard Man not far behind. Micah mostly blended in, but the blaster at her hip and sword across her back screamed that she wasn’t from Atlantis. Braden had lost his shortsword with his blasters. He felt almost naked without it.
He couldn’t see the ‘cats and had to look. All three were next to the gate, examining it. G-War jumped and embedded his claws in the material, which Braden didn’t think was wood. As ‘cats can, G-War climbed the vertical gate, until he stood at the top.
‘What are you doing, G?’ Braden asked frantically.
‘I’m going to take a closer look. No one cares about anything out here. Just stand there and wait. I’ll be right back.’ G-War disappeared over the gate.
Braden held out his hands and looked at Micah in surprise. Treetis started climbing the gate, but Fea caught him by the scruff of his neck. Treetis was slightly larger than the all-white female ‘cat, but she was a mother and this was her adopted son, so she dragged the young ‘cat off the gate. He looked funny hanging from her mouth. She stepped on him as she tried to walk away and finally gave up, dropping him to the street.
They joined the Wolfoid next to the wall. Fea made Treetis sit at Bounder’s feet while she faced the orange ‘cat and stared.
Pik was on the other side of the gate from Braden, next to the wall, while Micah was across the street, blending into the small crowd of people waiting to eat lunch. Skirill and Zyena didn’t see anything, until the gate started to open, and everyone saw that at the same time.
An orange flash appeared as soon as the gate had opened wide enough. Through the opening and a hard turn toward Braden, G-War raced past the Wolfoid, Fea, and Treeits. ‘Come on,’ he told them over the mindlink. As one, the Wolfoid and two ‘cats bolted after the Golden Warrior. Pik stood frozen and did the only thing he could. He ran ten paces and stripped out of his skin suit. Braden hadn’t known he could get out of it that quickly, but there it was, lying on the ground next to one of many trees that decorated the undersea city. Pik had blended in and looking closely, Braden could see the lightning spear, but not the Lizard Man.
Micah squeezed in closer to the door, putting more people between her and whatever was coming through the gate. With her back to the wall to hide her sword and her blaster cradled to her chest, she watched a Security Bot slowly hover out. It turned in the direction that Braden and the others had just disappeared. The Bot moved slowly away from the building, continuing around the corner and out of sight.
‘Lover?’ Micah tried tentatively.
‘We’re inside. G was right. No one seems to care. What do they do that they don’t know enough to care about anything?’ Braden wondered as he watched the Security Bot move past the door, turned, and headed into one of the radial streets. ‘It’s gone. Keep an eye, Ess?’
‘Of course,’ Skirill replied instantly, having a good view of the first part of the street it had taken, but not the second. He could move if he had to, but expected the Bot would spot him. At least he could see when it was returning.
‘This looks like a reception area, like at the Oasis or New Sanctuary, but on a massive scale. But I don’t see anyone really doing anything. Let me try something,’ Braden said and before Micah could talk him out of it, she heard him over the mindlink as he addressed one of the people there.
“Good morning,” he said pleasantly. “I’m checking in.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” the young receptionist answered. She reminded him of the holograms that staffed the front desk.
“I’m checking in, for work here. That is what we do here, isn’t it?”
“No,” she replied.
“Wow! They sent me to the wrong place. I can’t believe it. What do they do here?”
“When summoned, we’ll enter the chambers. We are waiting for that. There is nothing in between,” she replied confidently. It was the first spark of commitment he’d seen from one of the Atlanteans.
“There’s lunch!” Braden said, happy with his diversion.
“When we are summoned, we’ll enter the chambers. That is it. We will wait here until that happens. There is no lunch. Not anymore.” She crossed her arms in front of her and looked at Braden expectantly.
Who was he to disappoint a mindless young woman? “So it won’t be long, then?” he asked.
“I expect not,” she answered rather intelligently.
‘G?’ Braden asked, hoping that the ‘cat sensed something different with this one.
‘This will be her third time into the chamber. Each time, it seems she gains something a little different. This is the Professor’s doing,’ G-War added unnecessarily.
“Thank you, you’ve been very helpful,” Braden told the young woman. He waved the others to follow him as he walked past the tables of waiting people and headed for a hallway into the back. Some of the Atlanteans watched him, which piqued his curiosity. The closer to the center, the more different the people became.
He had to know. He checked two different doors as they went deeper into the back, but both were locked. There wasn’t a hand panel next to them and the door handle seemed plain. He continued to the end of the hallway where there were double doors that looked like they swung open. He pushed lightly and the door moved. Bounder and the three ‘cats were right behind him.
“Shall we?” Braden whispered. They nodded. With his blaster in hand, he walked into the single biggest room he’d ever seen, and that included some of the laboratory spaces on the spaceship.
Tables and work spaces, everything was an immaculate white. Clear vats with supports looking like the smooth silver of buffed steel. Instruments and hoses, flashing indicator lights. A vast medical laboratory, but that didn’t hold Braden’s gaze.
It was the people in the vats, constrained on the beds, with hoses and probes and monitors making them nearly unrecognizable. A vast number of Medical Bots moved freely around the beds and vats. Beside each person was an empty bed that looked similar to the cryo pods on the Traveler. The chambers.
What were they transferring from one person to the other? Braden looked on in horror. Bounder sniffed the air, then dashed into a cleared aisle between chambers and equipment as they headed deeper into the laboratory. Braden, Fea, and Treetis followed. Like with the young people outside, no one seemed to care that a Wolfoid, Hillcats, and an armed human were running through the facility.
‘What is it, Bounder?’ Braden asked in his thought voice.
‘Caleb,’ the Wolfoid answered.
Braden kept his blaster in hand, ready to shoot anything that needed to be shot. Seeing the comatose people plugged in like another piece of Old Tech made him sick to his stomach. He didn’t look too closely because he didn’t want to know.
‘What do you see?’ Micah wanted to know. She was trapped outside, away from her father.
‘You don’t want to know, but Bounder is on Caleb’s scent. I’ll get back to you soon,’ Braden replied, trying to take it all in as he ran after the Wolfoid.
Bounder stopped at an intersection and sniffed. Braden couldn't pass, so he stood and waited. He couldn’t help but look around him. The faces of people, who looked like fisherman. He leaned closer, an old man. The one who had yelled at him on the top of the hills overlooki
ng White Beach when there wasn’t any food. The one who encouraged the others to return to their homes and submit to the sea monster, as they thought of it.
That was cycles ago and here he was. Braden could see his chest inflate, but he couldn’t tell if that was from the tube in the man’s mouth or if the man was alive. Maybe both, maybe neither. There were probes attached to his head and other tubes disappeared under a pure white sheet covering the man’s body. Braden hesitantly touched the man’s head. He was warm.
“Are you alive?” Braden asked as he opened one of the man’s eyes. He’d heard that the eye was a window to the soul, but he couldn’t see anything, nothing to say that the man was more than his shell. He existed, yes, but did he live?
Bounder’s claws raked the floor as he bolted in a new direction, and Braden found himself hurrying to catch up. The ‘cats were close behind the Wolfoid. Braden passed more and more empty beds. He slowed and looked over the room. Twenty, fifty, a hundred, more and more empty beds. The Professor had said he was going to build an army. A madman’s ravings, but he had the means to do it. Everything was right here. As much Old Tech as anywhere on Vii.
‘The Security Bot has left the entrance to the tunnel. It is coming your way,’ Zeeka said over the mindlink.
‘Lunch is served and there’s no one left out here so I’m going inside. I’ll find a corner, away from the windows. I don’t know how Gloria could tell I have an implant, but I don’t want to be anywhere near that Bot when it comes by,’ Micah told them. She hoped that it was proximity, so the farther away she could remain, the less likely it was that they’d find her again. Having the implant made her a liability when they had believed it would give them an advantage. They hadn’t counted on a presence like Gloria.
Free Trader Box Set - Books 4-6: Battle for the Amazon, Free the North!, Free Trader on the High Seas Page 61