by T. M. Catron
Solaris smiled. “Hey, Captain. It’s okay. Sorry if I pushed you. No harm meant.”
“We’re okay?”
“Why wouldn’t we be?”
Rance smiled in relief.
Solaris nodded toward the cafeteria. The android had just exited the cafeteria dressed as Jane. Her scarf was pulled up over her hair, hiding part of her face. Rance and Solaris joined her. The robot smiled blankly.
“All set?” Solaris asked her.
The android Jane nodded. Up close, she didn’t resemble Dr. Eva Cross or Jane. Dressed as she was, from a distance, she might pass.
Rance gestured down the hall. “Lead the way.”
The android led them left, away from the real Jane. Solaris and Rance flanked her, making it look like she was in charge but keeping her half hidden from prying eyes.
When they reached the aquarium again, they paused at the aquatics.
“They’re following,” Solaris said casually as they watched the aquatic man and woman dance. “The same two we saw at the ship.”
“Will there be more?” Rance asked.
“No, the Wizards work in pairs or alone. There are a few elite teams of four or five.”
“Did you work in pairs?”
“Sometimes.”
“Do you miss it?” Rance looked at Solaris, who was staring at the aquarium without looking, concentrating on their surroundings, maybe.
“Sometimes,” he repeated. Solaris had mentioned months ago that he might be willing to go back to the Galaxy Wizards and face his punishment, whatever it was, so that he could return to duty. So far, he hadn’t acted on it, nor had he mentioned it in some time.
Rance put her hand on the android’s shoulder. It was staring at the aquatics.
“Did Jane explain what you are to do?” Rance asked.
“Yes,” the android said.
“Alright, it’s time. Good luck.”
Android Jane turned to look up at Rance. “All is not as it seems,” she announced. Then, she walked away toward the ladies’ room.
Solaris frowned. “What did that mean?”
“I don’t know. Did Jane make her say that?”
“Maybe she picked it up somewhere. Those protocol bots are highly sophisticated, but they’re programmed as customer service representatives. She hears all kinds of things all day long.”
“That must be interesting. Wonder what she’s heard.”
“It’s all on file somewhere. The cameras in her eyes feed directly into the security data. Her ears record what she hears. I’m sure there’s plenty. But they only check it when there’s a problem.”
Rance frowned. “Should we worry about the security guards? Do you think they were watching us through the android?”
“I doubt it. They seemed eager to help your mother.”
“Yes, but Roote, who could have given that cloaked man access?” She lowered her voice. Solaris leaned in, trying to hear her over the noise of the crowd. “Wizards can change their retinal signature too, right? You did it for us on Prometheus to get us past the rebels.”
Solaris didn’t say anything for a moment, but his face went tight like he was holding something in.
“What is it?” Rance asked.
“I’m so stupid for not seeing it sooner,” he said, balling his hand into an angry fist. “Only two Wizards can change their retinal signature or change it for others.”
“You and who else?”
Solaris met her eyes. A look of fear ran across his face, startling Rance. He always acted like he wasn’t afraid of anything.
“Roote, who?”
“Orion,” Solaris whispered.
Rance took a deep breath, letting the information sink in. Orion was the head of the Enforcers, an elite unit within the ranks of the Galaxy Wizards. He had raised Solaris, trained him. Now, he hunted him.
“If Orion is here,” Solaris said grimly, “your mother is in more danger than we thought.”
“Danger? Why would the Galaxy Wizards be dangerous for her?”
Solaris glanced over the heads of the crowd. “If he’s personally involved, there’s more going on than we know about. The Wizards know the artifact is stolen because they stole it. That means they’re after Jane because they think she can find the other one.”
“The android,” Rance said with a feeling of dread. “Nothing is as it seems. Roote, she was warning us.”
“The security guards can’t be trusted, either. And our ruse won’t fool them. We’ve got to find your mother and get out another way.”
“I’ll contact James and tell him to pick us up here.”
“If he does that, we’ll only verify what the Wizards have guessed—that Dr. Eva Cross is aboard the Star Streaker. And they’ll know we’re onto them.”
Chapter Nine
Realizing she’d been holding her breath, Rance let out a whoosh of air. She grabbed Solaris’ arm. “Let’s find Jane first and make sure she’s safe. Then we’ll decide about the Streaker.”
They pushed their way through the crowd. Solaris could part crowds without a word or touch, but he wasn’t employing that ability today. Anything that drew the eyes of the Galaxy Wizards would be a bad idea.
Desperate to see her mother safe, Rance tried not to run. Her feet wouldn’t listen to her head, though, and she jostled people as she pushed her way through families, couples, and groups of teens.
Solaris took Rance’s arm, gently slowing her. “It’s better if they don’t know we’re onto them.”
“I know that,” Rance hissed, “but my mother is somewhere in the museum, alone. They could have already cornered her.”
“She knows the museum, where to go.”
“What if she runs to someone she trusts and they betray her? She doesn’t know! Curse her distrust of tech. If she had a handset, I could call her.”
“Quite honestly, we’re the ones I’m concerned about at the moment.” Solaris nodded down the hall. Three security officials walked toward them, hands tense at their sides like they were prepared to draw weapons. Rance noticed that these guards looked distinctly more thuggish than the well-groomed ones they had seen in the office.
“I’m getting a bit of deja vu, Roote. Doesn’t it feel like we’ve been in this predicament before?”
“On Waystation 11, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Solaris said with a shrug as they turned to walk the other way. “For one thing, Galaxy Wizards aren’t Unity or pirates. They are a whole new kind of problem.”
“Perfect.”
“They’re speeding up.”
“She was going to meet us at the entrance. We need to get there.”
“I know, Rance.”
Ahead, two more guards made their way toward them. Still trying to look casual, Rance and Solaris ducked into a darkened side room. An impressive hologram of the galaxy rotated in the center. Visitors walked through the star systems, touching the ones they wanted to learn about. The black walls, floor, and ceiling made the room feel as if it wasn’t a room but deep space. It almost made Rance sick. Without a visual frame of reference, her body’s equilibrium was thrown off balance. The kids running around beneath the galaxy, trying to catch the stars, were having too much fun to worry about the adults with sudden onset vertigo.
Rance and Solaris walked around the room looking for an exit. But the room was a dead end.
“If the security team is in cahoots with the Galaxy Wizards,” Rance said, “they’ll lead those thugs straight to us. Cameras are all over the place.”
“Right,” Solaris said, thinking. “Did you just use the word cahoots?”
Three men walked through the door, their brutish outlines silhouetted against the light in the hall.
“We need a ruse,” Rance said.
“Because that’s worked well for us so far today.”
Rance grabbed Solaris’ sleeve and steered him further back into the room. “There’s got to be an emergency exit, righ
t?”
“You know,” she muttered as they walked along the wall. “Considering how spread out humanity is across the galaxy, you’d think it would be easier to lay low. But the systems seem to grow smaller every day.”
Solaris grunted in acknowledgment as he looked around for a place to hide. “Maybe if you’d chosen a profession that was less likely to draw attention to yourself, you would have less trouble hiding.”
“You mean I should have hopped the first transport off of Xanthes and become a fisherwoman on Ares?”
“It’s not very glamorous, I admit.”
Rance spotted a plain, black door marked Maintenance, painted to perfectly match the wall it was set in. She glanced at the cameras. No one would have trouble seeing where they went, but the darkness would hide their features well enough. Now, she needed a ploy. Seized with a fit of recklessness, Rance grabbed Solaris’ hand, pulling him close. She gathered her courage, hoping he would see that what she was about to do was only a ruse for the cameras.
Rance stepped in, leaning toward his body. A surprised look crossed Solaris’ face. He also seemed to be holding his breath.
Rance whispered into his ear. “Into the closet.”
“I—what?”
Rance slid slowly away from him as if she were reluctant to break contact. Then, she tugged him to the door. Her hand fell on the cold metal handle, and she pulled.
It was locked.
The keypad next to the door beeped and glowed red. Rance moved in front of it so the thugs wouldn’t notice the light.
“Son of a bard,” she said, still awkwardly holding Solaris’ hand.
Solaris watched the thugs break apart to search the crowd. “I guess they don’t have comms. Either that, or the cameras haven’t found us.”
We will be fine, Rance told herself. No need to worry.
Only questioning and detainment by an overly paranoid Empire. And then turned over to Unity and her father. Shipped back to Xanthes in energy cuffs.
Marriage to a buffoon.
“You’re going to have to use your powers to disguise us,” she said desperately.
“If a camera is watching us at all, then they will see us change.”
“We’ll have to risk it.”
As Rance contemplated a mad dash for the door, the panel on the wall beeped softly, and the maintenance door opened. A worker stepped out. As the door closed, Rance seized the opportunity to pull Solaris into the closet. It didn’t hold much—an old service bot whirring in the back, a few shelves with broken scanners.
The door hissed shut behind them. Unfortunately, the lights went out as the door shut.
Rance fumbled around in the dark for a button.
“Captain.”
“Help me find the lights.”
“If they monitor the lights, they’ll know we turned them on. Leave them. What are you doing?”
“Never underestimate the power of a closet. We’re hiding the old-fashioned way.”
“Yes, I gathered. That’s not what I meant. What were you doing out there?”
“I was acting for the cameras.”
“Ah,” he said noncommittally. Rance could almost hear him shrug.
Behind them, something beeped, and a tiny red light turned on. The bot on the far wall looked nothing like the sophisticated android from the restaurant. It was shaped like a human from the waist up, but its bottom half was a metal bar set on a pillar that ended in a wheel. It was old, and the face looked eerie in the red light shining from one of its fake eyeballs. It whirred louder, then emitted a loud mechanical grinding sound before going back to its humming.
In the faint light, they saw dark scorch marks on the inside of the metal door like someone had tried to shoot their way out of the closet.
The new red light on Solaris’ face was enough to let Rance see his expression. It was the same one he had been giving her for a few weeks now—a little humor, a little puzzlement, and something else she couldn’t put her finger on.
Was it embarrassment? Suddenly, the closet felt very warm. And they were very close. “Did I offend you out there?” she asked after an awkward pause.
“No, Captain. Just surprised me.”
A good surprise or bad surprise? she almost asked. Rance clamped her mouth shut. What a stupid question.
Solaris smirked.
“What?” she asked.
“I was thinking—”
Something clanged outside the door, making Rance jump. The service bot beeped again.
And moved.
The bot shot forward with its arms outstretched. It didn’t have hands, but metal hooks. Solaris pulled Rance toward him, out of the way in time to avoid being run over. It crashed into the door and bounced off. They cringed at the clash of metal on metal. Then, the broken bot spun in place, leaving a tiny red streak of light across the closet walls. They held their breaths, hoping no one outside heard the crash and came to investigate.
“I guess we know where those marks came from,” Rance whispered, nodding to the new mark on the door.
“I hope it doesn’t attack.”
She laughed. “Why would it attack? And what would it attack with?”
“You’d be surprised,” Solaris said seriously. “I’ve seen the aftermath of a malfunctioning bot. Just because they don’t have weapons doesn’t mean they can’t do damage.”
Solaris smelled like fresh water mingled with the mechanical, slightly electric smell of a spaceship.
“Captain?” he breathed. “I think you’re safe now.”
Rance was still leaning against Solaris’ chest. She looked up into his eyes. “I didn’t need you to save me from the killer bot.”
“Next time, I’ll let it run you over.”
“See that you do.”
The rotating light ghosted across their faces. Solaris was still staring at her. It caused Rance’s heart to beat erratically.
“Rance,” Solaris said. He looked serious. Too serious. His eyes were tearing up.
She held her breath, waiting.
“If we get stuck in here forever,” he said. “Do you think you would stop mashing my foot with your boots?”
Rance jumped away, looking down at his foot as if she could see it in the dark.
A pained expression crossed Solaris’ face, and he reached down to rub his toe. “Why do you insist on wearing boots when you’re supposed to look like a tourist—”
“At least they’re not my grav boots. It’s a good thing I’m wearing something I can run in because I see that happening in our near future.”
“The grav boots were about control. You like to be in control.”
“You’re just now learning this about me?”
“It has come to my attention on more than one occasion.”
The bot ceased spinning and backed away from the door. Rance and Solaris separated to opposite sides of the closet in time for the bot to pass between them.
Then, it rammed the door. A great echoing boom sounded like it made a dent in the metal.
“No!” Rance whispered. It was backing up for another go when she grabbed it from behind. It beeped annoyingly like an alarm. Rance’s grip wasn’t enough, and the bot sped up. It was going to slam the door with her attached. She let go before it hit the door again and toppled backward into a shelf. The wall shuddered.
“What’s it doing?” Solaris asked.
“I don’t know. Are you going to help me?”
“It would be easier if I could see you.”
They managed to grab the malfunctioning bot and wrestled with it. With two people hanging on, they halted it. The machine whirred and beeped, protesting its captors. Then, it began hitting them with its arms. Rance tried to grab one to avoid being stabbed with one of the metal hooks.
“Does this thing have a death wish?” Solaris asked as he did the same to the other arm.
“If it doesn’t stop, I’m going to decommission it.”
“How?”
“With my stunner.
It’s hidden under my jacket. I don’t go anywhere without that anymore, either.”
“You’re not supposed to have that in the museum,” he said accusingly.
“Sorry, mister law-abiding smuggler. But I don’t feel comfortable going anywhere now without at least this. And anyway, don’t you have your staff?”
“Yes, but that’s different. You’re lucky they didn’t detect that stunner already.”
“We weren’t supposed to be here very long. And in case you hadn’t noticed, they came after us anyway. Stand back.” Rance drew her stunner. “Of all the stupid luck—we had to pick the closet with the wonky robot.”
“Stunning it certainly won’t attract any more attention,” Solaris said dryly.
“Any better ideas?”
“Stand back. I have my staff—” The bot swung out toward Solaris. He yelped in surprise as the hook grabbed the staff and pulled it out of his hand. The staff clattered to the floor beneath the bot, and its arms continued to swing wildly. Solaris couldn’t grab the weapon without letting go of the bot. Rance backed away.
“Get back!” she hissed. “I’ve got this.”
Solaris let go of the bot and jumped out of the way. Rance couldn’t see where he went, but she trusted that he wasn’t touching the bot anymore. She didn’t want to accidentally stun him. The bot backed up to make a run for her. Rance aimed and fired. The closet lit up with a blinding flash as a bolt of energy hit it.
It crashed into the door, this time bouncing to the right and falling over. Sparks shot out of its head. A few landed on Rance’s hand, stinging her skin.
On the other side of the door, a man said something. Panicking, Rance looked toward Solaris. But with the red light gone, she couldn’t see him at all anymore.
“Any ideas?” she asked.
“Better than stunning a service bot inside a closet? No, none at all.”
Solaris touched her arm, trying to find his way toward the door. “We’ll have to burst out when they open it. Our only chance is to surprise them.”
“I think it’s time you used your magic, some of the reality-altering kind. If you don’t, they’ll catch us and probably figure out who you are anyway.”