Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance)

by Marlow, J. A.

  "So do I."

  While Tish liked the idea of getting fought over by different departments she didn't relish getting stuck in the middle of a fight. "I don't know where I'll be assigned. Arthur didn't say anything."

  Not that she would mind continuing her training with either of them, even Damien, but the way he looked at her told her he might want to be something more than a trainer. She wasn't interested. In fact, her heart seemed to be dead-set on the one person her mind knew she couldn't have.

  Which made her furious at herself. Why was she putting herself through this? Just because it had been so easy to sit with him and laugh at the movie last night? That he'd sought her out after hours? That he'd been concerned over her welfare?

  He was a concerned boss, nothing more. She needed to keep saying it to herself until she believed it.

  "…what you did for the breach," Rachel was saying.

  Tish's head snapped up, trying to catch up on the conversation. She echoed, "The breach? But I didn't do anything."

  "You repaired your section. With that area secure, the station systems were able to complete the rest," Rachel said, glancing at her. "Why do you think you did nothing?"

  She hunched her shoulders, "I wasn't able to stay. Ended up almost choking in the smoke and then trapped in an airlock. And I think I lost my bots."

  Three whistles sounded in chorus from one of the corridor entrances. In a blur of purple, red, and blue holographic bands around their eyestalks, three bot converged on her.

  She stared down at them, dumbfounded, while all of them stared up at her expectantly. She gripped the railing to keep her balance, not believing her eyes. She'd left the bots in a corridor filled with such dense smoke she could hardly see a hand in front of her nose and now they were around her feet?

  But there could be no denying the colored bands around the eyestalks, each of them identifying an individual bot.

  "You're back!" She cried. She grabbed a towel hanging from the railing and dropped down in the middle of them.

  They might not be as soft as hugging puppies, but they were more vocal. She loved all the noises they made as she polished their tops.

  "I see they found you," an amused rumble said above her head. She looked up to find Arthur laughingly gazing down at her, his hands on his narrow hips. "Perhaps you should take the hairbands off?"

  "I like them, it goes with their names." She loved the way he was smiling at her. He looked so much better with a smile. She turned to her bots, asking them, "Do you want me to take off the colored hair bands?"

  The round of sharp clicks and the leaning away of each eyestalk with a hair band answered her question. Tish felt pleased. She rather liked the splash of color among all the gray, black, and white colors around her. The only bot she'd seen with any color belonged to Rachel.

  "Looks like they stay, Boss. Sorry, but the feminization of your team continues," Rachel said with great relish from somewhere nearby.

  Tish didn't pay any attention to the laughter and jibes flying over her head. She had her bots back. She'd had a genuine smile from Arthur. The day was looking up!

  ***

  Arthur couldn't remember when he'd seen such an enthusiastic human and bot reunion before. Despite the laughter and jokes around her, Tish was still grinning and rubbing down her bots, uncaring about all of it. And the bots were lapping it up.

  "Okay, enough," he said to Vasiliy's comment about the tech womenfolk. Personally he liked having more women on the team. They saw and fixed different sorts of problems than the men usually went for. "Time to head out on repairs. Anyone need backup?"

  No one had any surprises for him. Only a big list of repairs to work on, far more than any of them would be able to finish in the course of a day, much less a week. Nothing new about that.

  "Aqua, hold still. You have a dirty patch," Tish said.

  Arthur stopped in the midst of talking over the life-support systems status with Damien to stare at her brown head as she scrubbed one of the bots. "Names? They have names?"

  Her smile froze as she turned her head up towards him. Damien must have been smiling, because her grin reappeared after glancing in his direction.

  She pointed from one to the next, "Yep, names. Violet, Crimson, and Aqua. It's better than 'hey, you'."

  He ran a hand through his hair, not caring if it made it stand straight up. Damien let out a belt of laughter, cuffing him in the shoulder. "I would say you hit a home-run on this one. It's always the unexpected ones that fit in."

  Tish turned from one to the next. "Is that a compliment?"

  Arthur gave a sheepish grin. "It's a compliment. The bots came back to you and are clearly attached. Congratulations, the station likes you."

  Her grin came back even bigger than before. When he suggested she get ready for her shift, she jumped up and ran towards the locker room with all three bots trailing behind.

  "Have a plan for her training? I hear she did well with Rachel yesterday. I wouldn't mind seeing what she can do with life-support," Damien said as he watched her leave.

  Which wasn't the only reason Damien would want her with him for the day. Arthur was no fool. He'd seen the way Damien looked at her.

  And he didn't want to share her. Not yet.

  "Sorry. She's with me today. I want to see what she can do personally."

  Damien smirked at him. "Sure. Have fun."

  She returned with all three bots, ending whatever else Damien had been about to add. The crews began to disperse to their assigned duties. Tish watched them, an expression of confusion descending over her face.

  After he sent out the last crew she finally asked, "I'm sorry, was I assigned to someone? Did I miss my assignment?"

  Arthur turned his head from the display he was studying. "You're fine. You are with me today. No point in simple training sessions since it appears you'll easily pass the trial period."

  Which the supervisor in him said was a good thing. Another part wished she'd flunked out and he could find her a job in another department. Then the conflict of interest would be gone.

  He pushed off from the console, disgusted at himself for thinking such selfish thoughts.

  "What are we working on today?" She asked.

  "I'm hoping that between the two of us, we can repair the primary defense systems on the outer exit ring." And after that, if she proved as instinctive with the systems as he hoped, other top priority repairs. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a new identification band. "Since you lost your original. Sorry about your wrist computer."

  Tish quickly put it on. "So long as it was lost for good purpose. Like fixing a relay."

  Her three bots chorused together at the statement. His bot queried the others with a question to which the other three answered with a chirp. The bot conversation apparently over, all four bots looked up at them.

  Arthur laughed along with Tish. "And so we start off the day."

  With four bots in tow he led the way out to the transit platform, and then into the area with the fault. He started pointing out some of the systems until he realized she could rattle them off with a little prodding from him.

  Connecting with the bots was one thing. Starting to connect up with the station itself so quickly was something else. Rachel's report came to mind, reminding him of her previous display of skill.

  "Keep using those instincts," Arthur said as they rounded a wide corner through which several of the larger robotics moved through, some of them carrying supplies in an open back cavity. "If you start to feel them fade away it means you are trying too hard."

  Tish nodded. "Got it. What did you say we were repairing today again?"

  "Primary defense systems."

  "Weapon systems? I don't know anything about weapon systems," she said. "Should we have brought a sled of special tools like Rachel does?"

  "Rachel's systems consistently use the same tools. Most systems aren't like that. Use the same instincts you've already been using. As for tools, we won't kno
w what is needed until we get there." He gestured after a freightbot as it passed by. "If necessary we can have a bot fetch additional supplies or tools."

  "I'm not used to improvising like this," Tish said as she watched the bot disappear down the corridor. "It's not typically a good way to work in an office."

  "You are definitely not in an office any longer."

  The dimple appeared as she grinned. "I know. Isn't it great?"

  "Looks like I just lost a maintenance clerk," Arthur said, echoing the grin.

  To Tish's protests and the complaints of her bots he laughed.

  ***

  Despite the assurances, the idea of 'winging it' did not appeal to Tish at all. When the laughing was all done and they were further into the area she asked again, "Shouldn't we go on more than 'feelings' when dealing with weapons?"

  His smile disappeared, worry replacing it. "I wish, but this needs to be done, as soon as possible. The last pirate attack took out the last defense node around the transit tube exit. We need to get it going before another attack. Using our instincts is the best way to do it."

  Tish gulped, realizing he must be talking about the attack she'd witnessed while going through the hyperspace radiation decontamination process. It brought to mind the worry plaguing her when she'd first arrived.

  "Does Redpoint One have a big problem with pirates?"

  Arthur shook his head. "Not usually, as the station is too well-defended, but they've been brave lately. That doesn't bode well."

  She liked none of the thoughts that came to mind as they continued winding through the corridors. The romantic novels of space pirates was a far different thing than the reality from what little she'd seen. Why couldn't the movie have focused on pirates instead?

  She almost jumped out of her skin when Arthur touched her hand. He laughed. "Relax. Stop worrying so much. There are no pirates around right now. If we get the node going they won't be a threat to the station."

  Which made her determined to do everything possible to make it happen. With her three bots, and Arthur's experienced black and white bot, they might have a chance. Plus, there would surely be other bots in the area who would join them. With that much help, surely they could knock out the repair in no time.

  She started repeating the names of the main systems as they passed, desperate to keep the connection that had helped her the last two days. When she would falter Arthur would help prompt the name along with a, "You're trying too hard."

  Of course she was trying too hard. She didn't like the idea of pirate attacks. With her luck she would get kidnapped by one.

  She knew they'd arrived in the right area even before Arthur said, "We're here."

  The area showed all the signs of a disaster. Scorched surfaces, burst pipes, filaments hanging from the walls and ceilings. At first she saw many bots of all different sizes, hard at work along all the walls and ceilings. Arthur didn't stop to help them. He led her deeper into the damaged area. As they moved the bots petered out until the only bots around were theirs.

  The lack of activity made her nervous. It didn't feel right. There should be bots everywhere, taken from other areas of the station if necessary. The repairs in the area were too vital to the well-being of the station.

  To make up for it she started asking questions about the station and the maintenance department. Arthur answered them but the tone of his voice told her he was distracted. In the end she stopped asking, nervously studying the same damage he focused on.

  The air cooled. Water dripped down the walls and off pipes, splattering in puddles. As they walked, the bots became more and more excited, but not in a vocal way. If anything, they had gone silent. But, their eyestalks were constantly in motion, studying everything around them. They zipped from one side of the corridors to the other. Something in the pit of her stomach told her they were worried.

  "Should we go back and ask some of the other bots to come with us? Since this is so important?" Tish asked almost in a whisper. Speaking any louder felt wrong.

  "If our bots need help they'll call for reinforcements." Arthur stopped, going down to his haunches to look at a cluster of pipes. "There are breaks here that shouldn't happen."

  "A ship did crash into the superstructure," Tish said. "It was pretty spectacular."

  He glanced back at her. "How close were you?"

  "Fairly close. They went right past my ship before clipping another ship. Then it was right into one of the gaps through the side of Redpoint One."

  He gave a half-grimace and a half-smile. "I'm surprised you didn't get right back on the ship and leave."

  A small part of her had wondered the same thing. Fortunately it had been overpowered by the rest of her. "I wouldn't do that. I promised I would come."

  Which earned her another introspective stare. "Glad you did. Shall we start repairs?"

  "I'm ready, and these guys sure are," she said with a gestured towards their bots.

  He reached into the dark edge of the corridor between two pipes, grabbing something and pulling. "Looks like we have a lot to clean up."

  She looked past him down the corridor. "And it looks like we might have help."

  The piece came loose, and Arthur stood up quickly, looking down the corridor. The bots rushing to cluster around them first tipped her off something was wrong, followed by the tense stillness of Arthur's body.

  Then she realized he held part of the outer shell of a bot in his hands, with a hole burned right though the middle of it.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THE UNIFORMLY SHAPED object emerging from the shadows suddenly took on an ominous tone. As did the laser shots hitting the piping along the side of the corridor. Fluids and fumes burst from the broken lengths.

  Tish found herself stepping backwards before she could stop herself. When she realized Arthur was also stepping backwards she didn't feel so bad about being a coward.

  Then the bots shifted backwards, their eyestalks watching the dark shape further down the corridor. The echoing of the dripping water, rushing fluids and whistling air was enough to have her right back at the panic level again.

  This didn't feel right. None of it did. The… thing… wasn't a part of the station.

  At the sound of metal falling down a side corridor the thing paused in its advance, turning a flattened angled head towards the noise. She didn't need an invitation to turn and make a run for it while it was distracted.

  Arthur grabbed her arm, diverting her down a different corridor. She nearly slipped on the standing water trying to make the sharp turn. She let him take the lead, unsure where she should be heading, only knowing it would be dangerous to remain where they were.

  At the juncture of a corridor turning to the left, Arthur came to a screeching halt, putting a hand back at her. She stopped, almost falling in the process. The bots stopped next to her, still eerily quiet.

  Arthur stood rock still, staring intently down the corridor. She leaned forward to look around the corner, but stopped when he waggled the tops of his fingers at her. The fact he remained frozen told her further advance would be unwise.

  The sound of laser fire, more burst pipes. The sound of liquid spraying out at high pressure and the aroma of chemicals, water, and sewer drifted back to her.

  Her heart-rate picked up.

  "Warbot," he whispered, his lips barely moving.

  Her blood ran cold.

  The closest she'd ever come to seeing a warbot was in the movies, or in documentaries about their use in the Chion war. Not things she ever wanted to see with her own eyes. She guessed she now had, that the robot they'd just run from was also one.

  The bots huddled in a circle, their eyestalks bobbing up and down, looking from one to the other, as if having a silent animated conversation. She glanced back at a sound behind them, her mind flashing back on the shadowy shape approaching them in the other corridor.

  One behind them in the corridor they'd just come down. Another down the hallway joining theirs. Their only escape
was the corridor directly in front of them, but they would need to cross the wide juncture to get to it.

  With the way Arthur remained frozen, she guessed the thing wasn't far away.

  She turned in a full circle, studying the walls, even the floor and the ceiling. Searching everywhere she could think of for another way out of the area. Where were the shifting walls of the movie when you needed them?

  Something tapped her leg, and she almost screamed as she jumped away. Aqua looked up at her, a three-finger metal hand extended towards her with a small cube in it. She took it in her hand, but the light was too dim to see what it might be. A bit of electronics, to be sure. But, what did Aqua want her to do with it? Wasn't she supposed to give things to the bots to make repairs with and not the other way around?

  Aqua lay the hand a moment on her knee before retracting it. Moving past her, it approached Arthur. She reached forward to grab him back, but other bot hands reached out to her clothing to pull her back.

  Arthur glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, his eyebrows pushed together. Aqua spun around the corner, flying fast across the ground, whistling shrilly.

  "Run!" Arthur shouted as he sprinted across the opening.

  Horrified by the noises she heard coming from around the corner, she ran for it. She glanced down the corridor as she crossed the juncture, but everything was a fast-moving blur. Including the weapon fire. Along with the impression of a bot so big it almost took up the entire width of the large corridor.

  "Aqua is down there," she said as she reached the other side where Arthur was waiting.

  He grabbed her arm and kept her running. "And Aqua just saved our lives."

  "We need to warn someone."

  "First, we survive."

  Arthur stopped at another 'T' in the corridor as they came up against a wall. He looked down both, shaking his head, his lips compressed. "We can't outrun those things."

  "Do we have something to destroy them?" She doubted anything on her utility belt would do any good.

  "No, but maybe we can outsmart them."

  She realized she still held the little cube Aqua had given her in her hand, the corners of it biting in her skin as she gripped it tightly. Her throat closed up as she realized Aqua had known exactly what he'd been doing and had given her one last gift.