Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance)

by Marlow, J. A.

  "I wish it were. If you don't want to have to look for a new Maintenance Supervisor you will evac us now. I asked for it minutes ago," Arthur said, trying hard not to yell. "We're outside the hull. Grab us and get out."

  "We're sending people out now. Give me all the bad news."

  "I can confirm the existence of at least four warbots, two of which one of Tish's bots destroyed. I found the remains of bots in the area and deliberate damage to the station, including the main defense systems for the forward side of Redpoint One. I believe there are more warbots still inside the station."

  He heard Director Stemski suck in his breath. "Are you saying we're defenseless from another pirate attack?"

  "If they approach us from the transit exit side, yes sir. I do not know if they planned this, but the fact we now have multiple warbots in the area may indicate they did." There, he'd said it. He could only hope the Director had information of some sort from the Space Patrol in the area. He wanted his suspicions to be wrong.

  "Damn, they are planning it," Director Stemski said. "I'm calling in reinforcements."

  So much for his hoping the pirates weren't planning something.

  "What are they planning?" Arthur demanded, trying to think of any habitable areas along the front portion of the station that might need to be evacuated if an attack were imminent.

  "Worry about yourself. Evac is on the way. Keep yourself intact until it gets to you."

  Arthur would have plenty to say to the Director later about that. He needed to know what was going on if he was going to be able to give proper priority to the repairs needed.

  "Stop behind this one," Tish said as the connection closed.

  Her bot did as she asked, turning to come behind the solid wall of a sensor array. The other bots followed, carrying Arthur with them.

  "Are you crazy?" he demanded even as his own bot turned to follow hers.

  "I might be, but before we continue this chase let's see what Violet can do."

  "What are you talking about? We're losing our lead."

  The bots came to a pause at the other side of the array, allowing them to look around the edge of it. In the distance, almost occluded by the curve of the hull, the warbot moved towards them. He counted the bots, then noting the one she called Violet wasn't among them.

  "Where is Violet?" He demanded.

  "I gave her a job."

  "No, you didn't. We aren't waiting for that thing to catch up to us. We leave now," he said, tapping the top shell of his bot. It looked back at him with one eyestalk, the other one firmly fixated on the warbot. The other bots were just as intent in their attention. "Time to go."

  His bot ignored the order, turning it's full attention back to the approaching warbot.

  "In a few seconds, if this doesn't work," Tish said.

  "And if it doesn't work?" he demanded. "What did you have her do?"

  "We're about to see just how clever Violet is."

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  THE WARBOT DREW closer, the flattened angular head swiveling back and forth as if searching for a target. Tish didn't know which part of the head or body held its arsenal of weaponry, making it impossible to know if it was aiming at them. That it was still flying towards them was bad enough.

  She tensed. Maybe her idea wouldn't work? She glanced down at the bots, including Crimson. Their attention remained firmly on the ugly dark object barreling across the surface of Redpoint One. So far none of them were indicating a desire to flee.

  No, she needed to wait. Needed to wait to give Violet a chance. The bots would tell her when it came time to run again.

  Arthur remained silent beside her, watching the approach, one hand resting on the back of her spacesuit. She could practically feel the anxiety radiating from him, but he didn't move.

  He trusted her?

  Just the possibility filled her with warmth. She was the newbie on the job and he trusted her idea, and he didn't even know what it was yet.

  Now to only hope it worked.

  A spark ran along the joint of the head to the body. A burst of light enveloped the head. The entire body of the warbot tilt to the left and started to scrape along the hull. A piece of the black outer casing exploded from the side, shooting off into space to quickly disappear against the black sky, shoving the warbot violently to the left.

  The white bot at her feet shot forward, both eyestalks held high. The black and white bot followed, both heading towards the warbot as fast as they could go.

  When the warbot showed no signs of moving, she told Crimson, "Let's get Violet."

  Crimson rose and followed, carrying Tish with it. Tish kept her eyes on the warbot as they left the safety of the shelter, hunting for any signs of movement.

  Behind her, Arthur demanded, "We're heading towards the thing and not away?"

  "I thought you said we needed to repair the defense systems?" she asked.

  "Not at the risk of our lives."

  "It's not moving," she pointed out. She hoped it would stay that way.

  Violet popping out of the portion of skin that had blown away gave her hope. The white and black and white bots nestled up close to Violet, tools running up and down her ruined eyestalk.

  Tish settled to the hull, allowing her magnetic boots to adhere. She pushed at the warbot. It moved backwards a few inches, but the side scraping against the hull was going to cause a problem.

  "What just happened?" Arthur asked, settling down next to her.

  "I was hoping the warbot wouldn't view Violet as a threat because of the injuries. So, the warbot passed over, and Violet popped up underneath."

  "I can't believe it worked." Arthur didn't put his hands on the warbot as she continued pushing. She didn't blame him. She didn't like touching it, either. "So, it's disabled. For now. What's the idea before any internal self-repair systems kick in?"

  She didn't need to hear about that possibility. If it activated while they were so close they wouldn't stand a chance. "We need to do a massive repair and don’t have the raw materials and no time to get them. It's only a matter of time before more warbots appear."

  Tish noted Violet's second eyestalk lit up. Good. Maybe she could repair herself in other ways, too. She pointed at the warbot towering above them. "But we have the raw material. We just need to get it into place."

  Arthur looked past her towards the crater they could no longer see. "Good idea, if we can do it fast enough. Then we get out of here."

  "I agree with that."

  Violet disappeared back into the warbot as the other bots spaced themselves around to push or pull. Arthur placed the black and white bot under the fallen side of the warbot, lifting it up from the hull.

  "I don't understand. We're in zero gravity. Shouldn't this thing want to float off into space?" Tish complained. With the boots she couldn't move very quickly, and with every passing moment grew more nervous they would have a new unwelcome visitor. Or the warbot under them would come to life.

  "These things are designed to work out here. Which means they also have their own version of our boots," Arthur said. "You, white one, see if you can disable the magnetic boot."

  "I would name him Snowy," Tish said as she continued to push. The bot in question zipped under the warbot.

  "I am not naming it."

  "And it looks like a he."

  "I'm not naming it!"

  Tish nearly fell forward against the hull as the side of the warbot lifted up and flew forward without any resistance.

  "Hang on!" Arthur yelled, with one hand holding onto the edge of the warbot, and the other grabbing her around the waist.

  She held on tight to his arm, her magnetic boots snapping off the hull. The bots whistled at them through their helmet speakers as they guided it forward with ever increasing speed.

  The stop came just as quick, flattening Arthur and Tish against the side of the warbot. They each moved away from the dark skin as quickly as possible.

  Violet appeared in the opening of the shattere
d side again, clicking fast. Tish glanced nervously about. She didn't see anything, but she had an underlying feeling it was going to be only a matter of time. That something was about to happen.

  She reached up and grabbed Violet, lifting her out of the warbot. She cringed at the damage to the shell. No time to fix it.

  "We'll set it right in the middle of the breach so all of the warbot is available to all parts equally," she heard Arthur say while she set Violet at the edge of the opening.

  "Go in. You need to organize things from below," Tish told Violet.

  Violet eyed the crater with one eye while looking at her with the other. Tish repeated the request while also concentrating on what she wanted the little bot to do.

  With a chirp Violet slid over the side and down into the crater. As she did small white versions of the bots, some of whom couldn't be much bigger than the tip of a finger, swarmed out of the cracks and gashes. They stopped near Violet on the bottom, a multitude of different sizes and colors, with all eyestalks staring up at her.

  "Get ready to make some fast repairs," Tish said down at the small army waiting. A chorus of chirps and beeps answered back.

  "They're ready!" Tish said, backing away from the edge while turning, trying to ignore a building buzzing in the back of her head.

  Just in time to see an arm come loose from the body of the warbot while the head swiveled towards her.

  "Look out!" Arthur shouted.

  There weren't many places to go. They were out in the open. Tush ducked, but not as far as she wanted. The spacesuit prevented it. The arm of the warbot scraped along the top of her helmet, shoving her head to the side.

  Crimson was in front of her in a flash with an arm outstretched. Tish gratefully took it, letting her feet come up off the hull.

  Not that it would do much good. If the thing was recovering, it was much too near.

  Crimson stopped on the other side of the crater, twittering excitedly. Tish looked back to find the warbot not behind them like she thought it would be. Instead, only the arm and head appeared to be moving.

  An arm trying to reach to the other side of its body where Arthur still stood.

  "All together now," Arthur said, breathing harshly into the microphone in his helmet. "Push!"

  Along with him, the three other bots pushed the warbot fully over the hole in the hull.

  Only, it wasn't sinking.

  Tish let go of Crimson, attaching her feet back to the station hull. They had to tie it down, get it down to where the repair bots could do some good. And the debris floating around the edge might do it.

  She pointed to a long cable, "Crimson, grab the cable. We'll use it to tie it into the hole."

  Crimson flew unerringly towards the long length. At first Tish thought she might have to tell her what to do with it, but Crimson seemed to know by herself. She flew over the warbot, dropping down on the other side. The cable caught on the shoulder of an unresponsive arm. As it was tightened, the warbot dropped into the hole.

  The black and white bot appeared from the other side with another length of severed cable. Snowy was slower, struggling with a cable much bigger than the others.

  "We need to tighten this. It's not down far enough," Arthur said to someone on his side. In response the other side of the warbot dipped down.

  The warbot arm arced into the sky towards Snowy as the bot began its descent on the other side.

  "Over here, Snowy. Anchor it on my side," Tish called.

  Snowy veered, dropping down in front of her, the cable nearly wrapping itself around the warbots head in the process. With her feet firmly planted, she pulled at the length until she was sure the magnets on the bottom of her boots were going to separate from the hull.

  The warbot sunk further. A flurry of pleased whistles sounded from below them.

  At least, she assumed that's where they were coming from. It felt right.

  Snowy welded the end of the cable to the hull while the warbot arm flailed in the air. Tish forced herself to look away from the bright flashes of welding sparks, the pain going from the back of her eyes to the buzzing at the back of her head.

  With another cable the moving arm of the warbot was pinned down, but the strength of its attempts to move almost took Tish and the bots on her side off their feet.

  Two bots landed on either side of Tish, surprising her so much she almost let go of the cable she was trying to hold steady so Snowy could weld it down.

  "What are you two doing?" Rachel's voice demanded.

  Tish bent slightly back finding a small cloud of bots descending all around them. In the middle of them floated a round maintenance pod.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  "IT'S ABOUT TIME someone go here," Tish called out, her heart rising on seeing something familiar and safe. "Welcome to the fun."

  "You're our evac?" Arthur asked.

  "Evac? No, the bots insisted on coming. You need help?" Rachel asked.

  "Warbots are taking apart this area of the station," Arthur said.

  The pod shifted closer, coming down on Arthur's side. Rachel said, "We found the remains of two warbots drifting in space. I assume those are your handiwork."

  "That was Violet," Tish said. She moved forward to grab another cable, but three bots beat her to it. She backed away as a flurry of sparks burst from the warbot's side.

  "What are you doing with that thing?" Rachel demanded. "We need to get out of here."

  "Using it as raw material to repair the defense systems," Tish heard Arthur say.

  But her attention was no longer on her two coworkers. It was on the bow of a large freighter exiting the central transit tube. And the burst of lights against the backdrop of space beyond. So many of them.

  Any other day she would assume the flashes indicated the arrival of standard freighters, passenger ships, and other civilian spacecraft. Today she didn't get that feeling at all. Several bots stopping to look up into the dark sky did nothing to ease the dread welling up inside her.

  "New arrivals," Tish said, interrupting Arthur and Rachel.

  "Probably grain-tubs from Vorstogen," Rachel said. "They're about due for another big shipment to the inner worlds."

  "On the exit side of the station?" Tish asked.

  "Control, we see a large number of hyperspace exits," Arthur said. "Confirm identities."

  Tish waited, tense, for the response. The silence after a short 'Standby' lingered a little too long for her liking.

  Director Stemski's voice came on the line. "Time to head for cover. We have a pirate invasion in progress."

  "We need to get out of the area," Rachel said, the pod settling on the surface of the hull.

  "No, we need to finish repairs. Bots, what other areas do we need to repair?" Arthur asked. A few bots left Tish to move around the warbot as if to join him.

  "Space Patrol?" Tish asked weakly, trying to remember how many flashes she'd seen.

  "There are three small ships stationed at Redpoint One. Not enough to fend off this many," Arthur said.

  A string of profanities came from Rachel.

  "That was uncalled for, Ms. Henderkito," Arthur shouted.

  "I know what they are after. The freighter is the Midguard Arrow."

  "That does it, we're finishing this. Bots, repairs!"

  Tish looked down at the ship. It appeared like any other large freighter, not that she'd seen many. "What so important?"

  "Other than a rumored full cargo of precious metals and Argison crystals?" Rachel asked. "Not much, other than it's also supposedly contracted to carry advanced military weaponry."

  "Only rumors, but if she's carrying any of it we don't want them falling into pirate hands. It would finance them for years," Arthur added.

  Which would mean even more pirate trouble. Bigger ships, more ships, and mercenaries attracted to the influx of funds. She didn't like how much they already had. Redpoint One would never be safe.

  If the helmet hadn't been on, she'd be rubbing her buzzing head ev
en more. It made it hard to concentrate on what she knew she needed to do. She needed to think, figure out what area needed to be repaired next so that Redpoint One could defend itself.

  Although, the bots were doing most of the work now that they had so many reinforcements. A hole appeared in the side of the still warbot, one eyestalk peeking out before disappearing back inside. With it, all movement from the warbot stopped.

  One warbot down, who knew how many more inside.

  A flash against the far side of the station startled her, setting the bots into even more frantic motions. She knew it shouldn't be possible considering she was standing in zero-gravity, but it felt like a rumble went through the hull of the station. The sleek form of a small pirate vessel flew close overhead and down the side of the lumbering freighter.

  "Time to get under cover," Arthur said. "Rachel, we'll need to crowd into your pod."

  "Are the self-defense systems up yet?" Tish heard herself ask in a voice that sounded distance.

  "We've started the process. It's the best we can do right now. All engineers are moving into the area," Rachel said as she maneuvered the pod to the hull.

  Tish automatically started walking towards the pod, but stopped outside it before getting in. Suddenly she knew they could do so much better. She blinked her eyes several times, trying to clear her vision and head.

  And then it all became clear. She knew what needed to be done. She just needed the raw materials, more than what she still carried in her belt. She turned around, looking for anything with a variety of raw materials, but only saw the large warbot and the bots working to take it apart and use its parts.

  There had to be material somewhere!

  Then she remembered. She looked down to Crimson to find not only her, but several other bots including Snowy and the black and white one looking up at her. As if waiting.

  And with a certainty she knew they were waiting.

  "The two warbots we destroyed with the energy arc. We need the bodies. Snowy and Spot," and she pointed to the white and the black and white bots, "take a few other bots with you and fetch them as fast as you can. Follow Crimson and I."