Asylum, page 23
On a whim, Mari looked up Assistant Professor Donadieu back on Odin. The last she’d heard, Minister Dabrowski hadn’t figured out why he’d been using drones to steal from students on the university campus. It was unlikely it had anything to do with Zhor, beyond the fact that Zhor might have been the one who murdered him to steal the stolen technology himself, but it was also possible there was more of a tie-in than that, and that further information would be valuable in facing off against Zhor.
She did find a few articles that mentioned Donadieu, including one by an investigative journalist who’d dug up an off-planet bank account of his with more funds in it than a simple professor should have had. They’d also found a listing he’d put up on one of the black-market sites for a mysterious device of astroshaman origins. The time stamp meant he’d done it almost immediately after the drones had robbed Mari.
If Zhor had been in the area, perhaps investigating the military warehouses near Zamek City that contained astroshaman technology taken from the wreck, he could have gotten an alert for the posting. And, instead of paying what Donadieu asked, perhaps he’d decided to kill the man and take the device for free. Or maybe Donadieu had been home and had put up a fight, and that was why he’d been killed.
Either way, Mari didn’t see that it would affect Kenji’s upcoming confrontation with Zhor. Other than to suggest that Zhor didn’t play fair. But she gathered that Kenji already suspected that. It concerned her that Zhor had more fighters to take to the meeting than Kenji, but Mari believed she could help out with that, not by fighting but with her skills at navigating secured systems.
She brought up the blueprints for the space elevator station again, as well as everything she could find on its computer systems.
Clangs and clunks came from the ladder well, and a minute later, Kay walked out of the corridor. “What a dreadful system for navigating a spaceship. Ladders. They are not robot friendly.”
“The little vacuums seem to navigate them adequately,” Mari said, though she had no trouble seeing why the bipedal robot had difficulties. A K-45 did not have the flexibility of a human or an android.
“They have suction systems that allow them to climb walls and stick to the ceiling. My maker did not see a need to outfit me with such.”
“There weren’t any… suction cups… in the junkyard… where I got… your parts,” Kenji called between dodges and rolls and pants for breath. The three targets were moving so quickly now that an android would have been hard-pressed to keep up with them. “Laser, turn those… off. My robot… needs me.”
“I do not need you,” Kay said. “I merely came to ask if you have a role for me in the upcoming meeting.”
“Hm, where’d I leave the remote?” Laser ambled toward the armory.
“Laser!” Kenji dove behind the crates, hitting the deck with a thump.
Mari could no longer see him from her spot, but two of the spheres sped behind the crates after him. Assuming he was exhausted after the lengthy workout and would appreciate a break, she located the targets on the ship’s wireless network and deactivated them.
“Thank you,” Kenji said. It came out as more of a groan.
“Huh?” Laser stepped out of the armory, waving the remote, but noticed the targets had settled to the deck. “How’d you turn them off?”
“I thought… you did.” Kenji crawled out from behind the crates on hands and knees, looked warily at the targets, and pushed himself to his feet. His chest rose and fell with each deep breath, and sweat dampened his black hair.
“Nope. Let me guess.” Laser frowned at Mari from across the hold.
“I believed that Kenji wished a break.” Mari hadn’t realized Laser might be upset.
“My network is secured.”
“With a simple encryption. I can set you up something more difficult for outsiders to hack into.”
“Or you can keep your nosy astroshaman self off it.”
“Bonita,” Viggo said in mild censure, “you do not object when Casmir hacks into your network.”
“That’s because I know him.”
“I believe a double standard is in effect,” Viggo said.
“Yeah,” Laser said. “A double standard of knowing.”
“I appreciate your intervention, Mari.” Kenji had caught his breath enough to say it without gasping, and he managed a wave for her.
She smiled back at him.
“That’s because you were on the deck in the fetal position being pummeled by DEW-Tek bolts,” Laser said.
“That’s precisely the reason, yes.”
“Uh huh. Go rest and talk to your robot.” Laser pointed at Mari. “Your turn, kid. Do you know what to do with a pistol, or have you spent your whole life plugged into computers? And strangers’ networks?”
Mari blinked. “I cannot accompany Kenji, Tigress, and Qin to the meeting. Since I am obviously astroshaman, Zhor would immediately suspect treachery.”
“He suspects that anyway, I’m sure, but I just want to know if you’re an asset or a liability in a fight. Ships get boarded, you know.”
“That is a valid point.” Mari rose to her feet.
It would not take long to demonstrate that she was capable with a firearm, thanks to targeting software that integrated with her ocular implants and could also, with her permission, control her body’s movements. Since astroshamans were not infrequently targeted by humans with malevolent intent, they also practiced self-defense with and without weapons. Not as much as Qin and Tigress, certainly, but enough to remain sufficiently fit and agile, so they were not injured when they allowed their chips to guide them.
“Good luck.” Kenji handed her the pistol as he passed her on the way over to talk to Kay. “I’d suggest that you take that remote from her, but I guess you don’t need it.”
“I do not. Thank you.”
“Are you going to cheat by reprogramming them?” Laser asked. “Because if they all lie down in a row on the deck at your feet, I’m going to start shooting you myself.”
“No, it is advisable for me to practice and allow you to see that I should not be a liability.”
“All right. Good.” Laser clicked her remote, and the three spheres rose into the air again.
As the targets whirred to life, zipping in and out of view around the crates and streaking across near the ceiling, Mari let her software take over and guide her movements. The shooting was rhythmic and somewhat meditative, so she also returned to researching the space elevator station.
Only when the targets started firing back did the need to dodge, jump, and run make it difficult to multitask. Also, it was quite tiring. She soon found that the optimal way to handle the training was to shoot the targets before they fired at her, so she concentrated on doing that. That allowed her to simply stand in the hold with a wall at her back and move her upper body and arms.
She was aware of Kenji talking to Kay about how robots who struggled with ladders probably shouldn’t come along to meetings that could turn into battles, while inviting suggestions on how he might gain the upper hand when facing off against Zhor. After a while, they fell silent. Watching Mari, she realized. All three of them were. That made her feel self-conscious, and she was glad that her chips and software were incapable of poor performance due to nervousness caused by fear of spectator judgment.
Even though she was able to perfect her system and didn’t need to run and duck, she still found herself starting to breathe heavily and sweat after twenty minutes. She was debating turning off the targets via the network, but Laser clicked the remote first.
“Well, shit,” she said.
Mari lowered her pistol, confused by the response. She believed she had performed adequately.
“Maybe we’ll just send you over there by yourself,” Laser added.
Oh. She had performed adequately. That was a relief.
“That was amazing,” Kenji said, staring at her, what seemed like genuine reverence in his voice.
For some reason, Mari blushed.
“You’re like an android.” Laser’s tone was less reverent, and Mari suspected it held the implication that she was a freak. A computer.
She grimaced and wiped her brow.
“A sweaty android,” Laser added.
“Internal fans, heat sinks, and liquid immersion cooling keep androids from overheating, so they have no need to sweat. I am human.”
“I guess.”
“Don’t pay attention to her.” Kenji came over and patted Mari on the shoulder. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she’s surly and grumpy as hell.”
“I did notice,” Mari said quietly.
“Well, at least you two are observant,” Laser said. “Maybe that will keep snipers from taking you out. Viggo, see if Qin and Tigress want to come down and join me. I’m going to get some shooting practice in too, assuming Mari didn’t overheat the hover targets with all that.”
“They should have fans and heat sinks too,” Mari offered.
“Good to know.” Laser headed into the armory to get more targets.
“It is difficult to find acceptance among normal humans,” Mari said.
“You shoot a few of her enemies, and I bet she’ll warm up to you.” Kenji smiled at her, then seemed to realize he still had a hand on her shoulder. He drew it back and stepped away. “I know I’d walk into battle with you at my back.”
He was still smiling, so she wasn’t positive that he wasn’t joking. Even if he meant it, she reminded herself that she shouldn’t lower her guard and let herself appreciate any praise coming from him. It was still possible that he was being nice as part of a ruse and that he would, if she let him, capture her to drag back to her family.
She wished that weren’t a possibility. So few normal humans were accepting of her people—of her—that it would be nice to count him as one.
“And I’m starting to feel less bad about not having been able to capture you,” he added. “The Kingdom would be pretty dumb not to give you asylum if that’s what you want. Nobody would dare break into the laboratory where you’re working.”
Laser returned to the cargo hold with more weapons and more targets. Clangs on the ladder rungs announced Qin and Tigress coming down. Kenji took another step away from Mari and clasped his hands behind his back.
She didn’t know how to interpret that. Did it mean he hadn’t intended to get close or touch her? That it had been a mistake?
“I’m not any more capable than an android,” Mari said quietly. “And I was easily captured by Minister Dabrowski’s crusher.”
“I think everyone is easily captured by those crushers. That’s not a failing.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
Even if he didn’t want to be close, he was being pleasant. It was nice.
“What’s going on?” Qin asked, walking in with Tigress.
“Flirting.” Laser waved at Mari and Kenji.
The women looked at them, and for some reason, Mari’s cheeks flushed again.
“Are you sure?” Tigress asked. “They’re stiff, awkward, five feet apart, and not even looking at each other.”
“That’s how they do it,” Laser said. “They’re shy.”
Mari shook her head, and Kenji rolled his eyes.
Laser smirked and waved for Qin and Tigress to join her for target practice.
Kenji roamed the bottom level of the freighter, eyeing crates and poking into tool chests, seeking inspiration for his upcoming meeting with Zhor. He’d seen six fighters in the captain’s navigation cabin; that probably meant the man would bring twelve or eighteen. If Kenji didn’t come up with a way to gain an advantage, he wouldn’t walk off that station alive.
But as he’d told Laser, he couldn’t come out of the airlock riding a tank—even if he found one lurking in a corner of her cargo hold—or Zhor would know Kenji meant to deceive him straight away. Zhor wouldn’t bring the terraforming device if he suspected betrayal, and if it remained locked away on his ship, Kenji would never be able to get it. It was a foregone conclusion that Laser’s old freighter couldn’t win in a firefight against a sleek new ship with a slydar hull and who knew how many weapons.
“Are you certain there is nothing I can do to be of assistance?” Kay was trailing him around, avoiding being smashed in the cargo hold. The target practice had turned into hand-to-hand combat between Tigress and Qin again.
“I don’t think so, buddy, but thanks. You can stay on the ship and assist Mari with whatever hacking she has planned.”
After seeing her shoot, Kenji was half tempted to suggest Mari come to the meeting with them. If she wore the helmet on her galaxy suit, their enemies might not be able to tell she was an astroshaman. But she could probably do more from the safety of the ship. Even if her chips let her do a bunch of things at once, Kenji had to assume that being shot at would make it hard to focus on infiltrating enemy networks.
“I am programmed for tutoring, not hacking,” Kay said. “You should know this since you selected my operating system.”
“You’ve never felt the urge to teach students how to slip seamlessly into secured databases?”
“My specialties are Old Earth history, mathematics, and string instruments.”
“String instruments?” Kenji paused in front of a display in the wall of the compact engineering room. “Like musical instruments?”
“Indeed. I do not have lungs or lips, so wind instruments are difficult, but I am adept with lutes, harps, and zithers.”
“Zithers? I had no idea. All this time, I could have made money by having you perform on Zamek’s street corners.” Kenji tapped the display. “Viggo? Are you able to hear me? If the captain recorded my message with Zhor, I’d like to watch the replay, please.”
“Certainly,” Viggo said. “And have no fear. Bonita is recording everything you do.”
“I’ll assume it’s because I’m handsome and sexy, and she doesn’t want to forget a moment of my passage, not because she’s suspicious about my intentions.”
“That is your prerogative, though I don’t believe those are the adjectives she’s used to describe you.”
“Does she actually like anyone? Besides Qin and Tigress? And her knight boyfriend?” Kenji hadn’t missed that Laser was giving Mari as hard a time as she was him, and her only crime was being an astroshaman.
Admittedly, that was enough for most people in the Kingdom. As it had been for him. He still regretted that he’d assumed the worst of her. His comment that he would gladly go into battle with her at his back had surprised him when it came out, but he decided it hadn’t been inaccurate. Not only could she shoot like a targeting computer, but she’d been dead calm and completely unflustered as the hover targets fired back. If her mechanical bits kept her from panicking in scary situations, he was envious.
“A select few people,” Viggo said. “She has been betrayed many times in her life and does not easily give trust to strangers.”
“I get that.”
The recording played, and Kenji gripped his chin as he watched and listened for something he could exploit, either with Zhor, his people, or the ship in the background. Thumps came from the nearby cargo hold as Qin and Tigress threw each other around.
Laser had done some target practice of her own—he’d been almost as impressed by her speed and accuracy as Mari’s—before handing the area over to her girls, as she called them. Kenji was glad he had a couple of strong allies to go in with, but he feared Zhor’s fighters with their canine attributes would be at least as fast and strong as Qin and Tigress. Kenji needed something else, something Zhor wouldn’t see coming.
On this third time through the video, he noticed one of the guard’s pointed canine ears rotating, presumably at some noise elsewhere in their ship. Kenji paused the playback, held a finger up to Kay, and stepped into the cargo hold again.
Mari, who’d resumed sitting on the deck by the wall, looked over at him. Laser was cleaning combat armor that presumably belonged to her—Qin and Tigress were wearing theirs. Kenji couldn’t imagine that a seventy-year-old woman would go into battle with them, but she had mentioned wanting to be ready if her freighter was boarded.
“Qin? Tigress?” Kenji asked when they broke apart. “I have a quick question.”
Tigress draped an elbow on Qin’s shoulder and looked at him like she would say something libidinous—probably a demonstration of how she handled flirting—but Qin slapped a hand over her mouth.
“What is it, Kenji?” she asked.
“Is your hearing enhanced? Like much more sensitive than a normal human’s?”
They both nodded.
“Hearing, eyesight, and scent,” Qin said.
“Would a loud noise hurt your ears?”
“Yes. Crowds, loud music, and sirens are all things that I don’t care for. Why do you ask?”
“Maybe it’s goofy, but I noticed the dog ears of Zhor’s people and thought… if I took some kind of whistle to blow, and it was loud enough, maybe it would make them falter a little if we have to fight them.”
“It would make us falter too,” Tigress pointed out.
Qin grimaced.
“Maybe we could give you cotton balls ahead of time,” Kenji said.
“Very high tech and sophisticated. I do have ear plugs.” Laser tilted her thumb toward engineering. “The thrusters whine like a cranky baby when Viggo is in need of a tune-up.”
“Really, Bonita,” Viggo said with impressive indignity.
“You know it’s true. Look, kid. I don’t think a dog whistle is going to stop your enemies in their tracks.”
“Wait.” Qin held up a hand. “I don’t know about a whistle, especially since we should go onto the station with full armor and our helmets up, but we are sensitive to extremely loud noises. It can be genuinely painful, and I would find it difficult to fight in such circumstances. Perhaps some kind of sound generator?”
“With a few tools and some basic materials, I could help make something like that.” Mari rose to her feet.
