Aces (18 page)

Only now, she
wasn
’
t going to make it to the hatch before the tinos
caught her! Manny said the hatch was between Structural Frames 91 and 92, she
was only at number 85. There was no time. The tino roared as it spotted its
prey. Kaylee reacted, whipping her backpack off, spilling the box out onto the
deck. She kicked the box spinning away with her foot, slung her pack over one
shoulder, and hopped on top of a crate, then another, then another, climbing
higher, until she reached the wall. A ladder was there, attached to the wall,
leading up into the unseen shadows of the ceiling. She grabbed hold of the
ladder and climbed as fast as she could. Along the way, one of her feet
slipped, and she fell forward into the wall, hitting a ladder rung and bashing
her lip. Though her eyes teared up from the pain, Kaylee didn
’
t
hesitate, she got her foot back on the ladder and kept going.

The ladder ended
near the ceiling, just below a hatch. The hatch Kaylee couldn
’
t
open, it was locked, and Manny had the access card. There was a light near the
hatch, she couldn
’
t hide there. Tinos couldn
’
t
climb ladders, could they?

She heard the
tino coming, heavy thumping on the deck. It came into view, and tried to stop,
its paws and claws skidding on the smooth deck plates. The scene would have
been comical, watching a fierce predator with its feet slipping, legs spread
out, trying not to fall. It thudded into a crate, and came to an awkward stop.

The tino sniffed
the air, and Kaylee held her breath, fearful it would hear her. But it didn
’
t look up at all, its nose was to the deck, following a scent
trail, a trail which led to-

The box. The box
the alien thing had been in.

Why would a tino
want an empty box? Kaylee had taken the alien thing out of the box. Only- 
the box wasn
’
t empty! Kaylee remembered, as a joke, she
and Manny had filled it with candy bars, along with a note to the pirates.
Tinos liked candy? Human candy; chocolate, caramel and nuts?

Apparently, tinos
loved
candy! This tino was trying to get the box open, but it was too
stupid to know how to unlatch the lid. It tried to crush the box with its jaws,
the square shape of the box was hard to get a good grip on. It laid down on the
deck, put the box between its front paws, and tried to pop it open with its
massive teeth.

The tino stopped
and raised its head, its ears swiveled around. Something was coming. Another
tino. Coming to steal its food! The tino got the box between its jaws, and
bounded off toward the aft end of the ship.

Kaylee was about
to climb down, when she heard more noises, echoing in the empty compartment.
She climbed back to the top of the ladder just in time, as two tinos, one right
behind the other, came racing down the compartment, chasing the first tino.

Three. That was
three tinos. There had been four tinos in the hypersleep boxes, all four had
been waking when Kaylee last saw them. Where was the fourth one? She couldn
’
t climb down, if the fourth tino was still coming.

Clinging to the
ladder, she waited fearfully.

Rick, Nelson and
Sam had marched Mac to the mining camp, and released the miners from the dining
hall, where most of them had been confined by the pirates. The miners, while
desperately in need of showers, were otherwise in good condition. In the dining
hall, they
’
d had access to plenty of food and drink, and
the pirates had hooked up the emergency oxygen supply, although the air flow
was turned down to keep the miners lethargic. It was a good plan from the
pirates
’
viewpoint: most of the miners were confined in
one area, with no ability to go anywhere else. All the walkway tubes connecting
the dining hall to other parts of the camp had been cut, and drained of air.
Without e-suits, the miners had only been able to look out the windows and make
idle threats about what they would do to the pirates, someday. When the three
men from the freighter arrived, they brought with them several of the miners
’
e-suits, so a few miners could move about the camp and bring
back more e-suits. An hour later, they were gathered in the main administration
building, where Mac had apparently had lived, slept, ate, drank, and amused
himself by smashing things. The office of the mining manager, a tall Japanese
man named Yomuri, had been thoroughly trashed, with graffiti scrawled on the
walls, and his private liquor cabinet ransacked. Five very angry miners held
Mac, who had bruises and cut on his face from rough treatment at their hands.

Yomuri glared at
Mac, and explained what had happened. “He and his buddies arrived a couple
hours before the distress call was sent to your ship. Their ship was in orbit,
we got a call saying it was a company surprise inspection, and we should make
sure all our people were gathered here at the camp. It was near a shift change
anyway, so most people were already here. I guess they knew that.” He added, as
if that thought had just occurred to him. “They had legit recognition codes, we
scoped out their ship as best we could, it looked like the kind of yacht our
company bigshots fly around in. Surprise inspections are nothing special, I
’
ve been through plenty in my time. They landed, the leader sure
looked like a typical corporate suit, real slick, you know the type. Looks
right through me like I was nothing. Nothing! I run this whole mining
concession, hell, I run the whole planet!” Yomuri bit his lips, and continued.
“Anyways, one of them says he
’
s here to check on our life
support system, there was a manufacturer
’
s recall, or
something bogus like that. I sent two of my guys with that guy, and I broke out
the good whiskey to sit down with their leader. We
’
re sitting
in my office, he
’
s asking me a lot of questions, nothing
suspicious, wants to see my drilling records, crew log books, all that. Pretty
standard for an inspection. I tell you what, these guys really knew what they
were doing. We
’
re talking, and I start feeling funny,
sleepy like. Or like I was drunk. Head spinning, that sort of thing. Turns out,
that little jerk who wanted to check out our life support, knocked out my two
guys with a stun gun, and put a sleeping gas in our air filtration system. The
pirates had taken an antidote, I guess.”

The mining
concession manager paused to collect his thoughts. Ultimately, he was
responsible. All the people on the planet relied on him not only for jobs and
income, but also to watch out for them, keep them safe, keep them alive. He had
been outsmarted, made a fool of, and they were all paying the price now. “Next
thing I know, I wake up, we
’
re all in the dining hall, no
e-suits, doors locked, access walkways sliced open, radios and computers
disabled. Their shuttle lifted off, and they left this jerk here. Real
sweetheart, this one. We ask him for anything, medicine, you name it, he tells
us to shut up, says we
’
ll all be dead soon, so what
’
s the difference?” Yomuri
’
s fists clenched
at his side. He would love to punch the pirate right in his face. He turned
toward Nelson before his anger got the better of him. “Did he tell you what
this is all about?”

“Only that they
were hired, by who he doesn
’
t know, to steal something off
our ship. He says he doesn
’
t know what it is, and I
believe him.” Nelson said, looking Mac straight in the eye. “This one
’
s too stupid to be told anything important, he
’
s
just muscle. And disposable. My guess is, that pirate ship is going to leave
him here.”

“No they
’
re not! They
’
re coming down here to pick
me up, and they
’
ve got missiles-
“ Mac
’
s shouting was interrupted by a hard backhand across the face
from one of the miners.

“You,” Yomuri
said menacingly, “keep your mouth shut, unless we ask you a question. You
’
re right, Nelson, this one looks like he
’
s
got the brainpower of a rock. Listen up, smart guy, I
’
ll
give you something to think about, if you can wrap your brain around something
simple. You
’
re alive only as long as we think you might be
useful. If any pirate shuttle comes down here to pick you up, all they
’
re going to find is your body outside, that
’
s
a promise from me. Now, do you have anything more to say? Like who you
’
re working for, or what
’
s going on up
there?”

Mac worked his
lips side to side, and blood trickled down his chin. He opened his mouth to
speak, then thought better of it, and shook his head no, staring defiantly at
Yomuri.

One of the miners
stepped forward. “If he
’
s got nothing more to say, can we
throw him out the airlock now?” He snarled in Mac
’
s
direction.

Nelson stepped
forward, then waited for Yomuri to speak. This was Yomuri's mining camp, Nelson
was a visitor. Yomuri looked torn, trying to decide. Then he straightened up
and shook his head. “No. Not yet. I think it
’
s better if
he stays right here until the Navy arrives. They
’
ll find
out who he
’
s working for, I
’
m certain
of that. Then he can spend the next fifty years staring at the walls of a
prison cell.” Yomuri walked over to Mac and put his hand around the pirate
’
s throat. “Every time I
’
m sipping a nice
twenty year old scotch, or relaxing on a beach somewhere, or every time I
’
m enjoying the company of a woman, I
’
ll be
thinking of you, alone in your cold little cell. You think about that.” Yomuri
released the pirate with a disgusted look. “Take him away. Lock him in a
storage closet for now, until I figure out a better place to put him. But
nobody touches him, you hear me?”

The miners
grumbled but obeyed, leading Mac away none to gently. Now Nelson did speak up.
“Mr. Yomuri,” he figured addressing the mining manager with respect would help
the man
’
s bruised ego, and make things go more smoothly,
“sir, I think we need to check out your life support equipment as soon as
possible. My men are experts.” He neglected to mention that Rick was an expert
at xenoarcheology.

“Yes, that is a
priority. You, Tilden,” he gestured to a miner, “show these men to the life
support center.” Yomuri pointed out the window. “It
’
s the
tall orange building over there, next to the crawler garage. Thanks for your
help, by the way, we were too busy earlier to properly thank you. I
’
d offer you a drink, but that jerk either drank, or smashed,
all my good liquor bottles.” It looked like the manager considered that almost
to be Mac
’
s greatest sin. “When this is all over, I
promise you a rain check on that drink, for sure.”

Nelson thought of
something. “Hey, you said you scoped out the pirates
’
ship
when it arrived? Can we use your equipment to see what
’
s
going on above us?”

“Ah, I wish we
could, all we had was a simple telescope at I kept in my office. They smashed
it, I
’
m sorry. Did you have any luck with the radio?”

Nelson frowned.
“No. Your radio is working fine, they left that alone. It
’
s
still being jammed. Your hyperwave, they did smash that.”

“Huh. I
’
ll have one of my guys monitor the radio, in case they drop the
jamming.” Yomuri offered sympathetically. Nelson was not comforted.

Valjean stopped,
his senses alert to danger. The door at the end of this compartment was closed.
All the other doors were open, why was this one closed? Probably something
stupid Dooley had done, or forgotten to do. The sooner Valjean was done with
Dooley
’
s services, the sooner he could ditch him and his
robot. Dooley had been useful so far, but Valjean didn
’
t
plan on splitting the money with Dooley. Or with anyone. He looked over at
Taney, who was waiting, his back to Valjean, covering his boss. Taney was a
good man to have in a fight. And Taney carried the explosives, and knew how to
use them. That didn
’
t mean Valjean needed Taney much
longer, either. Valjean jerked his head to the side. “
Detour,
”
he said, out of breath. Valjean wanted to reach the aft end of the cargo
compartment before the children could get there, he and Taney had been running
full speed. Or, running at Valjean
’
s full speed, as Taney
wasn
’
t even breathing hard. They had halted several times,
to listen when they heard roaring sounds. Valjean had decided it was most
likely something the children were sending over the intercom, intended to
frighten the pirates. He had news for them; he wasn
’
t
scared.

“What is that
noise?” Dooley whispered, waving his gun around. Whatever it was, he didn
’
t like it. The sound was unnerving, like a wild animal. Dooley
couldn
’
t figure what, aboard a starship, could make a
noise like that. Maybe the children were playing a recording intended to scare
him. He had news for them; the sound
was
scaring him. Dooley slowed to a
stop. They had been trotting, rather than running, following Valjean
’
s plan for him and Taney to get ahead, and then flush the
children back toward Dooley and his robot. “Rocko?”

The robot turned
its armored head toward him. “My database cannot identify the sound. The
closest equivalent is a wild animal of some type, a predator.”

“Oh.” Dooley had
already figured that
’
s what the sound was. “Artificial, or
natural?”

“I cannot
determine what is generating the sound.”

A natural source
was improbable, Dooley knew, being as they were on a ship in orbit. Knowing a
fact, however, and feeling it in your gut, believing it, were two very
different things, Dooley reflected. “We
’
ll move, a little
slower, from now on.” If there were anything dangerous ahead, let Valjean and
Taney find it first.

Kaylee
’
s forearms were cramping from hanging onto the ladder, the
bottom of her feet hurt, where the narrow rungs dug into her soles. Tino or
not, she needed to climb down. Their plan was in tatters. A tino now had the
box, it could be anywhere by now. She had no idea where the pirates were. And
there was no way she was going aft, where the tinos had gone, towards the hatch
she was supposed to use for her escape. She dithered, trying to make up her
mind.

She would climb
down, at least. Then, at the bottom, she could decide. When she got to the
bottom, she waited, straining to hear in the semi-darkness. There were sounds,
probably tinos, off to the right, toward the back of the ship, where the tinos
had gone. Maybe she would just go to the forward end of the compartment.

Once there, she
was still undecided, so she walked slowly forward, creeping along to one side,
until she got halfway, then she burst into a run and raced out the door at the
other end. She skidded to a stop, holding onto the door frame. There was a
sound again, this time, not behind her? She couldn
’
t tell,
exactly, sounds echoed so much in the cargo pod. There was no choice now, she
had to go forward. Her brother was waiting, one way or another. She tightened
the straps of her backpack, which was now considerably less bulky. A roar
spurred her into action, and she ran in the only direction she was sure the
roaring sound hadn
’
t come from: forward, and to the left.

Dooley skidded to
a stop, frozen in place by a roar that made his blood run cold. It was close,
whatever it was. He leaped to the side, and put his back to the wall next to
the door, holding his pistol up in front of him, his heart racing. With his
other hand, he gestured for Rocko to take the other side. Dooley took a deep
breath to get his courage up, crouched, and spun around the door frame-

And collided with
Kaylee, who was running as fast as she could. Both humans crashed to the
ground, and Dooley
’
s gun went flying off into the
darkness, lost among the crates. Pirate and girl were both so startled that for
a split second both they sat, sprawled on the deck, and gaped at each other
uncomprehendingly. Dooley recovered first, holding onto the door frame as he
scrambled to his feet. Shouting his own cry of anger, he launched himself at
the girl.

With a display of
lithe athleticism that would have made her school gymnastics teacher proud,
Kaylee leapt to her feet in one smooth motion. The pirate was coming toward
her, arms outstretched, so she reacted as she was taught in self-defense class
at Cesar Chavez Junior High School. She pointed her right toes forward, and
kicked the pirate in the crotch with all her might.

Dooley went down
like a sack of potatoes. Not a sound came out of his mouth, he was unable to
speak, even to breathe. His eyes and mouth wide open in shock, he curled up in
a ball on the deck, immobile.

The kick had
thrown Kaylee off balance, she staggered sideways, windmilling her arms until
her feet were solidly planted beneath her. She felt her back bump up against
something, and then something seized her arms.

Kaylee looked up
in surprise at the combat robot that had taken hold of her. Its eyes, glowing
faintly orange, bored into her. She opened her mouth to scream, but only a
whimper came out. Twisting her body in an attempt to get free was futile, the
robot was immensely strong.

As suddenly as
she was seized, it let go of her. “Are you injured, young Miss?” It asked.

“N-no.” Kaylee
answered warily, rubbing her left arm, which was bruised from the robot's
crushing grip.

“Be careful,
young Miss.” It advised in a gentle tone.

“You
’
re not going to hurt me?” She stole a glance at the downed
pirate, who was now rocking back and forth on the deck, his breath coming in
great, choking sobs.

“No, but these
men will. I suggest you leave this area immediately.”

With one last
look at her surprise benefactor, Kaylee spun on her heels and ran away. The
robot watched her with its infrared vision until she turned a corner, and was
out of sight.

Dooley managed to
stagger onto hands and knees, where he made a retching sound, deep in his
throat, and then barfed up his last meal onto the deck. He spat to clear his
mouth, and wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve. Rocko strode over and
helped him to his feet. “What the, what the hell is wrong with you?”
Dooley gasped.
“You let her get away!” Had the robot not acted
because Dooley hadn
’
t specifically ordered it to hold onto
the girl? Stupid machine! “Go after her, I
’
ll follow you.”

“No.”

Dooley didn
’
t know what to say, or do. Machines didn
’
t
say ‘no
’
! There were things they couldn
’
t
do, but not things they wouldn
’
t do. Dooley was already in
a very bad mood. “Command override-“ he started to say.

“Command
refused.” The robot interrupted him, stepping closer to loom over the human. “I
will not harm children. And I will not allow
you
to harm children.”

There was another
roaring sound, closer, Dooley turned to peer into the darkness. The robot would
surely protect him from, whatever was coming toward him. He looked up into the
glowing eyes, his mind racing. If he could shut the robot down, and run through
the restart sequence, maybe he could fix it. “Something
’
s coming.
” He pleaded. "Do something."

"Do
something? I will provide advice." The robot was unmoved. It leaned
forward, so that its armored face was close, and looked Dooley directly in the
eye. “Running would probably be your best course of action at the present
time.”

Dooley was so
thrown off balance by Rocko
’
s betrayal that he didn
’
t wait to see if the robot was joking. With a sob, he turned to
limp away as fast as he could, bent over and shuffling his feet. Another
roaring sound, this one very close, spurred him onward.

Rocko watched the
tino approach, the animal was vividly visible in the infrared spectrum. It
moved in great, bounding strides across the deck, coming straight at the robot.
Tinos, too, could see in the infrared spectrum, it was how they hunted at
night. And, beyond Rocko, it saw Dooley. This prey was moving slowly,
staggering, injured. An easy kill. First, though, there was this other strange
creature. The tino halted, ten meters from Rocko. It sniffed the air. It did
not recognize this scent. What was this thing, which looked so much like its
prey?

Its belly almost
touching the deck, the tino padded quietly forward. There was something wet and
fragrant on the deck, smelling vaguely like its prey. With one eye on the
robot, the tino licked the puddle of vomit Dooley had left on the deck. Things
did not taste good or bad to tinos, they tasted edible, or inedible. This was
at least sort of edible, and it lapped it up, smacking its tough lips in a
disgusting display. The robot did not move, even when the tino pressed its nose
directly at it and sniffed the robot
’
s leg.

Dooley saw the
tino. He didn
’
t know what it was, other than that it was
massive. And fast. In the dim lighting it looked like an oversize tiger. Even
if he weren
’
t half doubled over in pain, he wouldn
’
t be able to outrun the beast. Dooley thought fast. Could he
get through the door at the end of the compartment, use his notepad to close
and lock-

His notepad. He
’
d dropped it, back there, along with his gun. Hide. He needed
to hide. Dooley turned toward the first crate he could reach, turned the latch,
and popped it open. The crate was full of what looked like clothing, in
vacuum-packed bags. He put both hands on the side of the crate, and with a
desperate heave, he tipped it over, spilling the contents onto the deck. Frantically,
with one eye on the tino, he pulled the remaining clothing out.

The tino finished
sniffing the robot. Whatever this thing was, the tino decided, it wasn
’
t edible, dangerous, or a rival. The robot moved, and the tino
jumped backwards with a menacing growl.

Rocko put its
arms across its chest, fingers pointed in both directions. “He went that way,”
the robot said.

The tino didn
’
t understand pointing gestures. Its nose was not confused, and
it had Dooley
’
s scent. It claws skittered and scraped on
the deck as it bounded off toward the pirate.

Dooley got the
crate emptied, and pushed it back upright, just as the tino sprang at him. The
pirate hopped into the box, and swung the lid closed a second before the tino
hit the crate, bowling it over. The lid cracked open, and Dooley experienced a
flash of panic, grasping in the dark at the inside of the lid, trying to pull
it closed, then the crate was upside down, and the lid slammed closed, as
Dooley tumbled to land on his head and shoulders.

The tino roared in
frustration, swatting at the crate, raking it with its claws, biting at the
corners. It was no use. The material the crate was made of was tough, very
tough, designed to last for half a century of less than gentle handling. And
even a tino
’
s incredibly powerful jaws could not penetrate
the box, its teeth slipped, finding no purchase on the smooth surface. Its
teeth slipped one last time, and the jaws snapped closed, nipping the tino
’
s tongue. The animal backed away, flicking its tongue in its
mouth, annoyed by the sharp pain, studying the cargo box.

Rocko watched the
tino, not with amusement, or any sense of satisfaction, since Rocko was a
machine. Perhaps there were subroutines that were fulfilled, parameters which
were exactly within specifications, and there is a sort of satisfaction in
that, for machines.

The tino stopped
licking its lips, and sniffed the air, then the deck. The prey in the crate was
forgotten, now that it was inaccessible. The scent of the prey it was
originally tracking was still strong. It sniffed the air again, then took off
at a loping run.

Rocko watched the
tino run away. Running in the same direction Kaylee had gone. The tino stopped,
sniffed the deck, and took the same turn Kaylee had taken, tracking the girl.

Kaylee pressed
her right hand into her side, where she was getting a cramp. Her collision with
the pirate had thrown off her stride, her breathing was labored, and her legs
felt like she was running through shallow water. Never in her life had she run
so far without a break. Soccer games didn
’
t count, she had
always been able to get at least a bit of rest during a game. Soccer games didn
’
t involve being chased by a tino.