Mech 2 Read online

  Realizing what he was doing, he heaved a sigh. It seemed to him his relationships with women always got to this point eventually. Abject apologies. He was an expert on the topic. He could write a book on them.

  He made a mental effort to shrug off his mood as he reached the floor via the freight elevator. Rem-9 had exceeded the weight limit for the standard elevator. Droad had never considered leaving the mech outside, as the receptionist and duty-nurse had recommended. He had come to think of the mech as his replacement for Jarmo. He wasn’t quite as much of a thinker as Jarmo, but he was just as dedicated. Droad liked that dedication and didn’t want to leave him out of anything because of his physiology.

  So, they took the freight elevator up and ignored the frightened whoops and gasps of surprise people made when they encountered the mech marching behind Droad down the corridors. People were used to mechs on Neu Schweitz, but combat models were not the usual mech. Even with his sensors withdrawn and his body leaning forward in a crouch, Rem-9 had to dodge every light fixture.

  Droad tapped at the door, but there was no answer. He thought he heard a rustling as he reached for the handle. Perhaps they were asleep, as he had come late.

  “Sir,” said Rem-9, modulating his voice down to what served as a hospital-appropriate whisper for the mech. “Let me go in first.”

  Droad shook his head. He wanted to make the grand entrance. He wanted Bili to get the surprise of the night from this visit. Even though, in truth, he thought the kid probably liked Rem-9 as much as he liked Droad himself.

  Droad opened the door and pushed it open slowly. The room was indeed dimly lit. On a table, one of the sole sources of light was the one inside Fryx’s fish tank. There the little monster still floated, thought Droad. At least the skalds hadn’t managed to grab him yet. He wasn’t surprised. Sarah was more resourceful and capable than half the members of his staff had ever been.

  “And who might you be, sneaking into a boy’s room at night?” asked a voice from behind Droad.

  Droad turned, eyes wide in surprise. A man stood there. He must have been hiding behind the door. He had an aristocratic nose and dark, curly hair. Droad guessed he came from the southern cantons—the Italian zone, as older colonists would call it. The man had something long and metallic in his hand. Was that a rapier?

  The sword sizzled into life and ran with purple kinetic forces. The man’s eyes fixed upon Droad, glowering at him.

  Droad took an involuntary half-step back. A single touch from that weapon, he knew, could be fatal. He put up his hands, palms out in a gesture for calm and peace. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a new party entered the conversation.

  A silvery, metal gripper flashed forward and tried to clamp upon the swordsman’s wrist. The swordsman was blindingly fast, however, and dodged the grab. He positioned his blade between the mech and himself.

  “By the stars!” said the man. He looked as surprised as Droad had.

  Rem-9 leaned into the room threateningly. The door frame groaned. He was so broad that he would have to tear new space in the walls to achieve entry. Droad knew that he would do it too, if he felt the situation warranted property destruction.

  “Let’s stay calm, everyone,” said Droad, his hands still upraised. “I think this is all a misunderstanding. I’m Lucas Droad, sir. I’m a friend of Sarah’s and Bili’s.”

  “Ah,” said the swordsman. He lowered the tip of his crackling sword a fraction. “I’m Aldo Moreno. I’m also a friend of theirs.”

  Droad and Aldo blinked at one another for a second or two. Both soon grasped the situation. Aldo powered-down his sword and made it vanish into a long black sheathe at his hip.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t call first, I thought I would surprise the boy. How is he?”

  Aldo nodded to Bili, who was awake now, watching them all with comic surprise.

  “Lucas? Rem-9!”

  Droad smiled. At least someone was happy to see him—and his mech. For a time, the conversation revolved around Bili and his state of health, which was improving. Sarah was absent, however. When there was an opportunity to slip away, Droad asked Aldo to come out into the corridor for a private conversation.

  As they talked, both noticed that Rem-9 stood blocking the kid’s doorway, watching Droad with one optic while the other roved over the nurses who hurried by, intimidated.

  “I don’t like leaving the boy alone,” said Aldo.

  “I think Rem-9 can guard him for a moment or two,” said Droad. “I wanted to ask you about Sarah.”

  Aldo looked him over. “Ex-boyfriend?” he asked.

  Ex? thought Droad. His heart sank. Really, Aldo didn’t need to say anything else.

  Droad’s mind whirled. It was hard to be upset. Their relationship had been casual at best. He hadn’t even called for weeks. During his absence, Sarah and her son had been attacked. He should have dragged them along if he wanted to keep her. That just hadn’t seemed practical. He sighed quietly.

  Aldo watched his face, expressionless.

  Droad cleared his throat. “Yes. Something like that. I take it you are here to guard the boy? What is Sarah up to then, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  Aldo stared at him, and then nodded to himself, as if deciding to trust Droad. “She’s digging up what she can on those skalds. She doesn’t believe in leaving well enough alone, does she?”

  Droad smiled. “No, not when it comes to Bili. Has she learned anything?”

  “They are after Fryx.”

  “Well, I knew that. Has she considered just giving the little bastard up to them?”

  “She said that you told her not to.”

  “We had an arrangement with a politician. I think things have gone far beyond that now,” Droad said. He proceeded, in a low voice, to fill Aldo in on the Senator’s murder. Aldo was scandalized.

  “The Militia will dig them out! We will run them down and burn them out. I’d do it myself. Assassins! They are guests on this world, and they think they can murder as they please?”

  Droad noted the man had a quick temper. He made good points, however.

  Aldo stepped closer, he leaned toward Droad in a conspiratorial manner. His attitude had changed now, clearly he considered Droad to be trustworthy.

  Rem-9 made a whirring sound. Droad suspected both the mech’s optics were focused squarely upon them now that Aldo had moved closer.

  “We know more. They have moved to the Gladius.”

  “The skalds?”

  “All of them. At least, all that we know of. They are going to leave this world, we think.”

  Droad nodded, for him, things suddenly made more sense. “That’s why they wanted to take Fryx. They are cleaning up. That’s why they were willing to kill a Senator.”

  Aldo grunted. “I thought they were peaceful pilgrims—playing flutes, begging and wandering. You are not surprised they would kill?”

  Droad shook his head. “I’ve learned something of the skalds and the Tulk that ride in their skulls, controlling them. They can be allies for humans, but they don’t really consider us equals. They think of us as—as a herd of wild cattle, I suppose.”

  Aldo snorted. “We should call Sarah back then. She has gone to speak to them.”

  “Up to the ship? I’ve got to go after her. It’s not safe.”

  Aldo put his hand on Droad’s arm. Rem-9’s grippers made a clacking sound immediately. Droad wondered if the mech’s movement was involuntary. Aldo got the message and released Droad.

  “I should go,” Aldo said. “You can stay with the boy.”

  Droad looked at him. “Is that how you want it?”

  Aldo looked uncertain. He heaved a sigh. “I don’t know. I’m not good with women. Not beyond the first stage, anyway.”

  Droad chuckled. “I’m no expert with women either, obviously. But I know the skalds. I know their game, or some of it.”

  “You go then. Do you know why are they leaving?”

  “I think maybe I do. What I wan
t to know is if my suspicions are correct.”

  Droad said good-bye to Bili and tapped on Fryx’s tank, admonishing the creature to behave itself. Fryx ruffled his spines as if in response.

  Could the Tulk have understood? Droad thought it unlikely, but wondered about it as he left.

  #

  A day later Droad caught up with the Sarah on the Gladius. She was frustrated. The skalds had locked down their compartments and refused to speak with her.

  “Lucas?” she asked, surprised. “How did you find me up here?”

  “Aldo told me.”

  They stared at each other. She lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” he said. “I’m an adult. Back on Garm, after the invasion, I strayed from you first.”

  “That wasn’t why—” she began, then stopped.

  “It doesn’t matter. Forget about it. We can talk about it later. What matters now are these skalds and what they’ve done.”

  He filled her in on the murder of the Senator. She grew more alarmed as he spoke. “Does the Militia know?”

  “Yes, I’ve sent word discreetly. I don’t have time to be hauled in for questioning just now. The skalds seem to be betting they will be out of this system before anyone can catch them. While onboard this ship, they are technically not in the Kale system. There will have to be extradition proceedings, and no one at Nexus wants to stop an interstellar ship from traveling freely. It’s bad for business, once your system gets that kind of rep.”

  “What’s one little assassination in the face of commerce?” said Sarah bitterly.

  “Well, no one has proven anything yet. That will take months, and they will be gone by then.”

  “So what are we doing here? They’ve clearly given up on Fryx and want to get out.”

  “They know something, and I want to know what they know.”

  Droad produced his code-keys. He still had them, the illegal ones he’d gotten on Garm, the keys that identified his clearance level as that of a planetary governor. He used them now to open the door into Lido Deck Twelve, the deck the skalds had rented in full. Somewhere, an alarm would go off up on the bridge, he knew, but he would worry about that later.

  He stepped inside with Rem-9 behind him. Sarah followed them both at a cautious distance.

  Skalds, left to their own quiet ways, were an odd bunch. When Droad broke in unannounced, the three in the public area of the deck did not even look up. Each sat around a circular divan. All of them had their arms stretched out so that their fingertips touched the pallid fingers of both the others. They stared at nothing. The pale fingers flickered and tapped at one another.

  The skalds wore flowing, brightly-colored robes. The two men wore azure. The female wore vermilion.

  Droad scanned the group for weapons, but saw none. That didn’t mean they weren’t hiding them. Their robes were voluminous.

  He took two swaggering steps toward them. Rem-9 followed, servos whining as he looked for trouble. The skalds continued to stare at the walls, eyes unfocussed.

  Droad knew they were in a state of communion, but he suspected they were aware of his presence.

  “I have questions. I require answers. I’m willing to release Fryx into your custody in trade for your cooperation.”

  The skalds tapped with their fingers for several more seconds. Droad crossed his arms and waited for a response. A few seconds later, they disengaged their hands from one another and stood simultaneously. Droad watched expectantly, but instead of turning to address him, the three skalds each marched forward. Each grasped the handle of a stateroom door. Such rooms ringed the central hall.

  “Hold on!” he said, walking after the nearest, who was the female.

  She ignored him completely. She opened the stateroom door and slipped inside. The door clicked behind her. Droad tried it and growled. Locked.

  “They’ve all locked themselves in,” said Sarah, coming into the room for the first time. “They’ll call security and wait inside.”

  “That’s accurate,” said Rem-9. “I’m picking up distress calls now.”

  “Can you jam them?” asked Droad.

  “Negative.”

  Droad nodded. He put a hand to his chin.

  “We don’t have much time unless we want to battle the entire ship’s security detail.”

  “What are my orders?” asked Rem-9.

  Sarah pointed to the door the woman had retreated into. “They tried to kill me and my boy. They’ll not get away this easily. Tear open that door, Rem-9.”

  Rem-9’s optics swung to Droad, who took in a deep breath. He was getting into diplomatic territory. If he were wrong...

  “Do it, Captain,” said Droad, gesturing to the door.

  Rem-9 took three strides forward. He removed the door handle with a metallic klinking sound. The door hung ajar. Sarah moved to duck her head inside, but Rem-9 interceded. He leaned inside and a hand-cannon boomed.

  Rem-9’s grippers flashed. He retracted his right one. In it, a twisted hand-cannon was clamped between the pads. There was a streak of blood on the silvery metal of his gripper.

  Droad winced. Hopefully, he hadn’t removed her hand. He and Sarah walked into the stateroom.

  “We only want to talk to you,” he began, but the skald female wasn’t in a talkative mood.

  She flailed at them, making desperate hooting sounds. They grabbed her arms and bore her down onto the bed. Sarah struck her face, but this appeared to have no effect. Blood trickled over her white teeth and fluttering lips. Spittle and hot exhalations flew.

  “Tulk!” shouted Droad, looking down into the woman’s face. She would have been pretty, he thought, had she not been bloody and half-mad. “Tulk rider, stop fighting. We are not here to harm you or your host. We only want to talk. To negotiate.”

  His words finally seemed to get through to the skald. She blinked and turned her eyes toward Droad. There was something behind those eyes. Something that plotted coldly.

  “What talk?” she hissed. He knew, from her manner, that her rider had taken over her bodily operations directly and spoke with her bleeding mouth.

  “We have Fryx. We wish to negotiate his release into your custody.”

  “Then release me now.”

  Droad and Sarah exchanged glances. Droad nodded and they let her sit up.

  The skald eyed them both with a bland expression that belied her words. “You have disturbed the deliberations of—”

  “Yes, yes,” said Droad impatiently. “Time is of the essence. Do you have an interest in the return of Fryx?”

  “He is great among us, but his rescue has been determined too costly.”

  “Costly?” asked Droad, not sure what she meant. This was always the way it went when conversing with skalds. One never quite knew what they were thinking. “You have killed several people trying to retrieve him. Is that what you mean?”

  The skald shook with amusement. She didn’t laugh, exactly, but her chest shuddered in an odd manner. “Host-creatures have no intrinsic value.”

  “Our lives are as valuable to us as yours is to you. It’s all a matter of perspective.”

  The skald seemed to consider that. “The problem with your logic is that your perspective is the incorrect one.”

  Droad waved away her words with an impatient hand. “Just tell us, why are you leaving this system?”

  “Because it is time to leave.”

  Droad sighed. He knew the security people had to be on their way. Was this Tulk delaying purposefully? Or were they simply unable to connect directly with humans one-on-one? When he had dealings with Garth, a skald back on Garm, he had experienced similar disconnections.

  “Look, just tell me the truth. Are the aliens coming here? Are the Skaintz Imperium on their way?”

  The skald stared at him. “I have no reason to comply with your demands.”

  “Yes,” said Droad, hauling the woman to her feet. “Yes, you do.” He addressed Rem-9 and Sarah, who watched closely. �
�We will remove her Tulk and put it into the tank with Fryx.”

  At that, her arms came up again and the frenzied struggle continued for a time. She was weak, but she struggled with fanatical strength. Droad feared she might snap her own thin bones. At last, Sarah and Droad got her to the doorway. There, Rem-9’s grippers gently clamped down upon her wrists. She was dragged helplessly to the deck exit.

  Suddenly, the skald’s struggles subsided. “I do not wish to be exposed.”

  “Then answer my questions.”

  “Proceed.”

  “Are the Tulk running from this system?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are the Skaintz planning to invade this world?”

  “The Skaintz plan to invade all worlds.”

  Droad heaved a sigh.

  “Let me try,” said Sarah, stepping forward. Droad waved for her to proceed.

  “How close are they?” she asked the strange woman. “How long do we have before they invade?”

  The skald looked at her. “They have already arrived.”

  Nineteen

  Zuna’s first murder in decades felt good. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good. Unfortunately for Zuna, she was a perfectionist. She’d learned several things about her past life. It was coming back to her in flashes, like the tiny motes of exploding particles that popped around her as she worked down in the radiation pits. She remembered now that she had been human once, and she’d been a happy human. She ran a very clean operation, something that cared for people. She had been proud of how clean it all was. No health inspector had ever found a skink in her kitchen!

  She had been a perfectionist, a liar, and a murderess. This last part she’d only just put together. She had murdered people, over the years, and buried them quietly in her garden. There, useless people had been put to work, pushing up fresh vegetables that others could eat. For many of the dead, she recalled vaguely, this was the height of their existence. For once in their long, useless lives they’d finally done something of value.