Ship of Ruin Read online

“Go, go, go,” Casmir ordered as the system lagged.

  He tried to knock away the android’s arm, but Tork had strength superior to any human’s. A hand like a vise latched onto his shoulder and squeezed. Casmir couldn’t keep from screaming in pain.

  But then the android stopped moving. His grip released, his limbs sagged, and he toppled sideways onto the deck.

  Casmir lurched away, putting his back to the wall and bracing his legs against the deck. The fight continued to rage on the bridge—and outside. One of the Kingdom warships was flying straight toward them. The cargo ship lurched wildly, its automatic piloting system still engaged in evasive maneuvers.

  “Asger,” Casmir shouted over the thuds of punches connecting and the buzz of weapons firing. “Tell Ishii to stop attacking, that we’ve got control of the ship.” A bolt slammed into the wall an inch above his head, and Casmir flung himself onto his belly again. “I mean that we will have control!”

  “I tried,” Asger’s voice came back, muffled.

  He was on the deck under a pile of attacking robots as Qin and Zee fought back to back several feet away. Detached robot limbs littered the deck, but the constructs fought on. There seemed to be more than before. Tork must have called up reinforcements.

  “Comm system,” Casmir blurted, lunging to his feet but staying low as he raced toward the front of the bridge.

  He needed to figure out how to take control of the robots now that Tork was out of the picture, but if he didn’t stop the warships from firing, they could be blown to pieces in seconds. He rose up just enough to access the comm panel and figure out how to open an outgoing channel on a burst broadcast.

  “This is Dabrowski with Sir Asger. We disabled the cargo ship’s stealth technology, as you can see, but we’re on the bridge ourselves right now. Cease fire. Captain Ishii, please cease fire. We’ll update you when we’ve gained control over the security system.” A thunderous boom punctuated his last sentence.

  Wonderful.

  Hoping the warships would hear him and stop firing, Casmir sank behind cover again. He checked the networks, then attempted to connect to the security one. It had shown as locked before, and it still was. He tried the same passcode that had worked for Tork.

  Access denied.

  On a whim, he tried Tork’s ID, the numbers and letters burned into his brain. Maybe he was always in charge of the robots.

  He gained access, and he let out a whoop. Until nothing but ones and zeroes appeared on his display. Right, androids and robots wouldn’t need a human-friendly interface to communicate.

  He transmitted a zero for off, though it was probably vain to believe something so simple would work. Until it grew abruptly quiet on the bridge.

  “They stopped attacking!” Qin yelled.

  “They stopped doing anything.” Asger sounded puzzled.

  Casmir flopped onto his back and laughed, not caring that it had a hysterical edge to it. He managed to stop himself only because he was afraid his words wouldn’t have been enough for Ishii and the other warship captains. He sat up and waved Asger toward the comm.

  “Tell them we have control of the ship, please.”

  Asger eyed a robot standing in front of him, frozen in the middle of lunging at him. “Are you sure?”

  “I think so. It’s possible they’ll reset themselves, but I got access to their network, so if I have some time, I can probably reprogram. And the human crew…” Casmir looked grimly at the pods. “Isn’t going to wake up.”

  “What about the android?” Asger lowered his pertundo and walked to the console, peering down at Casmir.

  Casmir waved at the deck where he’d left Tork. “He’s off too. He’ll be more complicated to reprogram. I’ll just focus on the robots for now.”

  “Huh.” Asger gazed down at him.

  “The last time you looked at me for that long,” Casmir said, “I got a little worried you were going to kiss me.”

  “Well, the helmets would preclude that.”

  “Only the helmets?”

  Asger snorted, looked around at the immobile robots, and lowered his hand. “You’re not what I expected, and yet… you kind of are.”

  Casmir accepted the hand and the help to his feet. “Care to explain that?”

  He remembered Asger saying he was helping Casmir because the queen wanted him alive. He also remembered that Asger had paused before giving that answer, as if it hadn’t been the first one that came to his mind. Was it possible he knew something more about Casmir?

  Asger looked over at Qin. “Maybe later.”

  “Right,” Casmir said.

  The comm light flashed with an incoming message. Casmir waved for Asger to answer it, figuring Ishii would be more likely to listen to him.

  “This is Sir Asger.”

  The ship had steadied, no longer accelerating wildly through its maneuvers. Casmir hoped that meant the warships had stopped firing.

  “I want visual,” Ishii’s voice came over the comm. He sounded suspicious. “How the hell did you and Dabrowski get over there?”

  “It’s a longish story. Let me see about a visual.”

  While Asger poked around, the smoke from damaged computers hazing the air, Casmir stapled together enough binary to bring the robots, those intact enough to walk, over to stand behind him at the console. That ought to help convince Ishii that they had indeed taken control of the ship.

  When the visual link came through, two faces appeared side by side on the display, replacing the visual of the warship. Captain Ishii and a beleaguered man in his fifties or sixties, also with captain’s rank. Smoke filled the air behind that man, and his white hair stuck up in a dozen directions. Red emergency lighting flashed behind him, and someone in the background was helping someone else off the bridge. Maybe he was the captain of the ship that had been blockading the gate.

  “We had a bit of a battle, Captain.” Asger removed his helmet so they could see his face. “But we’ve come out on top and, barring unexpected surprises, have control of the ship. Apparently, it’s useful to take a computer hacker along on combat missions.”

  “I’m a robotics engineer, and I didn’t hack anything. I pulled some plugs.” Casmir also removed his helmet, then promptly wished he hadn’t because the unfiltered, smoky air assailed his lungs and he ended up coughing.

  “Why are you surrounded by robots?” the second captain asked.

  Asger looked behind him. “I believe that’s Dabrowski’s new army. Any minute, they’re going to swear to live and die by his command.”

  Ishii scowled.

  “I’m not sure this is the time for humor.” Casmir worried jokes like that might be interpreted literally. He didn’t need King Jager’s intelligence people to hear rumors about a rogue engineer gathering a robot army. “Besides, didn’t we decide knights don’t make jokes?”

  “You decided that. Based on my deadly weapon and my cloak, I believe.”

  “Have you checked for our stolen cargo?” Ishii asked.

  “Not yet,” Asger said. “We’ve only had control of the bridge for two minutes.”

  “Go check. I’ll bring the Osprey over while Captain Hildebrand continues to blockade the gate.”

  “Lucky me,” the other captain muttered, wiping his brow.

  “Check for the cargo and report back within fifteen minutes,” Ishii said.

  The display switched back to a view of the warship as the comm ended.

  “He still hasn’t grasped that I’m not in his chain of command,” Asger said.

  “I think captains are just accustomed to giving orders and being obeyed.”

  “Maybe so. I’ll see if the gate is here and all this was worth it.” Asger patted him on the shoulder and turned to walk around the robots and toward the exit. He looked at but didn’t say anything to Qin, who’d walked up to Casmir’s other side. “Do whatever you need to do to make sure the android doesn’t wake up and you retain control of those robots for now,” he called back.

  �
��You know I’m not in your chain of command, either, right?” Casmir asked.

  “Knights are also accustomed to giving orders and being obeyed.”

  “That may be why people think they’re humorless.” Casmir lowered his voice and smiled at Qin. “And pretentious.” He gripped her shoulder, though she wouldn’t feel it through her armor. “Thank you so much for your help. That wasn’t your fight.”

  “Was it yours?” she asked.

  “Ah, technically, I don’t think so. But there were robots, and I did volunteer myself to come over here, so…”

  A new message scrolled down Casmir’s display, and he held up a finger. It was Kim.

  Casmir, I’m incredibly busy, but I wanted to let you know that I’m back up on the Machu Picchu, and we’re trying to figure out a solution to the pseudo radiation problem. I may have a lead, but it’s too early to tell, and my health is deteriorating. Don’t worry about me. I have more resources now to hopefully solve this, but I want you to stay away from any of those gate pieces. It’s not just the wreck that emits this stuff that’s deadly to us. Even a small gate piece could kill a crew—did kill a crew.

  “Uh,” Casmir said, looking in the direction Asger had gone. Kim, I’m on the cargo ship that we think was trying to steal the gate. We’ve gained control of it, but the gate… you said Rache is immune. Do you think I would be?

  He bit his lip, glad they could talk but annoyed by the time lag.

  “What is it?” Qin whispered.

  “I got a message from Kim. Hold on,” he said as a reply filled his vision.

  I think so, but unless I miss my guess, nobody else with you is going to have that immunity. You better get everyone else off that ship before it’s too late. The more exposure they get, the faster they’ll die.

  Damn it, Kim. What is this stuff?

  I think you may be right in that it’s the ancient ship’s security system. If you’re not human enough, you get zapped with some homemade type of radiation we can’t detect.

  Not human enough? What does that mean? You said Rache is immune. There’s no way he’s more human than you.

  I’ll explain that later.

  “I found the cargo hold,” Asger said over the comm. “And more giant segments of the gate than I can count.”

  “Get out of there!” Casmir yelled. “Close the door. Bar it off. Get back up here. No, you need to get the hell off this ship now.” He glanced at the pods full of dead people. “Damn it, why didn’t I realize what must have happened to them earlier?”

  Because he’d had a dozen robots pointing weapons at him, and contemplating why the people were dead hadn’t been his highest priority…

  “What?” Asger asked.

  “The gate is what killed the crew. It’s emitting some kind of radiation we can’t detect. If Kim doesn’t find a fix and if we can’t get to her in time, we’ll suffer the same fate as these astroshamans.”

  There was a long pause and the faint hiss of a door shutting.

  Asger swore vehemently. “Everyone, get to the shuttle. We’ll explain it to Ishii from there.”

  Casmir opened his mouth to agree, but another message came in from Kim.

  I hate to give you more bad news, Casmir, but Rache dropped us off and took off to rendezvous with his ship, which has, I believe, been repaired enough to be dangerous again. He openly admitted he’ll do whatever it takes to keep King Jager from gaining control of that gate.

  Shit, I’m standing on the same ship as that gate right now.

  There was a pause that went beyond what signal lag should have caused.

  It’s on the Osprey? Kim asked.

  No. I took a small trip.

  If you were here, I’d punch you.

  It’s possible I might deserve it. Casmir thought about saying that he’d only been trying to assist the Fleet so they would assist him in retrieving her, but it seemed like too long a story to explain now. How long ago did Rache leave you?

  Uhm, eight hours? Ten?

  “That means he could be here any minute.” Casmir groaned.

  14

  Casmir caught up with Qin and Asger in the shuttle bay, trailed by Zee and ten robots from the bridge—those with legs and arms still mostly attached. Asger threw a startled glance at the small army but waved Casmir toward the open hatch of his craft. Qin was already inside. Good.

  “You two go,” Casmir said. “I have to stay here.”

  “What? You just said we all have to go. That we’ve already likely been afflicted.”

  “That is true. Take the shuttle back to the Stellar Dragon, make sure Captain Lopez runs the decon shower in the airlock, and then get back to the Machu Picchu in orbit around Skadi. I have faith that Kim is on to something by now, and she’ll have a cure.”

  “Which you’ll need as badly as the rest of us, right?” Asger asked.

  Casmir hoped not. He wished Kim had gone into more detail on Rache’s immunity.

  “I got a message from Kim,” Casmir said, trying to figure out a way to explain why he was the only one who could stay without revealing the secret he didn’t want to have. He suspected his trustworthiness among the knights, the military, and the queen would plummet if people knew he was Rache’s twin brother. “That’s why I realized we needed to avoid the gate. But it’s also how I know that Rache is on his way. And he’ll do anything to keep our king from taking delivery of it.”

  Asger banged his fist on his armored thigh. “He’s not working with those freaks, is he?”

  Asger flung a hand upward. To indicate the dead people in the pods on the bridge? Casmir bristled a little at his willingness to label everyone who wasn’t like him as a freak, but this wasn’t the time to argue semantics.

  “I actually don’t know,” Casmir said. “It could be possible. He’s a mercenary, right? Meaning he’ll work for the highest bidder? But he definitely has a grudge against Jager, so maybe it’s just personal.”

  “Yeah, I know about his grudge.” Asger shook his head in disgust.

  “I’d ask you to enlighten me, but I’m not sure how the exposure to the gate works. It sounds like it’s something like radiation, and I know radiation would have no trouble going through the decks of this ship. The sooner you get out of here, the better.”

  Casmir nodded to Qin, who’d appeared in the hatchway, no doubt wondering why they weren’t already taking off. He wished he wasn’t sending her off alone with Asger, but now that they had battled killer robots together, maybe they could survive a shuttle ride without springing for each other’s throats.

  “And what, you’re going to stay here and sacrifice yourself to keep Rache from getting the gate by blowing up this ship? Don’t tell me you think you can fly into battle against him and his hardened pirates. This ship may have good guns, but you disabled the android controlling them.”

  “I wasn’t thinking of doing either of those things, actually. Especially not while I’m on board.”

  “What are you thinking of?”

  Casmir hesitated, feeling he shouldn’t admit that he hadn’t gotten far yet with his plotting and scheming. His main thought was that he should reenable the stealth system so Rache couldn’t find the ship or the gate.

  “Look, Dabrowski.” Asger stepped forward and gripped his shoulder. “Casmir. You and your new allies—uh, that one’s arm is falling off—aren’t a match for Rache. Let Ishii and the other captains handle it. There are three good warships out there. Rache only has one ship. It’s state-of-the-art, yes, but so are those warships.”

  Casmir thought of the beleaguered captain who’d appeared on the comm. “How much damage did they take battling Tork and this ship?”

  Asger winced. “I’m not sure yet.”

  “Rache’s people have probably had time to get their ship back in top condition.”

  “You don’t need to sacrifice yourself to keep him from getting the gate.” Asger shook his shoulder gently—or maybe the act only seemed gentle through Casmir’s suit. “I promised th
e queen I would try to keep you from getting killed. This wasn’t what she had in mind at the time, I’ll admit, but you’re meant for greater things. I’m sure of it.”

  “Care to explain that?”

  Asger hesitated, then tilted his helmet toward the hatchway. “If you hop in the shuttle and leave this mess for the military, I’ll tell you what I know.”

  Oh, how Casmir wanted answers. Whatever answers Asger could provide.

  The temptation was real, but… Casmir couldn’t help but believe that Rache would get the gate if he walked away from this ship, and even though it didn’t make a lot of sense, he felt some responsibility for Rache’s actions. As if, because they shared DNA, it was his responsibility to stop him.

  Maybe all Rache wanted was to keep Jager from getting the gate, but what if he wanted it for himself? To sell it to the highest bidder? Casmir didn’t know if King Jager was the most honorable person in the Twelve Systems, but the Kingdom government was stable, and life on Odin came with a lot of freedom and opportunities. He wasn’t convinced the man was evil. He definitely wasn’t convinced that this technology would be better off in a pirate’s hands.

  “It’s not my intention to sacrifice myself,” Casmir promised. “Just to hide the gate somewhere so Rache can’t find it.”

  “You need to just hand it to the Fleet.”

  “I’m willing to do that, but I’m concerned they might not be a match for Rache right now.”

  “Where are you going to hide it?”

  “I don’t know yet. I need to get the stealth generator back online.” Casmir smiled and didn’t mention that he hadn’t the foggiest idea how that stealth technology worked or that he worried the ship had been damaged enough that simply fixing the electrical connection wouldn’t get it working again. “I’ll meet you at Skadi, at the Machu Picchu, as soon as I’m able. I promise.”

  “There aren’t any other shuttles in this bay, Casmir. And if you bring the entire ship to Skadi, nobody’s going to have a hard time finding it.”

  “I’ll find a way to get there. I’m crafty. Really!” He gave them his most winning smile, more because he wanted them to leave the ship before they were exposed further than because he had any clue what he would do or how he would do it. “Now, you both need to go. Please. But thank you for everything on the bridge, for risking yourselves and keeping me alive. You were amazing. Both of you.” Casmir met Qin’s eyes and nodded to her. “Tell your captain that you need a raise. Or at least a new candle. A really big one.”