Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance) (21 page)

Which meant they could work from the inside in
relative safety. That left one big worry still on his mind. The
pirate ship had been heading in the same direction Tish disappeared
in.

Arthur activated the communication line.
"Tish, where are you? Are you alright? Pirate fire is getting
intense."

"I'm in the airlock," Tish
answered.

He felt like he could breath again. Just the
sound of her voice put his fears to rest. "And we're at the south
relay. Power will be in your section soon. Be ready for it. Get
away from the outer hull if you can. We nearly got hit up
here."

"Got it."

A beep signaled the end of the discussion. He
rested against the chair, allowing himself to breathe
again.

"Was it a good idea to send her out on her own
this soon?" Rachel asked as she maneuvered the pod towards the
airlock.

A doubt he still felt, even though part of him
told him that it was only his emotions saying so. He'd seen the
look in her eyes, the same one he'd seen in every maintenance
engineer that made a successful connection with Redpoint One. The
expression of just 'knowing.'

"She's made a connection," Arthur said,
knowing he sounded far too pleased, and not caring about
it.

His Tish. He had no doubts about it. She would
stay.

Rachel whistled lowly as she maneuvered the
pod into the airlock followed by several bots. "Wow, so
soon."

"And it may make all the
difference."

***

"Invader!" Tish shouted, diving into a cranny to avoid the
weapon fire just before it exploded against the floor near where
she'd been standing.

The bots squealed, rushing off in all
directions. The miniature bots disappeared into cracks and holes.
She pushed herself further into the small space, trying to keep all
of her body behind the swelling of pipes around her. To make as
little of a target as possible.

A loud clang and the hum of something
mechanical nearby signaled the sudden return of the bots. They
settled back into their work as if they'd never been interrupted to
begin with.

Tish eased out of her small shelter, her heart
beating fast. A long light above them switched on, casting the area
into stark light and darks.

The way they'd come was empty except for a
closed bulkhead. Directly in front of the bulkhead on the floor lay
half of a warbot, the mid-section sliced in half by the bulkhead.
Two bots were already on top of it, tearing it apart into small
pieces. Smaller bots carted away the prizes.

She leaned back hard against the wall, trying
to catch her breath and calm her racing heart. If she never saw
another warbot, it would be too soon.

A series of lights blinked into appearance on
the far side. Two bots whistled with rising synchronized pleasure.
A block from the floor rose up to meet a section moving out from
the wall.

Tish moved out of the way, dodging to the
side. A column came down from the ceiling.

Crimson appeared at her feet, whistling up at
her.

"I know, I get it. Work is done and now I
shouldn't be in here." Tish wasn't sure how she felt about that.
She'd been needed, and now she was going to get kicked
out?

Then she chided herself. No time for thinking.
Time to do, and that meant time to leave.

With the bulkhead sealing the way they'd come,
she quickly headed in the opposite direction. Behind her parts of
all surfaces shifted and moved. Cabling and pipes came alive,
moving as if alive in and out of all surfaces. Breaking away from
their moorings to make new connections, to weave in and out with
other cables and pipes.

The bots moved in concert with the movements,
seemingly unconcerned. As if they were performing an intricate
dance with the station itself.

With her feet freed from the heavy spacesuit
boots, her legs felt light. She used it to her advantage, breaking
out into a jog. She needed to move out of the area. Not only
because of the station wanting her to leave, but because it was no
longer safe for her. The station now had a job to do and her
remaining in the area would prevent it.

Crimson lit the way with a bright light on the
top of her shell, moving barely far enough in front of her to stay
out of the way. The corridor became so narrow she had to hop
sideways to get through it. The ceiling dropped, forcing her to
duck her head.

Then she was in a wider corridor. With it she
could move faster. Crimson whistled encouragingly as she rounded a
bend and the main overhead lights came on.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a dark
shape move across a large corridor. Her mind classified it as a
warbot even as the corridor lit up. She continued running, hearing
a loud bang. The corridor glowed red from behind her as loud clangs
echoed through.

Crimson clicked happily to herself, completely
unconcerned.

Tish let herself quickly glance back as they
turned towards the outer hull. The scattered remains of a large
warbot littered the floor of the corridor with bots of many sizes
already working to clean it up.

Or, more likely, to use the parts to repair
the damage done by the things.

Good. Arthur must have been successful with
the power relay. That combined with the fast repairs going on in
the computer processing hub meant this part of the station was
coming back to life, including the defense systems. Any warbot
inside would soon find itself short-lived.

Crimson stopped in front of an airlock door,
reaching forward with an arm. It slid open and Tish didn't hesitate
a moment to slip inside. Crimson followed her, closing the door
behind them.

She leaned up against a wall, concentrating on
getting her breath back again. The surfaces beneath her feet and
against her back vibrated. She pushed herself away to look through
the small window back into the station. She saw a wall shift and
the floor rise up.

She backed away. If she'd been in the
corridors much longer, she would have been squished.

With a laugh she realized the movie had been
correct in on thing. The walls really did move by themselves
sometimes.

She moved to the other side to look out the
window of the airlock door. The fire-fight continued, but with a
difference. The surface of the station had shifted, and with it
weapon fire sprouted from Redpoint One. A pirate ship on a
low-level strafing run burst into a cloud of debris and short-lived
fire and sparks.

"Tish, status!" Arthur's voice demanded from
somewhere near her left arm.

She realized it came from her identification
band. She lifted her arm. "I'm here."

"Are you in a safe place?"

With the fireworks going on outside, she
should feel nervous. A pirate ship near the freighter disappeared
in a ball of light.

She looked down at Crimson, who gazed back up
at her. Even as the bot whistled and clicked to herself
contentedly, Tish answered, "Yes, quite safe. I'll stay here until
this is over. What about you and Rachel? It looks dangerous
outside."

"We're fine. Inside a large airlock with a
cloud of protective bots around us. Successful repair?"

Tish looked across the airlock at the window
in the airlock door leading back into the station. She couldn't
help grinning.

She'd done it. Herded the bots into the right
place, understood what the station needed even though she'd had no
clue how any of it worked. "Very successful. Had the pleasure of
seeing two warbots destroyed by the internal systems."

"Good. Security will like that," he said, the
relief plain in his voice.

Relief she felt to her very core. She turned
back to the window. She could barely make out the pirate ships from
among Redpoint One's backlash, but it was enough to know they were
making a hasty retreat.

A ribbon of energy passed over the other side
of the window, making Tish involuntarily step backwards. It erupted
into the sky. At several points the energy running along the
outside of the hull coalesced, becoming bright pinpricks of
light.

The points grew in strength. As one, they shot
into the sky, creating multiple bands of energy arcing out from the
station. They missed the freighter and a smaller ship nearby, to
find targets in the ships fleeing the station. Blossoms of light
blotted out the sky along with one larger than the others, making
her wonder if one of the pirates main ships had just been shot
down. Then came the sharp flash of some of the pirate ships making
for the safety of hyperspace.

She wondered how they would survive. There
were no solar systems nearby that she knew of, and that would mean
they were in for a long jump. Hyperspace radiation might get the
ones the station didn't.

And good riddance.

Tish lifted the band. "Arthur, are you
alright? Did the energy wave hit you?"

"We're fine. I think the pirate danger has
passed."

From the clear sky outside, she guessed he was
right. No weapon fire or explosions anywhere at all. Just the slow
movements of the freighter and a few small ships she guessed must
belong to the local Space Patrol outpost.

With the peace outside, she felt a peace
settle on her inside. As if a weight had been lifted from her
lungs, making her feel like she could breathe easier. She even felt
lighter.

And yet, there was still a weight from deep
inside her. Concerning Arthur. He'd accepted and started training
someone with no experience whatsoever, despite all that had been
going on at Redpoint One. She'd found a home, and yet she hadn't
completely earned it. She'd kept one big secret.

"Where are you? We'll pick you up," Arthur
said.

Crimson captured her attention with a whistle.
But the bot was no longer at her feet, it was on the other side of
the airlock. It had the inner door open and from what she could see
the other side looked normal. A quick walk to the door and a glance
outside confirmed it.

"Negative, I no longer have my spacesuit. It
was used in the repairs."

"We can dock," Arthur said with a
laugh.

Tish smiled down at Crimson. "Not needed. I'll
meet you back at the maintenance platform. The walk will do me
good."

She didn't feel bothered at all in finding her
own way. She motioned Crimson forward, "Let's head home. Hopefully
Violet will soon follow."

Crimson happily led the way down the well
illuminated corridor, whistling as she went. They passed a damaged
area, but unlike before it was filled with bots busy with repairs.
No sign of the special place so critical for the defense systems.
She had a feeling it was now hidden and safely sealed
away.

Coming up on Ricardo lurking in one of the
maintenance corridors was the last thing she expected. As well as
the almost-growl that came from Crimson.

The sounds coming from Crimson put her on edge
and on warning. She stopped before getting any closer to
him.

"What are you doing down here?" Tish
asked.

Ricardo turned towards her, eyeing her up and
down. "I should ask you the same thing."

"I work here, you don't."

"Who said I don't work here? Am I not in the
maintenance corridors?" He turned away from her, looking down to a
thin pad in his hands. He hit the pad as if frustrated. "Go back to
your little repairs."

"My repairs are finished for the day," Tish
said, noting that another overhead light had come on down a
cross-corridor. The area wouldn't be shut down for too much
longer.

A harsh buzz across the back of her head
appeared and quickly grew. Three smaller bots appeared out of
cracks between pipes and conduits. All of them focused on Ricardo.
Two larger bots appeared in the cross-corridor.

Something was going on, and she had no idea
what it could be.

She took a deep breath. Time for the instincts
again, like when she did the repair. Let the station tell her what
was going on.

It didn't take long to tune in. He didn't
belong here. He shouldn't be anywhere in the area.

No, it was more than that.

His presence wasn't benign. The station didn't
want him within it at all.

"What are you doing, Ricardo. Why are you down
here?" Tish asked. The appearance of several more bots made her
brave enough to take a step forward.

"We all have our secrets," Ricardo said,
turning narrowed eyes at her. "Including you. I looked you up. Care
to know what I found?"

"A virtual nobody from Earth who never should
have qualified for a job like this?" Tish asked, hoping she could
keep the emotion from her face, but the warmth on her face told her
she was likely blushing again.

He gave a grim smile. "Or to work anywhere
else, at least, not without certain drugs."

"This comment means what?" Tish
demanded.

"That you turn and go to wherever you were
going and leave me alone. If not, certain people are going to hear
about why you fled Earth."