Perdition (The Dred Chronicles) (9 page)

15

Now Featuring Killer Robots

Jael thinks he can break a Peacemaker unit? He’s kidding. He has to be.

Without heavy weapons, their best shot at reaching the salvage bay in one piece was to avoid the bot altogether, but by the way Jael angled his steps, he seemed to be heading right for the Peacemaker. She tried to argue; he wasn’t listening. His shorts were in a bunch, she supposed, because she’d seen him on the floor like a monkey with its ass hanging out. Now he had something to prove.

Jael paused as the movements rumbled closer. Dred could hear them now, not just feel the vibrations through the soles of her feet.
But how keen are his senses? He knew right where the Peacemaker was five minutes ago.

“I’m trying to understand the layout of the ship,” he said, looking thoughtful. “How can there be a salvage bay if you cons strip everything that’s not bolted down?”

“I steal things that are,” Wills mumbled. “It just takes longer.”

Dred ignored that though it was true. This trip, the bone-roller was unusually lucid. She wondered if danger sharpened his mental focus—and if so, maybe she should send him on more missions. Because the longer they were at risk, the less loopy he seemed.

“The salvage bay is left over from when this was the Monsanto Mineral Refinery. Sometimes equipment broke down, and they needed somewhere to store it until they could get new parts delivered. Given the remote location, it took a while.”

Jael nodded. “With you so far.”

“When they retrofitted the place and turned it into a prison, they left certain defenses in place to keep us out of restricted areas where we might reroute systems or somehow jury-rig enough repairs to pull this tub out of orbit.”

Jael seemed to consider. “Right. You never know when you’ll incarcerate an evil genius. And if you get yourself killed trying to push past the turrets and the Peacemakers, it saves the Conglomerate credits in the end. So it’s a win/win for them.”

“Exactly. So that’s why they didn’t bother removing the old stored equipment in the salvage and repair bays. For turns, it’s sat there like a lure, drawing us to our doom.”

“Dramatic,” Jael said.

“I don’t mean to be. It’s true. Other than Tam, who went in alone—and couldn’t bring anything out—nobody’s ever gotten inside.”

“Then I expect we’ll find bodies along the way. Let’s count them.” Jael started forward, toward the source of the thumps and rumbles.

She sighed, thinking that the impromptu lore class hadn’t taught him anything. It would serve nobody’s purpose if they exploded.

“Hold up,” she said.

In answer, he made a shooing motion with graceful hands. “You three stay back. I can’t watch out for you and draw fire, too.”

“What do you expect to do?” Einar asked. “Pull it apart with your bare hands?”

“That’s the plan.” Jael sounded confident he could, actually.

And since he’d shaken off a lethal dose of Grigor’s best poison, who was Dred to call it impossible? So she made a judgment call. “It’s your show for now. Just understand that we can’t stitch you back together like a torn shirt.”

“You won’t have to,” he replied. “Just put the pieces of me close together. I’ll do the rest.”

Einar took a step back. “What the
hell
.”

“He’s the dark one,” Wills stated.

This is just what I need.
She imagined the garbled and superstitious report Wills would make about this journey. Lazarus, rising from the dead; by the time he got done mangling the account, there would be demons and hedge witches and a mass grave in the Warren. Actually, come to think of it, Wills
should
tell the story. That way, nobody would believe it.

“We’ve already wasted enough time.” She speared Jael with a look. “When we get back, provided we survive, you and I are having a long talk.”

He flashed her a cocky smile. “I hope it’s about our feelings. I have at least two. Possibly three. Does hunger count?”

“
I
think so,” Einar said with a touch of humor.

Dred couldn’t decide whether she wanted to knock Jael on his ass or laugh. She went with the latter because it was rare enough that someone could work a smile out of the big man—and it was good to see them settling their differences without bloodshed. Odd, but good. She’d suspected for a minute that Einar had developed an authentic, irreversible distaste for Jael.

Good to be wrong.

With an impatient gesture, she said, “Get a move on, pretty lad. Go be a hero.”

“You’re seriously letting him take one of those on, alone?” Einar seemed startled or put out. Between his flat expression and the scars, it could be hard to tell.

“Did you want to help him?”

He scowled. “Sitting back makes me feel like a candy-ass.”

“Mary forfend your ass should feel like anything but titanium.” She pushed out a breath, then added, “If you’re careful, you can be a hero, too. But you don’t have my permission to die, either.” Once Einar moved up, she glanced at Wills. “What about you?”

“I’m fine with you,” he said.

More proof he’s not as crazy as he seems.

Dred had no intention of getting in the line of fire, but she wanted to see the action, so she crept forward, keeping her movements slow and steady. Peacemaker units tracked humans two ways: via infrared and by sudden movement. She didn’t think this one would disregard the two targets close by to come after her, though. So it should be fine.

She made it to the corner in time to see Jael run at the Peacemaker; it leveled its weapons on him. This thing had three of them—a rifle so powerful it was known as a Shredder, an actual cannon mounted on its chest, and an energy gun that could fry you like a side of meat. Though she’d seen him do some impossible shit, it seemed likely he’d only get himself—and Einar—killed. Projectile rounds slammed the ground and somewhere ahead of them, she heard defense mechanisms kick to life.

“Dammit.”

“The turrets are live,” Wills said. “And I suspect this part of the ship might be in lockdown.”

“Force fields,” she guessed. Then she offered the alleged madman a hard look. “It’s all bullshit, isn’t it? Your crazy act.”

“Not always. But most of the time? Yes.”

“Why?”

“It keeps me safe. People are superstitious about harming the infirm and insane, even in here.”

“I try to keep people from knifing each other in Queensland,” she said.

“That doesn’t mean you know about everything that goes on in the dormitories or in the halls at night. Remember, this is still a prison.”

Before she could reply, a boom called her attention back to the fight. A smoking hole in the wall behind them testified to the strength of the laser on the Peacemaker’s left limb. Jael was still moving, though, and so was Einar. The former had his shirt off for reasons incomprehensible to Dred. What they thought they could do when they got to the thing, though—Jael leapt, answering her question. He dropped his shirt over the Peacemaker’s visual sensors, which would screw with its targeting.

“Help me with this,” he said to Einar.

To her astonishment, they circled the bot, then took up a position to the side, at the wrong angle to be blasted, and snagged the Shredder. She could tell by the bulging of their arms that they were using all their strength; the Peacemaker caught on too slow and tried to spin, but she couldn’t imagine it had been programmed for a couple of lunatics trying to pop its arm off. So the movement actually helped them, providing more leverage at the weakest point, against the soldered joint. With a shriek of grinding metal, the limb wrenched free.

“Get back!” he shouted at Einar.

Then he opened up on the Peacemaker, emptying the chambers at the thing’s head. The first volley of ammo pinged off the bot’s armor, but the next round dug in. The Peacemaker’s chest opened and the cannon fired. The wall exploded. Beneath a smoldering shrapnel rain, Jael dove and rolled, coming up on one knee. He unloaded the rest of the ammo while Einar assaulted the thing from behind. The big man might be strong enough to break the laser, but she doubted it would fire, as it must be wired into the Peacemaker’s power source.

Einar pulled and pulled at that arm, but he wasn’t strong enough alone. “A little help?”

Jael dropped the Shredder, as it wasn’t piercing through the bot’s armor. He came in low and got behind the machine. With his added force and the Peacemaker fighting every inch they drew it back, it wasn’t long before the laser bent until the next shot would probably make the thing explode.

“See if you can get it to cycle with the laser,” she called.

Dred had no idea how, but Jael did. He snatched his shirt off the thing’s head, so it could see its targets again. Since he and Einar were standing adjacent, the laser was the closest and most feasible weapon. Instinctively, she fell back around the corner, trying to avoid the fallout, and footsteps pounded in her direction. As Einar slid down beside her, she heard an incredible boom. When Jael staggered up, he had a hole in his chest, the skin blackened and charred.
That would’ve killed anyone else,
she thought. Dred could actually see inside his body, damage to his organs that should’ve been permanent and fatal. The hallway beyond smoldered.

“Why didn’t you run?” she demanded, catching him as he collapsed.

“Just need a second. I’ll be fine.”

Dred cupped his shoulders.
“Why?”

“Had to make sure it used the laser, so I stayed close. Otherwise, it might’ve shifted to the chest cannon and shot Einar.”

“So you did it for me?” the big man asked.

“Don’t take it the wrong way. It doesn’t mean we’re in love.”

“I owe you,” Einar said quietly.

Dred knew just how significant that statement was. Einar didn’t offer his loyalty or a personal marker lightly. Whatever came next, Jael could expect the big man to watch his back. It took a lot to impress Einar, but Jael had gotten the job done.
They actually did it. They defeated a Peacemaker with their bare hands.
She’d never heard of such a thing. The armed units had a reputation for being unstoppable unless you had equal firepower.

As she held Jael, his internal damage resolved, new tissue replacing burned flesh, then the hole in his chest grew smaller. It was insane and hard to credit, but the process took less than fifteen minutes, eventually leaving no trace on his skin. Without thinking, she touched his chest, feeling like she was losing her mind.

She pulled him to his feet with a shake of her head. “What about blood loss? Are you weak for a while after you’re injured?”

“My red blood cells reproduce at an accelerated rate. In an hour or so, a lab test wouldn’t show any signs that I’d been shot.”

“I don’t even know what to say.”

But Einar did. “Those were some smart-as-hell tactics out there. Where did you serve?”

It was a personal question, but Jael didn’t seem to mind. “I’ve fought all over, but most recently, Nicu Tertius. I was one of March’s Maniacs.”

“Bullshit,” Einar said. “That would make you at least a hundred turns.”

Jael turned blue eyes to Dred. “How do you feel about May-December relationships?”

Part of her wanted to say she didn’t believe him. Without access to Rejuvenex, there was no way he could look as he did, fight as he did, and claim such age. But she’d learned better when it came to him.

So she shrugged. “What does it matter?”

“See,” he told Einar. “Age is only a number.”

She ignored both of them, including Einar’s grunt of laughter. “Wills, can you strip that thing, now that it’s inert?”

“Of course, my queen.”

The bone-reader was so unassuming when he wasn’t acting crazy that it was easy to forget what he’d done out in the real world. It would be a mistake to get too comfortable with his sanity. She couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t suddenly decide
she
had to die because it was bound to happen at some point, according to his predictions. Dred watched his back warily as they moved.

When they approached, the unit was still active, but it lay in several chunks as a result of the misfire. The corridor was black nearly a meter around the unit, and even now, the heat was astonishing; Dred felt it through the soles of her feet.

I can’t believe Jael survived this.

After donning protective gloves, Wills bent and popped out the power source, and the machine went still. Wills studied the Peacemaker, then added, “I’ll need help hauling it.”

Dred held up a hand. “We’ll leave the parts here and grab them on the way out. Nobody will bother them in the time it takes for us to get to the salvage bay and back.”

“But you want them stripped now?” Wills asked.

“That way we don’t stop long as we’re leaving. I suspect we’ll be weighted down.”

It seemed like the most logical suggestion to Dred, and the other two men didn’t argue, so she figured they agreed. Beneath her watchful eye, Wills went to work with his ubiquitous toolkit. Occasionally, he asked some help from Jael or Einar with a stubborn piece, but soon enough, he had all the usable gear laid in a neat pile.

“Ready?” she asked the three men. When she received a trio of assenting nods, she added, “Then let’s go loot some gear.”

* * *

TAM
had been keeping an eye on Lecass for a third of a turn. The maniac preferred things under Artan’s rule, and he had been pushed out of the new regime entirely. Men like him didn’t take kindly to loss of power. He was just surprised the brute hadn’t made a move yet. But maybe he was holding his grudge until the moment when it would do the most damage.

Ike followed his gaze. They were sitting at a table, chopping vegetables for Cook, who was in no mood for nonsense. Somebody had stolen some of his supplies—rare, dried spices—that took forever to grow and process, and he was demanding in his silent, furious way that Tam do something about it. He had no time for small matters like this, but things would escalate if he didn’t step in, and Dred, who had been gone for a long time, wouldn’t thank him if she returned to a bloodbath.

Muffling a sigh, he turned to Ike. “What do you think, prank or serious theft?”