Chapter 18
Tim stepped out of the airlock onto what felt like some kind of metal plating. It shifted from his weight. He paused to look around.
As a cyborg, he’d been to places like this.
Dumping grounds for broken or damaged ships and other equipment.
He and the others had visited them in search of parts to repair their ship after encounters with bounty hunters, or just other ships that liked to fight.
The ethical nature of the owners of the various dumps was as varied as the types of stock they kept.
But, as robots from the Najer, they’d always been treated well. Everyone had been too afraid of them. This alien didn’t know them, and he wasn’t a robot anymore. So he couldn’t scare them into being nice.
Which brought him back to talking. It was definitely ironic.
The airlock wasn’t visible from where the two aliens had been, but as Tim turned from his scrutiny of the surroundings, they came around the shuttle, their gazes still on the shuttle.
“I’ve never seen one of these, just seen specs and heard rumors about them,” the big one was saying.
His companion spotted Tim and gave a warning choke that swung the big one’s attention his way.
Tim noted that the smaller of the two now had a weapon in his hand, but he hadn’t pointed it at Tim yet.
It wouldn’t take long to lift it, of course, but the little one didn’t know he or it wouldn’t be fast enough.
Tim might not be a robot anymore, but he had enough cybernetics to outpace any non-cyborg.
The larger man studied Tim for a long moment, and Tim wondered what he saw. His cybernetics wouldn’t be immediately apparent, though if the alien really focused, he should be able to see his optical device through the transparent faceplate of his head gear.
A smile cut across several folds of the aliens face, but Tim noted it failed to reach the man’s eyes.
“I’m afraid this isn’t for sale yet,” he said.
Tim hesitated. They thought he was a client who had wandered over here? It was data he filed away to think about, mostly because it appeared to indicate a serious lack of security protocols.
“This shuttle will never be for sale,” Tim said, finally, watching to see if his words registered. He wasn’t certain Veirn was translating correctly.
“And why not?” the big one asked.
“Because I own it. This ship is mine.”
“The laws of salvage…”
“Only go into effect when the owner is no longer present,” Tim said. It didn’t seem wise to use the word “dead,” when the little guy was armed. He doubted it could penetrate his Garradian gear, but he didn’t know that.
He’d believed the Garradians almost all powerful until he found out they weren’t. But their stuff was, according to Colonel Carey of the Earth Expedition, pretty bad ass.
Folds of skin lowered over the big one’s eyes, then lifted. Tim didn’t like their expression.
“You were on this ship?” he finally asked.
“I was. I am from this ship”
“That could explain why we couldn’t…” the little one began but stopped when the big one waved a hand.
“And you never will be able to take it over,” Tim said. He’d almost said “we” but managed to stop himself. Don’t give any more information than you have to, was a dictum they’d followed well before coming into contact with the Garradians. “I will be leaving soon.”
All he needed was his systems back online, navigation information, and a lot of luck.
“The,” the word that followed sounded like he barfed, “do not make mistakes in what they bring me.”
“Until now,” Tim said. “They made a mistake when they…collected my ship and another when they dumped it here.”
The big man looked at the shuttle, the longing in his eyes clear for Tim to see, then he returned his attention to Tim.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
With no warning, the smaller man lifted his weapon and fired.
It impacted solidly against his chest and Tim felt his cybernetics flare to protect him. But the shot did not penetrate the suit.
It hurt some, another side effect of being human, but Tim didn’t move. Even as a human, it took more than that to knock him back a step.
He had to admit he longed for his cybernetic body and what he would have been able to do with it. This talking wasn’t working that well for him. But…his gut still said that Trac might actually be at a disadvantage here, though he didn’t know why.
He kept his own, modest sensors locked down, but felt a kind of buzz against them, as if something were trying to get in.
He and his crewmates’ defenses, both physical and systemic, had been formidable, but there had been a couple of times their systems had almost been breached by viruses.
It had not been optimal to learn they weren’t as formidable as they’d believed, too. And they’d worked since then to close that weakness gap. Even as only partly cybernetic, he had those formidable defenses woven into his systems.
He felt the shudder of the decking under his feet. Something, or many somethings, were incoming.
The big one smiled. It wasn’t a friendly smile, more one of triumph.
“You should not have left the protection of your ship,” he said.
Even as the man spoke, more of the smaller aliens began to appear. All were armed and all of their weapons were pointed at him.
“The law of salvage,” Tim tried again.
“There is no law out here,” the big one said.
The smaller one might have giggled.
“Do you need backup?” Riina’s voice was in his ear.
“No,” Tim said. They probably wouldn’t need to ask when or if he did need backup. It would be obvious.
He extracted his own weapon but also readied his cybernetics for additional defense. Truth be told, he wasn’t exactly sure what they all did yet. He hadn’t had time before deploying to test everything. He’d been focused on learning to walk and fight again.
Again, with no warning, the aliens opened fire.
Tim felt the bloom of a protective shield and wondered if it was visible.
It took the impacts, protecting him from the worst of the hits. He still took some, but again, they were mostly annoying.
He didn’t fire back. He wasn’t sure why. The cyborg Tim would have already leveled them all and moved on. But he’d come out to talk. He needed information as much as he needed not to be killed or captured.
All the shooting paused, and Tim noticed they were making adjustments to their weapons. To up their fire power?
On some level, one not apparent to his conscious mind, he felt the change, and saw the energy wave surge out from him. It passed over most of the aliens firing on him and they cried out and dropped their weapons.
That was interesting. He’d never had that capability as a cyborg. It seemed his Garradian doctors had been tweaking his capabilities. Or CabeX? He felt a certainty as he thought about this captain.
CabeX had been transferred to a human devoid of cybernetics, so it wasn’t a surprise he’d try to do all he could to protect his crew.
“What?” The big one finally shouted at him.
Did that mean he was ready to talk? Or was he hoping to stall until more reinforcements arrived? Tim wished he was better at this.
“You can’t have my ship,” he said. It felt wise to repeat his demand, rather than risk revealing something by talking too much.
He almost grinned at that thought, and what Riina would say if he said he was afraid of it. Talking too much wasn’t a Najer crew problem.
“I’m going to leave with my ship, in my ship,” he added.
“No one leaves here without my permission,” the big one said. His tone had a faint edge of a sneer, but Tim had a feeling he was uncertain of his facts.
And then the big one said, now on a whine, “My first Garradian shuttle! Do you know how rare they are? I will buy it from you.”
Tim blinked. He’d seen many Garradian ships of all kinds, but even he knew not to say that.
The big man reached out and stroked the side of the shuttle.
“I’ll pay whatever you want,” he glanced at Tim,” within reason, of course.”
This seemed like an indication that the big alien was willing to bargain, but other than the ship, Tim had nothing to bargain with.
Information? He couldn’t share information about the Garradians with these people.
He gave what he hoped was a contemptuous glance around him.
“I need a ship, not currency,” he said.
“I have ships! I have many ships! Come, I will show you!”
If he’d truly been alone on his ship, he’d never have left it. But it felt like a look around might help with their data collection. They were flying blind here.
He gave a sharp nod, one that he hoped gave no quarter in the agreement to look.
“You will withdraw your people,” Tim added.
“Of course! Of course!” The big man’s hands waved, and the smaller aliens began to retreat.
They could, of course, come back as soon as Tim was out of sight, but Trac was in the shuttle, and his sensors were working.
The big man lead him toward the clunky flyer and Tim followed him inside, his cyborg defenses still fully deployed.
At the place where ramp reached the door, Tim felt a tingle along the edges of his energy barrier and gave mental thanks he was still on his guard.
If the big one was disappointed when Tim continued inside with no sign of distress, he managed to hide most of it.
The big one indicated a seat. Tim shook his head. From the dim recesses of his memory, he recalled being strapped in a chair…
“I’ll stand,” he said. He had a good chance of breaking free from restraints, but again, not wise to test that right now.
The flyer lifted off with many jerks. Tim rode them easily, but it did explain the erratic course it had flown in coming toward them. He could tell the engine was barely functioning. The big alien maintained his gear as poorly as his junk yard.