Maybe no attack will come, Rhea sent. Maybe it was space pirates after all.
He glanced at her and smiled sadly. You don’t really believe that.
No. She glanced at the time and spoke aloud: “Well, we haven’t been arrested yet… if the council wanted to send security, the robots would have arrived by now.”
“Maybe they’re waiting for Horatio to come before they arrest us,” Will suggested.
Horatio arrived shortly thereafter. Security, however, remained absent.
“Guess the city doesn’t mind,” Rhea said.
“Apparently not,” Will agreed.
Rhea checked the schedules of the local charters and found several that would accept flights on short notice. Some even allowed “walk-ins.” She booked an appointment with one of the latter for half an hour from now, and then departed with Will and Horatio.
When they bounded into the space terminal, they found Peter waiting with two security robots.
“I know what you’re doing,” Peter said.
“You’ve come to stop us?” Rhea asked.
“Not at all,” Peter replied. “I’ve come to lend you a shuttle.”
“We’ve already booked with another charter company,” Rhea said.
“It’s been handled,” Peter said firmly.
Rhea glanced at Will and then shrugged. “All right. We’ll take your shuttle. How much do you want?”
“No cost,” Peter said. “Consider it a gesture of goodwill, on behalf of the Europan people. But I should warn you, if you return with any technology or weapons, such as more Ban’Shar, they will be confiscated. You ceded all rights to such tech when you signed our agreement. You are entitled to one set of Ban’Shar, and nothing else.”
“That’s fair,” Rhea said. “I’d like my Ban’Shar now, by the way. Along with all our other weapons.”
“Since you’re leaving the dome, you may collect the weapons you arrived with,” Peter said slowly. “However, since you’re not yet departing the moon entirely, I cannot allow you to take the Ban’Shar.”
“But the contract—” Rhea began.
Peter interrupted: “The provision in the contract specifically states you may have the Ban’Shar only when you board a transport headed off moon.”
She was assuming she’d have the Ban’Shar with her to face any assassins. But now she was having second thoughts…
No. I don’t need the Ban’Shar. The pistol and the X2-59 will be enough. I can do this. I will see these ruins. And if the assassin comes, I will destroy him.
She turned toward Peter and told him: “Very well.”
And so he bound-walked her to the kiosk of a charter company reserved for government officials.
“By the way, are you including suit rentals?” Will asked when they arrived.
“Of course,” Peter said.
“We’ll need the military grade ones,” Will said. “With the thin material around the hands.”
“Done,” Peter told him.
Rhea booked the flight path, and Peter approved it. After he departed, she and the others were given suit rentals, including Horatio—though the robot didn’t need the oxygen, the BNNTS built into the fabric of the suit protected Horatio’s delicate circuitry from the radiation that got past the damaged ring network.
As Will had requested, the suits were military grade; this meant that while they were generally bulky, the regions around the hands and wrists were thin, and essentially skintight, allowing them to wield their existing weaponry as if they weren’t wearing suits at all.
“You sure this was steam cleaned?” Will asked the robot assistant as he shrugged on his leg assembly. “Mine smells like FAN.”
“FAN?” the robot inquired.
“Feet, Ass, Nuts,” Will explained.
“I assure you, the suit has been thoroughly cleaned,” the robot said. “It meets all regulatory standards.”
“I’d like another, please,” Will said, lowering the assembly.
“I’m terribly sorry, but I’m afraid that’s the only military grade suit available in your size,” the robot said.
Will wrinkled his nose. “Suppose there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” He shoved his legs deeper into the assembly.
Fully suited, Rhea, Will and Horatio hop-walked through a corridor to a launch bay. No customs clearance was necessary this time—perhaps because the charter company was dedicated to government officials.
In front of a small, diamond-shaped shuttle craft, two combat robots awaited, clad in spacesuits. They carried rifles strapped over the shoulders of their suits.
Rhea immediately called Peter and his hologram appeared in front of her. She shared the comm channel with Will and Horatio.
“What’s with the robots?” she asked.
“For your protection,” Peter explained.
She flashed him a fake smile. “You’re sure they’re protecting us and not guarding us?”
“A bit of both, perhaps,” Peter admitted.
She glanced at Will and transmitted mentally. They might actually prove useful, considering…
More firepower if any assassins show up, Will agreed.
She returned her attention to Peter. “Where are our weapons, by the way?”
“They’ve been stowed in the exterior baggage compartment of the shuttle,” Peter told her. “The baggage doors will unlock once you’ve landed at your destination.”
“All right,” she said. “But if we get there, and I find out you didn’t pack any of our weapons, I’m going to seize the rifles from your combat robots. Forcibly.”
“You will find your weapons,” Peter said coldly.
“What about my drone?” Will transmitted over the same channel. “I mean, I know it’s useless in the void, but I’d just like to know Giz is safe.”
“If by Giz, you mean your drone, it remains safely behind in the terminal’s monthly storage,” Peter sent.
“Good,” Will said.
Rhea disconnected the call and boarded the shuttle with her companions.
The two robots climbed aboard after them and took the seats across from the trio. Rhea looped the robots into the same comm channel she shared with Will and Horatio.
“Hello neighbors!” Will quipped.
The robots ignored him.
A few minutes later the shuttle took off.
“Well, here we go…” Will told her. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“So do I,” she sent.
8
Rhea looped the shuttle’s AI into the comm channel when they were under way.
“So,” Rhea told the AI after it joined. “Can I get access to the external cameras? I’d like to watch our approach.”
“I’m sorry, I’m not authorized to give you access to the external cameras,” the shuttle said.
“I thought we were supposed to be treated like foreign dignitaries,” Will said
