From the looks of it their destination was still sealed, while the last survivor of Ali's advance group of combat androids hunkered behind cover just ahead, exchanging fire with two more down a hallway. Aiden was still analyzing the situation as the gunner and Fix moved to join the firefight, and Ali rushed the control room's reinforced door with a KFM.
That was a sight to behold, since in the companion's hands the force she could bring to bear for the device to multiply was far greater than any human. So much so that it damaged the super resilient weapon as well as the door; by the time she'd hammered out a hole big enough for her to slip through, the KFM was little more than a club made of dense materials.
Ali threw a stun grenade through the opening, a device designed to generate a carefully calibrated magnetic field that brought instant, temporary unconsciousness in living organisms, while not being strong enough to damage electronics through even the most basic EM shielding.
Then she dove through the hole she'd made, so quick she looked as if she'd been sucked through by explosive decompression. Aiden heard the hiss of cauterizers from within, and for a frantic moment wondered why the prototype robot that was worth as much as his ship had elected to lead the charge instead of one of their captured androids.
Then he heard her voice, disconcertingly doubled, as she apparently said the override codes for two combat androids simultaneously. He cautiously approached the hole, just in time for her to call, “All clear, my love! The control room his ours!”
Aiden peeked through to find Ali leaning over a console, typing furiously without seeming to notice or care that her head was on fire.
Or well, technically it was just her hair, and for that matter it had been the wig of her disguise; it was mostly burned off by a shot that had barely missed destroying her, with what remained smoldering and coals slowly working their way up the strands like countless tiny fuses.
Aiden ducked through the small hole, noting the dozen or so ERI employees who'd holed up in this room for safety during the lockdown. They were all sleeping peacefully, although judging by how some had landed when sudden unconsciousness hit, it would probably be an unpleasant awakening in a minute or two.
Especially once they realized their facility had been taken.
He kept his cauterizer out, in case of trouble, but lowered it as the blood red lights stopped flashing and the sirens abruptly cut out. In spite of the trouble they'd had getting here, and the fact that they'd lost Fix and the gunner had been injured, he was still surprised everything had worked out this smoothly in the end.
He cocked his head to get in touch with the crew still on the Last Stand. “We've almost got the station, boy and girls. Get ready to come help us loot this place of anything valuable, as much as we can fit in around this cargo we were hired to steal.”
Chapter Eight
Scientists
“Are you sure you're okay?” Lana said, trying not to let her frantic worry show as she fussed over Dax. Which probably didn't accomplish much more than getting in the way of the ERI medical bot trying to treat his arm.
She wanted to throw her arms around him, offer some comfort. But even though she'd never experienced being burned herself, at least not that she remembered, she knew it was painful; her boyfriend probably wouldn't appreciate her squeezing it, even if he'd been administered painkillers.
Dax forced himself to smile for her, although his expression was more disciplined than she'd seen it for a long time. “I'm alive and the wound isn't life threatening. I'll be okay once this bot tells me whether I'll recover full use of my arm.” His smile turned sickly in spite of his best efforts. “What good is a gunner with half his utility gone?”
Lana's heart broke at half a dozen things about what he'd just said. She couldn't find any words, so she leaned in and gently but firmly kissed him.
“Excuse me,” the bot said in a polite but impatient electronic voice. “I require uninhibited access to the patient.”
Across the control room Barix, working at one of the consoles, snorted. “You and the Blank Slate have that in common,” he told the little robot.
Lana felt her cheeks heat, surprised the slight man could still goad her like this, even after all this time. Dax reached out and patted her arm with his good hand.
Then she jumped when Aiden clapped a firm hand on her shoulder, steering her towards the door. “Come on,” he told her cheerfully. “The twins will work on securing the station and orbital platform for us, and Ali's already remotely raiding the computers for useful information. With the gunner in treatment and Fix a cooling puddle of metal and composite a few corridors back, I might need your help securing this cargo our benefactor sent us for.”
Right, Aiden had made it pretty clear that they weren't supposed to say Elyssa's name anywhere it might be overheard or recorded, and especially not in the ERI facility they were raiding. He didn't want them using each other's names either, for that matter, although he hadn't gotten on her case too much when she'd accidentally slipped up and yelled Dax's name when she saw his horrific injury.
Lana followed the captain and adult companion, along with one of the combat androids that Aiden had apparently already named Fix to replace their lost one, as they ducked out of the control room's ruined door and headed deeper into the facility. The cargo they'd been sent for was in the highest security area, which thankfully was a breeze to get through now that they had the control room along with Elyssa's access codes.
As
