And, by far the biggest drawback of all, it was nearly impossible to pinpoint a rift onto a moving vessel with any sort of accuracy. Even if you aimed for the largest available room, such as a cargo bay, it was even odds whatever you sent through would end up in space instead. Or halfway through a bulkhead.
Three combat androids were a serious threat, since they'd be targeting vulnerable systems from within the ship, and possibly creating hull breaches if it didn't impede their progress. Ali and Fix should be up to the task of stopping them, but it would be a dangerous fight.
He might actually lose his adult companion. The thought sent a surprising surge of worry through him, as if she was a real woman and he was really in love with her. And all things considered, she might as well have been; although even if he'd considered her nothing more than a sex robot and didn't care about losing her, she was still one of his most useful crew members.
Not to mention by far the most expensive.
Unfortunately, he soon had something even worse to worry about than the prospect of losing Ali, since apparently these combat androids weren't idiots.
Barix suddenly let out a stream of curses. “Boarders are heading to engines!” He sounded uncharacteristically worried, which was no surprise considering that's where his twin was. “Why are they going there?”
That was a really good question. Standard tactics were to prioritize taking out shields or weapons, something that would have a direct impact on the battle. But it looked as if these Deeks subscribed to Aiden's own philosophy about limiting an enemy's mobility: once they were dead in the water, it was easy to pound down their shields with accurate weapons fire, then pick off their systems with ease.
Or maybe they'd just been ordered to prioritize preventing the Last Stand's escape at all costs, which probably made more sense.
Either way, dead in the water would soon just mean dead. And that applied doubly to the Last Stand at the moment, since both Fix and Ali were out of position to cut the boarders off from the engine room and might not get there in time.
Aiden felt a fresh surge of worry, and not just for the risk to the engines: like Barix, he also had someone he cared about in that room. Not Belix, of course . . . she could get merrily sucked into the void for all he cared. Or at least he could fool himself into thinking that's how he felt.
But he'd sent Lana down there to assist the elfin woman during the battle.
He toggled his mic again. “Engine room, boarders are headed for you.” Then he turned to Barix. “However fast you're working that impressive brain of yours, work faster!”
“Yeah sure, no problem,” the slight man snapped. “I'm just trying to calculate a rift jump while simultaneously fending off the hacking attempts of three AIs, sealing bulkheads, and shooting combat androids with ceiling-mounted turrets. I was just slacking off this entire time.”
Aiden turned helplessly back to his controls. He felt practically useless here, since all he was doing was flying in a straight line until Barix finished his calculations. But he had to stay anyway, in case the Vindicator got off a few lucky shots and he had to abandon the plan and engage the Deek ship.
Glancing to his left, he saw that the gunner looked equally edgy; like him, the young man was currently useless on the bridge. But much as Aiden wanted to send the construct to employ some of his DNA-encoded combat prowess and protect Lana and their engines, he couldn't.
If there was some unexpected complication to their plan, the young man would be needed as much as he would. Which meant all they could do was cool their heels in frustration until they managed to make the jump out of here.
Come on, Ishiv, Aiden thought, not sure if he meant Barix or Belix. Or both. You've never done a single unselfish thing in your entire miserable life, but you can start now by protecting Lana.
* * * * *
Lana felt horror creep down her spine at the captain's warning. “What do we do?” she asked Belix.
The elfin woman had already crossed to a locker along the wall, which she flung open to reveal weapons and other combat-related things. She pulled out two cauterizers, tossing one to Lana. Which was good, because Lana had left the one Dax had given her in her cabin.
“We're going to hole up and hope our robots get here before the boarders,” Belix told her grimly. “If not, we shoot them the moment they come through the door.”
Lana fumbled with the weapon; aside from a few of Dax's combat simulations, she hadn't really had a chance to learn to shoot a cauterizer yet. She hadn't even fired one in real life before. Still, just shooting the enemy when they came through the door didn't sound so bad. “Shoot them. Got it.”
The elfin woman snorted, slinging her cauterizer over her shoulder and reaching back into the locker. “Of course, the reaction time for humans is up to a second, although it's near instantaneous in my case. Unfortunately, the combat androids we'll be facing have instantaneous reaction time, so they'll pinpoint our location and burn us to a crisp the moment they come into line of sight, before even I have time to react to their appearance.”
Oh. Void. “So we're dead?” Lana moaned.
“If we just stand around like idiots waiting for them to shoot us, sure.” The Ishivi turned away from the locker with a cylinder in
