"Figures," said Harriet.
"Hey, you need to collect the cargo, and I've got a ship. I won't even charge for fuel."
"You're all heart."
The terminal beeped, and Bernie sent the screen to a printer. She picked up the sheet of paper and handed it to Alice, who was wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Alice took it, then glared at the others, her eyes red. "Stop fighting, both of you," she said quietly. "Teresa, half is yours, whatever it is. My word is good."
"That's very kind of you, but I think you'll find we agreed on sixty-forty."
"That money is for Alice's education!" snapped Harriet.
"Fine, fifty-fifty will do." Teresa looked down at the uniform she was wearing. "Can I change out of this before we go? It's making my skin crawl."
Chapter 26
Harriet made sure she took an extra jacket for their flight to Vasquez, now that she was aware exactly how cold the little ship would be in deep space. The flight passed without incident, albeit a lot warmer than her previous trip, and they landed at the Vasquez spaceport in no time. As they set down, Harriet thought it was a pity she couldn't claim frequent flier points, because over the past day she reckoned she'd racked up enough to buy a house.
They flagged down a cab outside the terminal, and Harriet transmitted the address of the storage warehouse from her commset. The car set off smoothly, and she gazed out the windows as they sped along, curious to see Vasquez's major city in daylight. A lot of the buildings were the same as Dismolle's, probably built by the same robots, but many of the brand names and advertising hoardings were different, which gave her a curious feeling of same-but-not-quite.
The cab ride took about twenty minutes, passing through commercial and business zones before finishing up in the warehouse district. They turned off the main road, and gradually the buildings became more run-down and derelict, until Harriet began to wonder if the self-storage units Alice's uncle had used still existed. There were a lot of vacant blocks, with weeds and building rubble from old demolitions, and it would be a huge blow if Alice's inheritance was long since gone.
"Doesn't look very promising," said Teresa, as she glanced at a fallen building. The roof had caved in, and the old signage had been abandoned where it had fallen, right across the doorway.
"Makes you wonder why they don't send robots to clean it up," said Harriet.
"Legal issues," said the cab. "Nobody can touch the land until the ownership is established, and a lot of these places were owned by shelf companies."
"You seem to know a lot about it," said Teresa.
"Sure. I used to be in local government."
"What, a human?" Harriet stared at the dashboard in horror. Did the cabs on Vasquez have real brains hooked up to them, like the product of a warped mind in some cheesy sci-fi flick?
"No, of course I'm not a human," said the cab sharply. "I mean, have you seen how humans drive?"
"Fair point."
"I was a finance robot, but they re-purposed me. And, since robot brains are delicate, they didn't bother erasing my old memories."
"Local government, eh? So you can overtake and overtax and the same time?"
"Oh, you're hilarious. Lucky for me, we've reached the destination."
The cab drew up, and Harriet tried to open her door.
"Where do you think you're going?" said the cab.
"Isn't this the destination?"
"Sure, but you're not getting out until you pay."
"Pay for a cab?" asked Harriet, surprised.
"Oh, you must be out of Dismolle," said the car. "I hear they run some kind of free transport lunacy."
"We do."
"Pfft," said the cab. "Next you'll be telling me there's free health care."
"There is."
"Well, this is Vasquez and we do things properly here. Thirty credits please."
Harriet felt in her pocket, and cursed. Smith's people had stolen her money when they tied her up, and she'd forgotten to get it back. "Do you two have any cash?"
"Don't look at me," said Teresa. "I spent all I have on fuel."
"I can cover it," said Alice, and she handed over a couple of credit tiles. Harriet pushed them into the payment slot, and the doors opened.
"Have a nice day," said the car, and it slammed the doors and drove off.
Harriet wondered whether they should have asked it to stay. The area wasn't exactly well-populated, and the last time she'd investigated a tumble-down warehouse three men had been waiting for her with iron bars. Worse, she had Alice and Teresa with her now. Alice could probably take care of herself, but Teresa's shoulder was obviously giving her a lot of pain, and Harriet doubted the woman could do much more than shout for help. She wondered whether Teresa had brought her gun, then smiled grimly. Of course she had.
The storage yard was fenced off, with a pair of padlocked gates barring the way. A rusty sign hanging from the fence showed the opening times, and since the place was supposed to be open at that moment, Harriet assumed the worst. She put her hands to the fence and peered through a gap, and her fears were confirmed. There was an office with a cantilevered barrier just beyond the gates, the windows smashed and the walls daubed with graffiti, inside and out. "Alice, it doesn't look good."
"Let's check inside." Alice rattled the chain, but it was secure despite the heavy coating of rust. "Should have bought bolt cutters."
"Yes, well I didn't expect we'd be breaking and entering," muttered Harriet. She glanced around, but all the nearby buildings looked deserted. Just as well, because if someone reported a couple of Dismolle cops trying to get through locked gates, the commander of the Vasquez security force would be down on her like a ton of bricks.
"Here, let me," said Teresa, and she reached into her pocket and withdrew a silver object about as long as her little finger. She bent it into a horseshoe
