Ana-Zhi protested and she and Qualt went back and forth for a while, but I knew it was just for show. What we really needed to do was get on the Vostok. And it turned out that Qualt was very accommodating in that regard.
We had to surrender our weapons, of course. He didn’t trust us that much. But he did promise us all the food and booze we wanted. Plus he’d fly the Vostok over to where the dead hulk of the Fountain floated—just to prove that the Rhya were indeed out of the picture.
“Lead on,” Ana-Zhi said. She had engaged the shuttle’s autopilot and programmed it to return to its landing bay on Bandala.
That was a relief. I had been worried about what would happen to my father’s hibernating body while we were on the Vostok. I didn’t like the idea of the shuttle just drifting aimlessly. But soon my dad would be heading back to Bandala. And if all went well, we’d return there and pick him up soon. But if things went south, I don’t know. Maybe some future explorers might find him.
As we made our way through the airlock, Qualt prattled on about how well stocked the Vostok was and how you could judge the quality of your clients by how much they cared about feeding the crew properly.
“I don’t give a shit about your snacks, Qualt,” Ana-Zhi said. “I just want a bottle of Sark-Lhomas Black and a dark place to lie down for a few days.”
“Can do, sweet cheeks. Mi casa es tu casa. Literally. I’ve got the best room in the joint. And it even has two beds if you’re not quite feeling frisky, if you know what I mean.”
“Qualt!”
“Hey, just putting it out there, is all.”
Chiraine and I hung on to the cabin’s interior webbing in silence as the launch headed towards the Vostok. I felt naked without my blaster and judder knife. At least Qualt hadn’t taken our Auras.
Qualt was in contact with his crew the whole way, jabbering non-stop, but I didn’t hear anything that sounded like a coded message to kill us all once we boarded. But who knew?
“So that is a Lamprey?” Chiraine asked as we drew closer to the Vostok.
“Sure is, little lady,” Qualt said. “It’s built on the body of a Barnes SL-900, but with a lot of upgrades. You want a tour?”
“Maybe later. Why is it red?”
“Actually, I believe the Mayir call their brand color ‘crimson,’ but you’ll need to ask them about it. I just captain the ship.”
“Got it.”
I tensed as the launch maneuvered into the Vostok’s shuttle hangar and the doors closed behind us. It was go time.
“Home again, home again, jiggety-jig,” Qualt said.
“Be on your best behavior, people,” Ana-Zhi said. “Remember, we are guests.”
“Yes, mom,” Chiraine quipped.
“Well, thank you, A.Z.,” Qualt said. “I appreciate your sense of decorum.”
He led the way through the airlock and mooring tube towards the hold, with Ana-Zhi next, then Chiraine. Before I followed, I walked to the back of the cabin and flipped the release lever on the launch’s emergency exit.
Immediately a warning alarm sounded.
“What the hell?” Qualt tried to push his way back into the launch, but Ana-Zhi and Chiraine weren’t budging.
“Breach!” I yelled, pushing forward. “Breach!”
Ana-Zhi, Chiraine, and I barreled through Qualt into the landing bay. Three of his crew were there with weapons drawn. They were dressed in deep red armored exosuits and all armed with Winton snubs, probably loaded with suppressor strands or tremblers. Prepared for us to cause trouble.
What they weren’t prepared for was an Aanthangan clone bot, moving like a meteor through the airlock and into the hold.
“Down!” I pulled Chiraine to the ground so she wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.
Bolts sizzled over our heads as the Sean bot cut Qualt’s men down with surgical precision. It was over in a matter of seconds.
“Good work, JJ,” the Sean bot said. “But we need to move fast and secure the bridge.”
“What about him?” I motioned to Qualt who lay unmoving on the ground. He had been pretty much trampled into oblivion, either dead or unconscious.
Ana-Zhi said, “We need him alive. I still have a lot of questions about the Mayir.”
While the Sean bot sealed the airlock, I quickly retrieved our weapons from Qualt’s equipment bag. Then I distributed them to Ana-Zhi and Chiraine.
“Z, you come with us,” the Sean bot ordered. “Chiraine, stay here and keep an eye on the enemy.”
“And this.” Ana-Zhi handed her the Kryrk.
“Great,” she said. “I wanted some alone-time with this thing.”
The Sean bot seemed to know where the bridge was, but he avoided the lift since it would be easy for the crew to trap us inside. Instead we climbed up an access ladder and snuck through the common room into the galley.
The Vostok was a high-end ship, for sure—with sleek, expensive finishes. Even the main hallway looked like it had been designed by an interior decorator. Not that I had much time to take it all in.
This whole level was completely quiet, so we kept going, climbing up to the top level of the Vostok. But before we got anywhere near the bridge, a shadowy figure dressed in a crimson exosuit emerged from a side passage and began firing on us with some sort of impulse rifle.
I leapt to the closest wall—at the same time activating the magtouch on my suit. Then I jumped out of the figure’s line of sight.
Both Ana-Zhi and the Sean bot returned fire, but the crimson attacker vanished behind a bulkhead.
“I’m going after him,” the Sean bot said. “You two cover me.” He clanged forward, moving twice as fast as I could have.
The shadowy figure got off two more shots, one of which erupted in a fiery bloom on the Sean bot’s shoulder, knocking him back.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of movement. Another crimson-armored assailant dropped from a hatch in the ceiling of the opposite corridor behind the
