Chapter Six

 

 

Nyvett watched the burn with a calculated eye. Iff was a little slow off the trigger, but that could have been the clan member in charge of the signal.

When the burn was over and the canned message was replayed, Nyvett walked over to the edge of the platform and drew the lot with ten others.

“Open your hands.”

She turned her closed fist over, and the green stone was glowing in her palm.

“Well, that settles that.” She dropped the stone back in the bin where the whites had been drawn.

She nodded to her mother, aunts, and cousins before walking to the zipline platform and grabbing the bar.

She could see other refuelers heading for their bots, and she didn’t want to be the last. Nyvett jumped off the platform and slid away from the clashing parties and down to the relative silence of the metal ticking from heat exposure and the scent of burnt fuel.

The platform swayed slightly as she landed, and with the normal and precise motions she favoured, she set the station to refuel Iff.

The motion of the injection system was hypnotizing. It was like she was watching a snake that could strike metal. The port that accepted the new offering was a tiny target, but the platform station struck it without fail, like the snakes in the deep desert.

When the fuelling was finished, she retracted the system, and the coils were returning to storage when the alarm sounded. “This is not a drill. Code Angur-dock. Get the bots to the city. We are under attack.”

She slid down the pole and was headed to Iff in under a minute. She pressed her palm to the reader and stated, “Override Norm-Iff-Beta. Permission to come aboard for pseudo pilot action.”

The secondary screen came around and required proof of identity. She pressed her fingers in, felt the sting and stepped inside the bot when the access door opened.

“Hello, Iff.”

“Nyvett. It has been a while. You haven’t been on standard rotation.” Iff’s rich tones were the same as they always were. It didn’t matter what the crisis was, he was calm.

She crossed her arms as the lift took her ever upward. “You know. Work. There is always more paperwork to do.”

“Indeed. It appears that I am being taken out of storage.”

Nyvett nodded toward the camera in the lift. “That is correct. All bots are being taken to the city for proper pilots to be installed.”

“So, how am I getting there?”

The lift stopped and the door opened. “I am going to drive you if you will give me some pointers.”

“That depends. What are you willing to offer me?”

Nyvett paused. “What?”

“I am the only bot supplied with the surface-to-air weaponry that can make a difference right now. What are you willing to offer me in exchange for my assistance targeting those missiles?”

She was stunned. “Are you blackmailing me?”

“I want a pilot. I don’t want to have to fight you for access to your nervous system the entire time.”

“My what?”

“For full access to my systems, I need full access to yours.”

“No.”

“Then I don’t go anywhere.”

She paused. “What?”

“You heard me. I am not going anywhere without a fully accessible pilot. For the weaponry you have stocked me with, I require a completely accessible pilot.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I will share my memories with you and you with me. I will use your nervous system to give you feedback as to what is going on with my outer hull, and I will give you access to my archives for battle techniques.”

“I have to share my mind?”

“You do. That is non-negotiable.”

Nyvett stared at the lens at the front of the pilot’s area. “I don’t want you rummaging through my mind.”

“I don’t want you piloting my systems. We can’t have what we want.”

Nyvett blinked. “Why not?”

“You don’t take risks, you play by the book, and I need someone who will take it on faith that we are doing the right thing.”

Nyvett realized that while they were negotiating, she could hear blasts outside. “What is going on?”

“An alien species, the one that I remember from the first war, is launching projectiles toward Bot City.”

“That is impossible.”

“No, it is very possible, and unless you agree to pilot me in your fullest capacity, you will not be able to help your people. They are sitting ducks, as your folk say.”

Nyvett was shocked. “You are bound to help.”

“Only if I have a pilot. Are you that pilot?”

His voice hung between them, and in the distance, she heard the sounds of war beginning.

Nyvett lifted her chin. “I am that pilot, but keep your incursion to the necessary.”

“I will be a complete gentleman.”

The pilot cradle descended, and Nyvett stepped into it. She settled into his standing position, so when the neural connection hit, her body was already tense.

Fire streaked along every nerve; she wanted to scream, but her mouth, her lungs couldn’t pull in enough air.

Iff’s voice in her mind was a soft whisper. He was trying to sooth her out of the pain and panic. It wasn’t working.

Nyvett got control of his arms and found his targeting systems. She looked up at the incoming projectiles and focused all her fury and energy into cleaning the sky.

Iff was designed for rapid fire. He was a walking arsenal when he was fully outfitted, and even at half capacity, he had more than enough firepower to buy them an hour. Nyvett used everything short of the surface-to-air missiles.

When she was finished working her way into a partnership state with Iff, there were no incoming projectiles. They had time to regroup.

Nyvett used the coms. “This is Nyvett Norm piloting Iff, please respond.”

“Corbyn Leving piloting Myx.”

“Lido Padu piloting Cio.”

“Xaia Turo piloting Ai.”

Nyvett nodded. “What about the others?”

Corbyn answered, “No signal coming from Kab, and Len had an explosion.”

“In that case, I believe we should protect them until they can get going and help if we can.”

Xaia answered. “I am approaching Len. The fire is out, but there is an awful lot of blood around the remains of the fuelling station. Kab appears to be having a power issue.”

Nyvett turned Iff’s body, and she started the walk to Kab. “I believe I can solve the power problem, but they aren’t going to like it.”

Corbyn muttered through the com, “This is not the team I would have picked.”

Nyvett sighed, “This is not the way I was going to spend my evening, but here we are.”

Iff stepping over the rocks and chasms left by the shattered projectiles was tricky. He was not designed for any kind of dance. His body was heavy and loaded with ordinance. He was not the fastest bot in the survivor’s grouping, but he was the strongest.

They turned off the main coms when Iff asked, “So, why do you think your clan was stuck with me?”

She chuckled. “We were born from the bloodline of your last pilot. He was a fan of the rules because you are not.”

“What? He was an amazing warrior.”

“Together, you were amazing. On his own, he preferred rules and order, and it tempered your temper.”

Iff snorted. “Who told you that?”

Nyvett smiled, her body wired to the harness and walking slowly while controlling his limbs. “You did. Our little fusion moment showed me your time with him. There was a lot of deep sighing and manipulation on his part and a lot of pushback for more weaponry on yours. In the end, it was a compromise to make you the beast on two legs you are today.”

“It worked.”

“It did then, but the only thing you are going to get out of me you have already gotten. We are doing things by the book, as soon as I find the damned book.”

Iff was silent, but she could feel his amusement. He was going to keep pushing. She could tell.

They walked up to Kab, and Ai was next to them.

“Xaia, you are the specialist, can you see why he isn’t moving?”

Ai slowly circled Kab while Myx and Cio went to help Len to his feet.

“Kab has been shorted out. A chunk of debris hit it just as the pilot was being initiated.”

Ai paused and looked at Iff. Xaia’s voice came through the coms. “We can get them going if we work to send a shock through Kab. It will be deeply unpleasant, but it is doable.”

Nyvett opened Iff’s palms and started a thick wave of arcing energy between them. “Just tell me where to put this.”

Ai mimicked Iff and manoeuvred until Kab was right in between.

“Count of three. One, two, three.” Ai pressed the energy to Kab, and Iff did the same thing. The bot jolted, stood upright, and a duet of screams ripped through the com systems.

Nyvett pulled back, as did Xaia. The shuddering jerks of Kab’s first movements were painful to watch, but eventually, he calmed and turned to view the situation.

A dry voice came through the coms. “That really sucked.”

Nyvett laughed in relief. All six bots were moving. It was time to make a plan. She loved plans.