commander’s chair.
A sharp cah-lunk came from the hatch in the deck and it swung open.
“Miss Swartzbaum! You’re alive!” Hackenthrush called out as Cortez climbed up through the hole into the bridge. He hurriedly got to his feet, patting the wrinkles out of his uniform jacket and then reaching up to straighten his toupee–only to discover it wasn’t on his head. He swallowed, spotting it lying on the deck, thrown free in the panic after the first explosion. He quickly picked it up, then spun around to place his back to Cortez as he put the toupee back on. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.”
“Take your time,” Cortez said, walking past him. “Ship, restore power to the bridge and give me a situation report.”
The red emergency lights in the recesses of the bridge’s ceiling blinked out, plunging the bridge into darkness momentarily before the normal lights came back on and the various system stations with their assortment of indicators and gauges lit up.
“An unidentified vessel approached me from a telemetry blind spot and opened fire without warning,” 8724 said. “I have taken direct hits to both of my rockets, rendering them inoperative. I have managed to arrest the spin caused by the explosions, but except for maneuvering jets, I am otherwise immobile.”
“Let’s see it,” Cortez said as she stopped in front of the main CRT.
“Image coming right up,” 8724 said, the main CRT blinking on. “Sorry, it takes a couple seconds for it to warm up sometimes.”
Cortez nodded absently, staring at the bulky ship coming into focus on the screen.
“You recognize it?” Junior Officer Loy asked, stepping up beside Cortez. On the screen, the ship fired sputtering maneuvering thrusters to come to a lumbering stop in front of 8724 .
“Does nobody in this system use a ship that’s less than a hundred years old?” Cortez asked.
“Hey, that looks like an old Poytr B-Hull cargo trawler,” Rikki noted. Everyone looked at him, wondering how he knew. Rikki shrugged. “My grandfather was a janitor on one.”
Loy pointed at a cluster of armatures on the ship’s prow. “Those cargo cranes look like they’ve been modified for in-space salvage recovery.”
Cortez nodded. “Of course. Scavengers . –Ship, give me a connection between us and them.”
“Connected,” 8724 said.
The image of the scavenger ship on the CRT blinked away, replaced by a black-and-white image of a short, triple-eyed robot standing in front of some kind of nest made of wires and shredded, mucous-hardened paper. The robot was singing in a high-pitched warble. “...oh where oh where has my little sheep gone...”
Cortez winced, recognizing the tone of voice if not the voice itself. “Hello, Igon. That is you, right?”
Igon stopped singing. “Hello, dead girl.”
Cortez smiled curtly and jogged her head at the frog-headed Halgorian crouched behind him in the nest. “Aww, you made new friends. And got yourself another body. A really crappy one. Congrats.”
“It’ll do until I get my old one back. You still have it, I take it?”
“And here I thought you just wanted to see me.”
“Lieutenant Detective,” Loy said out of the corner of her mouth, “isn’t there something you want to say?”
“Umm…” Hackenthrush said as he rummaged around in the First Aid locker. “Anyone else want a drink?”
Rikki nodded inside his life-vest hood. “An Old Fashion would really hit the spot about now.”
“I think there’s some Bitters powder in here somewhere…”
“Okay, don’t know why I’m surprised,” Loy said. She nudged Cortez out from in front of the CRT and cleared her throat nervously. “Robot… you are firing on a DUPES patrol rocketship.”
“Yeah, so what?”
Loy swallowed. “Um… please power down your vessel and prepare to be boarded.”
Igon laughed. “Oh, she’s quite the hoot, isn’t she?”
“Look, robot, I’m completely serious. I’m an officer of the law.” Loy’s
A sharp cah-lunk came from the hatch in the deck and it swung open.
“Miss Swartzbaum! You’re alive!” Hackenthrush called out as Cortez climbed up through the hole into the bridge. He hurriedly got to his feet, patting the wrinkles out of his uniform jacket and then reaching up to straighten his toupee–only to discover it wasn’t on his head. He swallowed, spotting it lying on the deck, thrown free in the panic after the first explosion. He quickly picked it up, then spun around to place his back to Cortez as he put the toupee back on. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.”
“Take your time,” Cortez said, walking past him. “Ship, restore power to the bridge and give me a situation report.”
The red emergency lights in the recesses of the bridge’s ceiling blinked out, plunging the bridge into darkness momentarily before the normal lights came back on and the various system stations with their assortment of indicators and gauges lit up.
“An unidentified vessel approached me from a telemetry blind spot and opened fire without warning,” 8724 said. “I have taken direct hits to both of my rockets, rendering them inoperative. I have managed to arrest the spin caused by the explosions, but except for maneuvering jets, I am otherwise immobile.”
“Let’s see it,” Cortez said as she stopped in front of the main CRT.
“Image coming right up,” 8724 said, the main CRT blinking on. “Sorry, it takes a couple seconds for it to warm up sometimes.”
Cortez nodded absently, staring at the bulky ship coming into focus on the screen.
“You recognize it?” Junior Officer Loy asked, stepping up beside Cortez. On the screen, the ship fired sputtering maneuvering thrusters to come to a lumbering stop in front of 8724 .
“Does nobody in this system use a ship that’s less than a hundred years old?” Cortez asked.
“Hey, that looks like an old Poytr B-Hull cargo trawler,” Rikki noted. Everyone looked at him, wondering how he knew. Rikki shrugged. “My grandfather was a janitor on one.”
Loy pointed at a cluster of armatures on the ship’s prow. “Those cargo cranes look like they’ve been modified for in-space salvage recovery.”
Cortez nodded. “Of course. Scavengers . –Ship, give me a connection between us and them.”
“Connected,” 8724 said.
The image of the scavenger ship on the CRT blinked away, replaced by a black-and-white image of a short, triple-eyed robot standing in front of some kind of nest made of wires and shredded, mucous-hardened paper. The robot was singing in a high-pitched warble. “...oh where oh where has my little sheep gone...”
Cortez winced, recognizing the tone of voice if not the voice itself. “Hello, Igon. That is you, right?”
Igon stopped singing. “Hello, dead girl.”
Cortez smiled curtly and jogged her head at the frog-headed Halgorian crouched behind him in the nest. “Aww, you made new friends. And got yourself another body. A really crappy one. Congrats.”
“It’ll do until I get my old one back. You still have it, I take it?”
“And here I thought you just wanted to see me.”
“Lieutenant Detective,” Loy said out of the corner of her mouth, “isn’t there something you want to say?”
“Umm…” Hackenthrush said as he rummaged around in the First Aid locker. “Anyone else want a drink?”
Rikki nodded inside his life-vest hood. “An Old Fashion would really hit the spot about now.”
“I think there’s some Bitters powder in here somewhere…”
“Okay, don’t know why I’m surprised,” Loy said. She nudged Cortez out from in front of the CRT and cleared her throat nervously. “Robot… you are firing on a DUPES patrol rocketship.”
“Yeah, so what?”
Loy swallowed. “Um… please power down your vessel and prepare to be boarded.”
Igon laughed. “Oh, she’s quite the hoot, isn’t she?”
“Look, robot, I’m completely serious. I’m an officer of the law.” Loy’s
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