The Credulity Nexus (32 page)

Turgu looked
again at the slender beauties. “What's the catch?”

“
They're robots. Very advanced. Fast, tough
and smart. But I don't think they're a match for the kind of
firepower your guys are carrying. Remember, I want that package. No
package, no hundred grand.”

Turgu seemed
amused. “Brethren,” he called, and the heads of his followers
turned immediately towards him. “Bring me the package.”

Before any of
the Turgu could move, the two robots launched themselves at them.
Most of Turgu's followers were augmented in various biological and
mechanical ways, and they were armed to the teeth, but the robots
had the advantage of possessing fast and fully-functioning brains.
They had cut down two of the Turgu and grabbed their weapons before
any of the others could react.

Rik dived for the ground, throwing himself
across Freymann as lasers, rail guns and shotguns fired in all
directions. Blasts of heat and huge shock waves rocked him. He
risked a glance and saw Turgu's dirigible implode as a laser bolt
seared through its aluminium skin.
Serves the little fucker right.
The Turgu were firing almost at
random while the Barbie-bots danced among them, picking them off
with precision and inhuman calm. People were screaming and dying.
And there was Rivers, scuttling across the ceiling above the
mêlée.

Another
explosion forced him to duck away, and when he looked back, the
scene had changed.

The room was
full of smoke now, and fires burned all around. A handful of the
Turgu were still alive, but only a couple of them were firing. One
of the robots lay, unmoving, in a charred jumble of limbs. Rivers
crouched beside it with a buzz-gun in one hand and a laser in the
other. The other robot was lost in the smoke, as was Veb.

As he watched,
the smoke parted and the robot leaped like a tigress out of the
haze. It seemed to hover over Rivers like an angel of death, taking
its time to target her with a grenade launcher. Rik's warning shout
came just after the upload saw the apparition above her, but there
was nothing either of them could do. The muzzle of the robot's
weapon was pointed straight at Rivers, and even she had no time to
react.

Yet the
explosion Rik was expecting didn't come. The robot jerked and
twisted in mid-air as something tore through its chest, too fast
for Rik's merely human vision to follow. The robot fell slowly to
the ground, incapacitated but still struggling to move. The missile
that had struck it clattered off the ceiling, and Rik saw that it
was a fire extinguisher. The absurdity of it almost made him laugh.
Veb stepped through the smoke, looking pleased with himself.

“
Not a bad throw,” he said.

Rik looked up
at him and grinned. “Don't tell me, you used to be a baseball
player.”

“
Little League only, I'm afraid, but I'm
beginning to think I should have taken it up
professionally.”

Rivers was on
her feet, looking down at the crippled robot. “It's still got the
package. And it's still intact.”

“
Don't even think about taking it,” Veb
said.

Rivers glanced
sharply at him. She still had a weapon in each hand, Rik realised,
and looked around for wherever his own gun might be. But Rivers
didn't look like she wanted to fight.

“
You probably saved my ass,” she told
Veb.

“
What do you mean, probably?” Veb sounded
cheerful. “You owe me big time.”

Slowly, a
smile spread across the upload's face. “I guess I do.”

“
Then maybe you could start paying me back
by having a drink with me.”

Rivers burst
out laughing, and Veb laughed too.

Rik didn't
have time to speculate about whatever the hell was going on there.
He leaned over Freymann, feeling her pulse and checking her for
wounds and broken bones. His ministrations were enough to bring her
around, and she blinked up at him, disoriented. He put a hand on
her chest and pressed down lightly.

“
Don't even think about getting up. Just
lie still for a while.”

Shouting broke
out somewhere in the smoke-filled room. Rik recognised Turgu's
voice. He ignored it.

“
Veb?” he said. “Do you think you could
check the fires and make sure the place isn't going to burn down
around our ears?”

Veb set off,
and Rik helped Freymann into a sitting position, her back against
the bar. She seemed mostly unhurt, just bruised and cut like he
was. When she was comfortable, he leaned back on the bar
himself.

“
So what now?” he asked Rivers.

The upload
looked away, as if irritated by whatever she was thinking. After a
moment she said, “Celestina is probably going to kill me anyway,
right? Whether I give her the package or not.”

“
You just worked that out?”

Rivers glared
at him but said nothing.

“
Here's what I think,” Rik said. “You
should hand yourself over to Fariba here. Her people can stick you
in a Faraday cage so Celestina can't get a signal through to kill
you. Then they can get a tech to remove whatever Lanham's guys
planted in you.”

“
He's right,” Freymann said. “We could use
someone like you.”

Rivers laughed
again, only it wasn't such a nice laugh this time. “Dream on, spy
girl. You think I'd substitute one devious, murderous bunch of
manipulating bastards for another? Do I have the word 'patsy'
stamped on my butt or something?”

“
But you're going to let me destroy the
package?” Rik asked.

“
Sure she is,” Veb said, rejoining them. He
put an arm around Rivers' shoulders, and she amazed Rik by not
shooting the big upload. “I know someone. Hell, Heinlein is full of
backstreet techworks. There are plenty of people who can take care
of this.” He looked at Rivers. “You'll be all right. Trust
me.”

“
All right,” Rik said, climbing to his
feet. On top of everything else that had happened lately, a tender
moment between two uploads was too much for him to deal with. And
time was running short. “Just don't take her to Chong's CogWorld,”
Rik said. “They're the bozos who botched my cogplus
upgrade.”

Veb looked at
him. “Chong's in gaol. They busted him a couple of days ago.”

“
For malpractice, I hope.”

“
No, for smuggling weapons components or
something.”

Rik didn't
have time to consider the implications of that little snippet of
news. “We need to get going before the cops arrive.”

“
Not before I get my two hundred
grand.”

Turgu
appeared, squatting on the crumpled remains of his dirigible, which
was being carried as an improvised bier by two of the faithful.
Three more of the Turgu shuffled along behind them, possibly all
that had survived.

“
I said one hundred, and that was only if
you got me the package.”

“
The price just went up.” Turgu nodded
towards the still-twitching robot. “There it is, help
yourself.”

Rik didn't
even think about arguing. It was Lanham's money, so what the hell?
The Turgu were just an annoyance at this point. He and Turgu
exchanged netIDs and bank codes, and the transfer was made in a few
seconds.

“
Goodbye, Turgu. I don't want to see you
again.”

The scruffy
little ‘Living God’ sneered at him and left.

“
We're off, too,” Veb said. “The minute
Celestina hears what's going on, she'll hit the destruct button.
Good luck with ditching the package.”

Rik nodded an
acknowledgement and turned to Freymann. “Now we really need to get
moving,” he said. “Where's Maria?”

“
Safely back in custody,” said a new
voice.

Rik rolled his
eyes to the heavens and then closed them, not wanting to see
whoever it was.

“
Lieutenant Lincoln Eugene Burleigh of
UNPF, Lunar Ops, 3rd Mobile Force Reserve, at your service. And
you, sir, must be the world-famous Mr. Roderick Moonstone Sylver. I
am proud to make your august acquaintance.”

The big
policeman crossed the bar with long strides, stepping over the
bodies of several Turgu as he went. He was a big man, but had a
presence that made him seem even bigger. He wore full battle armour
and had at least six mean-looking, armed troopers at his back. Veb
and Rivers were still there, their exit blocked. Rik noticed that
Veb had a steadying hand on Rivers' shoulder.

The lieutenant
beamed at Rik. “Quite a party you and your friends have been
having. We got complaints about the noise.”

Rik took the
big hand that was thrust out to him and shook it, wondering what
the hell was going on.

“
Maria's in custody?”

“
Protective custody,” Burleigh corrected
him. “That is one delicate English rose, my friend, and this is no
kind of place for a lady.” He looked across at Freymann who had
also climbed to her feet. “Perhaps you'd introduce me to your
friend, Rik?”

Rik waited in
silence while Freymann sent the cop her netID.

“
My, my!” Burleigh said. “Another spook.
You know, Ms Freymann, I had two guys from the CIA in my office a
little while ago. Looked like a wet team to me, but you can never
really be sure. They've been waiting for Rik here to show up.
Unfortunately, someone leaked a rumour to them that Rik had been
spotted in the heethree mines at L-City, and they had to
go.”

“
Lieutenant–” Rik began, but Burleigh
raised a hand to stop him.

“
Maria told me all about the package, and
all about the people trying to get their hands on it. It all sounds
pretty far-fetched to me.”

Rik swallowed.
If Burleigh arrested him now, the package would soon be in the
hands of the CIA, and, after that, in Cordell's hands, or Lanham's;
whichever had the best contacts. “You have to listen to me,” he
began, but again Burleigh stopped him.

“
This is the Wild West, Rik. The new
frontier. And do you know who I am? I'm the Sheriff. I am the law
in this town.”

“
Rik, we need to go,” Veb said.

Burleigh
turned to face him. “So many pretty ladies dropping in today! And
who might your new friend be, Veb?”

Rik spoke up
quickly, hoping to avert whatever Rivers might be thinking of
doing. “Lieutenant, I'd appreciate it if you would let these two
go. They need to be somewhere in a hurry, and it is a matter of
life and death.”

Burleigh kept
his eyes on Rivers. “Oh, really? And whose life or death might be
at stake here?”

“
Mine,” said Rivers through gritted teeth.
She was still carrying those damned guns, Rik thought.

“
Lieutenant,” said Veb. “We won't leave the
town. You have my word. I need to get this lady some help. No-one
else will get hurt. After that, I'll be happy to come back here and
answer any questions you have. But we are in a hurry.”

Burleigh
thought about it for a moment. “OK, Veb, but you both lose your
weapons, and two of my guys go with you and bring you both back. No
argument. That's the deal.”

Veb threw down
his handgun and Rivers turned to look daggers at him. He stared her
down for several long seconds, and then she threw down her own guns
and headed for the door. Veb and two cops went after her.

“
All the dead people here deserved what
they got,” said Rik, not wanting Burleigh to think about what he'd
just done and maybe change his mind. “Most of them are the Turgu,
and most of them were killed by these two.” He indicated the robots
and saw Burleigh's eyebrows go up.

“
And the little dandy with the holes in his
chest?”

“
He's a gangster from Earth. You'll have a
big file on that one, I'm sure.”

“
And the package?”

“
That's a long story, and I'd be happy to
tell it to you, but first I need to take it into space and toss it
out of an airlock. It's dangerous.”

“
Dangerous?”

“
A weaponised virus.”

“
No shitting?”

“
I could let you take it, but then it would
get into the wrong hands. And this is the kind of weapon that
shouldn't be in anybody's hands. Not even the good
guys'.”

Burleigh shook
his head and chuckled to himself. “You certainly have made this an
interesting day, Rik.” He waved a hand at the bodies on the floor.
“All this, and moral dilemmas too. You realise you don't have much
of a choice right now, don't you?”

Rik pulled
himself upright, ignoring the many pains that caused, and faced the
lieutenant. “I've fought scarier people than you in the past few
days, Lieutenant. This package needs to be destroyed. If that virus
reaches Earth, it will mean the end of everything. I'm not going to
let that happen.”

He felt
Freymann move into position at his side, and again felt a wave of
gratitude towards her. In front of him, Burleigh's troops tensed up
and gripped their weapons tighter. But the big cop just shook his
head in amazement.

“
I don't know how you manage to walk
around, son, with balls that big. It's no wonder you're in so much
trouble. Just give me a minute, OK, before you take on my whole
squad. I'm not unsympathetic. Why don't you tell me that long story
of yours? Only make it the short version.”

So Rik told
him everything that had happened from meeting Peth in Berlin to
fighting off the robots in The Harsh Mistress. It took quite a
while. And while he told it, Burleigh had his men secure the crime
scene, fetch ambulances, pick up a table and chairs, and bring some
beers over.