Home Front (Star Kingdom #7) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,41
maybe it would convey that the ship meant something to her in a way that long detailed explanations wouldn’t. If he was in the middle of battle, he wouldn’t have time to read those anyway.
The one I gave you?
Yes.
Really, Kim.
That was all he said. Did that mean he agreed not to attack the ship? Or was disappointed in her?
There’s also all the work I’ve put into studying Dubashi’s virus. Almost everything is on the sickbay lab computers. We had to leave in a hurry, and I didn’t get to copy everything.
You were in danger?
Of being injected by eslevoamytal and blabbing everything I know about you.
He didn’t respond. Maybe it was self-serving to imply that she’d fled out of a desire to keep his secrets for him. She’d been as worried for herself back in sickbay.
A thunderous boom came from the Chivalrous. If it hadn’t been completely out of commission when the battle had started, it had to be by now.
“Crusher friends,” Casmir called out into the melee.
Kim would have dropped her face into her hand if she hadn’t had her helmet up. Instead, she scooted up and tried to see past Qin and Tristan—they’d taken positions in front of the tube, firing from the cover of the airlock chamber, but they had let Casmir squirm out.
“The mercenaries have fled,” Casmir called, though the bangs and thumps emanating from the cargo hold didn’t suggest the melee had ended. “These knights are from the Kingdom. You should have been programmed to recognize their armor. And these other crushers are also from the Kingdom. They were made to serve the prince and the king.”
“The prince is dead,” someone—a crusher?—said in a flat monotone.
“But the war at home continues. Our people need us—all of us. It is our duty to protect the Kingdom and all the humans and robots that live there.”
“Robots?” Tristan whispered. “Is protecting robots in the original programming?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Kim said.
He hadn’t noticed her behind him and now shifted to the side so she could see. Smoke clouded the air, but DEW-Tek bolts were no longer ricocheting off walls. Half of the crushers were on the deck, locked in grappling matches, with their soles magnetized and keeping them near a small shuttle. The other half were tangled up and floating in the air—there were armored bodies floating up there too. But Casmir was right—she didn’t see any of Rache’s men. Had they thrown the grenade and taken the opportunity to get out of there?
A purple armored figure with an equally purple cape dangled above the ramp of the shuttle. Kim stared, knowing that had to be Jorg, even though she’d never seen him in his armor and couldn’t see his face. His helmet was missing, and from across the hold, she could tell his neck was broken.
“Listen to Casmir Dabrowski,” one of the crushers called out. They all had identical voices to Kim’s ear, and she didn’t realize that was Zee until he spoke further. “He is our creator. You must have his face in your databanks. He made you, as he made us. He programmed us to protect Kingdom subjects and to obey orders, and he also battles to protect the interests of crushers and lesser robots.”
The fighting stopped, and as one, the crushers—all of them—rotated toward Casmir. He was standing in front of Tristan and Qin, his hands spread, an unarmored man without a weapon. Kim wanted to grab him by the scruff of the neck and yank him back to safety.
“We do recognize Professor Casmir Dabrowski,” another crusher said. “He is not an enemy.”
If only Jager and the rest of the Kingdom believed that.
“Who is your commander now that Prince Jorg is dead?” Casmir asked.
“Captain Nieman commanded the Chivalrous and was second-in-command of our forces, but he is also dead.”
Another crusher chimed in: “Some of us wished to defend him and remain on the bridge to protect key personnel, but Prince Jorg ordered us all to accompany him during his retreat.”
“I’ll bet,” Tristan muttered.
Even though it chilled Kim that Rache had killed Jorg—ripped off his helmet and broken his neck—she felt more relief than sorrow in knowing the man could never end up ruling the Kingdom.
“In that case,” Casmir said, “you should report to Captain Ishii on the Osprey. His ship should be here, uh, any second now probably. He’s the senior-ranking Kingdom officer in the area.”
Kim noticed he didn’t mention Ambassador Romano.
“Who commands these crushers?” One of them pointed to Zee.