are programmed to protect Kim Sato and Casmir Dabrowski. We obey Casmir Dabrowski. Only he cares about the fate of crushers.”
Kim had no idea if Casmir had programmed that notion into the crushers or if that was an indication of the opinions that Zee was forming as he developed. Quite possibly the latter. Kim couldn’t imagine Casmir inputting commands to flatter people, even him.
The crushers looked at each other. Were they communicating over a network?
We are leaving, a message came in over Kim’s chip. Rache. Unless you need us to stay and protect you from the warships.
Did she? How would Ishii react when he learned Jorg was dead? No, how would Ambassador Romano react?
But she couldn’t ask Rache to open fire on the warships on her behalf. That would only further cement Kim and her friends as enemies in the Kingdom’s eyes. Especially after Rache had just killed Jorg. What if there was video footage of everything that had happened out here? Queasiness twisted her stomach as she realized there almost had to be. Unless power failures had knocked out the ship’s security, all the key public areas would be monitored.
We’ll handle it one way or another, Kim replied, hoping she was right and that they could. Romano had to realize he needed Casmir to convince the rest of the crushers to work for him and he needed Kim to work on an antiviral. He had to grasp that.
I hope you’re able to recover your espresso maker.
So do I.
Kim wanted to say something more meaningful in parting, but what? Rache had killed the heir to the throne and his next target, as soon as he could get out of this system, would be the king himself. It was ludicrous that she kept having conversations with him. But…
Thank you for rescuing Bonita and Qin. She couldn’t ignore that he’d done that.
He had risked himself to go over there in person. He could have joined Dubashi’s ships in firing from space and just as certainly killed Jorg that way. It might not have been as satisfying as breaking his neck—she didn’t want to contemplate if he’d found that satisfying—but it would have been less risk for his men.
You are welcome. But I must admit they were already out of their cell when we arrived and in the process of rescuing themselves.
They are capable women.
Indeed.
That was the last thing Rache sent, which was good because she found an army of crushers heading toward the airlock tube. She had to scoot back, as did Tristan and Qin. Casmir, like the Pied Piper of Old Earth lore, was leading the crushers in a queue behind him.
Kim backed all the way to the Dragon’s cargo hold and, as she watched the two sets of crushers enter, hoped the new ones wouldn’t be trouble. She trusted the ones Casmir had made personally starting with Zee. As far as she knew, he’d only overseen the creation of the others, and they’d been off murdering people on Jager’s behalf since then.
What would Romano say when he found out Casmir had taken all the crushers aboard the ship they’d only an hour before stolen from the Osprey?
“I hope this doesn’t backfire,” Kim muttered.
10
Oku woke to a knock before dawn and Chasca, who had been sleeping on the end of the bed, woofed a protest at the noise. The sound of soft voices came through the door. Oku shuffled out of her bed to open it.
Back in the castle, she’d had a suite of rooms, but like almost everyone else, she had only one small bedroom and attached bathroom here in the Citadel. A bodyguard was usually stationed in the hall outside, someone who would have objected to an unauthorized person visiting her. Because of that, she wasn’t surprised to open the door and find her mother outside, already dressed for the day.
“May I come in for a moment?”
“Yes.” Oku sat on the edge of the bed.
Chasca thwapped her tail against the comforter, and Mother patted her on the head.
“I see your second bodyguard is always on duty,” she said.
“On duty from under the covers usually. What’s up? I assume you didn’t come to invite me to brunch at Sigler’s.”
“I’m afraid not.” Mother folded her hands in her lap. “I came to let you know that Senator Boehm passed away in his sleep last night.”
An anchor of icy steel sank into Oku’s stomach.
“I know you’ve been spending time with him since we’ve all been stuck in the Citadel and thought you