Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

In his years aboard the Lucky Sevens, Connor had never figured out how to address the lighting problems of the cargo hold. He’d finally settled on installing LED lamps in the ceiling corners of each bulkhead separating one section from another and running strip lighting along the base of the bulkheads.

But there were still always strange shadows and areas that were only dimly lit.

At times like now, Connor didn’t let the odd lighting bother him. There were, after all, portable lamps secured every ten meters or so, and in the darkest of places, those threw off a blinding, white light for hours.

He didn’t need much light for what he was doing now: methodically running a scanner over each and every crate and case latched into all the corners and half-cabins and comparing the resultant data against the ship’s master manifest.

On a well-maintained ship, the hold would be nearly full, with maybe ten percent of space—all close to the ramp—left open for perishables and mission-specific materials.

Lucky Sevens wasn’t even half full.

Lem stepped out of one of the darker storage areas, where the LED lights flickered intermittently. The strap of an assault rifle crossed his chest, and the barrel poked up over his left shoulder. As an android, he wasn’t supposed to be armed, but he ignored the weapon and squinted at his pocket computer, shaking his head. “There are officially recommended minimums to safe spares stores.”

Connor closed the clasps on one of the cases he’d found opened. “And?”

“I do not follow your meaning. And what?”

“And how bad off are we compared to that minimum?”

“Ah. Yes. We are officially twenty-four percent below the minimum safe recommended level.”

“That’s not so bad. Now, twenty-five percent—that’s a crisis.”

“A single percentage—” The android’s eyes flew wide. “Humor!”

“My attempt at it.” Connor undid the clamps and straps securing the case he’d been inspecting and tossed it into the walkway that ran down the center of the cargo bay. “And that’s a solid zero percent.”

“Zero percent?”

“That case. The manifest said it should have fifty power cells in it. There’s nothing in there but the foam to hold them in place.”

“Oh. That is unfortunate. We lack the funds to procure a full case.”

“There should be a gray market for uncertified refurbished ones.”

“But without certification, the power cells might be defective.”

Connor powered his scanner off and set it in the harness on the bulkhead, near the base of the ramp. “These power cells go through the same process as the ones you can buy from licensed vendors. The only difference is the certification. The failure rates are about the same.”

“Then I will order ten.”

“That’s a safe number.”

“It is also an affordable number.”

“You’ll save a bit buying on the gray market. I’ll show you how to reach out to some sellers.” Connor pointed to the rifle barrel. “What’d you find there?”

“An assault rifle.” The android squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. “A Sandil AWS-5X model, to be precise.”

“That’s what Rudy uses. It’s a good weapon.”

“Sergeant Walton says they are the most effective weapon on the market.”

“I’ve heard him.” Connor waved for the android to hand the weapon over.

Lem slumped slightly when he pulled the weapon off his back. “There is an admirable heft to it.”

There was. “You know, you don’t have to have a loaded gun to be deadly.”

The android shook his head. “My intent is in no way to threaten the life—”

Connor held up a hand. “Whoa! I didn’t mean that you were threatening someone, Lem. You’re a great ally, and I trust you implicitly.”

“I understand.” But Lem’s shoulders slumped.

“I can show you a move, if you’d like?”

“A move?”

“A self-defense measure.”

“But I am programmed to avoid violence against humans!”

“That’s good. What if someone were attacking Selen, though? What if you saw someone with a rifle, getting ready to shoot one of your teammates? What would you do?”

“I…”

“It’s non-lethal.” Connor waved the android closer and—after making sure the weapon wasn’t loaded—brought the rifle up and pointed it aft, at the closed cargo bay door. “See how I’m holding this?”

“Yes.”

“You want to come at me from the side, okay? When you get up close, you control the barrel. Understand? Grab it here or here.” Connor pointed midway down the barrel and near the tip. “Gives you leverage. Once you do that, you drag it down or point it up. Never at you or another target. Got that?”

Lem squinted as if concentrating, then nodded. Apparently, he’d processed the data and found everything within acceptable parameters.

The android gripped the barrel and jerked it down.

Connor smiled. “Just like that. You’re strong enough to overcome most humans. Now, when you have control of the barrel, you continue that motion, pulling your target off balance with it. All right? And if you can, you take them to the ground. If you can’t, a strike to the throat can stun someone. Here, you take the gun.”

Once Lem had the weapon in place, Connor went through the steps again, dragging the rifle barrel down and away from the android, then using a foot to foul his balance. A quick repeat pushing the barrel up and pushing away was followed up with another tripping attack.

They were repeating the steps, when heavy steps banged on the ramp. A second later, a man nearly as big as Connor stepped into view. The man was older and a scar ran up the left side of his face, barely missing a green eye and running up into a short-cropped clump of gold hair. He wore a tattered, black T-shirt and black cargo pants.

Connor accepted Lem’s hand when the android offered help up, then held the assault rifle out for the other man. “Hey, Rudy. I was showing Lem a couple disarming moves.”

Ropy muscles bunched on Rudy’s wiry arms. “I can’t recall the last time I came up on someone with a gun and disarmed them.”

“You never know. Maybe they’re targeting an ally.”

“I’d shoot from a distance. Head shot.”

Lem’s eyes widened.

Connor threw an arm over the android’s shoulders. “Lem shouldn’t be shown how to kill.”

Rudy spun the rifle around slowly, inspecting it with the patience and thoroughness of a professional. “It’s a bad idea showing an android anything—even disarming.”

“I trust Lem.”

“That’s good. You should be able to trust your entire team.” Rudy’s scarred eye narrowed, and he handed the weapon back to Connor. “That’s Ibrahim’s. He switched over to that Za-Corp AxAC carbine last year. He must’ve forgotten it.”

So, everyone knew. Connor hooked the strap over his shoulder. “I’ll put it in the armory.”

“That’s where it should’ve been.”

When Connor stepped around the old veteran, Rudy put a hand out. “Lem’s a good android, but he’s still an android.”

Lem’s head rocked back, as if he’d been punched. “I am a loyal companion.”

“Sure. I don’t doubt it. Thing is, I’ve seen androids hacked.”

“We cannot be reprogrammed!”

“Normally? No. But defective units are inevitable, whether it’s a human being born or an android being manufactured. Hackers get in, they change how you determine friend and foe, and allies die.”

“Such a thing has never been recorded.”

Rudy’s pale lips twisted in a sneer. “You think a corporation’s going to admit that they created something that killed the people it was supposed to protect? I saw twenty soldiers killed by a couple compromised units.”

The android bowed his head. “This is terrifying to hear. To lose control of your faculties…”

Connor took the rifle off and handed it to Lem. “Would you mind taking this up to the armory and securing it?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Rudy’s eyes tracked the android until he’d exited the cargo hold, then turned back to Connor. “You’ve got to be careful.”

“I try to be.” Connor looked back at the empty case. “You heard we lost Ibrahim and Mikael.”

“Yup.”

“I can do a little engineering when things get bad, but I don’t know anything about explosives.”

Rudy grunted. “It’s a dangerous thing.”

“But you know you’re way around them. You did some work as an Obsidian Trooper.”

“I did, but I won’t teach just anyone—not explosives.”

“I don’t think we’re going to replace Ibrahim, not with the money situation.”

“We’re already running lean for a lot of jobs.”

“Selen knows that.” Connor waved toward the empty parts of the cargo hold. “This isn’t how she wants to operate. We’ll turn it around.”

“I believe you.”

Connor hoped Rudy was right but didn’t share his confidence.