Space Wizards

24. Her Robot Suit

The Meteoroid hurtled away from the Green Star. Integer felt confident in its part of the plan, having cleaned, resupplied, and upgraded the systems of the stealthy little vessel. It locked the coordinates into the ship's computer, quadruple-checked the calculations, and engaged the autopilot. When Uz was long behind them Integer walked back to the hold to inform the passengers. 

"As per our discussion, I will kill the engines at the edge of the FeRRum space and drop toward their star in a slingshot pattern. We will pass the Makina homeworld within seven hundred thousand kilometers on entry and far closer on the exit trajectory. The ship will appear as an interstellar astral body and shouldn't draw much attention. Based on projected speed calculations, we will only be in the system for seventeen hours. Giving you just under a ten-hour window to return to the ship once on the planet."

"That will do nicely," said Melock. "We will transport down, find Tykö, and be back on the ship as you make your way out. Thank you, Integer." 

The copper robot looked at the three humans and the gnome sitting in a circle on the floor of the hold and rotated mechanical eyes at them. "I will continue to monitor the Makina network for the precise location of the prisoner."

"Let us know what you find," said Melock. 

"Of course," said Integer who paused at the door of the bridge and turned back around. "If you don't make it back in time and I alter our course, the ship will be detected." 

"If we don't make it back in time, you carry on with your journey. We'll go with plan B."

"As you wish," said the robot and it returned to piloting. 

Sabastian de Martín looked at Melock, "C'est quoi le Plan B?" 

"We'll have to see what's happening at the time and make something up," said Melock. 

"In this, I have no doubt," said Murphy with an air of confidence in Melock.

"C'est la vie!" 

Grimble stood in the middle of them with a projection of the planets in the Makina system displayed over his head. He cleared his throat before he began.

"Thanks to Integer's extensive reconnaissance of the system and the Makina society as a whole, we can assume that Tykö is being held on the FeRRum 26. It's the industrial, scientific, and military center for the species. The challenge will be that there is nearly no oxygen on the planet and therefore hostile to organic lifeforms. I will be fine in my Makina suit, but you three?" 

"Our rings will protect us," said Murphy holding out her hand. 

Melock dug around in his bag and produced another blown glass ring with a rainbow within. He tossed it to Sabastian, who caught it and looked at it curiously. 

"It protects the wearer from the elements. You will not drown, burn, suffocate, or be electrocuted while wearing it," said Melock. 

"Merci, I shall treasure it. Always," said de Martín sliding the ring over the middle finger of his left hand. 

"Alright, we'll call the environmental challenge a nonissue," said Grimble. "And we'll move onto the technological ones. There is a nontrivial chance that the Makina will detect us the second we teleport down to the planet. They have a history of pursuing advanced technology and acquiring teleportation abilities could certainly be the reason they abducted Tykö."

"One of may, I suspect," suggested de Martín.

"Right," agreed Grimble. "And there's no way of knowing what things they have added to their arsenal since Integer first gathered data on the species. Assuming we can get down there unnoticed, we'll quite possibly be the only other organic life forms on the planet besides Tykö. It would be all too easy for them to detect us. On top of that, we'll need to break into whatever security system they have holding Tykö and get him out with us."

"My area of expertise," smiled Sabastian. "There is no system I can't hack. No lock I cannot pick. No sensor I cannot deflect. We'll walk through their world like a ghost in the machine." 

"I'm also able to mask my appearance to some extent," said Melock. 

"And that brings us to you, lass," said Grimble to Murphy. "Øregård and I worked up some Makina armor for you." 

He walked over to a pile of Makina body parts stacked in the corner. Murphy followed him and picked up the largest piece that was a robot's chest and shoulders. 

"Thank you, Mr. Grimble. This will make fine armor," she said. 

"That it will and once activated, it will broadcast a Makina soldier beacon. In theory, you should be able to walk freely among the robots." 

She pulled the chassis over her head wearing it like a pair of shoulder pads with back and chest plating attached. She adjusted it and was surprised when it fit reasonably well over her Zero-G bodysuit. 

"It's heavy but not much different than traditional plate," she said. 

"Let's try the arms, legs, and feet," said Grimble. 

Murphy clamped forearm bracers of the blue steel and attached additional plates to her thighs. Left in the pile was a helmet crafted out of the skull of a Makina and boots made out of the robotic creature's feet. 

"Unfortunately, we didn't take into account you'd be having such a nice pair of gravboots. The Makina boots do offer a magnetization option but the pull is too strong for a human to walk without some kind of hydraulic assistance."

Murphy kicked off her boots and jammed her bare feet into the Makina feet. The wince on her face told Grimble he miscalculated her size. Not that he had much choice given the density of the materials he was working with. 

Murphy picked up the helmet and pulled it over her head. Her eyes didn't line up with the robot species' triple eyes and though she could see light through the lenses, she couldn't possibly be expected to move around successfully. 

"You look fantastic!" said Melock. "But can you see?"

She looked like a little girl dressed up like a robot. 

"I'm not sure about the helmet." She pulled it off revealing reddened ears and nose. "If we cut a horizontal slit at eye level, I could make it work." 

"There's a laser cutter in the engine room." 

Murphy picked up Grimble and they went to work in the narrow space available in the engine room. The ship filled with metallic grinding sounds and the sent of forged iron. Sabastian fiddled with the environmental processor in a vain attempt to clear the smoke in the air and Melock returned to the bridge.