KETTY'S SUBDIVISION Wattys2017

Chapter 24-Part II

"Maybe we can find that ship to get off this hell hole," said Scott. "If nothing else, we need an escape plan, just in case."

"Just in case what?" asked Lindy.

"Don't worry, Chief Bakes," Rayjack interrupted, "we should be expecting guests within the hour." Rayjack had hung back until now, taking notes on Rookie's fighting style from the sideline, but staying out of the way.

All three of them looked at him, confused.

"I've been monitoring the local channels and a delegation from the Small Council is due to arrive within the hour. The Princess of Popular Opinion is coming to see us." Rayjack did a backflip. "There's one more thing. Rear Admiral Barg is bringing a military board of inquiry to investigate the destruction of Alderom."

"Holy crap, let's find the others," said Lindy as the three of them headed for the door with their bots in tow. Rayjack made quick work of the encryption lock allowing them access to the restricted side of the asteroid. They continued up from where they started, but here the roof was actually the inner shell of the giant robot storage facility. Now the windows were over their head and it appeared they were looking down on the floor far below, which gave Lindy vertigo unless she kept her eyes on her feet. The spinning of the asteroid provided the gravity but soon they arrived at what would be considered the roof, except one of the hallways had spun them around and now they emerged on another floor the same as the one far below. A door slid open and a single light sprung to life directly in front of them, revealing another cavernous space that would be considered the roof to those below, but was actually the floor to where they were standing. Their shoes echoed into nothingness, with only a small area illuminated in front of them.

"What the heck?" wondered Bakes out loud.

"Look, there's something out there," said Scott.

"Robots," breathed Lindy as the next light in a series lit up the first of many bots. But these were different. It took a minute for her to realize they were similar to Rookie except these bots were fully decked out in armor and weaponry. The unnerving whir of piezoelectric servo's was unmistakable as one bot came to life and raised his weapon, drawing a bead directly on Lindy's head

"Hold your ground," demanded the lead bot as he took two steps forward to provide a better tactical advantage. Rayjack and Sizy fanned out which caused another row of bots to spring into action and form a circle around their leader, effectively stopping their advance.

"Wait," yelled Lindy, putting up her hands and stopping a few feet from the powerful looking robot. "Stand down, we're guests here, friends of Ketty Mc'kee." The robot scanned her image and accessed a database, then put his rifle at parade rest, but he refused to relinquish his tactical advantage.

"You have entered a restricted area. Leave or face disciplinary consequences." Suddenly the hair on the back of Lindy's neck stood up, causing her to duck instinctively as Rookie accelerated past her head and slammed the leader before it could react. There was a mangling of steel and plastic where the two bots tumbled and rolled around on the floor like a couple of crazed pit bulls, while the wingmen bobbed and weaved, trying to get a good line of sight on Rookie who seemed to be everywhere at once. Fortunately the rest of the robots remained silent or the tables would have been turned. Sizy and Rayjack crept up behind the other bots and attacked from the rear, putting them in a sleeper hold until their heads popped off and they dropped to the floor. Then, in a final gut wrenching blow, Rookie slammed his fist through the leader's stomach, effectively gutting the tiny reactor core and silencing the beast forever. All five of them backed out slowly, avoiding any sudden movement that might wake the others, but fortunately, they hadn't received their programming yet. When the door slid shut, Bakes exhaled for the first time.

"They were ready to kill us. What kind of bots are those?"

"They're rouge robots, if you ask me. I won't even give them the decency of calling them bots," said Bakes who was fiddling with Rookie's programming interface. "You wouldn't hurt me, would you old buddy." He cooed and coddled like he had a newborn, then ran a diagnostic and memory scan, ignoring the wires from his bot's left arm. "Those robots are the same model as you are, but their programming has been altered. What makes those robots different than you?"

"That data is classified and beyond my scope of access, but I have seen the late Mon-catasto upstairs during several training exercises."

"Come on Bakes, this is a waste of time," urged Lindy.

"Hold on." Then he turned to Rookie. "I need you to put Lindy in a choke hold and knock her out," Bakes ordered.

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