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Bechimo
Dock A


It was a grubby and exhausted group who eventually arrived back at their ship, and would have reported right then, only the captain had waved them to silence, and put her stern questions.

“Are you all right? Is anybody hurt?”

“Captain,” Win Ton said, bowing gently. “We were careful. No one took hurt. We are tired.”

“And in want of showers,” Kara added.

The captain nodded.

“Go—clean up, relax. Group meal in two hours. Clarence and I are on galley duty.”

There was no arguing with the captain in such a mood, so they took themselves off to obey her orders, assembling at last in the galley, dressed in clean sweaters, loose pants, and soft mocs.

On the captain’s say-so, Win Ton opened wine and poured as the chefs served, and everyone sat down together, Joyita joining them from his tower.

After the meal was duly sampled, the chefs commended for their art, and the wine sipped, Theo introduced a topic of general interest.

“My cousin Jen Sin has a note from Gordy Arbuthnot, who’ll be coming to Tinsori soon. Gordy asked if there was anything in particular the station wanted him to bring in, and Jen Sin extended that offer to us.”

She glanced around the table.

“I’m understanding that Gordy was in particular looking to provide little comforts and luxuries. I started a list”—she waved toward the tablet sitting on the edge of a counter—“and I’m prepared to add to it.”

“What is on the list so far?” Kara asked.

“Bowli balls,” Theo said.

Kara raised her eyebrows. “How many bowli balls, I wonder?”

“A match-set, and a casual-play set,” Theo said. “I can add more, if you think that’s not enough.”

“That is a dozen bowli balls,” Win Ton said.

He looked to Kara.

“Shall we establish a league?” he asked her. “With all these ships come in—”

“You’re out there,” Theo interrupted. “Most of them are headed over to bunk on Ren Stryker. Though,” she added, as one being fair, “there’s more said to be incoming.”

“Eventually, we might field teams,” Kara said thoughtfully. “Do we know how long we will be at Light Keeper yos’Phelium’s pleasure?”

“No word on that, yet.” Theo took a sip of her wine, eyes narrowed.

“Nothing to say that we can’t found the Tinsori Light Bowli Ball Club.”

“No, there isn’t, is there?” Kara said, much struck.

She glanced at Win Ton, who lifted a shoulder. “Certainly, it would be worthy of us.”

“Precisely what I was thinking! Let us consider this seriously.”

“We would recruit by putting on a display,” Chernak said. “Recall it, my Stost?”

He grinned. “Too well, Elder!”

“A display?” Theo asked.

“In fact. We would arrive in dress uniforms, and our arms brought to a bright polish, and execute maneuvers, while our Elders-in-Troop told tales of glory and heroism.” Chernak lifted her glass and regarded it meditatively.

“It was well enough, for those who were not yet out of creche, and considered drill-work.”

“Who’s for more of anything?” Clarence asked then. His answer was a general shifting toward another taste of this and that, and talk was suspended.

Eventually, though, the table was cleared, and they sat together over the last of the wine. Theo looked around at them—tired, happy, safe. Her crew. Hers to protect.

“It got to be a busy day,” she said. “Let’s catch each other up. Core team first.”

Once again, it was Win Ton who reported.

“Our first task was to clear access to the hatch, whereupon we lowered the remote by pulley to explore the lower core while we continued work in the upper. We three discussed our progress at tea-break, and decided to move the project along more quickly. Sufficient material had been cleared to allow Chernak room to work in the upper chamber. The information provided by the remote was that the space below was disordered, but no threats other than chancy footing had been identified. That being so, Kara and I decided to attempt the lower chamber. I went down first, to clear the area around the bottom of the ladder. Kara joined me, and Chernak lowered the pulley. We put up lights and set to work.”

“And all was well, if filthy and far too warm,” Kara took up, allowing Win Ton a chance at his wine. “Until Win Ton heard something, and we looked about—startling the avian, as you have heard, which flew past us and up the ladder, startling Chernak in turn.”

“Who allowed it out into the station,” Chernak added gloomily.

“Don’t know but I’d’ve done the same,” Clarence said. “Even when you’re lookin’ for trouble, sometimes it gets the drop on you.”

Chernak glanced at him and turned her palm up. “As you say. At that point, we reported to the captain, called Stost in, and initiated controlled searches of both chambers.”

“We found no other avians,” Win Ton said, “nor anything that looked as if it did not belong.”

“Though that,” Kara added, “was something of a guess, Theo. The deep core is in unimaginable disorder. If Mentor Jones is responsible for the scale of destruction we found, I am in awe of his abilities.”

Theo was frowning.

“So, it wouldn’t be necessarily obvious, if some of the pieces you’re dealing with might have belonged to, say, a bot?”

Win Ton and Kara exchanged a glance. Kara shook her head.

“Twisted girders and shattered tiles, shred that could have been anything,” Win Ton said slowly.

“That is accurate,” Kara said. “We only assume that we’re clearing the old operating system, because that is what we were told. There might have been twelve dozen bots standing row-on-row, before Mentor Jones did his work.”

“I will send the remote’s images to your screen, if that would be helpful, Theo,” Bechimo said.

“Do that. I’ll look at them later.” She sipped the last of her wine and put the glass aside.

“My turn,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “I went to inspect one of the breached halls with Jen Sin while you were scaring birds in the core…”


“Thus the interest in possible bots inside the core,” Win Ton said, after she had finished. “Do we assume that both the avian and the armed bot are remnants of the old system?”

“If so, they’re on a network which is unavailable to Tocohl, who believes she holds all of the old keys, and ought to be able to see every station system,” Joyita said. He reached somewhat out of sight, and brought a wine glass to his lips. “Bechimo and I are working with her to modify one of our scanners, to facilitate an in-depth examination of that hallway.”

“How long ’til the old core’s clear?” Theo asked. “Best estimate.”

Kara looked to Win Ton, who was looking at something inside his head.

“Two shifts?” he murmured. “No longer than that, surely.”

“Would it speed things up, if I—”

“No!” Chernak, Kara, and Clarence spoke at once. Win Ton merely looked horrified. Stost stroked Grakow, who was stretched on his knee.

Theo frowned.

“Theo, you are needed to interface with the people who are responsible for the health of the New Light,” Bechimo said.

“Clarence can—”

“The captain is the appropriate point of contact for station administration, resident experts, and incoming captains,” Win Ton interrupted. “Melant’i is clear.”

She glared at him.

“It is, is it?”

“Yes, it is,” Kara said. “Do be reasonable, Theo.”

She fuffed the bangs out of her eyes.

“Fine. I’ll be reasonable. If we’re all caught up, who has something to add to this list for Trader Gordy?”


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