Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe Part 19

"You're right, Suzi," he said levelly"This will be the last exchange." As he spoke, he began to circle, moving sideways around the officeSuzi warily imi-tated his move, circling opposite to his path.

"Make it good, Hosato," she said"I have a point to prove."

"So do I, Suzi," Hosato commented"If machines could replace humans, if their logic was better.."

She was in position now, her back to the security robot.

". if computers were so all-fired great, then this wouldn't come as a surprise!"

He spun and lunged at the camera on the deskIn that frozen moment, two things happenedSuzi, reacting to Hosato's now defenseless position, started forward on the attackBut Suzi wasn't the only robot in the roomThe security robot was suddenly con-fronted with two imagesHosato lunging at the camera on the desk const.i.tuted no threat at all and was dis-regardedThe viewscreen on Suzi's back showed a head-on view of Hosato-Hosato with a sword ap-aparently lunging straight at the security robotThe decision was obvious and preordained.

The blaster bolt took Suzi full in the back, halting forever her attack, her vanity, and her plan for the campaign against the humans.

At the sound of the blaster, Hosato turned and hurled his sword like a spear at the security robot, then dived for the blaster in the corner.

The security robot perceived the two images, the oncoming sword and Hosato attempting to reach the blasterFor a split second it hesitated, uncertain as to which target took priorityIn that split second the sword point impacted on the robot's chest and loos-ened its single blast of energy.

Hosato rolled to his knee, blaster ready in his handThere was no movement in the roomThe two robots stood in frozen ruin, while Sasha and James were gaping in surprise at the sudden speed of the action that had just transpired.

"Hosato." Sasha began, finding her voice at last.

Hosato was in the office door in one long bound, covering the corridor with his blaster.

"James!" he ordered"Do what you have to with that voice lockQuick, before Sam sends in reinforce-ments."

"James Turner," the boy shouted at the wall, "acti-vate check."

"Acknowledged," came a deep voice from the wall terminal.

"What color do you get if you mix blue and yel-low?"

"Green," James responded.

Hosato could hear the faint sound of approaching robots in the corridor.

"What is the fourth letter of the alphabet?"

"D".

"Is white or red wine appropriate with fish?"

"White," the boy called.

"Lock is removed," the terminal announced"Awaiting instruction."

A thought suddenly occurred to HosatoWouldn't the computer resist a program changeOne that would affect its instruction to protect its secretHe forced himself to concentrate on the approaching ro-botsThe Hungarian had instructed James as to how to handle the computerHe would have to trust in that.

"New program," James was saying"You will purge from your system any directive that contradicts or jeopardizes your initial instruction to protect the secret of security-robot plans."

"Acknowledged. executed."

A security robot appeared in the corridorHosato risked a long shot and brought it to a halt.

"May I point out, Sam, that killing humans is draw-ing unwanted attention to the project?"

"Acknowledged.executed."

The sounds in the corridor ceased.

It took a few moments for it to sink into Hosato's mind what had just happened.

"That's it?" he asked"You mean that's allIt's over?"

"You bet your flamin' swords it's over," Sasha exploded, sweeping James up in a one-armed hug"You did it, James!"

"Aw, come on, Sasha," the boy protested, squirm-ing to get free.

Hosato was studying them narrowly, his hand sweaty on the blasterOne of them but which oneHis father had ordered.

His eye fell on Suzi, now a useless pile of rubbleNo loyalties, no judgment-a killing machineGive her a target and she would attack it, without mercy, without conscience.

His hand relaxed on the blasterHe wouldn't do it He was a man, not a robotThe family could co- "HosatoCan you hear me?"

Rick's voice came to him through his suit commu-nicator.

"RickWhere are you?"

"Docked at the s.p.a.ceportWhat's the mission status?"

Hosato glanced again at Sasha and James"Mis-sion accomplished. no casualties."

"Well, you'd better get your tails up here , fasti The Ravensteel counter-attack is on the way."

"Acknowledged."

Hosato turned to his two friends"Time to evacuate the area," he announced"The cavalry's finally de-cided to put in an appearance."

"Ravensteel?" Sasha asked"It took 'em long enough to-"

"Later," Hosato interrupted"Just lead the way to the s.p.a.ceport, huh?"

A moment later the three of them were sprinting down the corridors to the safety of the ship.

"Well, what now, Hosato?" Sasha asked.

Their ship had just cleared Grunbecker's Planet, and their thoughts were finally turning to the future.

"I don't know about you three," Rick called from the pilot's seat, "but I'm going to take the Hungarian up onhis job offerI've had enough excitement to last me three lifetimes."

Hosato frowned"I certainly haven't given the fu-ture much thought."

"I believe at one point we were about to discuss a possible partnership," Sasha prompted.

"One thing is sure," Hosato continued, ignoring her"Whatever we decide, it's going to take moneyHey, RickAre we still in communications range of Griinbecker's?"

"I think soWhy?"

"Patch me through on the Ravensteel wavelength, will you?"

It took a few moments, but the voice on the speaker mike was clear and distinct as Rick pa.s.sed it to Hosato.

"This is a private frequency," the voice announced briskly"Identify yourselves."

"Gedge, you old rascal." Hosato smiled"Re-member me?"

"HosatoIs that you, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?"

Hosato winked at Sasha"Now, is that any way to talk to a loyal Ravensteel employee?" he scolded.

"Don't give me that," Gedge's voice snarled"I recognized youYou shot up our ore robots!"

"All part of my master plan," Hosato a.s.sured him.

"Can you confirm that the McCrae complex is cur-rently inoperative?"

"It's inoperative because we just blasted the h.e.l.l out of them," Gedge said firmly"What's that got to do with you?"

"Well," Hosato said, looking at the ceiling, "I could point out that your strike would have encountered ma-jor resistance if it wasn't for my inside work, but I won'tThe point is, Ravensteel hired me to render the McCrae complex inoperative by any means possible, and it is now inoperativeBy my calculations, that means Ravensteel owes me an additional one hundred thousand creditsConfirmed?"

"You're crazy, Hosato!" Gedge's voice was shrill"You kill my men and shoot up our ore robots, then expect us to pay you for itIf anything, we'll-"

"Gedge!" Hosato interrupted sharply"Let me ex-plain the facts of life to youAs an independent opera-tive I can't afford to have it get out that a person or group can hire me and then not pay upNow, is Ravensteel going to pay me the balance agreed upon, or do I have to collect it by other means?"

"What other means?" Gedge snorted"You think you can sue usThere isn't-"

"Gedge," Hosato said softly"Remember what Ravensteel hired me forWhat I did for Ravensteel, I can do to RavensteelTell that to your board of directors and see if they don't think a hundred thou-sand isn't a real bargain."

There was a moment of silence before Gedge an-swered.

"I'll tell them, Hosato," he said finally"But if you think you can-"

"Yes, I think I can." Hosato smiled"And I'm will-ing to bet they think I can, tooI'll be in touch later with details on the payment."

He signaled Rick to break contact.

"Well," he said, turning to Sasha, "what do you thinkYou know the corporate mindDo you think they'll pay?"

Instead of answering, Sasha took the speaker mike from his hand and pa.s.sed it to James.

"Here, kid," she said"Take this up to RickAnd stay up there awhileI want to talk to Hosato."

The boy's eyes darted between the two of them; then he nodded and left.

"Okay, Hosato," she said slowly"You want to know what I thinkWell, here it isI don't think they'll payThey probably wouldn't have paid any-way, but when you toss in a few threats, that's extor-tion and they'll never budge thereThey can'tIf they pay now, you can come back next year with the same threat, and the next year, until they're bled dryCor-porations don't pay extortionists."

"I hadn't thought of it that way," Hosato admitted.

"So I don't think they'll payWhat I do think they'll do, what I'd do if I were in Gedge's place, is stallThey'll tell you all the directors aren't available, or they need time to raise the cash, or a dozen other things to gain timeIn the meantime, they'll send as-sa.s.sins after youThey have toYou're too dangerous to them to be left alone."

"Whom will they send?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," she admitted"That's more your line than mineI imagine they could hire a pack of them for less than a hundred thousandh.e.l.l, Gedge hates you enough to do it for free."

Hosato lapsed into thoughtful silence.

When he had refused to kill Sasha or James, he knew he was risking punitive action from his familyNow that he was outside, he posed a greater threat to the family security than either Sasha or JamesIt was only logical that the family would try to find him and kill himHe had hoped to have a period of grace while the various members tried to fit it into their work schedule, but it seemed that chance was goneSince profit always came first, if Ravensteel offered them the contract, if they could show a profit and at the same time plug a security leak, the a.s.signment would suddenly gain top-priority status.

He wondered if they would send his sister, or if his grandfather would personally..

Sasha laid a hand on his shoulder, breaking his train of thought"Hey!" she said softly"It won't be all that badThere'll be two of us. three if James comes alongWe don't die easy, remember?"

Instead of replying, he took her in his arms and held her tightly Eventually he'd have to tell her about the real odds they faced Eventually. but not now.

The End