Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe Part 9

"HereI a.s.sume you can use this," Hosato said, tossing her a blaster.

The security chief plucked it from the air and blinked at it"I sure canYou're a bag of surprises, aren't you, Hosato?"

"I try," he said dryly, peeling off his shirt.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Sasha volunteered.

"Watch it." Hosato began, but she already had the door open.

The little redhead stood there"HiI. Oh!"

Her glance took in Sasha and a half-naked Hosato at the same tune"Hey, if I'm interrupting anything, I-"

"Get in here, fast," Sasha ordered, beckoning with the blaster.

The girl obeyed, focusing on the blaster for the first time"HeyWhat's going on?"

"The robots are running amok and killing peopleI know it sounds crazy, butWhat are you doing, Hosato?"

"What does it look like I'm doingI'm changing clothes."

"I didn't know it mattered what you wore to an emergency."

"Take my word for it, it does." He continued don- ning his Ninja suit and produced another blaster from Suzi's depths.

"Here," he said, tossing it to the redhead"Ever use one of these things?"

The redhead wrinkled her nose at the weapon"No," she announced proudly.

"Well, honey, you're about to learn," Sasha said grimly.

"First things first," interrupted Hosato"Get on your radio and alert your guardsTell them to get to the armory and arm themselves as fast as they canThen send a squad of them to secure the s.p.a.ceport, and get the rest over here to guard the living quar-ters."

"I know how to do my job, Hosato," she snapped"Then do it!"

He reached for his room telephone and dialed hast-ily"JamesGet over here to my room, fastDon't ask questions, just do it. That's right, and if you see any strange robots, avoid 'em like the plagueRobots-it looks like your dad's security robot scheme has backfiredJust get over here fast!" He slammed down the phone"SuziLet's see those layout diagrams again!"

The robot pivoted, and once more the viewscreen blinked to life.

Hosato studied the drawings"What's this?" he asked, pointing to an unlabeled outline, forgetting for a moment Suzi's limited powers of observation.

"That's the Maintenance Building," the redhead commented, peering over his shoulder"Hey, that's a pretty neat robotWho manufactures it?"

Hosato ignored her"What's the story on the life-support systems, Suzi?" he asked.

"Life-support systems for the living quarters and mall are self-contained and independent of the main computer controlThey are located at this point." An area of the layout diagram began to Sash.

"Bad news, Hosato," Sasha interrupted"The ro-bots have the s.p.a.ceport."

"Could someone tell me what's going on?" the red-head whined.

"What about the armory?"

"The robots have that, too," Sasha informed him"My team managed to get some of the blasters out before the robots closed in, but not manyI've told them to pull back to the mall here to concentrate our forces."

There was a knock on the door.

"Stand back," Hosato hissed, motioning them away from the door.

With a fluid motion he rolled to the floor and lay, blaster ready, in front of the door.

"Who is it?" he called.

"James Turner," came the m.u.f.fled response.

"Come on in, James," Hosato called back, his blaster never wavering.

The door burst open and the boy hurried into the room.

"There's firing in the."

He stopped short, gaping at Hosato's blaster leveled at his midsection.

"Shut the door," Hosato ordered.

The boy groped behind him and closed the door, his eyes never leaving the blaster.

"Never mind Hosato," Sasha said briskly, stepping to his side"He's a bit jumpyWe all areWhat were you saying about firing?"

The boy gulped"There's somebody's firing blasters in the main corridorThe one leading to the rest of the complex."

Sasha swore absently"That means they're on the way," she growled at last"I'd better get down there and organize the defense."

"Wait a minute, Sasha," Hosato said, rolling to his feet"Is there any other way out of the complexOne humans can use?"

"What?"

"Wake upWe can't hold them foreverThey're probably manufacturing more while we're talkingWe may have to evacuate the complexNow, besides the s.p.a.ceport, how can we get people out of here?"

Sasha thought for a moment"I can't think of any-"

"How about the sand crawlers?" James interrupted"The maintenance crews use them for gathering mal-functioning robotsThey let me ride along with them a couple of times."

"How big are they and how many are there?"

"They can hold six, maybe ten in a pinch," Sasha supplied"And there are only two of them."

Hosato grimaced"It's not much, but it's all we've gotJames, you and.What is your name, anyway?"

"Since you asked so nicely, it's Carolyn," the red-head retorted.

"Okay, you and Carolyn start going through the liv-ing quartersTell everybody to move down to the Maintenance BuildingDon't take time to try to ex-plain why, just tell them to do it and keep movingSasha will be organizing the corridor defense, and Suri and I will go ahead to check the status on the sand crawlers.Does that sound all right, Sasha?"

The last was added as he remembered his mannersHe was starting to take command again.

"Sounds good to me," she replied, unruffled"Do you have any more blasters to spare?"

"Just one, and that's mine," Hosato apologized.

She made a face at him"Some spyWell, let's go."

"Spy?" asked James, looking at Hosato.

"Later, JamesLike the lady says, let's go."

The mall was a madhouseCrowds of people were milling around in various stages of confusion and panicDisembodied hands seemed to pluck at Hosato's sleeve as he and Suzi traversed the corridorsVoices babbled questions and demands at him, but he shrugged them off without breaking strideThe few who noticed he was carrying a blaster hurried to catch up with him, only to find his smooth pace deceptively fast.

Sasha had disappeared shortly after they left his room, but he a.s.sumed she was following her own route through the chaosHe could not waste energy worrying about herShe had her job and seemed competent enough to handle itHe had hisHe had to make it to Maintenance, hopefully ahead of the crowds.

The narrow off-corridor to the Maintenance Build-ing was unoccupiedApparently no one else had rec-ognized it as a possible avenue of escapeAfter the dimness of the mall, Hosato found the silence unnerv-ing, and without realizing it, began carrying his blaster at the ready position.

The metal door at the end of the corridor was closedA p.r.i.c.kly, chilly sensation ran along Hosato's spineHe hesitated, then made his decisionHe hadn't survived this long by ignoring his warning instinctsMotioning Suzi back against the wall, he bent and sealed his suitThen, gripping his blaster, he reached out and jerked the door open.

The Maintenance Building was a wreckThree men who had been huddled over something on the floor sprang apart and desperately dived for cover behind workbenches and boxesAs they scattered, Hosato saw they had been at work dismantling a security robotBeyond it, several bodies lay on the floor.

"Who's there?" a shaky voice called out, and Hosato heard the quick scrabble as the man changed positions after speaking.

Stepping back into the corridor, out of their line of vision, Hosato broke the seals and rearranged his Ninja suit as he replied"Hayama," he called"I've got my robot with me, but she's stable and functioning normally."

"Come on ahead, Hayama," came a new voice Hosato recognized as Rick Handel's"It's all right, you guysI know him."

By the time Hosato reentered the room, two of the men had resumed their work with the fallen robot, leaving only Rick to greet him.

"Hayama, do you know anything about what the h.e.l.l's going on?"

"I was just about to ask youIt looks like you've had a firsthand taste of the action here," Hosato ob-served"All I know is, somehow Turner's security-robot plans backfired, and now we've got a pack of robots taking the place apart and killing anyone who crosses their path."

"Turner, huhWell, that's one bit of information we didn't haveWe got a call a while back that there were a couple of malfunctioning robots headed for the president's office wouldn't respond to commands, they saidWe sent a team out on the hustle, then got another call saying those 'bots had just broken into some high-level meeting and killed everybody in the place, including our section chiefWe were trying to raise our team on the beepers to warn them off before they walked into a bad situation, when MrPersonal-ity there burst through the door and started burning everybody in sight."

He jerked his head toward the downed machine.

"Lucky for us, it could shoot in only one direction at a time, and it picked the wrong direction to startDoc, there, has had some combat training and smashed in its front with a crescent wrench before any of the rest of us could moveWe've been trying to find out what makes it lock instead of tick, but so far we can't figure it."

"Well, you haven't got much time," Hosato ob-served grimly"The things are in the main corridor to the mall."

"Oh, lord!" Rick exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"That's rightSasha and her security team are try-ing to stall them, but they can't hold them for longWe're trying to work out an evacuation plan, but we'll need your helpThe s.p.a.ceport's gone, so we'll have to use the sand crawlersWhere are they?"

"Through there." Rick pointed to a door at the rear of the shop"There's an airlock at the far end of the garage that gives direct access to the surface area, but only one crawler is operationalThe other one's half apart for preventive maintenanceIt's scattered all over the garage."

"How fast could you put it back together?"

The mechanic gnawed at his lip"Half an hour if I had isome help," he said"But-"

"Suzi," Hosato said, turning to his partner"Go with Rick here and help him as much as you can."

"Hey, I can't take tune to train a Cla.s.s Two."

"I am a Cla.s.s Eight robot," Suzi replied coldly"And am more than capable of following simple or-ders."

"A Cla.s.s Eight?" Rick looked at her speculatively"Say, Hayama, what are you doing with a Cla.s.s Eight?"

"Sshh!" Hosato held up a hand for silence, then beckoned the mechanic closer.

"What's through that door?" he whispered, pointing to the ruined metal door af the side of the shop.

"The new corridor," Rick whispered back"It runs past the main computer building and comes out-"

Hosato motioned him to silence again, and they lis-tenedComing from the door was the m.u.f.fled whine of motors moving toward them down the corridor.

"Get to work on the sand crawler." Hosato whispered the order as he started sealing his Nirija suit.

"But what are you ?" Rick began, then for the first time focused on the blaster in Hosato's hand"Hey, where did you get the blasterAnd what's with the funny outfitWho are. ?"

Hosato finished sealing the suit and vanished.

"I suggest we do as he says," Suzi said to the stunned mechanic"I'm sure he will explain later, if we get the time."

Hosato didn't delay to see the final resolution of Rick's dilemmaHe moved across the room in a smooth glide and stepped through the ruined doorway into the corridor.

There were three of them moving slowly down the corridorHe had never seen a robot try to "sneak" but guessed this was their attempt to duplicate that form of motionAt these speeds, their motors were next to noiselessIf Hosato had riot already been alerted and nervous, it is doubtful he would have heard them at all.

Instead of opening fire immediately, Hosato took a moment to plan his attackIn theory, he should have nothing to fearHis suit gave him invisibility and therefore invulnerabilityIf the robots' camera eyes did not register a human form, they would not fireEven his blaster was rigged to establish contact through his palm, and shared the same light-relay mechanism as his suitHe was totally invisible and safe-in theoryOf course, relying on theories was a sure way to guar-antee an early retirement.

There was always the possibility that cameras were not the robots' sole means of sensory inputHeat sensors, movement detectors, any one of a number of devices could detect his presence, and then he would be in a shoot-out with three machines that didn't miss.

The robots were a scant fifteen feet awayHis plan of action set, Hosato opened fire.

Standing off-center to the right of the corridor, he fired point-blank at the lead robotDropping to one knee, he fired again immediately at the robot at the rear of the formationNot waiting to observe the re-sults of his first two shots, he dived to his left, rolling to the side of the corridor, and from a p.r.o.ne position fired again at the final robot.

He rolled again, still p.r.o.ne, to the center of the cor-ridor, and froze, studying his targetsObserving no sign of continued activity from the robots, he drew a deep breath and waited for his heartbeat to return to its normal pacingRealization suddenly struck himBetween his second and third shots, the last robot had returned fire, the bolt from its blaster sizzling the air over Hosato as he rolled across the corridor.

He shot a quick glance behind him to check his re-treat routeThe smoldering body of a security guard lay just inside the door.

That's what the robot had fired at.i.t was reacting to the security guard's intrusion into the corridorHad Hosato been on his feet, he would have been caught in the line of fire, invisible or not!