“Finally,” said Commander Hatqueban, as another Federacy mech trundled into the room. “Good quick work. Specified several captive offer a turnip ship. Time is finite. Additional only these to exit. Search attribute exhaustive.”
“Affirmed, Commander,” replied the newest mech, as the commander strode out the door, followed by Excellency Chenns. The mech stepped down the ramp, lowered itself, and extruded a shelf with which it lifted Nicale and carried her out the door. The mech that had fallen off the ramp walked over to Prolocutor Dicat then, and scooped em carefully up and followed the first.
The third mech, the one that had been out of Ingray’s sight until now, approached Ingray and said, quietly, “Are you all right besides the sprained knee, Miss Aughskold?” In Bantia.
Ingray blinked. “I … what?”
It was still the same large, squarish mech, four-legged and three-armed. Or she supposed it was the same one, she couldn’t really tell one from another.
“Don’t make any noises, miss,” said the mech. “I’m Char Nakal, Hwae System Defense Specialist. Our troops have taken control of the Federacy freighters and disconnected the pilots there from their mechs. The commander and the excellency are in for a surprise, but we want you three well clear before they realize it. Commander Hatqueban is still armed, and we think Excellency Chenns might be, too. And none of us are quite used to these hulks yet, we’d prefer not to fight with them just now. I’m only telling you so that you’ll know not to come up with some sort of idea for escaping on your own. I’m told you’re liable to do that sort of thing.”
“I’m …” Ingray began. And then, “What?” I’m told you’re liable to do that sort of thing. Who would have …
Tic would have. Ingray opened her mouth to ask, Is Tic with you?
The mech lowered itself and scooped her up. “Quiet, now, miss. If we take too long here Commander Hatqueban will wonder why. Oh, here, don’t forget your shoes.” It hooked its huge gun onto its side and then picked up the shoes under the bench Ingray had been lying on and set them in her lap.
“They’re not …” Ingray began.
“Hush now.” The mech lumbered up the ramp holding Ingray in two of its arms.
Now wasn’t the time for questions. Ingray kept still as they moved out into the corridor. The shoes were heavy in her lap, almost boots, with thick, hard soles, and definitely too large for her. Maybe it was something that had come into style in the months she’d been gone at Tyr Siilas. Or maybe the Assembly representative who owned them wanted to be thought of as someone who did hands-on, hard work, the sort that would require heavy foot protection. Well, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Specialist Nakal was going to get her away from here; the two hulking gray mechs ahead of her were being piloted by other Hwae System Defense Specialists and were going to get Nicale and Prolocutor Dicat safely away, too; and all she had to do to help was stay calm. Stay quiet. She could do that. It was easy. The corridors of the Assembly offices were dark, and the only sound was the clunking of the mechs walking. It was almost relaxing.
The corridor that led to the lareum was bright, lit by the recording of Hwae’s sun. A sliver of Hwae itself was peeking up over the floor on the right-hand wall. The space here was broader than the corridor they’d come out of, and the other two mechs began to slow, just slightly, just enough to gradually come nearer to the one piloted by Specialist Nakal, holding Ingray. Up ahead she could see Commander Hatqueban’s back, and Excellency Chenns’s. He had his helmet off again.
The commander stopped abruptly. Turned. Chenns, a few steps beyond, turned, too, with a worried stare at Hatqueban. “Halt!” shouted Commander Hatqueban.
The three mechs came to an uneven, faltering stop. The commander’s blank gray faceplate stared. A chill began at the back of Ingray’s neck. She remembered the obvious difference between Tic piloting a spider mech and the Geck ambassador piloting one. Reminded herself that even though she knew that difference, she hadn’t always noticed it, especially if she was assuming she knew which one it was, or if there were other things going on.
“Move not,” ordered Commander Hatqueban, and slowly, deliberately, walked toward the mechs.
She knows, thought Ingray. But what could she do? Nothing but lie still in the mech’s grip as the commander walked right up to the mech that held Ingray, pulled her sidearm, and fired.
The mech lurched. Commander Hatqueban grabbed Ingray’s arm and pointed the gun at Ingray’s head. “No one move,” the commander said, in Yiir. “Or I will shoot Miss Aughskold.”
Ingray wanted to shout in fear and frustration. But Specialist Nakal had said that Hwae System Defense had taken over the Omkem freighters, and the mechs. There must be System Defense troops nearby, ready to help. The question was, could they get here before Hatqueban fired? Was there anything she could do? She thought of Nicale, unconscious and bleeding, held by another mech. The commander had been pointing a gun at Nicale when Ingray had triggered the alarm, and Nicale had ended up shot. So maybe trying to surprise the commander right now wasn’t a very good idea. Then again, things hadn’t gone the way the commander had wanted them to, because of what Ingray had done.
“Get down, Miss Aughskold,” said Commander Hatqueban, still holding Ingray’s arm. “You and I and Excellency Chenns are going to walk undisturbed to the Omkem Chancery.”
“You won’t get that far,” said Specialist Nakal.
“That’s as may be,” said Commander Hatqueban, as Ingray tightened her grip on the heavy shoe nearest her hand and swung it at Commander Hatqueban’s gun.
There was a deafening bang, and a pain along her forearm, enough to make her vision go black for an instant, for her to drop the shoe. Was she shot? But she didn’t have time to worry about it. She squirmed in the mech’s grip despite the flare of pain from her arm, grabbed the second shoe with her other hand, and smacked it into Hatqueban’s faceplate once, twice, as more gunfire sounded, and then the commander staggered back.
Or, no, the commander had been pulled back, by two blue-and-gold-armored Hwae System Defense troops. Behind
her, on the ground, lay Chenns, helmet still in his hand. “Is Chenns …” Ingray tried to make some sense out of what she was seeing, what had just happened. “Is he …?”
“No need to worry about him anymore,” said Specialist Nakal. “He should have kept his helmet on.”
“Let us help you down, miss,” said another blue-and-gold-armored figure who was suddenly in front of Ingray, cutting off her view of Chenns and Commander Hatqueban. “Char can’t walk, the commander did something to his mech.”
“Good to know that’s a vulnerable spot, though,” said Specialist Nakal, cheerily. “And were they ever right about you, miss.”