“Hundreds,” Speaker says. “Depending on exactly what materials it is made of, possibly many hundreds. This machine is a great resource.”
“Uh-huh,” Lucas says. “I’m suddenly very curious about exactly what went down in those negotiations.”
“Damn straight,” Cat says.
“What are you thinking?” Nasha asks.
Lucas shrugs. “Pretty obvious, isn’t it? Wormy just admitted that his bunch is just as desperate for metals as those things outside are, didn’t he? It’s logical to assume, then, that he wants a chunk of this rover just as badly as the spiders do. So, he goes out there and tells them that he can talk us into surrendering without a fight if his nest gets a share of the spoils. It’s a pretty straightforward scam.”
Speaker rises up from the deck and twists to face Lucas. “Scam? I do not know this word. Do you accuse me of betrayal?”
Lucas doesn’t quite bring his accelerator to bear, but his finger finds the trigger guard. “I’m not accusing you of anything, Wormy. I’m just calling it like I see it.”
This is bad. I need to end it now. I get to my feet.
“No,” I say. “We’re not doing this. Lucas, stand down. Speaker, you too. We’re all friends here, remember?”
“Speak for yourself,” Lucas says. “Friends don’t feed friends to spiders.”
“They would not eat him,” Speaker says. “We have no interest in you as a food source. Your proteins are not digestible.”
“Really?” Lucas asks. “And how would you know that?”
“They know because they dissected me two years ago,” I say. “They took Six, and they pulled him apart to see what made him tick.”
“So is that what they’re gonna do to me?” Jamie asks. “Take me apart?”
“Most likely, yes,” Speaker says. “Your people are a new thing in this world. This alone makes you worthy of study. Moreover, you have proven to be dangerous. It is understandable that we feel a need to examine your inner workings, is it not?”
“I’m getting a serious urge to examine your inner workings, Wormy,” Lucas growls.
“Hey!” I say. “I said that’s enough, Lucas! Put a cork in it, would you? We are not doing this. We are not going to kill each other right now. We’ve got enough problems with those things outside. Speaker—tell me truly: Did you agree to take a share of the metal if we let those things pull the rover apart?”
“Yes,” Speaker says. “I did.”
“Oooooooh shit,” Nasha says into the stunned silence.
“Speaker?” I say, careful to keep my tone neutral. “Did you sell us out?”
“No,” he says. “I did not sell you out, if I understand the term correctly. I obtained the best bargain for all of us that I could. Understand, please: They were adamant that they would take the rover. If they were to take all of it, they would be able to create hundreds more of themselves. They are already stronger than my nest by some measures. Perhaps this would allow them to create enough additional ancillaries to enable them to overwhelm and displace my Prime. I have told you that this is their goal.”
“And we told you, that’s not our problem,” Cat says.
“Think, please. We are your allies. If we are displaced, your position is worsened, even if you do not believe that our friends would be able to destroy you. If we take a portion of the metal from this machine, we will be more likely to be able to keep our place. This benefits us both, no?”
“That’s it,” Lucas says. “Mickey, are you hearing this? You cannot seriously still be considering following through on this deal. I’m not gonna pop him now. I get that we need him to find the bomb, and we need the bomb to live. From here on out, though, he’s got to be considered a hostile, and we cannot trust a goddamned word he’s said about those things out there. I know the creepers can cut through man-portable armor, and I know they cut through the decking in the main hatch, but this rover is built to military specifications. It’s designed to withstand a fusion blast at a thousand meters. If they can cut into it, then I guess we’re screwed, but if we walk out of that hatch into the middle of those things, I will guarantee you that they don’t let us walk away.”
I look to Jamie. He won’t meet my eyes. Cat is looking up at Lucas and nodding. I turn to Nasha. She shrugs. “The man’s not wrong, Mickey.”
It’s then that we hear the tick tick tick of claws on the roof of the rover.
“Whatever you choose,” Speaker says, “choose now. I believe that our friends have come knocking.”
CONFESSION TIME: I have never been good at snap decisions. Once, when I was a kid back on Midgard, I spent so much time waffling back and forth over what flavor to pick in an ice-cream shop that my mom wound up dragging me out of the place bawling with no ice cream at all. I didn’t ask anyone to my school’s valedictory ball because I couldn’t decide which of three girls I’d rather be rejected by. I wound up on this godforsaken planet because I couldn’t decide whether this was better or worse than just killing myself to get away from Darius Blank.
It is entirely possible that I was not actually the ideal person to put in charge of this mission.
“JAMIE!” NASHA SAYS. “Get back in the cockpit. We’re rolling.”
“No,” Speaker says. “Please, reconsider. If this rover moves, you are committed to fighting. There will be no more negotiations, and there will be no further delay. You may believe you can escape, but I tell you that you will not succeed. If you try, they will kill us all.”
“And your folks won’t get their share of the booty, right, Wormy?” Lucas says. He’s already geared up and ready to roll. “Pop the hatch, Jamie. It’s go time.”
Jamie looks up at me. “Mickey? You’re still running this show, right? You need to make the call.”
I open my mouth, close it, and open it again. In the span of five seconds I go back and forth fifteen times between fighting and surrender. Nasha is watching me. The look on her face is unreadable.
I’m about to tell them to do whatever the hell they want to do when my ocular flashes.
<RedHawk>: Mickey? You guys still in there?
<Mickey7>: Berto??
<RedHawk>: They’re all over you, buddy.
<Mickey7>: I know. I know. Where are you?
<RedHawk>: Hold tight, Mick. It’s about to get bumpy.
“Down!” I say, and drop to the floor. “Grab on to something!”
Nobody moves. Nasha rolls her eyes, and Lucas has just opened his mouth to say something obnoxious when a deafening blow strikes the side of the rover and lifts it up until it balances precariously, just on the verge of rolling. Nasha stumbles, cracks her skull against the far bulkhead, and goes down in a loose heap. Lucas and Cat manage to catch themselves against the hatch as Jamie sprawls on the floor next to me. Only Speaker seems unbothered, crouching in the middle of the aisle as the rover drops back onto its wheels, only to be struck and lifted again from the opposite side.
“Mickey?” Lucas yells. “What the hell is happening?”
“It’s Berto!” I yell back. “Jamie, get us moving!”
It takes a third explosion, this one a little farther off and not quite as catastrophic, to get everyone going. Jamie scrambles into the cockpit, and a few seconds later we’re rolling. Lucas bangs on the hatch with one fist. As it swings open, two legs jam themselves through the space at the top. Cat fires, the spider disintegrates, and then she and Lucas scramble out and up. Nasha’s down and not moving. I hesitate, but there’s no time to help her now. I grab her accelerator, slap on a rebreather, and follow Cat and Lucas out onto the roof.
The scene outside is chaos. I’m expecting to see a heavy lifter overhead emptying out its missile tubes, but when I look up all I see is Berto and his goddamned glider. There are three massive craters behind us, and as I’m pulling myself up another explosion erupts maybe fifty meters off to the right side. The blast wave nearly throws me off the rover. The burner turret is hot, playing its beam back and forth over a twenty-degree arc in front of us. Cat and Lucas are crouched to either side of it, firing steadily, clearing our flanks. The spiders are scrambling in every direction. I drop to my belly, bring the accelerator to bear, and start picking off targets. After twenty seconds and one more explosion, there’s nothing left moving in my field of fire. I hear two more shots behind me, then one more a few seconds later.