Cruiseliner Hades 7: A Lost 77 Worlds Tale Read online

  “Where will you be?” Andy asked.

  “Over there, waiting for Mister Polesnacks to show up. I just want to be one hundred percent sure. Okay, I’ll take ninety. Be ready for when I tell you to fire.”

  Gunny didn’t wait. He bolted down the street, took a hard right and disappeared behind a building. A few seconds later he sprinted across the street and launched himself into the air, kicking off the side of the ship to catch the railing around the pool deck. He pulled himself over and disappeared.

  “I hope the Ocean Slime didn’t get you, but I have no idea why you think the appearance of Crak Snackpole is imminent,” the robot mumbled as he rolled into an alleyway where he had a clear shot of the gangplank. He worked his way beneath a rickety set of stairs and waited.

  ***

  “You’ll need badges,” Jenna said. “I can make them here.”

  “You don’t know us,” the doctor countered, furling her brows and putting her hands on the counter.

  “I do know you. You’re the scientist who will help the factory figure out why the fully-assembled pods aren’t working. As long as you vouch for them, they’re good, too. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to help us. Look at you! We need you, not the other way around.”

  “Your logic makes sense. I accept your offer. Badges for me and my posse.”

  “Your what?”

  “It sounded good when I heard someone else say it. Sorry. Three badges, please.”

  Jenna brought them into the office one at a time to take their pictures and print hard plastic badges. Doctor Carroll studied the badge printer. “I love this!”

  “We still believe the highest form of security is personal recognition. You saw with Packrat, but he’ll still have to scan in when he reaches the facility, as will you. Just swipe the badge through the device in front of the turnstile.”

  “Have you heard of androids that you can’t distinguish from humans?” the doctor asked.

  “I have not heard of that! Are those creatures here? Did you see them? How do we fight such a thing?”

  “I didn’t mean to alarm you. It is speculation that androids with that level of technology will eventually exist. They do not now, as far as I know.”

  “Damn! That was alarming. We have a hard enough time with people. Don’t do that to me again,” Jenna said, holding her hand over her heart, taking deep breaths as she tried to slow the pounding in her chest.

  With their badges in hand, the bouncer held the door for Doctor Carroll, Buck, and Lucas. They followed the stairs deep into the earth. They climbed down until they could no longer see the entrance door at the top of the stairs, and they kept descending.

  “Ten stories?” the doctor wondered. Buck made faces as his legs started burning. Lucas was in better shape and continued down the steps without effort or concern. When they reached the bottom, the narrow tunnel opened up, leading downward at a slight angle until they hit the bottom where the lowest point was nothing but grating in case water entered the tunnel, it had a way to run out without blocking the entrance to the factory.

  They started the climb upward until they reached the underground factory. It was loud, but the air was clear because of the heavy ventilation creating a fresh breeze throughout the underground. It was also much warmer than the outside. There were numerous crates as well as raw ores set up within a staging area before massive machines that were being carefully tended by a small army of robots. Human workers intermingled and appeared to be working in conjunction with the machines.

  There were people walking on a track that was at a height of about thirty feet and circled the entirety of the factory space which was hundreds of feet long and a couple hundred feet wide.

  The doctor, Buck, and Lucas entered on one end of the factory. On the other end was an office and dormitory area. The wider tunnel coming from the mine and warehouse entered at that point. A rotund little man wearing a suit stopped the three people as they cleared the turnstile. He inspected their badges.

  “Doctor Carroll!” he exclaimed in a gregarious voice. “We have such high hopes now that you’re here.”

  “I doubt I’ll be able to live up to your expectations,” the doctor replied cordially.

  “It was two to one that you wouldn’t make it all, let alone intact. We are quite pleased. Let me give you a tour.”

  The three followed the man as he jabbered away, leading them past the raw ore and up the stairs to the track that overlooked the entire operation. From there, they had a birds eye view of the operation. From smelter to foundry to fabrication, they walked from one place to the next.

  On occasion, the man would shake his finger at one of the human workers below. They would duck their heads and make believe that they didn’t see him.

  “Why do you do that?” Doctor Carroll asked.

  “Lazy. All of them,” he replied.

  “People will live up to or down to your expectations. You’re treating us like royalty, and we have done less for the individual flight pods than these people. I’m going to give you my best effort because I know you appreciate that I’m here. I think you would be amazed at what those people will do for you if you give them the chance to succeed,” she lectured.

  The man looked at her as if she’d grown a second head. “Say what?”

  “Treat others like you want to be treated. You’ve never heard of that?”

  He slapped his leg and started to laugh. “You had me going there. I thought you were serious.”

  “I am serious,” Doctor Carroll said in a low voice. “I think the problem with your workforce may not be Crak Snackpole. It may be you!”

  Buck’s eyes shot open. Lucas watched in mild amusement. He didn’t like the round man, but he never would have called their escort a terrorist.

  The man blubbered incomprehensibly.

  “I tell you what. You go to your office, and I’ll work on the flight pod problem. Don’t come out until it’s fixed. Deal?”

  The doctor was counting on the fact that everyone answers to someone. He wasn’t in charge of it all. She didn’t have to threaten him, but he took it that way. He excused himself and left them standing on the catwalk. She waved at the workers below before heading for the nearest steps down. The work didn’t happen on the catwalk.

  Chapter 6

  The robot watched as the sun dropped toward the horizon. In the bright twilight of a northern dusk, the bartender appeared on the street. He strolled slowly until he was the only one there. He hurried across the gangplank. The robot’s curiosity nearly pulled him from his hiding place, but he stopped when he heard the rhythmic footsteps of men walking in step.

  Four military men appeared and moved straight for the gangplank, where they stopped, their body posture telling everyone that visitors to the Hades 7 were not welcome.

  ***

  The bartender stayed wide as he passed the pool. Gunny abruptly stepped from the shadows. The bartender pulled up with a start.

  “Nice gig you got going, Crank,” the Gunny said, raising the pistol until the light caught it.

  “I think you have me confused with someone else,” the bartender said, flashing a toothy grin.

  “I don’t think so,” Gunny replied. “You’re him all right. You have access, you have influence, and you benefit from a certain level of chaos in this town. Is this all about the Red Dog? You wreak enough havoc until Muttley goes under, then you buy it for a song. The cult disappears and business booms. No one who’s seen you as you are gets to live, do they?”

  “I’m not him,” the bartender maintained.

  “You’re him.” The barrel remained unwavering as Gunny pointed the pistol at the man’s chest. He couldn’t take his eyes from the business end of the semi-automatic. “I only need one shot. Never been on the wrong end of this business, Crank? You can dish it out, but you can’t take it.”

  The bartender wrestled with indecision. “I’m not him,” he decided to say.

  “You have a dead body in your be
d. I figured that would be an appropriate final resting place for the man you tortured. In the other bed is one of our own. He deserves a comfortable place to rest, too. I’m here for my friends, Diego, Joshua, and Squatch. I don’t have many friends, and the ones I do have are important to me.”

  “I’m not him,” he maintained.

  “You’re him. Your army is down a couple dozen and judging by the numbers in Juneau, that should be most of them.”

  The bartender looked over his shoulder. Gunny charged forward, jamming the barrel of the pistol under his jaw as he drove the man backward until he fell. Gunny straddled him as he forced the barrel into the soft tissue between the throat and jaw until the man started to gag.

  “Okay. I can pay you. A lot,” the man pleaded. “Only I know where the credits are stashed and even if you kill me, I will be avenged. I have power! You’ll be a dead man.”

  “We’re all dead men, Crank.” Gunny pulled the trigger, blowing Crak Snackpole’s brains over the deck. “FIRE!”

  Gunny dove toward the stairs. The sound of the hypervelocity rounds tearing into the aft end of the ship was deafening. The four men guarding the gangplank didn’t even have time to scream.

  ***

  Andy opened his eyes. The railgun barrels shimmered from the heat as they spun down. Six barrels, each accelerating a single round to hypersonic speed. Six rounds tearing through flesh and steel. Close counted with a railgun.

  When the dust cleared, there wasn’t any sign that four men had been standing there. The gangplank was gone as was most of the aft landing deck. The structure supporting the pool had been blown away. The Ocean Slime rippled as it moved inches at a time out of the pool and down the heavily listing cruiseliner. When it reached the ocean, it slid in and disappeared.

  A man appeared at the railing and jumped over, hitting the crumbling concrete dock and rolling, He came to his feet and jogged across the street. The robot broke the stairs as he forced his way from under the steps.

  Gunny slapped the metal creation on the shoulder. “Nice shootin’, Tex.”

  “My name is Andy,” the robot said to remind the clearly forgetful human. Maybe he was shell shocked from being on the wrong end of a series 2 robot’s railgun.

  “I’m glad that worked.” Gunny put his hands on his knees as if he’d just finished running a marathon. “It’s been a long day, Andy, but it’s not over yet, is it?”

  “It is not, Gunny. You promised to meet Doctor Carroll and the others at the factory.”

  “Then I guess we had best be off,” Gunny walked slowly. The robot matched his pace. “I hope no one messes with us. I’m about out of gas. You do know the way, don’t you?”

  “Of course. I looked at the map. It’s right up here.” The robot tapped his abdomen.

  After a block they found the checkpoint where a dead man still had an arrow through his throat. A blood stain suggested a second man had been injured. He left blood drips as he retreated into the ruins of the city.

  Gunny checked the arrow. “Lucas was here.” He pulled his knife and sliced the man’s throat to remove the arrow. He wiped the blood from the arrow on the man’s shirt.

  The robot watched the entire affair. “Very distasteful business.”

  “Which part?” Gunny asked as he looked for clarification.

  “There are many parts that are distasteful. If I were to prioritize, I’d start with the torture chamber on the third deck…”

  Gunny interrupted him. “Never mind. I don’t need a detailed list of the distasteful things we’ve seen or done. Besides getting off the cargo ship, everything else was less joyous. You ever get seasick, Andy?”

  “Some of those waves really gave my gyroscopes a workout!”

  “Yeah. That’s what I mean.” They continued in silence to the office facility. Gunny held the door for Andy to roll through. His treads conforming to easily climb the two steps into the building.

  A nicely dressed woman waited at the counter with two men who looked like body guards.

  “I’m Andy and this one’s Gunny.” The robot stabbed a thumb over his shoulder.

  “I thought you’d be taller,” the woman told the robot.

  “I don’t know why. I’ve always been this height. I’ll always be this height.”

  “I’m Jenna. Nice to meet you,” she said. “I suspect the good doctor has a thing for you, Gunny.”

  “Say what?” he replied skeptically. “I made no points with Doctor Carroll today. Had I been trying, then I still would have made no points. Mission first, always.”

  Jenna’s face turned serious. “Did you accomplish the mission?”

  “Depends which mission you’re referring to. We have some elements that are black and white and a bunch of others that are shades of gray. Not quite fifty, mind you, but there are plenty of shades.”

  “Did you kill Snackpole?” she demanded, hammering her fist into her hand.

  Gunny sized her up. There were two bodyguards and Gunny only had one round left in his pistol. He didn’t have the energy for a verbal jousting match.

  “Yes,” he replied simply.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  She relaxed, closed her eyes, and threw her head back as if ready to howl at the moon.

  “That is the best news I’ve heard all day. Maybe my husband can now get this town back on track.”

  “Your husband? Do you mean the mayor?”

  “One and the same.”

  “Someone married up,” Gunny blurted.

  “Why yes he did.”

  “Are the others at the factory?” Gunny asked, trying to change the subject.

  “Yes. You’ll need badges. I never badged a robot before,” she admitted.

  They went through the process. Gunny wasn’t in the mood for small talk, so he remained silent throughout the process. Andy, on the other hand, was more than happy to speak at length about absolutely nothing at all. After the badges were ready to go, she opened the door for them. Gunny looked at the steps that descended to what appeared as infinity. Andy chuckled.

  “Climb on my back, Gunny.” We’ll make short work of these steps.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes. Climb on.”

  Gunny gripped the robot’s shoulders, holding on as it dipped over the first few steps, the tracks auto-adjusting to fit the steps perfectly. Tipping downward made it much easier for Gunny to wrap his legs around Andy’s waist. The robot sped up faster and faster until Gunny thought they’d crash. And not just crash, but epically wipe out. His muscles tightened in expectation.

  Before he knew it, they hit the bottom and Andy kept rolling.

  “How fast can you go?”

  “The series 2’s are very fast. We can hit thirty miles an hour.” The robot raced downward. Gunny saw the dip where the tunnel started to rise again.

  “You might want to slow down,” he called into the robot’s ear.

  Andy didn’t slow and when he hit the bottom, he bounced once, dislodging his passenger. Gunny flew off the back, sliding along the tunnel floor until he rolled to a stop.

  “Andy,” he mumbled. “When I get up, I’m going to beat you within an inch of your life.”

  “My sincere apologies. My incline judgments aren’t what they used to be! I’m so old. They should retire my model. Oh wait. They did, hundreds of years ago. Woe is me! I’ve hurt a human. I am in violation of my programming.”

  “What are you talking about? You blew away those four knuckleheads guarding the gangplank, didn’t you?” Gunny worked his way to a sitting position. Nothing was broken, but the bruises would be something to behold come the morning.

  “I did, but they were bad, and you’re a good human. I can tell the difference, you know.”

  “Did you know the bartender was our guy?”

  “I did not.”

  “You just said you can tell the good guys from the bad.”

  “Only when they are doing bad things. Actions spin the tal
e, Gunny, not words.”

  “So the bartender was a good guy, but Crak Snackpole was a bad guy.”

  “Now you understand.”

  “I understand even less now than before, but we’ll make it work. If you don’t mind, I’ll walk the rest of the way.”

  Gunny swiped his badge and the turnstile released. He entered and looked back at the robot. “I’ll tell them you’re waiting.”

  Andy swiped his badge and the entire gate section released. It pushed open to let the robot through. It closed behind him. Gunny shrugged.

  He saw the doctor’s silver suit and headed for it. She was head down in a vehicle that looked like a tear drop. It had a wraparound clear screen with a stubby tail and wings. “The pod, I presume,” Gunny said when he reached the vehicle.

  “It is. I’ve found the problem and am installing the replacement part. It should be up and running momentarily.”

  “How long have you been here?” Gunny wondered.

  “I don’t know, maybe a couple hours. Did you get your thing done?”

  Gunny looked at the cavern where the factory had been established. Some of the walls were natural, but many had been carved by a method lost before the planet had fallen into ruin. “It was the bartender. He was Crack Spank.”

  Doctor Carroll bumped her head on the way out. “The bartender?” She stuck out her tongue as if trying to get a bad taste out of her mouth.

  “What’s the next move, Doc? We need to hit the recruiting trail?”

  “I don’t think so. Without someone terrorizing the townsfolk, without the saboteur, identified in the pictures from the casino, and without the superintendent who is a total butthole, I don’t think the regular workers will have any problem finding more labor.”

  “Part of their problem was a bad superintendent? You have got to be kidding me. I wonder if the mayor ever came up here to observe, but then again, he doesn’t strike me as the number one guy. His wife is probably the brains in that family.”