Battleship Raider by Paul Tomlinson (book recommendations website .txt) 📗

get the metal of the ship between me and the robot. I almost made it. The projectile sizzled past my right ear and I felt the heat on my cheek and neck. I felt a slight tug at my jacket shoulder and I could smell burning. The bullet must have grazed the fabric. I heard the explosion in the trees behind and below me when the projectile struck. At the same time, the projections in my retina blanked and there was just static in my ear.

“Trixie?”

No response. The passage of the bullet must have knocked out her systems. I’d have to wait while she rebooted in self-repair mode. Her nanos would then scurry around like sub-microscopic ants, repairing whatever damage had been done. Without Trixie to control him, Mozzie floated back towards me, his system in limp-home mode. I could control the drone manually, but right now I had other things to worry about – like being shot by a robot and falling seventy-odd feet to the ground below. I flipped Mozzie’s ‘off’ button and put him in my jacket pocket. Trixie could wake him when she was back online.

I peered around the edge of the bulkhead. The robot was climbing down and it was moving fast. It looked like video that had been speeded up. The thing had no fear of falling – it would almost certainly survive the drop. Wedging myself in as tightly as I could, I aimed the rifle upwards. The recoil almost dislodged me. I can’t be sure, but I think I shot it in the ass. There was a bright orange flash and its legs separated from its body and flew outwards. And I think the thing that went upwards was its head. It must be a little-known weakness. If you’re ever up against a security robot, shoot it in the asshole. Who knew?

I dodged the smouldering bits of robot anatomy as they fell past. Above, a second robot climbed over the edge and started down. Its rifle was slung across its back, so I assumed it had decided to climb down to me, rather than try to target me from above. Perhaps it had learned from its comrade’s mistake. I wondered if it had learned enough to cover its ass? I didn’t wait around to find out, I wanted to try and get down to the warehouse level before the robot reached me.

From the corner of my eye, I saw something dropping and flinched. At first, I thought the robot above me had fallen and I felt a moment of joy. But glancing up, I could see that he was still double-timing it down. The third robot must have leaped down from the platform. It would be waiting for me on the ground below, aiming upwards as I descended. This made my decision for me – if there was a ledge at the warehouse level, I’d stop there. With any luck, I’d be able to target the robot that was climbing down. And if Trixie was back online by then, we could maybe open the airlock and get back inside the ship. It was the closest thing I’d had to a plan in some time.

The warehouse floor had twin steel doors similar to the ones I’d come through on the floor above. They had been more heavily scarred by the crash, but they didn’t appear to be buckled. With a little encouragement, they would probably open – at least wide enough for me to slip through. The platform in front of the doors was much narrower, just wide enough for me to be able to squat in a corner with the rifle ready to fire at the robot as soon as it appeared. I didn’t have long to get in position, the robot was only a few seconds behind me.

“Trixie, you there?” I was still hearing static in my ear. I flicked my eyes to the right and my heart sank as I saw why Trixie wasn’t responding. There was not enough of my box of tricks left for the nanos to rebuild. There was a splat of melted silver on my shoulder that looked like stainless steel parrot squit. I suddenly felt very, very alone. But there was no time to feel sorry for myself. I had a robot to deal with. I aimed the snout of the rifle at the spot above me where I thought the robot would appear. It must have slowed down to assess the situation.

I heard the sound of a soft impact and thought a bird had landed in the tree opposite where I was huddled. There was a dark shadow, a crash, and the top of the tree waved wildly under the impact. It was the robot. Of course, it didn’t share my fear of broken bones or impalement. It was gripping the top of the tree with one arm and raising the rifle with the other. I swung my gun around and squeezed the trigger twice. A hole appeared in the robot’s chest that I could see daylight through. Apparently unaware of its new body piercing, the robot continued to try and compensate for the wild swaying of the tree and get me in its sights. I aimed for its head – but then its limbs stiffened, jerking backwards, and the hollowed-out robot swallow-dived into the ground. Two down, one to go.

I lay on my stomach and slid towards the edge. Looking down, I could see the fallen robot. Its comrade stepped out from the cover of the trees and examined the robot carcass, then it looked upwards. I ducked back as a blast struck the metal above me and showered me in sparks and bits of hot shrapnel. Down below, I could hear the robot begin to climb, probably using the route I had planned to use for my descent. I didn’t want to risk poking my head over the edge again – there was every chance that the robot was climbing with