"The Anti-X Encounter"
Part 7
"This isn't bad," said Zana in surprise, sipping from her mug. The effects of waking up from the initial stages of suspended animation left the Blonde Plutoz feeling chilled.
Raptaur had offered them hot tea made from herbs from his home planet. A kind of herbs that tried to crawl away when they sensed somebody wanted them for a good cup of tea. The dinosaur guard had a buzzing tinful.
Rivqua warmed her hands around the hot mug.
"Why did Commander Cordyte want us to model for those robots? What's the idea with them?"
"Infiltration," said Raptaur. "They will be sent out to areas where trouble is brewing. One for either side of the conflict. The robots will come as attractive, capable consultants to the governments, pretending to help and guide them in the bad situation. Their real job is to increase the tensions between both sides, through false information and deception. The goal is to create a war."
"And for that they'll need weapons," said Rivqua, seeing it all too clearly. "So the consultants recommend Anti-X."
"Everybody gets loaded with firepower," Zana added. "All for the price of a bit of quadrant space. Brilliant."
"Sickening."
Raptaur sighed.
"That's how my home planet was destroyed. By a pointless war that Commander Cordyte started. I was already stuck here then. I couldn't do a thing to help my family, or any of my kind. I pleaded with Cordyte to not do it. Didn't help. It was a long time ago now, and I may be just a tired old reptilian, but I haven't forgotten. How could I?"
Zana and Rivqua listened to his story. There was only one thing for it. "We need to get off this station!" Rivqua said. "Get to the authorities. Let the Federation know what's going on!"
Zana completely agreed. "This eight-legged chrome-crazy old bag's gotta be taken down!"
"Getting off the Anti-X is impossible," Raptaur said. "Once you're here you can never leave."
"But it's our only chance to save the galaxy!"
"Miss, don't you see? The place is swarming with gun droids. There are fighter drones ready to take off. Then there's Smart Nook, patrolling the whole quadrant. You'll never make it."
Raptaur shook his head and lowered his eyes. He had rescued the Blonde Plutoz on an impulse. They were safe, for now. But what next? Stop a whole station full of killer machines? No way. "Not if you want to live to tell it."
"Well we're going to give it one cracking try!" Rivqua exclaimed. "Ain't that right, sis!"
"Sure is!" Zana replied and smacked her upheld hand. "Especially since Commander Cordyte hates music! Hey, where's my guitar?"
"Right here," said Raptaur and pulled her instrument out from under one of the cocoons.
"Perfect!" said Rivqua. "Now, all we need are some special effects! Like say, how about lasers? Must have a laser lying around somewhere."
"What are you talking about?"
"We're going to get off this giant cube and we're going to have us a rock show doing it! Only it won't be us on a stage. It'll be us moving. Running more like. Running like anything."
The dinosaur sucked on the last of the chicken-leg bones like it was a lollipop and stared at the two girls like they'd popped out of their senses.
He shrugged and stood up.
"Come right this way, ladies."
Less than one hour later they were back in the Cave of Draperies, working on bits of gadgetry.
"This is some warehouse you got, Raptaur," Zana said. "Just look at all this cool stuff!"
"It's surplus equipment," the dinosaur replied. "Military type stuff from the old days. There's everything from uniforms and furniture to radars and intercoms down here. No big weapons though."
"This sonic blaster will do fine," Rivqua said. "Sounds just like a bass drum. A slappy, wet thump. Knocks you right in the chest. Listen."
She pulled the slide and pressed the stock to her shoulder. The device looked like a shotgun but instead of two barrels it had what looked like two huge engine silencers, the size of waste paper baskets. On the front ends were strong loudspeakers.
She fired through a gap in the draperies. A small dry thud. Half a second later a loud smacking thump hit something out in the warehouse that fell over with a big crash. Rivqua put a hand to her mouth.
Raptaur chuckled and crossed his hands over his big tummy. "Don't worry about it, it's on the house. What have you got, Miss Zana?"
"I mounted this laser cutter to my guitar. Every time I play a chord it fires. Check it out." She aimed the guitar neck out between the curtain folds and ran her pick over the strings. A fine power chord rang out, along with a sizzling red beam that shot out from the oblong device she'd attached to the head. It burned a hole through a piece of sheet metal up on a shelf.
"Try getting that out of an effects pedal!" said Zana, tweaking the guitar's tuning.
"I always wondered what to do with that shapeless piece," Raptaur said. "Now it's got a hole for a nail, I think I'll hang it up."
"We're ready, let's do it," said Rivqua, "And you're coming with us, Raptaur. You saved our lives."
The dinosaur's smile faded and he became serious. Regretful even.
"Unfortunately, I think I've ended it for all of us. This is a place full of robotic evil. The whole of Anti-X is one big, artificial monster! I've reached the end. And now I've brought you two down with me!" Raptaur dropped his face into his hands. "Perhaps you'd have stood a better chance staying in suspended animation!"
"Nonsense!" said Zana, slapping his shoulder. "We're getting outta here, the three of us! You know the way around this place. We want hangar bay twelve. You know where it is. So come on, let's get moving! And bring that crazy herbal tea with you."
He thought for a moment, hissing and struggling with his own courage it seemed, trying to muster it up.
Then he stood to his feet and began to load his tool belt and shoulder straps and boots with all sorts of guns and ammunition until he looked like a tank with legs.
"So be it. Let's get moving!"
The elevator doors slid shut and jerked upwards. Raptaur turned to the girls. "We have two more elevator rides and a couple of walks, one of them long, to get to bay twelve."
"Right, and anywhere in between we could run into gunheads," Rivqua said.
"Right."
They were right. The doors slid open and there stood two gunheads. The doors hadn't even stopped moving before the Blonde Plutoz reacted. An open E chord and a red flash rocked the elevator car.
Sparks and smoke rose out of a sudden burning hole in the middle of the left one. "Major malfunc--" is as far as the pot-shaped robot got before its circuits died.
A sonic smack hit the other one. Its gun turret flew off, hit the ceiling and clanged to the floor with a tinny bounce. The gunhead stopped in its tracks without a word.
Raptaur led the way onwards through the passage. They were running now, eyes alert and darting in every direction. They reached the next elevator just as it arrived.
A quick dash to hide behind a corner.
Out of the elevator came a group of robot engineers carrying on a loud argument. They shuffled off in the other direction, their little wheels squeaking. Raptaur and the Blonde Plutoz jumped in the empty elevator and headed up. Next would be a tricky bit, Raptaur warned.
It turned out to be another of those slow-curving passages that threw off one's sense of direction. Rivqua kept looking back to get an idea of how many degrees they were actually turning.
"It opens up to a larger area down here," said Raptaur glancing back at them.
He shouldn't have done that. All of a sudden the 'zap!' of a laser blast rang out and Raptaur jolted. He'd been hit in the back. The dinosaur sank to his knees, shock on his face.
"Raptaur!" Zana cried in horror. Ducking low, the girls dragged his heavy bulk out of the firing line and leaned him up against a pillar. Zana knelt by him. Another laser blast struck the steelwork above their heads, zinging with sparks.
Rivqua pressed against the wall, tried to see where the firing came from. She fired a chance shot. The bass drum kick thudded into a far wall. Rivqua heard metal feet clattering on the hard floor. A chorus of mad laughter echoed down the passage...
Stay tuned for Part 8 of "The Anti-X Encounter"!
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