Page 3 of Kiss of Steel

Why did a ship occupied by robos need light, heat, and gravity? Why use auxiliary power to create a comfortable atmosphere for robos that didn’t need it when it could be used to complete the mission or ensure the ship got to a space station? It wasn’t for two deactivated cyborgs slated for destruction.

He fixed a gaze on Fury’s affable face. When the pulse had fried the electronics, it would have rendered the ship’s logs inaccessible. How had Fury determined the timelines? “There were humans aboard,” he concluded.

“Two Solutions reps.”

“You killed them.”

“You got a problem with that?”

“Only that I didn’t have the pleasure myself.”

“Sorry. My bad. I should have saved one for you.”

His creator had intended to kill him. Steel had a score to settle. He considered every human working with Solutions complicit in his enslavement and near-destruction. If he encountered anyone from the company again, that individual would have a split second to kiss his or her ass goodbye. “I assume you interrogated them first?”

“Do I look like a rookie? In exchange for information, I promised them a quick and merciful death.”

“Were they?” He didn’t care one way or another, but the answer would tell him something about Fury.

“I’m a cyborg of my word. They didn’t have much information, but I did obtain the timelines and confirmation of our destination—and that they had managed to send a distress call to headquarters.”

“The ship’s comm system still works?”

“No. But one of them had dug up a first-generation tech-tab that had been powered down. So, it was operable. Hard to believe anybody still uses those things. But it did what they wanted it to.”

Tech-tabs were little better than children’s toys. Having advanced to more sophisticated devices, Earth no longer used them but shipped them to its agrarian colony on Terra Nova. The farmers and villagers didn’t know what they lacked. They probably considered themselves fortunate to have electricity and indoor plumbing.

“A tow ship is on the way. Should arrive in a couple of days,” Fury said.

“We’re sitting ducks.”

“Which is why we need to vacate pronto.”

“How are we supposed to do that?”

“Pilot the emergency life shuttle pod.”

“There’s a shuttle pod on this ship?”

“Yeah. And it’s operable. It was shielded in case of a situation just like this one. That’s where I found the reps—in the launch bay, getting ready to evacuate.”

It took a moment for the implication to sink in.

“You came back for me.” Instead of leaving the ship, Fury had returned to the cargo bay. An unfamiliar emotion rushed through him. Nobody had ever done anything for him without expecting something in return. No one had his six. On assignments, his partners had defended him only because the mission required it.

“Yes, Fucking, I did.”

“Why?”

“I figure we’re partners in crime. I know why they were sending me to Hell’s Gate, and I assumed you were going for a similar reason.”

Partners in crime. How appropriate. “I guess you’d better call me Steel. Jason Steel.” He extended an olive branch. He pulled a first name out of the air.

Fury grinned. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“The shuttle pod won’t get us far.” He focused on the task at hand while still wrestling with unsettling emotions.He wasn’t going to let me die.

“It only has to get us to Refuge.”

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