Page 197 of Seven Oars
“Or what?” Fincros kept smiling.“What are you gonna do? Kill me?”
Phex’s frown got deeper. Strong, unbending Phex—and fragile. One step away from breaking.
“We keep veering off the course I keep setting,” Phex said to Fincros.
“Where are we going?” Finn cocked his head, genuinely curious.
Phex didn’t flinch.“That shouldn’t concern you. What should concern you is that the station’s not following the course set in the Command Center. I suspect this Tutti droid. Can it override set commands?”
Fincros shrugged.“You know it’s been acting up.”
“What are Tutti’s programming codes?”
Fincros kept his smile beatific.
Phex rose from the chair and crossed the room, skirting around Esseh’s corpse. His movements were lithe and perfectly coordinated. A fine specimen. A strapping male.
On the outside.
Alas, he wasn’t special.
“If we crash and burn, we’ll crash and burn together,” he said through clenched teeth. Or at least, Rosamma thought he did. Suddenly, it was suddenly hard to understand him.
“Why’d you kill Esseh?” Fincros asked in a voice that carried the question like the desert wind, with sand and grit, rusty from misuse.
They spoke Rix.
It must be the first time in many years that Fincros spoke it.
“He wanted to sit in my chair,” Phex said, motioning behind him.
“You should’ve asked him for Tutti’s codes,” Fincros switched back to Universal.“He knew them.”
Phex narrowed his eyes, popping that inner lid out. His healthy, deep, black eyes. Curse him.
“He can’t be the only one.”
“Of course not. Ucai knew them. Keerym, too. And guess who else?”
“Fuck you,” Phex spat.
“Kill me now—lose control of this place forever.”
Fincros was no longer smiling.
Phex swung at him, but it wasn’t a serious attempt to injure. Finn sensed the movement and caught the blow.
“You brought it on yourself, defender,” he taunted Phex.
“Don’t call me that!”
“I would call you Striker, but you’re failing at that too. Here’s a lesson to help you out.” Fincros turned to Phex, locking onto his position.“The only guy who could control Tutti is hanging in the Meat Locker. Unless you can revive him, your dumb ass has to learn to run this stationdespitethe robot. Your crew will help. No matter how angry they make you, you can’t kill them all off. Got it?”
This time, when Phex hit him, he meant it.“Give me the codes or Rosamma dies,” he growled. As usual, it wasRisanawith him.
Pivoting, he charged Rosamma, banking on Fincros’inability to track him.
Well, well, well.
