Steal the Demon: A Science-Fiction Novella by Robert Roth (free novels to read txt) 📕

liked the sound of that. She spun around on the stool, then she stood up and looked back at the QED node. “What about that,” she wondered aloud. “Do I leave it here?”

“Yes,” Paradox answered. “It’s currently my only connection to the Al-Zamani Net.”

“And we can still stay connected with each other?”

“Yes. Now that I’m inside the Station Net, I can stay in contact with you that way. I’ve already switched us over to an encrypted local channel.”

She hadn’t even noticed the changeover. “Ah, okay.”

“I’ll add the route to the docking bay to your mini-map,” he added, “and alert you if I see any trouble headed your way. Now, get moving.”

4

You Are Advised To Hurry

The wayfinding icon in her virtual display swiveled to the right, so Kimiko headed that way. According to her mini-map, she needed to go another ten meters further down the corridor, make a left turn, then continue another thirty meters to a lift shaft. The Shaitan was about twenty levels up from there. Kimiko was quietly determined as she moved, her excitement building as she got closer to her goal. But when she approached the upcoming junction, a visual alert flashed inside her helmet.

“Two engineering techs have exited the lift and are heading in your direction,” Paradox suddenly announced. “There’s nowhere to redirect them away from your path, but I’ve disabled their comms, so they’ll be unable to call for help.”

Kimiko stopped and put her back to the wall near the junction. The techs’ muddled conversation in her helmet speakers grew louder as they approached. She reached down to grab her stun baton, pressing herself firmly against the wall until the engineers emerged into the junction. Once they stepped past her, she lunged and touched the tip of the baton to the closest engineering tech, triggering the discharge with a soft bang. The force of the shock knocked the tech forward, and they collapsed to the deck, twitching lightly. But the other tech reacted fast, ducking back as Kimiko swung the stun baton around, then kicking it out of her hand with a grunt. When they dropped back into a combat stance, Kimiko frowned. None of the other joes she’d encountered so far had fought back, except for the security guard. It was probably too much to expect that none of the Al-Zamani engineering staff knew how to defend themselves.

The tech was femme-presenting, but they were a good fifteen cms taller and ten kgs heavier than Kimiko. That weight all looked like muscle under their coveralls, too. If they were fast and strong, Kimiko would just have to be smart. She feinted a punch with her left arm, which the tech moved to block. Using the feint as cover, Kimiko kicked low with her left leg, aiming for the tech’s knee, but the engineer shifted their thigh, and Kimiko’s foot hit muscle instead of the joint. The tech trapped Kimiko’s leg with one arm, and tried to slam their elbow down on Kimiko’s knee with the other. With a grunt, Kimiko pushed up off the deck with her other leg, twisting her body around and kicking her free leg high toward the tech’s head. Struggling to keep their balance, the tech let go of Kimiko’s leg and tried to block Kimiko’s kick, but they weren’t quick enough, and took a foot right on the chin. Kimiko continued her twist until she was facing the other way, landing on the corridor deck in a crouch while the tech sailed back and fell hard on their ass. Balancing on her hands, Kimiko launched a backward kick and planted her heel right on the tech’s forehead. Their eyes rolled up as they fell back onto the corridor deck and stopped moving.

Breathing heavily, Kimiko pushed herself up to her feet, picked up the stun baton, and reattached it to her flight suit. Suddenly a nearby hatchway opened up. She looked over in surprise but saw that it was empty, opening into a darkened compartment.

“Move the bodies in there,” Paradox instructed her. “I can lock it and keep them in there until you’ve escaped.”

Kimiko exhaled loudly, then grabbed the first engineer’s leg and dragged them into the storage chamber. She was grateful to have Paradox doing overwatch, even just for simple things like opening a nearby supply closet. As she pulled the unconscious tech into the far corner, she wondered briefly if Kenji’s ex had ever been in there. But she shook the frivolous thought away. Then Kimiko went back out and did the same with the second tech, propping them against the first one. Once she was back out in the corridor, the hatch slid closed again behind her.

“Everything greased up ahead of me?” Kimiko wondered aloud.

“Your path to the lift shaft is clear now.”

“Stellar. Thank you.”

Kimiko took off in the direction the engineering techs had come from. At the end of the curving corridor was the entrance to the lift shaft. It slid open as she approached it, revealing the waiting lift chamber. Paradox must’ve gained control of that, too. She stepped inside.

“Which level do I need?” she asked as the hatch slid closed.

“I will send the lift compartment directly to the correct level, and hold it there. That will make it difficult for anyone to follow you.”

Kimiko felt the lift start to move upward. She took advantage of the momentary calm to access her P/N-interface and found the file Paradox had downloaded containing the control codes. She was getting closer, and could feel the excitement building.

“Brace yourself!” Paradox cried urgently, a moment before the lift slammed to a halt and threw her to the deck.

“What the fuck, Joe!” Kimiko called out as she picked herself back up.

“The station AI has discovered my presence,” Paradox replied, sounding audibly strained, “and is currently fighting me for system control. Stand by.”

She got back onto her feet but used her arms to brace herself against the sides of the lift chamber. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck