Boss King and the Blade

The Slippery Sod, Fisherman’s Wharf, Port August

Melody-Six

“We made it” Sunset said over Trixie’s shoulder, with Boss King jammed in her beside her, crowding Melody as he tried to get a view of the wharf.

“Yeah, we got here in one piece” Trixie agreed, shutting down the twin electric engines. “I wasn’t sure we’d make it to be honest”

Melody had felt elated and dismayed at the same time, watching as her brothers and sisters had been carried into the VTOLs. The silver mechanicals had been remarkably gentle with the young Agents, cradling them like precious cargo in their metal arms. All of the weapons and armour were taken too, leaving only the bare bones of the black van behind.

She had stood and watched the VTOLs lift off, the jet wash blasting her long hair out like a streamer as the two aircraft flew with machine precision into the moonlit sky. Her senses touched the Shadows within each sibling, assuring her they were alive and well until the VTOLs were far from sight.

“Will Archimedes keep his promise?” she asked Trixie, back in the moment as her friends pushed the rear door open to exit.

“I think so” Trixie assured her. “And if he doesn’t I’ll blow up his central core myself, which is a promise you can count on!” She levered herself out of the driver’s door and looked back at Melody. “Come on, we should get our gear stowed on the ship. Sunset tells me there are four bunks in our cabin and I want one on top”

“Sure” Melody answered and climbed out of the van. She had little enough to take with her so she ran after Boss King and Sunset, catching them easily on the concrete pier. They headed down a side jetty, the trio laughing in relief as they approached the ship Sunset had indicated.

“Are you sure it is seaworthy?” Melody questioned Sunset, who shrugged her shoulders non-committedly. Trixie had caught up to them while they stared at the Slippery Sod, shouldering a hefty bag of equipment.

“It better not sink” Trixie insisted. “Us clones can all swim but we don’t float too well. Our bodies are a lot denser than regular people”

Melody threw a comforting arm around Boss King, who was regarding the rusted and oily ship with a degree of alarm.

“It’s Okay, Boss King” she said brightly. “If it does sink, you can hang onto me”

“Are you sure you want to come with us?” Trixie asked, seeing his face by the lights strung along the jetty. “We should be clear of the Hive now. I can arrange a ride back to Spitfield for you”

“Nah” the boy answered with an air of bravado. “I need to keep an eye on this one until she is safely out of the Zone. That’s what I promised” He paused and twisted his head to meet Melody eye to eye. “Besides, she still owes me a heap of money!”

Melody laughed and released him with a playful push.

“It’s always about the money, isn’t it?” she told him. “Are Pandas all you dream of?”

“Nope” he confessed merrily. “Sometimes I dream about what those Pandas will buy me!”

Further discussion on his dreams were interrupted by a shout from above.

“Ahoy down there!” called a woman’s voice. “Is that you, Sunset?”

“Aye, it’s me and our guests, Captain!” she responded loudly. “There will be four of us coming aboard”

“What about your partners, Hammer and Grim?”

“They got delayed, Su-Chan” Sunset answered. “They’ll be waiting for us when we get back”

“Okay then, get our passengers aboard. The tide will be turning any minute and I want to clear harbour as soon as possible!”

“Aye, Aye, Captain!” Sunset yelled back, which Melody and Boss King took up too until they got yelled at by Trixie. They trooped up the gangplank onto the deck, meeting a fearsome looking woman in a short waisted armour coat with an actual cutlass and brace of pistols strapped to her chest. A mechanical cat looked inquisitively from a perch on her left shoulder, eyes glowing brightly as it regarded the arrivals.

“Sorry about the weapons” Captain Su-Chan apologised. “We thought you might be coming in with some unwanted guests”

“Nah, we sorted that out” Boss King assured her cheerily. “By the way, does this ship have any lifeboats in case it sinks?”

“Lifeboats?” the Captain pondered. “Nope, but don’t worry lad. If the ship does go down, I’ll tell you the secret all us Salvagers use to reach land”

“What’s that?” Boss King demanded.

“The waters around here have so many sharks, you can walk to shore on their backs”

=====

Between Port August and Spitfield

Jason and Jacinta

The wreckage had cooled somewhat by now, the fires slowly puttering out. Bubbles began to stream from the depths of the dark, oily water, popping like giant pimples on the surface. This was followed by a series of ripples cascading across the surface of the swamp, trembling the weeds that grew against the water’s edge.

One giant bubble burst, then a metal plated head erupted from the water. The rest of the cyborg followed, at least what remained of it as it gripped a long vine in one flame scarred hand. With mechanical strength it dragged itself to the shore, lifting itself onto the soggy ground with a faint sigh.

“I was never so happy to land in a swamp!” Jason declared with feeling, propping their shared body up to look at the wreck of their Carrier. The cyborg’s right arm was gone completely, shorn off at the shoulder joint, while the left leg was missing below the knee.

“I can’t believe we survived!” Jacinta exclaimed. “The blast should have vapourised us”

“Well, you see my dear, our central chassis is the same one from my service days” Jason boasted proudly. “Hardened Titanium alloy with a Platinum surface coat. It was designed to keep me functional even if Ol’ Betsy took major damage”

“You can stop boasting now” Jacinta remarked with a mental smile. “We need to try and find out if the kids made it to Port August”

“Of course my love” Jason sighed affectionately. He scouted around until he found a suitable tree branch and fashioned a crutch to support them. Hobbling on the one good leg and the improvised support they made their way to the road edge.

“Hmm, our internal comms link doesn’t have the range to reach Port August it seems” Jason muttered. He directed their shared eyes along the road, detecting a pair of electric bikes approaching at a cautious speed. “Looks like we have some visitors. Shall we hide?”

“Don’t be silly, Jason” Jacinta declared. “Stick our thumb out and see if we can hitch a ride!”

With a wooden crutch under one arm, the hand extended to present a raised thumb, Jason had never felt sillier in his life. They waited patiently, forcing a hopeful smile onto their metal face, while the bikes trundled to stop about five meters away.

“Foreign Jay, is that you?” asked a voice they recognised. The cyborg focussed their three eyes on the riders and grinned in delight.

“Hammer! Grim!” said Jason enthusiastically. “Am I glad to see you guys! Can I catch a ride with you to Port August? We seem to have mislaid our Workshop”

Hammer was looking past them to the still smoking wreckage in the swamp, then turned his attention back to the cyborg.

“Why can’t you drive that rear module of the Workshop?” he asked curiously.

“What?” roared Jason excitedly. “You saw it? Where?”

Hammer twisted on his bike, pointing back the way they had come from.

“It was a few klicks back, heading this way” the Freelancer explained. “We tried hailing you but got no answer so we pushed on to here. You put up a good fight against those drones by the way”

“You saw that too?” Jacinta interrupted, her feminine tones confusing Hammer and Grim for a moment.

“Err, yeah” Grim responded. “We were a long ways back, but I never knew that tank turret on the Workshop still functioned. You gave those drones a real pasting!”

“Thanks, Grim” Jason replied. “Hey, have you been able to check with Sunset? Did the boy and girl get to the boat Okay?”

Hammer and Grim shared a smile and nodded in agreement.

“They made it there fine, thanks to you Jay”

If a cyborg could blush, Jason reckoned they would have right about then.

“It was a group effort” he conceded. “I’m glad it worked out in the end”

The Freelancers chatted for a short while until the highway resounded with the stomping of heavy legs. Like a giant centipede the rear module clattered into sight and Jacinta let out a cry of delight through their shared link.

“Jason, I can access the auto-drive systems!” she squealed happily. “The module has a few alerts showing but she is operational!”

She took control of the big vehicle, driving it up to a standstill along the side of the highway. It hissed and blew some steam from its vents then settled to the ground like a crouching elephant.

“Good girl!” Jason crowed aloud, making Jacinta ponder if that was for her or the vehicle. Either way, they had a ride to Port August.

Hammer and Grim made their goodbyes, heading off on their bikes with a promise to catch up at the Fisherman’s Wharf. Jason climbed their crippled body up onto the rear landing, cycling open the hatch.

The interior was in disarray, with shelves and boxes of spare parts scattered everywhere. A faint haze of blue smoke wafted in circles throughout, but Jason and Jacinta had plenty of stored air in their mechanical body. With a satisfied sigh, they sat on the padded couch and propped their one good leg up on the table.

“We’re back where we started, my dear heart” Jason said to his partner.

“Perhaps” Jacinta suggested. “Or maybe this is a chance to try something new?”

“Like what?”

“How do you feel about hovercraft?”