you." Seven put in.
"You betcha! Do you mind if I sit down? It looks like this is going to be a long trip."
Seven laughed into her hand but stopped when Jenn glared at her.
"I do mind, thank you." Jenn said.
He didn't seem to hear. "Hey robot man! Get us out of here, yeah?"
"I'm staying out of this." Ricky said.
There was an awkward silence.
Seven spoke up. "So what could you actually offer if you came with us?"
"My wit and charm of course!"
"We could actually use some wit and charm." Crystal said from the front seat.
Jenn looked glum.
"Okay, well if you're coming with us, you've got to stop bothering Jenn."
He reclined in the row across form them until he was lying down. "Sure, whatever."
"And you've got to tell us why you're coming with us."
"It's boring here. The invasion is over, right? The rest is just cleaning things up."
"That's supposed to be the fun part though." Seven said. "You get to chase down the Imposters."
He laughed. "Not interested. I'm Nick by the way since you're all curious to know."
"We know." Jenn said, making it obvious how irked she was.
"Aw, come on girly, you know you like me. Give it a rest." Nick said.
"Do NOT call me girly." Jenn said. "If you do, I'm going to pound you until you can't stand. Got it?"
Nick laughed. "No problem Girly. But honestly, I'd like to see you try." He looked dead serious when he said this.
Jenn's face scrunched up and she turned away. Nick shrugged.
"So where are we going?" He asked.
"A prison planet a short ways from here."
"Does it have a name?"
"It has a serial number."
"Ooh, exciting. I once knew a guy who kept track of all the prison facilities. He was a total nut job in my opinion, but he'd rattle off numbers like most people rattle off their kid's accomplishments. That is, the people who made an effort to have kids anyway."
"Stop talking." Jenn cut in. "You're making my ears bleed."
"Jenn, just go somewhere else if you don't want to listen." Seven said.
Jenn rolled her eyes and left through a door at the back of the cabin. Nick continued once she was gone.
"So anyway, one day I asked him why he took the time to memorize all that stuff and he said 'What are you talking about? Doesn't everyone keep tabs on the prison facilities?'" Seven and Crystal looked at each other when Nick started laughing. "So I explained to him that most people are involved in normal things like the arts or their jobs and families but he didn't seem to get it."
"Does this story have a purpose?" Seven asked.
"Well, yes. I'm getting there." Nick said. "So, after talking to him for a while longer, he started to explain how he'd discovered a negative correlation between computer output and prisoner incarceration." Neck threw his arms up. "They were more likely to spot law breaking when they were turned off!"
"Why would the computers be imprisoning people when they were offline?" Seven asked.
"You already know that!" Jenn yelled from the other room. "The Imposters were the ones throwing people under in the prisons!"
Nick smirked to himself. "Well, that's one way to look at it."
"That's the only way to look at it moron." The door to the back room opened. Jenn came in. "As long as the computers were off when the arrests were made, the computers wouldn't have any evidence to prove their innocence."
Seven sheepishly raised her hand. "I think the question you guys are forgetting to ask is: Why were the computers allowed to go offline in the first place?"
Jenn rolled her eyes and glared at Nick when he opened his mouth to speak. Jenn spoke. "Does it matter? The Imposters are gone. They've been eradicated."
Seven sighed. "Sorry, I was just trying to get things straight."
Nick made a 'mph' sound and started to get comfortable on the sleeping platform.
"You're super unobservant for being an omnipotent synthetic." Jenn stated. She left the through the back again.
When Shane's skin circuit informed him of Marlow's arrest, he'd already halved the distanced between his planet and Earth. He laughed, pouring a glass to celebrate. He took a sip and waited for one of the others to call. They'd know he did it, and Marlow would too, but Shane had wiped Marlow clean before giving him up. But really, it wasn't like he knew anything anyway. If everything worked out as planned, Marlow would keep them busy until he'd made it out from under the radar. Shane rapped his knuckles against the pilot's head.
"What can I do for you sir?" The robot asked.
"I want you to celebrate. We're almost in the clear right?" Shane waved his glass in the air. "Show some spirit!"
The pilot only nodded its head. "Your victory is well earned."
Shane laughed a little before calming down. "Ah, well. It's not like I just lost control of the entire known universe or anything." He took a drink. "Tell you what, if we get out of this, I'll let you go on holiday. Sound like a deal?"
"Your generosity is flattering."
Shane's expression changed to a grimace. "What would you do with a holiday anyway? Stand around?" He laughed at his own cleverness. A call came through. He answered.
"Shane here."
"Shane, this is Sarah. I just heard about Marlow."
Shane laughed. "You’re welcome by the way."
There was a pause. "We're considering your punishment." Shane froze. "You acted rashly."
"I thought that's what you wanted. One less moron to take care of until things cooled down around here."
He could sense her growing frustration. "We're cutting you off until we're sure Marlow doesn't say anything."
"Say anything about what? He knows nothing."
"We're moving our meeting point."
"To where?"
"Sorry Shane. The enforcers followed you from your apartment. You're already a commodity we can't afford." Sarah hung up.
Shane cursed, throwing his glass at the cockpit window. It shattered, splattering liquid over the control surface and the pilot's face.
"Sir?" The robot asked.
Shane put his face in his hands, rubbing his brow to clear his head. "Stop the ship. We were followed."
"Yes sir."
The view outside cleared until the black of space filled the sky. A nonexistent voice resonated through the ship.
"You have been identified. Give up control of your ship immediately and rue the consequences of your usurpation."
"Well, looks like I'm done for, eh?"
"Would you like me to engage sir?" The pilot asked.
"No," Shane put a finger to his lips thoughtfully. "Let's wait this one out."
Shane pointed to the ship that floated just within view. "Hold them off for a moment. I need to make another call."
The two docking crewmen were playing a game of cards when the signal came from the loading dock.
"Let em in." The first crewman threw a card down on the table. "I win again." The second eyed it before throwing the rest of his hand down on the table.
"One day I'll figure out how you do that." He said. He stood up and sequenced the return signal. There was a rumbling sound as the loading dock opened. "I won't judge you if you're cheating. It's actually quite impressive if you ask me."
"Well, I'm not." The first crewman said, grinning. "You just have to know the cards. If you get that much down, the rest comes easy."
The second crewman shook his head. "I'm going out to see what's going on. You care to join me?"
"Nah, you take care of it. I'm taking a nap."
The second made a dismissive sound. "Good night then."
Out in the hanger a large craft had just pulled through the narrow opening, taking up whatever space there was. The crewman shrugged and sat down on one of the crates littered across the tapered walls. The ship's ramp lowered. A helmeted enforcer descended.
"What can I do for you?" The crewman asked.
A second enforcer came down the ramp. He spoke, his voice coming out in an altered, neutral voice. "We're here to inquire about one of your inmates."
"What's his name?" The crewman asked, standing up.
"Dale. Dale Hendricks."
"What do you want to know?"
"Where he's being detained."
The crewman chewed this over for a moment. "Go through there." He said, pointing to a door much the same as the one from the other prison. "At the end of the hall he'll be waiting."
The two enforcers nodded and made their way to the door.
The crewman waited until they were gone before running back to the other. The first crewman was shuffling the cards when he returned.
"Well?" He said, setting the deck on the table. "What happened?"
"There's been an inquiry about Dale Hendricks."
The first crewman made a face. "What about?"
"His location."
"Did you let them in?"
"Of course. They were enforcers. They're probably the guys who put him in there. I'm guessing this is a routine inspection sort of thing."
The first crewman made a frown. "Dale Hendricks is one of the Earth prisoners. You know how the higher ups don't like it when we let anyone look too closely."
"So?"
"Not so."
"Why?" The first asked.
"I received a call."
The second looked confused. "From who?"
"You know who, the hidden leaders."
"Well, I'm not sure I would know who those are and my suggestion is you choose not to know who they are either. To be honest, I'm pretty sure the only ones who have authority to say whether or not we can let them through are the enforcers themselves."
"Fine, whatever." The first crewman stood up and called for Dale Hendricks to be transported to the main interrogation chamber before easing the blackened window until it was transparent. Just outside the two enforcers were waiting as the unconscious man was slid