Sin and Grace - 35. Grace (Patreon)

For obvious reasons, the Cassandra did not have water toilets. She originally did because the showers were already plumbed for water. I had them all ripped out and replaced with vacuum compactor models that Elaine could run through a mini treatment plant to sterilize and compost for our onboard agriculture.

We didn't advertise that part to the rest of the crew, but the reclaimed nitrogen, phosphorous, and other micronutrients went a long way towards keeping out food supply secure when we had to unexpectedly skip a port stay.

A lack of water wasn't going to stop Wasp.

The warbots held me down as Wasp ran a small hose from one of the shower units to fill a toilet basin with water. Then he pulled a little fly camera out of one pocket and tossed it into the air. He opened a shipwide audio visual feed as he dragged me to it by the back of my shirt. My implant helpfully transmitted

"Attention, all hands," Wasp announced into the feed. "I have your Captain. You will report to the operations level lounge. Leave any weapons you have on the floor outside the door. Failure to comply will result in more of this."

He plunged my head in.

It was honestly worse than when I was a kid. Last time this had happened to me, I was able to fight a little bit. I could push back against the rim of the bowl and grab a few shallow breaths before the hands on my back managed to force me back down. Even as my lungs burned and the darkness closed in, I clung to the illusion that I could maybe still fight free.

This time I had none of that.

Wasp held me under until my lungs gave out and I accidentally breathed in the water. Then he pulled me back to let me vomit it all out and then plunged me back in to repeat the process two more times before he held me out of it for a little bit longer.

"I don't see you moving," he taunted the camera.

Someone was beating on the door, I realized. Brando had to still be unconscious so it must be Amanda out there.

Wasp pulled me up and pointed my face at the camera.

"This time, I'm not going to bring him up again until I see your location in the lounge, bitch," he sneered and shoved my head back under.

I'm pretty sure he kept his word because this time he didn't pull me out when I started sucking in water. It wasn't until I'd nearly passed out that he hauled me back up, dumped me on the floor, and kicked me in the stomach until I finally started puking out the water and breathing again.

"This is a real trip down memory lane, Bubbles," Wasp chuckled as I gasped and heaved. He started to say something, but caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. The witch mark still stood out like a beacon on his skin, telling the world what I already knew about this asshole. He touched the mark lightly and winced like it hurt. "She better not be…" he muttered to himself.

He kicked me one more time and rattled off a coded statement to the warbots clustered around us.

"I'm going to take some time to educate your crew about how things are going to be, going forward," he spat. "In the meantime, my bots here are going to keep up the fun. The camera is going to be recording too, so I wouldn't try any heroics if the paralysis wears off. Remember, I'm going to be in there were them now. How well they're treated is going to depend entirely upon how well you behave."

The last I saw of him before the automatic door closed behind his back was the sight of Wasp reaching up to touch his witch mark again. Then the bots seized me by the clothes and started the waterboarding all over.

I can't say how long this went on for. Time started to blur and stretch. I don't think it was actually all that long, but it felt that way. I was limp and starting to feel my consciousness fade when the bots suddenly seized up around me and started moving in panicked circles. They left me propped up against the side of the toilet and I slid slowly down. At some point, I'd gotten feeling back in my limbs although it hadn't meant much in the face of the sheet number of bots pinning my arms and limbs. I couldn't do much more than kick and flail before getting held down again.

Then a bot gently rolled me onto my side and began awkwardly thumping my back in a maneuver I recognized as a water rescue technique. The proctors had done same thing when they finally showed up, way back when. Another one had gotten an emergency oxygen mask and was holding it up to my face.

I looked around through tear-blurred eyes and realized the other warbots had lined up against one wall and hunkered down into low-power mode.

A panel on one of the walls eased open and one of the little mini maintenance bots skittered across the floor towards me. To my absolute shock and horror, it addressed me through a small speaker.

"Jack, this is Evander. Please report your status to me."

My throat ached. For a second, I'd dared to hope that Wasp was wrong and he hadn't…

"I'm alive," I croaked. "We've been boarded by a saboteur. He's in the lounge with my crew now. We already have one casualty. He's killed my driver."

"Sinope Ananke is alive and onboard," Evander corrected me, waving his little bot arms. "She was ejected from the cargo bay maintenance lock, but quickly regained entry to the ship. She has seized control of the intruder's local bot network, which enabled me to take control of this unit."

She….what?

"How?" I rolled onto my front and started making my laborious way upright. The more I moved, the better I moved. Good.

"Presumably with the assistance of the ARACHNE-4 Personnel Recovery System I insisted on when we retrofitted the ship, which was intended for, if not this exact scenario, then one just as tragic," Evander replied bitchily as he climbed up onto my shoulder. "Your respiration sounds wet."

"I don't want to talk about it," I grumbled. "How are we talking? We're nowhere near a comm buoy."

Evander's mouthpiece was quiet for a second. "I have had emergency access to Cassandra's shipboard systems for some time. I was abruptly locked out of ShipNet and MedNet several days ago. Your comms have been locked to incoming and outgoing traffic, except what the saboteur has allowed through. You've even been receiving spoofed telemetry updates since you left the Freeport directing you away from your plotted course. I only had access to certain limited environment controls until Driver Ananke retook control of the shipbots and I was able to use her access as a backdoor. I couldn't use the environmental controls to attack the intruder without risking the safety of the crew."

He was quiet for a moment longer.

"I am sorry," he said. "I was unable to prevent this boarding action or thwart it once it was underway. Once I was locked out, it was too late."

My hand went up to pat the bot on my shoulder without my meaning to. "It's alright. I wasn't able to stop it either. We're all alive so far. Where is Sin?"

"She has retreated to a small, hidden cubby on the Works level and is working to complete her control over the enemy forces without alerting the intruder."

"Wasp," I corrected him. "We know his name. It's Wasp."

Evander went quiet and his little servos twitched before he said, "Noted."

I got to my feet and went looking for the plumber's kit that we kept in the head. It was located underneath a floor panel that opened to either my or Brando's thumbprint so that it was close to where we'd need it without being in the way or at risk of floating around during a gravity failure. I opened the panel with my thumb.

Inside, I found the thing I was looking for; a long, heavy pipe wrench that was the reason why this panel had a thumb lock. I hefted it in my hand, gauging the weight.

Yeah, I could hurt someone with this thing and if I got my way then I was going to.

I wasn't the helpless kid that Wasp had tormented all those years ago and he'd just made the mistake of not killing me when he had the chance. I'd make sure he got the opportunity to regret it.

Evander waved his servos again, looking like an agitated crab. "Update, Driver Ananke has identified the device that the intruder is using to control our feed and is en route to disable it. Wasp still has control of the security cameras automatic doors."

Shoot. We'd need to cover for her.

"Where is he?"

Evander whirred and then spat, "He is on the deck, drinking wine directly from the bottle in the Captain's seat."

That had better not be the 15 Year Old Crimson Nebula Tempranillo I'd bought for Taj's birthday. I'd been on the waiting list for that bottle for seven months! I shook myself to remind myself of the proper hierarchy of my priorities.

I hefted the pipe wrench again. "Let's go give him something else to worry about."

Since we were covering for Sin as she went for Wasp's hidden device, I abandoned all stealth and charged into the corridor with Evander clinging to my shoulder as I went for the small paternoster lift that connected the Works and Operations levels. That one was only meant for personnel and couldn't be shut off through the feed, it just ran at all hours. I jumped into the vertical tunnel and was immediately buoyed by the lack of artificial gravity generators. I grabbed one of the rotating hand-holds and let it drag me up to the next level where I kicked off the wall and landed on the deck.

"He has noticed there's movement in the corridors," Evander warned me. Up ahead, I could see the command deck's big double doors slide open and Wasp stepped out into the corridor, looking pissed. He had the stun wand in one hand and Elaine's little stinger pistol shoved awkwardly into his belt.

I charged him with the pipe wrench held out parallel to the ground so I could swing it at his gut.

Wasp cursed and threw himself to one side to avoid me, but I managed to knock the stun wand out of his hand on my back swing. He caught himself against the wall and shoved off it to drive his shoulder into my side, knocking me into the command deck. I went sprawling on my side and Evander flew off my shoulder.

"Dumb move, Bubbles!" Wasp shouted and the doors closed hard between us, trapping me inside.

Shit.

Evander righted himself as a deep thrum began under the deck. "Too late. She's reached the device," he announced, sounding satisfied.

"I now have control of ShipNet again. He won't leave this ship alive unless I permit it."