Read Asimov's Science Fiction: April/May 2013 for Free Online Page A

sparkles of burning metal shooting past. It would take a lot more than what the hauler had available to penetrate even ancient prador armor. The
Layden
was now up very close, still trying to accelerate away, but just having too much mass to shift quickly. I pointed at the screens with one finger and drew a target frame over part of its hull just behind the carrier shell.
    "Impact in three, two, one..."
    The force of the crash bent the supports of my chair so it hung sideways. A thetic, emitting a short squeal, slammed against the curved wall opposite the leech lock, then, as the bathysphere rocked into stillness, dropped to the floor with a soggy thud. I checked on Harriet and saw that she'd torn up some of the floor grid, but had still managed to hang on. I unstrapped myself just as the thermic lance kicked off behind the iris door, roaring and hissing like some trapped demon. Standing, I checked on the rest of the thetics. One of them was reverting, its face now a shapeless mass, one of its gauntlets on the floor below and a white worm oozing from the sleeve of its combat armor. Another of them had completely deliquesced. Its suit was empty, a milky pool scattered with pink offal around its boots.
    "Unstrap and prepare your weapons," I instructed the remainder.
    As they obeyed, the thermic lance finished its work and a loud crash ensued. That was the hydraulic hammer smashing a disk of hull into the ship beyond. I reached down and hit the control for the iris door and it slid open to release a cloud of stinking smoke, slowly clearing as air filtration ramped up to a scream. The interior of the other ship was devastated: a burned and melted mess of interior walls, crash foam, and fire retardants snowing, some fires still burning.
    "Thetics," I called, while pointing into the other ship. "Go in there and secure the ship. Try not to kill the one you saw me speaking to." They had just about enough intelligence to follow such an instruction. If there weren't any survivors it wouldn't matter too much—it would just mean a bit more work inspecting the cargo, and checking the ship's log and other data stores.
    In good order they moved into the other ship, silently passing instructions among themselves and splitting into two parties, one heading forward and one to the stern. Just a minute later I heard a laser carbine firing, then pulse-rifle fire in return.
    "Not too bad," said Harriet, now standing at my side and eyeing the two thetics that had failed, then the one that had smashed into the wall and was now slowly oozing from its suit.
    "Standard 10 percent," I agreed, moving toward the iris door. I meant the two failures—the one that smashed into the wall could be counted as a casualty.
    "What are you going to use?" Harriet asked. "Demolition charges?"
    "In good time, Harriet," I replied. "We're here after information and, if we're lucky, maybe even the item salvaged from Penny Royal's planetoid—I want to check up on the cargo first."
    Grav was out inside the
Layden,
so from the leech lock I propelled myself inward to find my way to a central drop-shaft. The cargo area on ships like this was usuallypositioned ahead of the engines, so I turned right, soon having to push aside a floating corpse that could have served as a sieve. Shortly after that I observed a group of four thetics heading back toward me, and pulled myself to one side to allow them past. Further on I found two of their number leaking out of their suits, then another member of the crew—most of his head missing.
    "In there," said Harriet, pausing at a side tube and sniffing.
    I entered the tube and eyed the palm-locked doors, then drove my fist through one of them and tore it out of its frame and tossed it aside. The room within was racked out, the plastic frameworks filled with simple aluminium boxes the size of coffins. On seeing these I first felt disappointment, then a growing anger. There would be no salvage aboard this ship, for its cargo was of a very