Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)

by Martha Wells

three SecUnits, the Palisade brand. Their drones were in tight humming clouds above their helmets. Oh, yeah, this is bad.

There were humans on those channels who could manually lift these barriers. To both, I sent: I am a contracted SecUnit with an endangered client. I am trying to reach the shuttle at dock in slot alt7A.

I added, Please, they will kill her.

I handed my bag to Mensah, because I knew it would make her think I was going to follow her. “Run. Slot alt7A.”

I can’t get through, I’ll take another ship. Go to the shuttle and get out of here.

Sending SecUnits after me was one thing. But they sent SecUnits after my client. No one gets to walk away from that.

A second security squad in power suits with the Palisade logo moved onto the walkway. They were backup for the SecUnits.

I started to run toward the stationside wall.

I’d lost track of Hostile One, but caught sight of Hostile Three jumping to another hauler bot.

Damn it, Murderbot, Gurathin is trying to manually open a barrier! You need to be ready, respond! Can you hear me? It’s the one three sections to the left—to dockside—of where I came through.

I spotted Hostile One finally, near the center of the hauler bot maze. It had figured out a spot to stand where the bots were providing it with cover.

I moved sideways for a clear shot and fired at Hostile One.

That’s when it dawned on me that Hostile One was a Combat SecUnit.

A text message packet came through the feed. It said, Surrender.

Instead I sent, I can hack your governor module, set you free.

I suddenly got: I want to kill you.

Mensah shouted, Now! It’s opening now!

I felt a sharp impact in the back of my right knee.

Hostile One jerked back and the barrier slammed into place.

Best action sequence, ever!

ONE LAST THUMP ON the barrier told me the Combat SecUnit wasn’t happy about losing.

I was still at 83 percent performance reliability.

we limp-ran awkwardly to the shuttle.

“An ‘unnamed corporate resident’ has just launched a ship and it’s on an intercept course with us.”

I’m pretty sure it would be a Palisade ship, contracted by GrayCris.

I accessed comm and secured a feed channel to the company gunship.

I sent: Active, hazardous retrieval in progress, bonded clients, go go go go.

the Palisade ship had changed course and slowed.

the gunship snatched us in passing and began to curve away from the station.

“We are bonded clients, and this is my personal security consultant. Is there a problem?”

“Dr. Mensah, SecUnits are not allowed aboard armed transports, unless there are special circumstances. It’s … too dangerous.”

Mensah said, “These are special circumstances.” Her voice was icy.

The gunship’s bot pilot pinged me curiously. Active SecUnits are never carried on gunships because they’re right, it’s too dangerous;

She wasn’t afraid of me. And it hit me that I didn’t want that to change.

“I’ve never seen one out of armor. They really do look human.”

“We won’t be here for long. We’re going to rendezvous with a Preservation ship

We were on approach to the wormhole but the hostile was still tracking us.

“Disengage from the feed, now!”

“Shitfuckers have our codes, they overrode comm protection—

Palisade had obtained a set of company comm codes, and had tried the list on our comm until they found one that worked.

Not standard malware or killware, not something I had ever seen before.

It was eating SecSystem.

Sensors showed the Palisade ship on approach.

the bot pilot no longer had access.

I tried to help SecSystem but it was dissolving under my hands.

Fuck this. GrayCris is not going to win.

I slipped all the way into the ship, into the pilot bot’s hardware. I’d seen ART do it.

I suddenly had a different body, hard vacuum on a metal skin, I saw the approaching ship with my eyes, not just sensors.

I pulled SecSystem’s analysis of the attacker

It was like a disembodied combat bot.

They must think you have the data you took from Milu with you.”