4
“All set?” Mina asked in my earphones.
I placed the neural interface on my forehead, checked the diagnostic reads a final time and flexed the Pendragon’s arms. “All boards reading green,” I replied.
“Good. Standby, two minutes to launch.”
The ship’s internal comms gave me a vid-feed of the cargo bay where Jack and Uhlstan were checking their weapons: squat Ruger M-90 carbines suited to close-quarters combat. Uhlstan also had his Ithaca strapped to his back whilst Jack wore a sword-size combat knife on his thigh. They were clad in high-grade body armour and respirators, the plan being to advance behind a cloud of tear gas, thermal imagers providing an edge in the confusion.
“Don’t hang around out there when the bots start fighting each other,” Lucy told me. I could see her strapped i
