NirSighted Chapter Twenty: Shut Up, Move Fast

Mal and Zoë, meanwhile, were already in Branford-Tobar, searching for Albert Paulsen. Albert was the only soul Mal knew on Irving-Keene, and it had been that way for most of his life.

"Everythin's closed!" Mal said to Zoë as they arrived at Albert's usual location, The Fox and Cricket, a Branford-Tobar pub popular with the locals. "How're we a'sposed t' find him now? He doesn't ever go anywhere's else!"

"Sir?" Zoë said, pointing down the road.

"What?" Mal asked irritably, turning from the door of The Fox and Cricket.

"Isn't that him?"

Mal looked to where Zoë was pointing. It was indeed Albert Paulsen, looking left-then-right as he ducked into the alley between The Fox and Cricket and a small medical clinic. "Albert!" Mal yelled, running towards his contact.

The man stopped. "Mal? Hurry up, come this way," he said, and beckoned both Mal and Zoë into a small shack at the far end of the alley.

Once the door was closed behind them, Albert lit a lantern. Their faces leapt into glow. "I didn't expect ya this early," Albert said, waving out the match.

"We didn't expect t' be here," Mal said. "But we're in a bad way and we're in need o' gettin' back 'cross the border."

Albert shook his head. "No way," he replied. "The border's closed."

"But nothin's happenin' here!" Mal protested. It was true; the streets of Branford-Tobar were absolutely deserted.

"Not now," Albert agreed, shaking his head in the dim light of the lantern. "But twenty minutes ago, we weren't so lucky, and we won't be in another twenty."

"Love-Bots?" Mal asked.

"Love-Bots," Albert confirmed.

"What's makin' 'em go all screwy?" Mal wanted to know.

Albert was lighting another lamp as he answered. "It's called a P-56 Circuit. Every Love-Bot has one; it's the component that allows them to feel pleasure. But all these Love-Bots, their P-56's have been thrown into something called 'overdrive mode.' And they ain't gettin' out any time soon."

"What do we do, sir?" Zoë questioned.

Albert shook out another match before it touched his thick fingertips. "Ain't much we can do. Where's the rest o' yer crew?"

"We had t' crash-land close t' th' Branford-Tobar border," Mal replied. "They're all there."

"Y' left 'em?" Albert demanded.

"Wasn't much else we could do with 'em," Mal said, and quickly explained their extraordinary situation, starting with the scientist Dr. Burk and ending with the three pregnant women and the enigma that was Niriel Shatter-Glass.

As he spoke, Albert leaned back in his chair. When Mal got to the part about Nir, Albert exclaimed, "Nir is with you?"

"You know Nir?" Zoë asked.

"Yes, I know her quite well," Albert said. He got off his chair and took the box of matches out of his pocket. Lighting another, he touched it to the wick of a third lantern, then waved the match out. This lamp clearly illuminated a closet at the far end of the shack. Albert opened the door. With his back to Mal and Zoë, he rummaged around in the closet. "You've got weapons, I hope," he said, his voice slightly muffled.

"Yes," Mal said warily. "What are you plannin', Albert?"

Albert turned around. He had slung an ammunition belt cross-wise on his body, and was carrying two extremely large weapons. "We're goin' t' get 'em."

"Are you insane?" Mal asked. "They're on the other side o' th' border, the Love-Bots are comin' in like a swarm of… Love-Bots, and there's the babies t' think of!"

"Then there's no question," Albert said simply. "We have t' save those children and yer crew members."

"Ain't there somethin' we could do that ain't so… what's the word, Zo?"

"Foolish, sir?"

"Right. Foolish. Foolish, Albert?"

Albert shut the door of the closet and blew out the lamp closest to him. "Not when my daughter's out there."

"Yer… daughter?" Mal wanted to know, but Albert had already blown out the other two lamps and was leading them from the relative safety of the shack to the comparative danger of the streets.