Learning to Dance

must be the science station – and if she pressed hard enough
she could just make out several pairs of human legs on the
floor to the left. The door she needed to reach would be to
the right. As long as the robots stayed on the other side, the
science station would provide her cover, but there had to be
at least fifteen feet between that and the door.
“Sea rápida,” she whispered. “I just have to be fast.”
Removing the final screw, she lifted the grate and set it
soundlessly on the floor in front of the vent. She tucked her
hair behind her ears, wishing she had something to tie it
back with, and picked up the gun.
“Bien,” she told herself, forcing down a sudden wave of
nausea. “Ahora.”
Using her left hand to pull herself forward, she slid out
of the vent and crouched low on the floor of the bridge,
listening. Now that she was out in the open, even the steady
humming of the ship seemed to press against her ears. The
robots were still moving about on the other side of the
science station, but hadn’t seemed to notice yet that
anything was amiss. Pressing herself flat against the metal
station, she looked toward the human prisoners. They were
bound hand and foot, sitting on the floor next to the
Commander’s chair. Commander Li herself was clutching
her leg, the deck beneath her soaked in blood. As Taz
watched, the Commander turned in her direction, and their
eyes met.
The Commander’s eyes widened. Taz put a finger to her
lips, and slowly the older woman nodded. She turned to the
robots instead.
“Hey, trash cans! Yeah, you! Didn’t your mama ever tell
you that you shouldn’t play with other kids’ toys? Oh wait,
that’s right, you don’t have a mama, you soulless piece of
scrap metal-”
The Commander was distracting them. It was now or