Rogue Protocol
by Martha Wells
Contents
Chapter Three
Overview
SecUnit successfully sneaks onto the shuttle and uses Miki to scout both the expedition team and the two security consultants. It confirms that Wilken and Gerth are carrying serious weapons and armor, suggesting the mission may face more danger than the researchers appreciate.
The chapter also deepens SecUnit’s internal conflict: watching Miki’s easy, affectionate place among humans provokes jealousy and confusion about its own desires and identity. By the end, SecUnit recognizes that the humans are underestimating the threat of raiders and quietly accepts responsibility for protecting them.
Summary
SecUnit uses a delivery passage to cross the derelict mall and reach the shuttle in the embarkation zone. With help from Miki’s access code and camera feed, SecUnit slips through the lock, deletes its entry from the log, and hides in a storage compartment while the shuttle crew finishes preflight. Pilot Kader briefly suspects someone entered, but Vibol dismisses the concern, and SecUnit avoids discovery.
From hiding, SecUnit monitors Miki and the GoodNightLander team as they load the last equipment. The researchers are excited to finally leave for the GrayCris facility after waiting on Milu for their security detail. When Don Abene warmly handles Miki, SecUnit has an instinctive recoil that highlights its own discomfort with physical contact and its growing irritability.
SecUnit then directs Miki to inspect Wilken and Gerth’s equipment cases under a pretext. Miki innocently asks whether the consultants need help stowing their gear, allowing SecUnit to confirm that the cases contain weapons, ammunition, and expensive self-adjusting armor. The discovery shows that Wilken and Gerth are heavily equipped for danger, though SecUnit decides stealing any of the gear would make concealment too risky.
Miki later sits with Abene, Hirune, Brais, and Ejiro while they review a route through the facility. Watching Miki treated as part of the group triggers anger and jealousy in SecUnit, which recognizes that Miki has an ease with humans that it does not understand in itself. The tension grows when Miki asks Abene why the consultants disliked being observed; SecUnit realizes it must answer Miki’s questions more carefully so Miki will not expose its presence.
At the end of the chapter, SecUnit overhears Hirune and Abene discussing the security team. Abene is satisfied with Wilken and Gerth despite their lack of terraforming knowledge, but Hirune worries that two guards will not help much against raiders. Abene says the team would immediately retreat if raiders appeared, and SecUnit privately judges that plan unrealistic; when Miki asks if SecUnit will keep everyone safe, SecUnit answers yes, recommitting itself to that role.
Who Appears
- SecUnitstows away on the shuttle, scouts the team through Miki, and wrestles with jealousy and protectiveness
- Mikifriendly bot assistant who helps SecUnit board, unwittingly scouts the consultants, and trusts SecUnit completely
- Don Abeneexpedition leader who reassures Miki, reviews the mission plan, and judges the security team acceptable
- Hiruneresearcher assessing the facility who questions whether two guards are enough against raiders
- Gertharmed security consultant whose gear case reveals weapons and high-end armor
- Wilkensecurity consultant unpacking equipment alongside Gerth as SecUnit evaluates their preparedness
- Kaderaugmented pilot who briefly suspects someone entered the shuttle during preflight
- Vibolsecond pilot who dismisses Kader’s suspicion after checking the log
- Braisresearch team member eager to finally leave the station and reach the facility
- Ejiroresearch team member who joins the route discussion and jokes with the others