Riverboats, Robots, and Ransom in the Regular Way, by Peter Wood

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Humor) A group of oppressed office workers doing a training exercise on a low-quality cruise are attacked by low-quality pirates. (3,054 words; Time: 10m)

"Riverboats, Robots, and Ransom in the Regular Way," by Peter Wood [bio] (edited by Sheila Williams), appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction issue 05-06|18, published on April 19, 2018 by Penny Publications.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: There are a few pretty funny lines. Like when the robot says it puts the safety of the ship above the safety of the passengers, and, when told that violates Asimov’s laws, it replies that they were bad for business. Or when we learn that the pirates rented their pirate ship from the same rental company.

Con: All the conflict gets resolved too easily. They shove the robots into a life pod. They reason with the pirate captain. Problem solved!

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