Page 18 of Collision!
“Still cycling sensors,” Delphine said.“Looks like they have a modulator.They don’t want anyone identifying them.”
Mariah let out a breath.“Probably tells us part of what we need to know.If onlywehad a modulator to make us invisible.Or scary enough to make them think twice.”
He thought for a moment.They didn’t have meaningful weaponry because the Love Boat I was supposed to be a decent ship.But…
What if they weren’t?Or at least didn’t look like one.
Imagining the resonark suspended in Mariah’s knot and radiating out along the threads, he toggled the comm again.“Captain.If we stay out of their sensor reach long enough to fabricate the appearance of plasma cannons…”
He’d served with Nehivar long enough to appreciate the captain’s immediate response.“What do you need?”
“A place to hide until the disguise is ready.”
“On it,” Delphine snapped.And a moment later: “How about an asteroid debris field?Probably mined in the semi-distant past, but still a lot of signal-scattering emissions, some jetsam.Got dense rubble, might supplement the fabricator.”
The specs for the field appeared on Suvan’s sensors, and he studied the scrolling data.“I can work with that.”
“Helm, go.”Nehivar’s order was curt but calm.“What else, Chief?Need more hands?”
“Send Griiek.And Ikaryo.”The bartender had shown aptitude with emergency engineering when he concocted a carbonated cleanser cocktail after the atmo-hall filtration had failed.“I’ll also need…” Suvan’s gaze angled to Mariah.“Tell me when we’re closing on the field.I have what I need for now.”
Mariah was watching him with those wide eyes, which widened even more when he closed his fingers around her elbow—careful not to snag his quill-scales in the chaotic weave of her tunic—and guided her toward a second console.“What does a scary ship look like?”
She wrinkled her nose.“I…have no idea.I don’t do scary.”
He launched the fabricator interface.The Zarnax Zone offered lawless asylum to predators and scavengers, but even the most savage pirates, clever smugglers, and ruthless mercenaries were wary of anything that might bite them back.
For once, chaos might be an advantage.
The glare of the user interface holo-screen made him wince, and he quickly closed out some of the more complicated tools.Hooking his ankle around a nearby stool, he deposited Mariah in front of the console.
She looked up at him, the console light emphasizing her frown.“Wait, you wantmeto make it scary?”
“You created a form for the anomaly, giving it shape.The Love Boat I needs a new look.Preferably with weapons.”
“But I don’t know how to do that.”
“A few nights ago, you showed everyone how to knit.”
“Because”—her voice pitched higher—“I know how to knit.”
“Weave something wild.”He demonstrated the controls.The cabins had in-room fabricators, simpler but essentially the same.And he’d seen her dexterity with her own tools, how quickly the anomaly’s freeform knotwork had come together in her hands to fit the space.He had no doubt she would pick up these skills on the fly.“Give me a menacing monster from a closed world nightmare that would send would-be bandits fleeing back to civilization with their tragically untuned engines revved past max.”
“But—”
“Doesn’t have to be real.Better if they can’t classify it.The fabricator will do all the calculations and flag anything structurally impossible.”
Her fingers repeated the path his had taken over the console.“I’ve never yarn bombed a spaceship.”
“I have no idea what that is but it sounds disturbing, so do that.”
With a resentful yelp, Lub clambered to the top of the console, crouching in the holographic glow.The fangs bristling from the undershot jaw glinted cruelly.
“Lub.”Suvan reached for the goblhob, avoiding an indignant snap.
“Leave it,” Mariah said.“I’m the interloper, I know.”
“Don’t bite,” he growled.“Either of you.”
