Page 19 of Collision!
He could keep an eye on them from his console, but optimizing the power demands between propulsion, external sensors, and various petty side demands—such as, say, life support—required all his attention.And then Delphine queried his system for another draw to her station, to live-plot all the tumbling trash in the asteroid field as they approached.
Probably important to not be smashed into their component atoms while they were hiding, so he approved the request and rebalanced the load again.
When Lub chittered sharply, Suvan spared them one glance, but Mariah was still bent over the fabricator, ignoring the peevish goblhob.The holographic outline of her schematic flickered in and out above the console as she sketched and revised.
And part of the outline matched the goblhob.
Suvan tilted his head.He’d told Mariah to knit a nightmare, and now her vision was coming to life.Ifhewas a roving brigand, he would avoid such a potential threat.Except…
Was this how other people saw his pet—and by extension, perhaps, him?Was he so daunting?
But Mariah had said she’d seen him in her dream…and had come to the depths of the ship anyway to find him.
This was almost as confusing as “yarn bombing”.
He went back to his engines, which might on occasion explode catastrophically but would be sensible and predictable right up until that moment.
And if he glanced one more time at Mariah, hunched with diligent focus at the console across from him… No one but Lub caught him.
Chapter 7
She knew it was another dream.
While she’d never quite mastered lucid dreaming, keeping a dream journal had at least given her that awareness, if not control.
So when a stark, inhuman face turned toward her out of the darkness, reaching toward her with one thorny hand, she smiled and extended her own.
“Suvan.”
“Love.”
But as their fingers made contact, he…unraveled.First the tips of his spines spiraling away into shadowlight, the radiance burning through him though his pale gaze never wavered.Her whole body contracted with denial even as she grasped for him, her heart aching, yearning to follow…
“Mariah?”
Just a dream.
She opened her eyes to the stark, inhuman face above her in the darkness…
The déjà vu made her voice quiver.“Suvan.”
“Were you dreaming?”
Was she still?
With a groan—even she could only stomach so much mystical mystery—she wedged an elbow under her and pushed upright.“Where…”
“You fell asleep at the fabricator.”
“I did?”She blinked around her.She was tucked into a small bed, a thick plush blanket snugged around her.“Oh no.I didn’t finish.”
“It was enough.”Suvan settled back in an easy crouch.“After a few adjustments, I sent the ghostform to print, although it will take some time to make a mask sized for a ship.Griiek and Ikaryo are supervising.”
“What about the ship that was chasing us?”
“We’re currently free rotating in dark mode with the rest of the asteroid debris.They’ve been scanning, but they won’t see us until we’re ready.”His teeth flashed in the dim illumination of the module’s machinery.“And then they will flee your monstrous yarn bomb.”
She scrubbed a hand down her face.“It’s not a real bomb though, sadly.”
