Chapter Nineteen: Honor Unchained — Part 2

“Wrong guess.”

“I give up.” Roxy now sounded positively irritated.

“After doing all my calculations, I’ve determined that we have enough money to restore you. You’ll be a human again very soon. After we take care of some business on Vodia, we’ll be heading for a restoration facility.”

Roxy stayed silent for several seconds. “You’re not lying are you? I have been lied to so many times that I at one time went insane.”

Shadow chuckled kindly. “Have I ever lied to you? Short of my losing this ship, or my life, you’ll be human soon enough.”

“Thank you for keeping your promise. How will you fly the Mercy without me in control of it?” Roxy said.

“You’ll still be working as a computer tech, dear, only you’ll be working from the outside. Of course at that time you won’t remember any of this conversation, and you’ll probably be griping about the idiocy of the AI program that normally runs this ship when you’re not here.”

Xeti sat down next to Shadow, who had settled onto the medical cot. “All cleaned up. I’ll install the pulse cannon this afternoon, if you’d like.”

“That sounds great. I generally don’t like to make such adaptations in space, though. Let me guess, you can hold your breath a long time.”

“Something like that.” Xeti chuckled. “Most people wouldn’t mess with the coolant system without a dry dock either. You’ve got me aboard, you might as well take advantage of it.”

Later that afternoon, Xeti was working the internal circuitry for the cannon, with complete disregard for standard safety precautions. Thousands of volts at dozens of amps had no effect on his body. Didi had to consider the fluid way in which he worked with the systems, wondering how he put up with all the electrical surges. A bright red rope warned everybody that he was doing hazardous work, and to stay far away.

“Jesus man, doesn’t that hurt in the slightest?” Ferret asked, when nobody else would.

“It tickles, actually. Just don’t touch me while I’m working, or you’ll die.” Xeti said, giggling as visible surge of electricity jumped up his spine and danced like fire as it moved across the top of his head.

Didi took an involuntary step back. “How does the thing work?” Didi asked of the pulsed cannon, studying the schematics from a computer terminal in the cargo bay, confused by all of the technical symbols.

“It draws on and stores huge amounts of energy from the crystal drive array. The cannon then converts that energy to a magnetic pulse of plasma. It’s a short range defensive weapon, but one hit is usually enough to cripple another ship.” Xeti pulled a hatch, studying the diagrams closely. “The reserve batteries aren’t standard. They hold ten times what most civilian batteries would hold. They’re actually a little better than most military designs.”

“I only buy the best. We’ll need every scrap of extra battery power to get out of any of the messes the Mercy typically finds herself in.” Shadow said, having been watching them from the crew entry door. “You look pretty familiar with this weapon.”

“It was one of my favorite to work on when I was a battle tech. Clean, durable, few parts to break, all of them easy to repair or replace, and no mass rounds to take up space. I even got to work on destroyer class cannons of the same design for about six months early in my career with the Grid Defense Corps. Used to love hearing those things go off.”

“No shit.” Shadow giggled. “One of those pulse cannons is big enough for a man to walk into. Ever have any accidents?”

Xeti looked slyly at Shadow. “Somebody tried to make an accident of me. Imagine their shock when I walked out unharmed.”

“Finish up then, and let me know if you need any help.” Shadow paused for a moment. “Expect trouble at Vodia. I’m wanted on that planet, but we’re going there on a matter of great urgency. Roxy deciphered some recent transmissions, and have determined that a representative from Fog World is already on the surface, in negotiations with the Vodian leaders. We’re going to try to find out why Vodia has asked for their help, even if I get in trouble with the locals.”

“It’s always good to be wanted, right?” Didi said, with only half the humor she intended.

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