Chapter 16: Menace
Fracture gets Sefina and Sythius to work, repairing the BoltBurner’s guns. It’s a bad idea to attempt to steal from an outpost without some form of armament.
I hike down the ramp with my rifle ready, scanning the forest around us. We won’t get far if we don’t have defensive capabilities.
I circle the edge of the meadow and check the local area for shimmering welvir shadows and pulsing humanoid forms. When I’ve looped the ship and confirmed the land is clear, I climb onto the tallest boulder and use it to launch me up to the nearest aileron of the ship, then crawl my way to the top so I can give the skies a proper scan.
Sefina and Fracture open a panel in the side of the ship and haul out a rotating assembly for large caliber rounds like missiles. She shakes her head, and it makes me wonder what they’re saying. I tune my hearing to them and isolate the other noises of the forest for a moment.
“No surprise, they removed the internal guide bracket. It’s made of a special metal that gets a lot of money on the black market. Replaced it with a bulky spine hinge.” Sefina reaches inside and pries the piece out. “It’s worn out because the metal’s too soft. Damn junkers. I think I saw replacements in one of the crates in the hallway.”
“Going to need one over here, too!” Sythius calls out from the other side of the ship.
“Well, if you two can fix those, I’ll get working on the pulseguns.” Fracture climbs up onto the roof with me. “Anything?”
I do a quick scan to confirm. “No one has followed us that I can sense.”
Fracture nods. “This repair will take six minutes. We cannot fly when this hatch is open.”
“Understood.” I patrol the roof and check the forest while Fracture opens up and repairs whatever wiring is busted inside.
Sefina returns with a part, climbs onto the lower aileron, and reaches inside the assembly, bolting in the replacement. “We’re going to have to keep changing these every two thousand rounds or so.”
“Copy,” Fracture replies.
I find myself stuck, watching Sefina as she works. She is beautiful in the sunlight. The taste of her lingers on my tongue. She has a surprisingly delicate flavor that I’m already addicted to, and I want more.
She stills, then slowly leans around the open panel, peeking up at me with one eye. Sefina blushes, smiles, and goes back to work.
She seems happier.I did something good for once.
Fracture closes the hatch.
Fracture>>Menace: Almost done. The rest is under the ship. Ground patrol?
Menace>>Fracture: Copy.
He slides off the aft section toward the tail thrusters. I jump over the wings to the ground near the nose. Fracture speaks with Sythius as they work through a gun in the belly. Sefina walks up the ramp, so I slink into the edge of the trees and circle the ship somewhere I feel more comfortable.
Many days, I miss being out among nature on a planet. I know many of my Relic brothers prefer it, too. Rogues like Fracture are more comfortable in the sky and in space.
I run my fingers over a nearby fern as I pass. They built me to be an animal, to defend terran battlefields. Two years in Hyperion’s sorting plant was almost more difficult than six months in Quris’ lab.
Brush rustles behind me.
I whip around to see the bushes shift. But when I scan the area, leading with my rifle, I can’t see any shimmer of life.
What the heck?
I sniff the air, but my nose is still filled with the lush musk of Sefina’s delicate flesh. I ease silently toward the movement, stepping around the bush. But there’s nothing anywhere I can see in the vicinity.
When I turn around, I find Sefina grinning darkly at me. She’s a surprisingly sneaky thing.
Sefina walks up to me, rests a finger on my lips, and leans against me, pushing.
I stagger back a step and bump into a tree. “What is it, Sefi?”
“Hush.” She waggles her dark brows. “We’ve only got a few minutes.”
