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It looked like some kind of mechanical spider with numerous arms sprouting from the ceiling overhead, each tipped with a needle-fine point that actually went smaller than the naked eye could see. A smooth flat platform of glass lay on the floor below, on top of which metals could be formed either as foils or thicker slabs. We needed foils, which would be faster to make.
“Good eye, Zo-Fee,” Tark said. “This is indeed an atomic 3D printer.”
“That’s my cue. I’ll go and get the display language changed over.” Kirel strode off.
“Also check if these two machines are networked,” I called after him. “I need some way to send the results of the x-ray to the printer.”
“Got it!”
Lila chose that moment to run over. Vree tried to keep pace behind her, but his robot cleaner body wasn’t as fast as his mirol pup form, and he fell behind. Glitter buzzed over him, picking him up, so he zipped across the room only a foot off the floor.
“Whee!” he called out.
“Stop it, all of you!” Raxnor snapped.
“Big grump!”Lila said, veering away from him.
“He’s got a point,”I sent back.“We’re here for serious reasons, not play.”
Cat grumbles brushed my mind, but Lila went back to inspecting the edges of the room, paying close attention to the doors. The other pets followed her, also suitably chastened.
“Thank you, niña.”
“Frek!” Sul muttered from over by the door we’d come in through. A red splash of light flashed as he stunned the stirring Tula. “Frekkers sure shake off blaster stuns quickly.”
Tark and Kirel finished with the 3D printer and rejoined us. Raxnor shifted restlessly by my side, his hands going to his blasters over and over again.
I stared at the diffractometer’s screen, begging the program to finish.
Mierda! Hurry up, will you!
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Raxnor
Joy radiated from my soul’s breath as she studied how to run the special equipment. She hummed under her breath, her fingers moving quickly over the control screen, and a smile filled her voice as she announced she’d figured it out.
Yet as much as I enjoyed seeing Zo-Fee in her element, all of this was taking far too long.
The Tula waking up and Sul needing to stun him again acted like a ticking clock, cranking my nerves tighter with every strike.
The rambunctious animals didn’t help. Irritation tightened my shoulders and ground my teeth together.I knew it was a mistake bringing them. I should have insisted they stay behind.
That wasn’t completely true. Vree’s ability to scout disguised as a cleaning bot was invaluable—no onepaid attention to cleaning bots. And Glitter? Frek, Glitter could potentially save all our assess if need be. Which left only Lila as the mistake, one I’d made because I’d been unwilling to tell my mate no.
“Yes, I freaking knew it!” Zo-Fee’s jubilant voice rang through my helmet as she punching a fist up into the air.
Tark and Kirel trotted over, but I exchanged a glance with Sul, and he tipped his chin, agreeing to keep guarding the main door. There was another door set into the back of the room, but the schematics had shown it connected to storage, so this was the key entrance to watch.
Zo-Fee leaned over the machine’s display, her fingers manipulating a complex picture made up of lots of color balls connected by white sticks.
“Whatisthat?” Kirel asked.
“It’s zurilium’s 3-D crystal structure. The base alloy is a mixture of iron, titanium, and nickel, all of which are really common metals. It’s these inclusions of cobalt that make it special.” She pointed out small areas on screen, balls the program painted a bright blue. “They’re interspersed throughout the crystal structure in a way that must affect electron flow.”
“How does it interfere with telepathy?” Tark asked.
“Hell if I know.” She shrugged.
