Layla Nash - Mrax

R owan frowned at the tangle of wires, transformers, and various bits and bobs that made up the propulsion system on the Galaxos. Theyd been docked at a rebel base for what felt like foreverreally only a few weekswaiting for information on whether another ship would be prosecuted for piracy and treason against the rebellion. Which normally she would have been fine with, since it gave her plenty of time to improve the Galaxoss antiquated technology.

But after seeing the different ships arrive and depart from the base, she grew more antsy about just finding a new ship. She liked fixing things and improving them, but at a certain point they just needed to upgrade the whole ship. If she couldnt get the propulsion system to give them more juice, the Galaxos wouldnt be able to outrun the Alliance Fleet ships that were literally light-years ahead of them in design and technology.

She ignored the Xaravian warrior pacing around the engineering bay floor while she clambered higher to examine the centrifuge attached to the propulsion system. Shed seen images of that kind of system in some of one of the old engineering textbooks at the Fleet library, but never in real life until she boarded the Xaravian ship. Rowan frowned at some of the frayed connections and a quantum bridge that didnt look right.

Adhz, the communications officer and the Xaravian whod drawn the short straw to keep an eye on her as she worked, folded his arms over his chest and craned his neck to watch her. Do you really have to be all the way up there? Kolzz should be back and can

Cant fix it from down there, Rowan said. The last time shed been jolted a bit by the internal workings of the Galaxos, Isla freaked out and convinced her mate or husband or whatever, the captain, to leave a babysitter with Rowan whenever she was working. Which wasnt a problem when the Xaravian sat back and took a nap. But Adhz took his job seriously and was more nervous than a mother duck when a crocodile surfaced.

Rowan peered down at him. You can go get lunch, you know. Ill be fine.

Im not going to leave, he muttered. You Earthers are crazy. Whatever youre going to do up there, you should wait for Frrar. Hes familiar with how the engines work, and

Rowan adjusted the ropes on her harness and pushed off the side of the main stack of the propulsion system to swing around to an adjacent structure where some of the bridges terminated. Imagine having to use a harness system to work on something as high tech as the propulsion system. In the Fleet they had hover packs and floating lifts and all kinds of things that enabled easy maintenance and upgrades. The Xaravian ship was downright barbaric.

She scratched her nose and ignored the Xaravians mumbled curses about dealing with crazy females, and instead removed a few panels from the setup. The whole thing looked like one of the baling wire and duct tape monstrosities she and her brothers rigged up on the farm to keep the tractor working and the dishwasher washing and the truck driving.

Itll work just fine, Adhz. And the ship will be able to reach at least two more drive states. Just see.

Its too dangerous. He picked up a comms handset and shook his head. Ill tell them to cut power and then we can

Its not that dangerous, she said. And if theres no power, I cant see what isnt working. Besides, I thought you Xaravians had a well-honed sense of prudent risk.

Prudent must mean something different to Earthers than it does to us, he said.

Rowan laughed and hauled herself up to the top of the power cell so she could see where the quantum bridges linked in. A buzz of static was the only warning as power discharged and a bright flash filled her vision.

She vaguely felt herself flying, launched backward into the wall, as the harness ropes snapped and burned at the same time. Her head slammed into something hard and everything went dark.

M rax pondered some of the medical equipment the pirates liberated from an Alliance hospital and passed on to the Galaxos under threat of arrest. He was supposed to sort through it to find the most useful technology to replicate and deploy onto other rebel ships. The only problem being, of course, that pirates had stolen the tech and thus didnt know what the hell theyd taken and what important pieces theyd left behind. Like power packs and basic information panels.

He muttered under his breath as he untangled a jumble of regeneration scanners from what was obviously a treatment system for deep space sickness. Completely unrelated, and yet the pirates dumped it in a crate to transport and left it at that.

Mrax had just begun to catalogue the first of the regeneration scanners, which looked like an interesting version of the standard pack with specialty settings for invertebrate species, when the sick bay doors flew open and Adhz ran in, carrying a limp bundle that looked like one of the Earthers.

Except it was blackened and smelled like burnt metal.

Adhzs scales paled to colorless as he dropped the body on one of the medical tables. The engineer got shocked or something. Fix her.

Mrax switched into doctor mode and gathered his equipment to stand over the limp body. Hed watched the Earthers with a touch of admiration and a gallon of disbelief. They took unbelievable risks in their incredibly fragile bodies but didnt seem to recognize their vulnerabilities. They just plowed ahead and did things.

At least Xaravians understood their limitations before taking suicidal risks. The Earthers were generally surprised to learn they couldnt do something.

And the engineer was the worst out of all of them.

Mrax placed the life support package on her and hooked up the rest of the systems as Adhz paced nervously near the door. He had good reason to worry, toothe captains mate was a fierce little Earther who guarded her friends and crewmates closely. It was at Islas demand that Vaant started assigning the Xaravian crew to keep an eye on the Earther females during port calls and on the engineer whenever she was working. The fierce Xaravian captain did anything and everything his mate demanded, much to Mraxs amusement. And since the Earther engineer seemed incapable of walking anywhere without breaking or trying to improve something, she always had a chaperone. They would have to find a different solution once the Galaxos got underway, as the crew would have actual work to do and would no longer have the time to monitor the Earthers activities.

Mrax cut away the Earthers uniform so he could see the extent of the burns. It looked as though something covered her with a flammable gel. What happened?

Adhzs scales flared orange and yellow with worry and a little irritation. She was climbing all over everything and ended up poking her nose into one of the centrifuges, I think, even after I told her not to. Frrar could explain it, maybe Kolzz. There was a flash and then she flew across the room and smacked her head into the wall. Dropped like a dead haugmawt and stopped breathing.

Mrax grunted and locked a pressure sensor around Rowans head to verify her skull and brain functioned properly. He wished he could have gotten through the equipment the pirates brought over to see if anything in the pile would have helped. I thought Vaants mate talked to her about this.