I took a chair opposite Zyair and concentrated on feeding her fingerfuls of it, three crumbs at a time.
“Not too much, or you’ll be the one cleaning up after her,” Yani warned.
Zyair had the navcube on the table before him, and was twirling it between his strong fingers as Rhodes and Xandros sat down.
Xandros’s brows rose as he watched the hedgegopher. “She likes to eat that earthnut spread. What are those?”
“Snickerdoodles,” I told him.
“While I am excited the hedgegopher enjoys foods of dubious nutritive value, we have more important things to discuss,” Rhodes grumped in Drakonian.
Yani’s mouth straightened and delivered the death blow. “The power core has been fried.”
Silence greeted her statement, and then Xandros offered a sighed, “Shaftz”.
My heart sank. The power core provided the energy to the ship and functioned as its heart. Without it, nothing would operate properly.
We were well and truly screwed.
Zyair straightened. “If we find another core, what else demands reconstruction?”
Yani stared at him. “We are in the middle of a swamp on a Nirzk occupied world. Where are you going to find another core?”
His eyes flared emerald. “You would rather age out here?”
“No, of course not.”
“We will find a core. What else?”
Yani’s mouth opened, and closed again, before she said, “We received a helluva energy surge through all our systems—some of it will require rewiring. The repulsorlifts’ new relays should make them functional now. The starboard engine requires extensive work, but I have the parts. The port engine overheated due to some spectacular demands made on it,” she shot Zyair a significant look, “but I will be able to replace the melted wires and warped blades to get it running. We keep many of those things in storage. But the outer hull of the starboard bay is compromised and requires that metal be welded overtop of the rift—I don’t have sufficient plate metal for that. And the shield actuator has been destroyed, so we need a new one.”
It was an impressive list of woes. TheStardrifterwas my home, and I felt each bit of damage as if they were dents in my own skin. I didn’t see how we were going to ever get her flying again.
Rhodes fixed me with a non-mesmerizing but riveting garnet eye, and then asked, “Do you speak Primal?”
Primal was the universal language most often used by traders and those shipping supplies across the cosmos. “Yes,” I said in that language. “I do.”
The dark Drake looked relieved, as he switched to Primal. “There is an abandoned settlement about three miles from here,” he stated. “Saw it while I was clearing up the debris trail. We might be able to acquire enough sheet metal to patch the bay, even if it is just temporary.” He looked to Zyair. “It all is achievable, except the core.”
I don’t know that I would have listed any of it as ‘achievable’, but the core was definitely the biggest issue.
Kurt sat up straighter, and said in English. He knew Primal, which meant he was likely just being a dick. “It’s you guys the Nirzks want, not us. Maybe we should split up.” He looked to me, as if he expected me to jump on board with him.
Before I could comment, Zyair replied, sticking to Primal, “The Nirzks will not leave you alone even if they acquire us.”
“Why not?” Kurt insisted. “We’re no threat to them. You guys obviously have a history.”
“We do,” Zyair agreed. “However, the Nirzks are slavers. They will not pass up an opportunity,” his gaze raked over Kurt, “no matter how insignificant.”
Kurt’s face turned almost purple as he glowered at the Drake, while I moved on to a more commonsense approach. “Where are we going to get another core?” I asked.
Zyair activated the navcube. Without the ship’s sensors, all it could do was offer a static map of the area, but it was able to pinpoint where we were as a bright green dot. I surveyed the map with interest—it clearly showed an old settlement where Rhodes had said it was.
“Maybe there’s an unused power core left behind?” Kurt sounded hopeful.
“It is highly unlikely that something so valuable would be left behind,” Rhodes stated. His voice might be calm, but the look he shot Kurt was scathing. “That settlement is rotting—it has beenabandoned for years. You might be able to salvage metal sheeting. That would be all.”
Kurt simply glared at him, but this time he commented in Primal. “Then where are you planning to get a core?”
