Chapter 5 - Objects in Motion
Medlab - Aboard the Excalibur December 23, 2269
As soon as Galen left for the Doctor's office, Fed sagged on the examination table. He would have loved to do as Galen ordered. Rest and catch up on the latest season of Rebo and Zooty. Instead nervous restlessness took over as he tossed from his left side, to his right. Finally, he rolled onto his back to stare blankly at the ceiling. Galen was going to Mars. Soon. Fuck.
"I have to stop him," he whispered to himself.
Bouncing out of bed like a compressed spring, Fed grabbed his black glove and pulled it over his stump. Closing his eyes to concentrate, he exhaled over the glove and imposed on his tech the platforms moving in unison. The glove inflated as if a balloon animal occupied it. A quick test- he tapped the gloved thumb against each non-existent finger. It still gave him a thrill that he could pull it off and keep it running like humming a melody while going about your life. Two hands made it far easier to finish zipping and buttoning up.
Before he could go, two things needed doing. Show his gratitude to the Doctor. Wipe everything she collected on him.
Silent as a ghost he floated to the entrance of the Doctor's office, and found her hunched over her computer, happily concentrating, with a finger tracing the tech lines on a scan of what he assumed to be himself. A perfect moment for a scientist that he didn't want to take from her. But the Order's secrets must be preserved. Loudly clapping his hands together once, he startled Dr. Chambers out of her happy studies.
"Hi!" Fed said.
"You had 3rd degree burns. You really ought to be lying down still." The scold like a sick child caught out of bed warmed Fed's heart. She cared, obviously not romantically, unfortunately, but the concept of him- him as a human who deserved to be well and whole. People like her were too rare in this universe. She deserved a gold star.
"Thanks to you, I'm fit as that proverbial fiddle. A phrase I've never understood by the way. Anyway, I'm bored. I think I'll take a tour of this impressive ship." Walking up to her screen, he ran his gloved index finger along the top edge of the screen. His erasure daemons associated easily into her local host. "Sorry about this."
Doctor Chambers mouth hung open. She pointed at his gloved hand as she said, "You don't have a left hand, how are you doing that?"
"Why magic of course," he replied. Some women hated to be touched, particularly by strangers. Some didn't mind, if done within the societal framework of appropriate behavior. Considering how comfortably she administered to even the most delicate parts of him a few minutes ago, he read her as the second. Selfishly he couldn't resist taking her raised hand into his gloved one to squeeze it gently. Technically I'm not touching her. I'm just being a show off.
On her computer screen a few dramatic runes made a show of eating her files like sharks in a feeding frenzy. The real work happened silently without drama on the hard drive and logic board. Her terminal died, all her files rewritten to unretrievable. He had returned her careful care by making her day worse. She deserved a small consolation.
With a roll, he turned her palm up, and placed a small brown box in it. "I was once assured by another healer I knew well that these are every woman's weakness."
Fed left Medlab with plans forming in his mind. Time to do something hard.
#
He could not be more different from Galen, Dr Chambers thought watching Fed leave Medlab. The aloof wizard, versus this flirty Pirate King. Personally, neither appealed to her but as a doctor, her curiosity engaged fully. The detailed scans she took of this Fed matched what she remembered of those when she treated Galen. They were more than human- cyborgs. Days ago, after Galen and the Captain had it out on the flight deck, the gossip had made it to her from Max and Dureena. They called it shadow tech. She wished she could study it more. Much more. And their behavior- as abnormal as their bodies. Maybe technomages only attracted extreme personalities or being a technomage drove the person to an extreme personality. Something to pursue after her current mission concluded.
She tapped her computer. Still deader than dead. Dr. Chambers called the bridge.
"Gideon here, what is it Doctor?"
"I thought you should know. Our second resident technomage just left Medlab on a self guided tour. Also, I need someone from support to come and fix my system. It's not responding."
Sarah could hear the frustration in Gideon's voice. "Great."
Sarah heard in the background Lt Matheson ask, "Shall I alert security?"
The Captain's answered quickly, "There's no point. They won't be able to track him. Lock down navigation, propulsion, environmental and weapon systems. After that well of forever fiasco we're not taking any chances. Thank you doctor." The connection severed.
Staring at the box in front of her, she wondered what sort of gift a technomage would consider appropriate for this situation. Perhaps she should have reported it or maybe just thrown it in the nearest incinerator. Sarah rotated the box in her hand thinking. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her, she peeked. The finely made brown box had three small delicate chocolate truffles. Carefully, she smelled it. Heavenly didn't begin to describe the scent. She popped one in her mouth.
Real chocolate, and the good stuff. A smile spread across her face and the sound of, Mhmhmh, filled Medlab.
Excalibur Docking Bay
The docking bay hummed with activity as Galen entered. Walking rapidly, he called out, to associate with Fed's ship. The ship responded instantly to Galen.
/Request acknowledged. Full level 7 access granted to Galen./
/Open. Security setting minimum./
While Galen typically kept his central cabin dark, Fed's ship lit up like a bright summer day. Galen had to squint slightly. As opposed to the usual flat metallic gray, the metal walls of Fed's ship were painted. Red the favored palette- from a deep blood around the control console, to orangish crimson of Proxima's sun on the ceiling, to a light pink around the frames to his bedroom wing. Schematics of alien ships, pictures- natural landscapes, half sketched designs, hung about haphazardly. Piles of crates and boxes littered the floor space between pieces of old furniture. On some box tops glowed one rune, Fed's personal rune- Fun. As Galen stood there dumbstruck by the clutter, deciding how to proceed, a message popped from Fed.
/I see you didn't waste anytime./
/Really Fed, how can you live like this?/
/Easily, you should try it sometime./
Careful not to step on anything, Galen worked his way to the bridge of the ship. Occasionally, he paused to peek into one of the many crates stacked about. Amused, he messaged Fed.
/Quite a party you are planning, fresh fruit, a case of Grand Marnier, and more high grade EarthForce ammunition and explosives then I would ever dare to carry./
/Ya I went crazy shopping. Try not to move too many things around. I have everything arranged perfectly./
By the main control console of the bridge area, an odd pocket of order with one waist-high black metallic crate in the center. The top glowed with a rune, one that Galen instantly recognized, Herazade's personal rune- progress. Below it, in glowing script, the initials C.R.E.W. Galen scanned the box and felt it humming with restrained energy. Frowning, Galen called for an immediate answer..
/What is the CREW? And why is it inside a Faraday cage?/
Fed's answer was swift.
/You don't want to open that. It's our newest beta model and I haven't finished testing it yet. Please leave it alone./
/That hardly tells me what it is./
/Clever and Relatively Effective Weapon. Let's just say in a target rich environment where you don't mind being messy, it should do the trick./
Disturbed yet intrigued, Galen stood there trying to decide whether he should obey. Herazade always acted like she could make good on her threats to flay him should he disobey enough. Her threats rolled off him like water off an umbrella. Yet, this CREW, one of her secret toys, might be worth study to see how capable it would be against an opponent, particularly himself. The outlines of the thing clear from his scan, it looked small enough that one of his spheres could dispatch it easily. Perhaps next time he saw Herazade he would advise her again about how to come after him. One of the rare pleasures he allowed himself was to bask in the glow of her usual reaction to him- impotent rage. So predictable and reassuring. As he mused, an eager message arrived from Fed.
/How about I help you?/
Since Fed asked nicely, he decided against opening the black crate and reluctantly made his case to Fed, knowing it will touch off an argument.
/It is I who am trying to help you not throw your life away./
/Why are you so convinced it is a trap?/
/I told you about the Vorlon I encountered. Ulkesh called me an abomination after he scanned me and he didn't mean it in the endearing kind of way. What I did not tell the Circle, and now I think I should have, was his last words to me were, When it suits us, you will all die./
Fed's answer was swift and outraged. /You think you should have told us? I think the answer is yes./
Galen wanted to throw at him, And how much have you not told me?
Instead he sent, /The Vorlons left with the Shadows after the war. I thought it no longer mattered./
After a minute Fed's challenging answer arrived.
/You're wrong. I was there, on the surface. If there were Vorlons lurking about, they could have grabbed me up. I know the location of the hiding place, relative to Galactic center, to the centimeter. They could have used their telepathic-mojo to rip it out of my skull and taken us all out by now./
Fed had a point. Yet… /The Vorlon homeworld seems to have tried to kill you./ There was a purpose to this trap on Vorlon, Galen just couldn't see it, yet.
/But it didn't. Everything we encountered was an automated system. I've played enough games against computer opponents. There was no guiding sentience behind any of it. Every time I got hurt it was either my carelessness. Gwynn hasn't even gotten a scratch./
This back and forth was pointless. Being too close emotionally to the situation, meant Fed likely didn't want to consider the sad truth. To convince him, Galen needed irrefutable proof. For that he must learn more, much more.
Slowly, Galen composed a carefully worded response. /The Vorlons were a great mystery and difficult to predict at the best of times. Your impressions of Rhea cannot, by definition, be impartial. The truth is I have no real clue about what they might have done to her, but you must be prepared for the worst possibility. I want to review everything in your sensor log files from Vorlon, and did you record any of your interactions with Rhea? If you did, I must see them. After I have a chance of absorbing all that, I will speak with her myself./
Dispatching the message, Galen entered the bridge area of the ship while waiting for a response. The seamless black control surface and screens looked identical to his ships except every underlying access panel was removed, to show the inner workings. Flexible metal conduits ran off from the innards of the bridge controls in several directions. Following the largest one led Galen to the first of the three small bedrooms. When he opened the door, a wall of humming machinery greeted him.
Interesting, and what might this be? The complexity hid its purpose from Galen.
So many minutes passed that Galen worried Fed wouldn't answer. Never before had he seen Fed react with anger when confronted, until today. He had always been the sort to absorb corrections and insults, turning them into jokes or willfully taking them as compliments. At least in this one way, he had changed. No doubt, his circumstances caught up with him. Being on the Circle for years could not be conducive to the easy going lifestyle Fed had always aspired to when they were apprentices. Galen prodded him.
/Fed, are you going to answer me?/
A curt, petulant, answer arrived immediately. /Thinking. Some of us aren't as giant-brained as you./
After several more minutes Fed sent his answer.
/The scans of Vorlon are in my ship's central storage. And, yes I recorded my conversations with her, but they are in my special private logs./
There was another protracted pause. Considering how eager he acted Galen guessed that Fed would eventually grant his request but perhaps this would go faster for him if he used the magic word.
/May I see them, please?/
/I don't mind you viewing them. But they might upset your delicate sensibilities. There is a lot of racy stuff in there. If I give you access, I can't limit it. You'll learn things about me you might not want to know./
Letting out a disbelieving grunt, Galen laughed at the thought that any of Fed's escapades would shock him.
/Is it worse then anything I saw on Z'ha'dum?/
/No. Nothing can be worse than that./
Those logs must contain embarrassing or sexual matters. Galen sent a reassuring message.
/I promise to tread lightly, keep any and all secrets that I might inadvertently learn, not make copies for my private enjoyment or distribute it for public amusement. Is there anything I am missing?/
/Haha. Okay. You'll find them on an isolated system in my room, the second bedroom, under my pillow. You'll have to enter the password: Exegi Monumentum Aere Perennius. Oh and look out for my spider. When it leaps for your head just say, Down Po firmly./
Spider? /And if I don't?/
/I doubt it would be able to kill you./
Observation Lounge 1 Aboard the Excalibur
The door opened onto the small observation room located at the top most point of the Excalibur. In the middle of the room, Fed uncloaked himself. With a flick of his hand he locked the door mechanism behind him and studied the small room. With only one small light above the door, darkness and shadows filled it. A bench recessed into the left wall didn't block the view. The length of the ship as it traveled through hyperspace made for a majestic sight. In wonder, Fed relished it all. The giddiness of running around doing stuff almost overwhelmed. He'd been cooped up too long.
That bench looked like the perfect place for a thorough snog. Wistfully, he wondered how many lonely members of the crew shared intimate moments here. With a sigh, he wished he had such fun but he hardly did anymore. Optima's warning when she broke up with him after he joined the Circle had been too prophetic- We live in a small tank Fed, and women talk. Watch your burn rate or you're gonna run out of fuel. The Order sisters talked alright. He had hoped it'd be all about what great company he was. He got his wish. Plenty of fuel for all his fires. At first a roaring blaze. Now, not even a smoulder. What hadn't occurred to him was that there would be more. Jealousies. Vindictiveness from those who wanted more than what he wanted to give. A surprisingly large number of fireballs thrown his way. But the worst. The cruel whispered warnings- the kindest of which said stay away, all he wanted was notches for his belt.
It never occurred to most of them that his motivation was very simple- he never could stand being alone, especially at night. The sex, while always welcomed and, who was he kidding encouraged, was still totally optional. A few figured this out. Gwynn right away after their one failed hookup. Aky once she decided Kane wasn't enough for her. Optima after she dumped him. With Gwynn and Aky gone on missions the last few years, he'd had too many nights of forced alone time. Lots of time to do little else but drink and think. Ugh, it was horrible. At least he figured all this out.
After over ten years of bouncing around, he hadn't used the l-word since her. He learned his lesson, love made you a sucker. He certainly liked everyone he rolled around with, tried to treat them great and better off for having been with him. But for sure he thought he had evolved beyond love. Then she popped back up. Fuck.
He finally let the picture of Rhea form in his mind. Her old enigmatic smiling self, not whatever she'd become. His heart leaped into his throat. Like a dormant virus, he was sick in love with her again. Fuck. When he tried to talk to her about all these swirling feelings both years ago and most recently she shut him down both times. The first time she had broken him. And now she's back from Hades, broken herself. What he'd do about this, he had no clue.
Which wasn't true, he corrected himself. He knew what he wanted. To get her. To fix her. Because he felt that again. What he felt the first time with her. That feeling that no amount of sex, drinking, or partying gave him. The feeling when he basked in her glow. A feeling that persisted, even when they weren't in eachothers arms. The feeling that screamed everything was five by five. Love was the best drug, drink, and party.
But according to Galen there was no reason to hope good would come of this. Galen's smart, and right a lot. Please let him be wrong this time, he asked the universe.
Oh well. Time to core dump. With ease, he brushed off his thoughts and kicked them to the curb. A plan needed to be pulled together and implemented.
A scan sweep of the room showed him Galen had a probe here. Fed slipped into the probe undetected, avoiding Galen's protection wards, the basic ones they all learned as initiates. At least in one way Galen hadn't kept up. And of course Galen had a network all over the ship. Only one interested Fed. The one in the captain's quarters. Fed called up his stealthiest daemon.
/Hey Ali, I got a job for you./ The rogue infiltrator daemon understood and sprang to action, smoothly penetrating Galen's network to accomplish his master's will.
Satisfied with his work, he walked up to the window and placed his forehead against it feeling the cold of space radiate through. It'd be helpful to get advice. It couldn't be the Order's dark prince, Galen, for the obvious reason or anyone else of the Circle, too many agendas there. Time to call his consigliere.
Closing his eyes to cast the electron incantation, he created a mental image of this room and projected his self image into it. Then he cast outward along a vector in the direction of the Vorlon homeworld seeking the tell-tale signature of his target.
After many minutes of searching, he found her. The sleeping form of a woman appeared on the floor in front of him.
Standing above her, Fed gently said, "Gwynn?"
No response.
"Gwwyynnnn," he said louder.
Finally, he gave up and yelled in her ear, "Hey wake up!"
Slowly she stirred, her eyes fluttering open. Frowning and climbing to her feet, her dark blue eyes tiredly focused on him. Trying to fully rouse herself, she ran her hand over her perfectly round, bald head.
Grumpily, she said, "Did you find him?"
Fed laughed and pointed at her. "That's pretty funny Gwynn. I never figured you the purple silk pajamas type."
Crossing her arms, she doled out a self-assured response, "They're lavender, And you're right, it's more your color. Did you find him?"
Fed's smile grew bigger. Her cheekiness was why he'd never been able to get enough of Gwynn's company.
"Ya, he's on the Excalibur, at the ass end of nowhere. Apparently, they've already found a cure, and are barreling toward Earth at top speed."
Gwynn's eyes lit up and her frown disappeared. "Already? That's good right?"
Fed rolled his eyes. "Of course."
Gwynn asked anxiously, "Did you find my cache?"
Serious now, Fed answered, "The suit and tools were exactly where you said they would be, but there's a bit of a problem, I still need to convince Galen to come with me."
"If they have the cure, why wouldn't he come with you?" Gwynn asked.
"He insists on hand delivering it himself, then he's going all cloak and dagger to Mars with Gideon."
"He's right to make sure the cure is delivered. Ten billion people are more important than this. But why Mars?"
"You won't fricking believe this. He's going to look into EarthForce Special Weapons for Gideon."
Her mouth fell open and she quickly said, "Does he know about Sid and Aky?"
"No. As an added bonus Tzak and Verg are also there to oversee the final phase."
Letting out a hard breath, Gwynn said, "Tzak's going to try to put a slug between Galen's eyes. Tell the Circle. They'll have to keep Galen off Mars for a while."
Decisively Fed stated, "No. There's no time. We arrive in three days. I'm it. He already knows about the base and suspects more. I have to figure out a way to keep Galen from stumbling into that pit of snakes."
Vibrating with nervous energy, Gwynn asked, "What are you going to do?"
Fed stared at the fake view out of the fake room, looking over the fake hyperspace. His plan was weak, he knew that. Maybe Gwynn could help. Probably not. Still it always helped to bounce ideas off her. If only to shore up his nerve. She was his rock. Always spoke up for him, kept every secret he told her and covered his back. Most importantly she stood up to him and challenged him.
"I think I might have a plan that can fix both problems. I have the run of the ship and I've got Galen distracted, I think."
Instantly, Gwynn unleashed a torrent, "Tell me you're not thinking of manipulating Galen because our dark brooding prince is going to turn you into his personal asshat."
That made Fed laugh. Ya, it always helped to talk to her. "Not Galen, it's his Captain I'm aiming at." Fed affected an elderly man's Italian accent, "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
Putting her hands on her hips, Gwynn nodded no aggressively. "It was nice knowing you Fed."
"Have you got a better idea? I'd love to hear it. I could shanghai the ship, their safeguards are pathetic, but not now with them carrying the cure."
Dropping her arms, Gwynn paused lost in thought and came up with, "Drug induced coma? Keep him out for a few weeks. Galen always looks like he could use a forced vacation."
Fed dismissively said, "Ya that'd work in the short run, but then neither of us would get to Vorlon, because once he woke up I'd have to flee the galaxy with him hot on my heels. Any other bright ideas?"
Gingerly she suggested, "In a pinch, the truth might do."
Throwing up his hands in frustration, he said, "You have no idea how tempted I was to tell him! But I don't dare. He's always kept me at arm's length. I can't predict how he'll react. Anything else?"
They both stood there staring at each other. It made Fed feel stupider than usual.
Gwynn admitted, "No, but my instincts say yours is a bad one. Galen's too observant and smart."
"If I play it right, Galen will never know. I'll need to talk Tzak into accepting Gideon, but that should be easy. As posturing as he is, I doubt he wants to have to deal with Galen snooping around."
She kept at him, "Do you think you can do this? I mean have you ever manipulated anyone seriously before?"
He didn't blurt out his answer, no, not beyond the sorts of silly games they played as apprentices. This would worry her. So he shrugged instead and said, "I was there and watched Elric out-maneuver the Shadows, and I've studied the Circles private files. I understand how to do it in theory. You have to really know your target and accurately guess how they will react."
"And you think you know Tzakizak?"
"When Hekuba and I were um … seeing each other, she painted quite a picture of Tzak for me."
Gwynn looked shocked. "Woah there caballero. You slept with Tzak's old apprentice just to get information about him. That's ugly."
Oh here we go, he thought. He tried to wave her off the false trail. "You know me better than that. I turned her down twice before um … she convinced me to give it a go."
He could see her latching on. Like him, Gwynn never could resist a juicy piece of gossip. It's probably a big part of why they got along famously. "She twisted your arm then?"
"She twisted something alright!" Fed whistled with a laugh. Gwynn frowned as if she just ate something rancid. That brought him some time, but if he didn't cut her off, they'd spend the next half an hour dissecting his mental health. "Don't worry it ended the way all my liaisons do, with me getting shown the door. Leave it alone. She volunteered all the information I need. Okay? He loves more than just guns. He's a huge fan of military men, if you know what I mean." His eyebrows danced up repeatedly.
"I'm going to pretend I don't."
Continuing, Fed gained verbal momentum, "Tzak's constantly badgering Hera to send more agents to Mars. At worst, he'll consider Gideon another stick he can throw on the pyre, most likely he'll be glad to have another gun around to ogle."
Challenging him, Gwynn asked, "What about Gideon? How are you going to study him?"
"I've already hacked all his records including his personal, private stuff. It was barely encrypted. Seriously, the IT staff on this ship should be whipped. They are the worst. Anyway, Gideon worked his way up the ranks. He's quite a bad-ass. You should read his commanding officer reviews. It's either a glowing recommendation or complete condemnation, either way, one theme- he's a big risk taker. I plan to isolate him, test him, push him to see how he reacts. Make sure he can play the game. If he passes, I'll make him an offer."
Gwynn raised a warning hand. "And if he doesn't pass?"
Fed had nothing. No backup, no safety net. All his eggs in this one basket.
Gwynn read his reaction and wrung her hands together. "Galen's mentioned Gideon to Fin and I. The way he spoke, I think they're friends. If this goes sideways, if you get him killed, you will make an enemy of Galen forever."
Never one to mince words, she told it like it was. He felt worse about his plan. This was the rub that made him hesitate. "Don't you think I know that. I have to take the chance. Galen can not learn about what we're doing on Mars. I've always appreciated your counsel Gwynn but I'm gonna have to put on my daddy pants and make this work no matter what."
With a bow of acquiescence, she said, "I have one piece of advice." Fed felt more hopeful as she continued, "If Gideon passes, tell Aky what's going on. You really don't want to just rely on Tzak's good graces to protect Gideon." That had not occurred to him.
"Good call. Anything else?" Fed nodded in agreement.
"Hera won't be happy with you."
Sarcastically Fed responded, "Good thing she's not here. I should go. Tell Rhea of the delay for me."
Calmly Gwynn probed, "Why don't you tell her yourself?"
There were some downsides about talking to Gwynn. Namely her supreme talent of latching on like a pitbull and not letting go until everything was torn open and laid bare before her. "Madre de Dios. For once, can't you do as I ask without question."
"Let me think," As if giving his words serious consideration, she placed a finger on her chin. "Nope. What is wrong with you? During the unmentionable night you bawled on my shoulder about how much you loved her. Now the Universe has dropped her in your lap and you act remote and cold. What the hell is going on with you?"
"We were so drunk I'm surprised you remember anything from that night."
"Stop evading!"
Staring at her silently, Fed considered telling her to fuck off, or booting her from the spell, or just being honest. He'd probably feel better if he spilled his guts. "I spoke to her alone, right after we interrogated her, I tried to tell her I still love her. I screwed it up. I let my mouth run on too much. She shut me down. She had Roland's sword and gripped it like some sort of talisman to ward me off. I think, you know, I don't rate."
Like a good technomage, Gwynn didn't do sympathy, preferring punchiness. Fed braced himself for her clear eyed blows. "She didn't act the way you wanted, so now you're going to punish her by ignoring her. What are you jealous of a dead man? I didn't even think you were capable of jealousy."
Ouch that hurt. Waving her off Fed explained, "No, it's not that. It's guilt, I think. Roland called me before he disappeared. He asked me to help him investigate. But like the idiot I am, I trusted Hera would be honest with me. So I stayed home perfecting my drinking skills. Now I wish to God I would have gone."
The cold yelly Gwynn melted away. Full of feeling, she gently said, "Thank everything holy that you stayed home. If you had gone, you'd have just been butchered like the rest of them. At least this explains why you were so careless when you were here."
Fed shook his head yes and added, "Now, the only nagging question eating at me is why they left her alive? I'm desperately hoping the Vorlons haven't turned her into some sort of Manchurian Candidate."
Gwynn demanded, "Stop using movie metaphors I have to look up. I never went to your film festivals."
"You know, she sees the Queen of Diamonds, then she snaps and tries to kill us."
"You mean a sleeper agent?"
"Exactly, what if we're going to have to ... I can't even say it."
The ice queen popped back up. Coldly Gwynn continued for him, "Kill her? Hera and I discussed that possibility. If it comes to that, I'll take care of it."
Her words made him him feel sick. "Just like that. You'd what? Borrow my knife and cut her throat?"
Fire flashed in both of Gwynn's eyes. "No, not just like that! She was like my real sister for years before you showed up ready to invade her gates. But if she's too far gone and we can't tranq her, I'll do what needs to be done."
Running his hand through his unruly hair, Fed said, "I'm sorry ... Galen is convinced already that it's a trap and now he has me worried."
"Of course we have to be on our guard, but I am not leaving until we crack this dome open."
At least they were on the same page. "How's the clearing going?"
Gwynn lifted both hands, wiggled all her fingers., "Still in one piece, unlike you." Her cheek bounced off Fed with no more than a silent promise to himself to get her back for that one. "I finished clearing a landing area next to the dome. Also finished the survey. The dome is spherical and even extends underground, so we can't dig under it. The junction between the moon and elevator is perfectly tight. We can't slip in that way either. I tried to drill into the surface of the moon and all I got for my efforts was a pile of broken drills bits and a burned out motor. It turns out only the top meter is made up of rock, the rest is even weirder than the dome. I swear there is some sort of time dilation going on there."
With a dismissive wave, Fed stopped her and declared defiantly, "We'll figure it out, we're technomages."
With a curt nod, she mirrored his sureness. "Yes. Did you ever get the hand spell working?"
Time to get her back. Fed lifted his gloved hand between them with his palm facing himself and fingers outstretched.
"Wasn't easy. I have to keep sixteen small platforms smoothly moving in concert, but I think it works well. Let me show you."
He curled all the gloved fingers but the middle one.
Grinning frostily, Gwynn said, "Very mature Fed. I'm going back to sleep."
Laughing at her fading image, he said, "Sorry, my spell must be glitched."