Shared Blood

Razorback

Thump. Clang. Gylmatrier watched as Razorback, cursing, extricated himself from the Goad he was working on. Retrieving the tool he'd dropped he walked over to her rubbing his head.

"Some honyak Cybrid didn't build those things with enough room to work on."

"Cybrids used nanites for repair," she told him for the fifth time since he'd begun work on that goad. He tended to ignore the comment and she hoped one time he'd catch it.

"And what do they do when they don't have nanites?"

"Then the unit will operate as efficiently as possible."

Razorback stepped back to the toolbox that was situated halfway between Gyl and the goad. "That's not an option here."

Gyl was saved further comment by Altas' arrival.

Altas "glanced" around the room, carefully appraising the goad under progress before coming over.

The goad was Razorback's newest project. Having decided he'd need something new to fight the AMG and possibly the Imperials with, he'd launched into a complete analysis of every HERC he could find data on. This had culminated with his choice of the goad and he had begun searching for materials. Unless you had some kind of measuring device the goad appeared completely normal, but it was a few centimeters too large in every direction. This was a result of the vehicles construction. Building it from scratch, as was his tendency, he'd been unable to assemble a complete set of armor for the goad. After having reinforced the frame rather heavily, he'd settled on durac armor from an executioner that he'd modified until it looked exactly like a normal goad.

He'd put in flexors from an emancipator since they were overbuilt for construction and had used an overlarge engine from a Myrm. The goad would perform perfectly and maybe a little better. He'd managed to get the functioning part of a Theta shield generator into the HERC, rigging a coolant system along the inside of the armor that was shared by most of the internal systems. Doing so allowed him the use of a large Cybrid reactor. Through careful work he'd added a turbo charger to the engine that still allowed him the use of two internal slots. In these he placed a shield modulator and a shield capacitor. The sensors were ultralight, but he wasn't the sensor man anyway. He'd just finished preparing the slot for the last piece he needed.

"Did you get that computer reprogrammed Altas?"

"Yes."

"Good, I'll install it later tonight. And I'm warning you, if that thing has one of those stupid Cybrid duo-tone voices...." Razorback let the threat trail off.

"It does not." Altas had seen Razorback mad very few times, and he could tell this was half-joking. Still half-serious might still be fatal. Razorback's anger did not explode like Del's, it was a seething boiling mass that he had full control over. If he let that anger go, every move would still be calculated and weighed, but there would be no remorse at all.

"Good. I owe you one."

"No you don't," Altas replied.

"Yes I do, and I have a way to repay you. I'm in the mood to tinker, do you want your vehicles 'optimized'?"

"If you wish."

"Good, I guess I'll start with Gyl here. Gyl, run a self-diagnostic. What needs done?"

Razorback and Altas spent the next hour and a half crawling in, on, and around Gyl, testing this, replacing that, aligning this, and synchronizing that. Altas watched Razorback with no slight amusement. When he was working on machines Razorback was as close to a "normal" person as he got. He really enjoyed himself, joking and laughing. He left his cares and worries outside the mechanics bay. He was even prone to irrational anger. Like cussing when he'd hit his head. That was completely unlike him. Especially cussing in Spanish. Too much time around Maria.

The intercom beeped. "Ops to ghosts, this is Ko'ah. We're receiving and anonymous transmission. It's broadband and encoded. Being sent to Mercury in general it looks like."

"Well," Razorback wiped off his hands, "I guess we better go."

"I'll finish hooking up this last board," Altas said. "Go on up."

As the door closed behind Razorback, and Altas shut the panel he'd had open Gyl finally asked a question that had been bothering her for quite a while. "Altas?"

"Yes, Gyl."

"What's a honyak?"

-----

"...began about 5 minutes ago. It came in as a burst of static. I didn't pay any attention until the computer flagged it as a message. It repeated three times and I managed to catch the whole thing the second time. The thing is encoded, but I think it can be broken." Ko'ah finished up as Razorback walked into the room. He glanced around. Ko'ah, Del, Xeno and were in the room already.

"You said it was broad-band?" Del asked.

"Yep."

"What kind of encrypt is it?" Razorback cut in.

"Don't know, never seen it before."

Razorback walked over to a terminal and pulled the message up. "I know something about slicing encrypts." He began to study the code...and flopped down in the chair limp. Immediately Xeno rushed forward, followed closely by Del.

"What is it?" Xeno asked.

Razorback sat staring at the screen and waved them off.

Ko'ah was still seated at his terminal, knowing both women were more than competent medics. After studying Razorback for a moment, he decided that the man was merely stunned. "Can you crack it?"

Razorback reached up with one hand and pushed a few keys on the keyboard. The screen sprang to life as a rotating crest. Then the speaker crackled.

"Hey, brother. Heard you ran to Mercury not long before the Cybrids hit. Think you can out-fly me yet? I'll send another message later with details to contact me. Out."

Maria and Altas walked in the door as Razorback set the message to replay.

Maria caught on nearly immediately. "You never mentioned a brother."

"He's supposed to be dead," Razorback again replayed the message. And again. And again. And again...

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