Page 21 (1/2)

—

After the officers disperse to receive direct orders fro the excavation site We have business to finish And I itnesses The engine has settled back into its berth after its test run Engineers call to one another as they ured a way to make them sync-compatible,” Harnassus says “And a way to handle the data-load It will be terabytes per second”

“I know”

“My Blacksn tech in the control rooned it?”

“We had to use all available resources on such short notice”

“What resources?”

“The Master Maker Glirastes”

His face goes blank “Glirastes He’s already tinkered with enough, don’t you think?”

“He is the only man on Mercury who studies ancient tech for pleasure,” I say “If you could have done it, I’d have asked you”

“He is a Gold pet”

“I know you disagree with this course—”

“That is an abuse of language” Harnassus’s voice doesn’t rise a decibel “When you said ould let theht I ht I’d gone ine but seven, run with the t

ech of a Gold pet I haven’t gone er up into my chest and calmly says, “You have”

I look down at his puny finger

“Control yourself, Imperator We set the tone Tartarus is merely—”