“Yes sir, that’s accurate. We were camped out far from our normal position. When the Recon Fleet fell apart as H&H was liquidated, we did what we could on our own. I thought being on the Paradise side of human space was meant to be safer, but what I saw still keeps me up at night. We had detected nothing for weeks, and were close to packing up when my squad got a massive signal. Moving through this absolutely barren system we suddenly saw a huge, and I mean huge - bigger than any I’d seen before - fleet of Paradise ships moving with, or maybe towing, a whole bunch of Cambiar lookin’ craft. Later on, we figured they weren’t Out-Han. No, it one of the distant empires – one called Yur-Ist. Whether they allies or prisoners, it meant that Paradise had finally woken up. As for what that means for the rest of us… I don’t know yet. But I know it won’t be good.” – Karlos Hines, Ex-H&H Recon Fleet Captain, 2262. Taken from report to liquidation consultancy following their arrival back at Titanlock.

  “Wait, so you mean I can’t use the Tylas atomstripper without protective gear?” Elias asked.

  “It goes up to three thousand kelvin, your kind can’t use it all, idiot,” Chel-Lin said, preparing to enter the aforementioned glass chamber to help prepare a component for Elias.

  “Hmm… maybe if I put on one of those hazmat suits…” Elias pretended to actually consider putting on one of the razor thin outfits that the project managers had the gall to call ‘high quality environmental protection’. Of all the things for GaltCorp and the Baraldian Heralds to skimp on, it had to be the goddamn protective suits.

  “Don’t.”

  Though his alien partner tried to hide it, he could hear the smile in her voice.

  The two of them were working around their shared laboratory, the growing deadline of the first checkpoint of the project less than a fortnight away. It would be the most important step of the entire process, as failure at the first hurdle would result in their dismissal from the IGS. As such, the two of them worked frantically to prepare each of their cover plans in time. However, it was clear that both of the young scientists were eager to start digging into how they could apply the theory of the S-Drive to the Bubble Field, or vice versa, and mere things like ‘being fired’ or ‘acceptable working hours’ wouldn’t get in the way of preparing both fake and real projects simultaneously.

  On the other hand, a random supervisor visit might prove to be a much more immediate obstacle. The doors to the laboratory swung open wide as a well-suited Lucian and stooped Dr Rannos walked in, the Cambiar at least having the decency to knock as his human counterpart slammed his door open.

  “Hello Dr Savage and Burning Scribe Daksira!” Rannos called out, looking around for the pair. “Apologies about the surprise visit, but some of the upper management wanted an early check-in before the checkpoint to see how things were going. Nothing too official, think of it as a friendly visit!”

  Elias and Chel-Lin, both wide-eyed, quickly snapped to attention. Elias had planned for quickly and subtly hiding their few developed resources for FTL project, and had briefly run Chel-Lin through the scenario, but he hadn’t expected to use it until much later down the line. The S-Drive hadn’t even been moved to a proper work spot, though they had already prepared the tools needed for both it and the Bubble-Field’s disassembly. His Tylas companion was tasked with hiding as much evidence as possible behind her mantle as Elias smooth-talked any would-be intruders. Unfortunately, these intruders were there for the sole purpose of checking the place.

  “Ah, Dr Rannos, Mr Valentari!” Elias said as he adjusted his posture to that of his old fa?ade, back crooked.

  Since his time at Nucleus, he had felt relieved to need to use the charade less and less often, with Chel-Lin and the others quickly twigging the persona Elias had crafting through his appearance was fake. Around them, there was little need for theatrics beyond his typical amount of pestering. As he approached the two supervisors, he noted Lucian was not inspecting the lab or the documents spread about as his Cambiar partner was, his shark-tooth filled jaw looking about in awe, but instead the augmented corporate suit was scanning the floor.

  “Everything alright, Mr Valentari?” Elias asked. “If you’re wondering about that crack in the corner, I must apologise for dropping an experimental battery fo-“

  “The chalk line,” Lucian interrupted. “Where is it?”

  “The… chalk line?”

  Elias looked down to see the faint remnants of the white line he had drawn a while back. It had been mostly wiped clean from his frequent foot traffic over to Chel-Lin’s side. The few remaining sections were barely visible, a white smudge against the tiles.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Oh, the border! Well, I must admit that was a rather childish play on my part, and since both I and Daksira needed to share the equipment, we ended up getting rid of that rather quickly.”

  Rannos took a moment to soak in the words as he flipped through a deliberately placed booklet with some schematics of the multi-species harness Elias had drawn up before giving a warm smile.

  “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that, Elias!” The Cambiar’s smile practically lit up the room. “I must admit, I was very worried how the working arrangement would go.” When Elias raised an eyebrow, Rannos was quick to sputter out a response. “N-not that I lacked faith in your skills, or that I didn’t think you would do well but… well… oh dear, how do I say this?”

  “Don’t worry, sir. I understand. Though me and Dr Daksira have had our differences, when it comes to the act of research itself, we can put those issues behind us. Science is first and foremost our priority here at Nucleus.” God that line sounded like something Kantor would say.

  “Oh? That sounds very promising! I must say, it sounds like the two of you are working rather closely. Would you say there is any direct collaboration between your projects at this time? GaltCorp is considering publishing some shared papers for the other Nucleus wings, and perhaps you would be interested? There’s a very detailed one Lucian is personally watching over involving a rapid dispersal unit for…” Rannos trailed off as Lucian gave his fellow supervisor a glare.

  The pair finally looked over towards Chel-Lin on the far side of the lab, whom Elias had been trying take attention away from as she desperately lifted the mass of contraband they had accumulated under her outer sheath. By the time Rannos and a stern looking Lucian looked over, she had just tucked in the last bundle of wires sticking out from a device inside before giving a sheepish wave with a strap.

  “Well, to answer your question…” Elias said with some emphasis, desperate to draw attention back towards himself. “We’ve helped each other a lot, but for now I think keeping that academic divide might be for the best. Don’t want to ‘rock the boat’ after all, hmm?”

  Rannos sighed but still smiled. Perhaps Elias would make some promises of later collaboration after the IGS to cheer the little Cambiar up. It truly felt like the few conversations Elias had spoken with Rannos painted his superior as a man tied down by bureaucracy and hierarchy. Elias doubted the limitations of the scientists’ work were appreciated by Rannos much.

  Lucian hadn’t said a word, instead pacing over to the nearest workbench to look over some documents before digging through a very recently emptied cabinet. Chel-Lin had nearly circled the entire lab, a few spare electronics barely peeking from her sheath. When Elias tried to gesture to the higher sections of the lab, where neither Rannos and Lucian wouldn’t be able to reach, she shook her head. Elias realised that she would not be able to levitate higher with so much weight burdening her down, and sought to reinvigorate his efforts.

  “So, Lucian, how do you feel about giving a try of the harness when it’s ready?” Elias leaned next to the man. “It might be a bit before the first safe prototype, but you can get first dibs if you like?”

  Lucian simply grunted. What prickly stick was up his ass? When Elias looked towards Rannos, the alien mouthed an apology. After a few more minutes of the two checking the room, asking some basic questions about their two cover projects, it appeared the supervisors’ hunger for clarification had been sated. Rannos was delighted with the progress, and wished nothing but the pair’s success during the first checkpoint, clacking his jaw in excitement at thought. Valentari remained quiet, striding off in a huff after expressing his curt satisfaction with the ‘adequate’ work so far. Elias had previously thought the man wanted them to work together, so why the immediate backflip on that stance?

  It didn’t particularly matter. As long as the rest of the committee behind the IGS were happy, then Lucian could be as much of a sourpuss as he wanted. Farewells were given, and both Elias and Chel-Lin were left in peace. The two held a pose of waving goodbyes for a handful of seconds as their lab doors swung back and forth a few times before simultaneously releasing a heavy sigh. The Tylas loudly dropped the dozens of components she had managed to stash under herself.

  “I told you we should have saved getting the tools for later!” Chel-Lin hissed. “You had me carrying around all of these half-completed instruments and we haven’t even started manufacturing for our fake projects yet!”

  “Yeah, well, it worked out in the end,” Elias gave a particularly annoying a smile before his partner delivered a swift jab to his arm. Well, as hard as a punch a floating balloon of an alien could give – the strike was closer to be slapped with dishcloth. Still, they had slipped by relatively unmolested by their GaltCorp executives. Relieved, Elias rested his elbows on a counter.

  There was much to be done, and Elias began thinking aloud, “Well, that was pretty fun. Still got a lot ahead of us. For my harness to get past the inspection, I’ll need a pretty firm theorem on shared intracellular neuronal patterns for the Cambiar’s semi-spinal structures and Tylas’ magnetic field patterns to work. If I have multiple species unable to use the harness, then there’s no point. On your plate, however, we’ve got to see if we can figure out the best composition for your equivalent of QIS liquid will be. Silica? Polytetrazyne? Whatever, we’ll work it out. Together, there’s nothing we can’t do. What do you think, Chel-Lin? Think you can stand up to the heat, think you ca-“

  He looked up to see Chel-Lin looking at him, a glazed look in her glowing eyes.

  “Uh, Chel-Lin?” Elias asked. “You good?”

  It took him snapping his fingers a few times before she snapped back to reality.

  “Sorry, I’m fine,” she said, looking away from him. “Just a lot to think about.”

  “See, Chel-Lin, that’s the thing. Maybe you should take a bit from us monkeys and go with the flow sometimes. Unwind, a bit.”

  “Right, right,” Chel-Lin mumbled. She looked away from him, averting her eyes.

  Elias turned and looked at the small horde of various components they had managed to hide. The first checkpoint was on its way, and he was eager to cement his place at Nucleus. Then, and only then, could the real fun begin.