Tech World (Undying Mercenaries Series) by B. V. Larson

Author:B. V. Larson [Larson, B. V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2014-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

-24-

“I want to thank you for going in there and grabbing this stuff,” Natasha told me huskily as she took the tech gadgets out of my gauntlets and hustled up a flight of stairs to a makeshift laboratory.

Following her, I smiled inwardly. There was nothing like risking your life to bring a girl a present she really wanted. Doing so never failed to transform me into a charming man.

Natasha unloaded her bundles and chased away a few techs who came over to investigate her loot. The lab was really one corner of the tech unit module which she had access to in addition to 3rd Unit’s module. There were specialized pieces of equipment here, like computers, sensors, and even a small particle accelerator the legion had picked up for testing various systems. As a lot of alien weaponry used particulate radiation, it was used to test how a piece of equipment would hold up under fire.

“This is a sanctioned exploration ordered by Tribune Drusus,” she told the last tech she tried to scoot out of her way. “If I need help, I’ll ask for it—thanks.” They finally moved off, grumbling and miffed.

While she worked over a device that looked to me like a microwave oven with exposed wires, I loomed close. She didn’t object, so I stayed near looking over her shoulder.

“See this?” she asked in breathy excitement. “That’s a power lead. I’ve seen these in diagrams, but this is the first full unit I’ve had in my hands. You’d be surprised how little the brass cares to respond to a simple request for devices required for intel.”

The microwave-oven thing didn’t have a door, not exactly. She lowered the holographic clothes-projector into the top of it and slid a lead sheet over it before turning it on and consulting readouts.

“One problem with these is that they’re linked to Tau physiology. They don’t change appearance due to direct commands. Instead, they read the body output of the owner and interpret his mood. That’s how they select what kind of colors to display.”

I frowned. “I’d always figured they had some kind of knob you could twiddle.”

She shook her head emphatically. “That’s what most people think. And to be fair, that’s how we’d do it. But these projectors read the mood of the user and adapt to it dynamically.”

I frowned as I considered the implications.

“But that means the Tau must be pissed off even before they switch to their rebel-look. It’s not something they’re doing purposefully.”

“We don’t know that yet,” she said, tinkering. Finally, she exclaimed happily and drew the box back out of the unit. “I’ve got it.”

“You’ve got what?”

“I’ve reprogrammed it to register human input. Put it on, will you?”

I twisted up my mouth in concern. “Uh, will it shock me or something?”

“Hopefully not. Come on, get out of that armor. It won’t work unless it’s against bare skin.”

I grinned. “I’ll wear it first if you promise to do the same.”

It took a minute for her to figure out what I was talking about—then she punched me.

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