Chapter 2 Engines are Enemies

The door to the garage rattled again-louder this time, more impatient. Celia did not panic. Panic was for people who hadn't had grenades roll under their bed at age fifteen or who hadn't hotwired a war drone during a blackout just to make toast. She was past panic. She glanced at Lawrence. "You armed?" He blinked. "Do I look armed?" "You look expensive," she muttered. "Same thing to some people." The banging turned into a hiss as a line of plasma melted through the metal lock. Celia swore under her breath, reached into her workbench drawer, and yanked out a small but vicious-looking blaster.

"You might want to duck," she said, as the door gave way with a scream of hot metal. Two figures stormed in-helmeted, armored, and clearly not here for a casual visit. The one in front leveled a stun rifle right at Celia. "We're here for the prototype," the voice growled through a voice modulator. "Hand it over, and we'll leave in peace." Lawrence stood up behind her. "I don't have it." "Lying doesn't suit you, Everen," the second figure said. "We saw your crash trajectory. The prototype's signature is all over your wreck." Celia glanced sideways at him. "What exactly is this thing you stole?" "It's not a weapon," he said quickly. "It's an energy core. Clean, limitless power. It could fix the whole lower level grid. But my father-he wants to sell it offworld to the highest bidder." "Oh sure," Celia muttered. "Just a revolution in your pocket. Totally casual." The lead bounty hunter stepped forward. "Last warning." Celia sighed. "Yeah, well... here's mine." She fired. The blaster hit the first hunter square in the shoulder, sending him flying into a stack of scrap coils. Lawrence dove behind the bench as the second opened fire, bolts ricocheting off old engine parts and cracked solar panels. "Back room, now!" Celia shouted, grabbing Lawrence's arm and dragging him through the smoke-filled garage. She hit a switch on the wall as they passed-an old defense mechanism she'd salvaged from a decommissioned patrol bot. Electric arcs shot out in random directions, forcing the hunters back. In the back room, Celia slammed the door shut behind them. The room was tighter, darker, filled with shelves of old tech-most of it half-dead or fully illegal. Lawrence leaned against the wall, catching his breath. "Do you always keep a small army's worth of tech in your garage?" Celia ignored him. "Where's the prototype?" He hesitated, then pulled off one of his boots and reached inside. With a click, he pulled out a small, glowing orb. It pulsed with a faint blue light, like a heartbeat made of stars. She stared at it. "That little thing is going to change the world?" "If it doesn't get us killed first," Lawrence replied. Footsteps echoed outside the door. The bounty hunters were regrouping. Celia's mind raced. She couldn't outgun them. But she could outthink them. She grabbed a hollow drone shell from the shelf and ripped it open. "Give me the core." "What? No!" "Trust me," she snapped. He hesitated-but gave it to her. She slipped it inside the drone casing, rewired the shell to emit a false signal, then handed it back to him. "What now?" "We bait them. We run." Lawrence glanced at the sealed door, where shadows danced beneath the crack. "You know," he said, trying to sound casual despite the shaking in his voice, "I thought the worst part of today would be crashing my ship." Celia smirked. "No, the worst part is coming. When I save your life twice in one day-you owe me forever." He gave a breathless laugh. oh my God!! "Deal."