Dragon and Liberator

This is somewhat different, Draycos said. Solid ghikada is stronger even than hull metal. Its function is not to absorb damage but to provide an extra shell of protection around most areas of the ship. It was the reason the Havenseeker survived its crash landing on Iota Klestis as well as it did.

Handy stuff, Jack said as he dismounted off the far side of the cylinder. How come you wait to the last minute before using it? Why not keep the tween gap filled all the time?

Because ghikada is strong but unstable, Draycos said. It holds its full strength for only about two hours. After that it begins to soften, and after a few more hours it has melted completely into a liquid form.

From somewhere behind them came the metallic sound of something hammering against the inner hull wall. Sounds like they've figured out where we've gone, Jack said. You say this tween gap goes everywhere in the ship?

Everywhere except the weapons bays themselves and the three navigational bubbles, Draycos said. Those areas need to be open to the outer hull in order to function.

In other words, those sections of the tween gap would be dead ends. We should probably avoid those places, Jack said. Getting trapped with your back to a wall is generally considered bad form.

Don't worry; I have an entirely different refuge in mind, Draycos assured him. We'll need to go up a level to reach it.

Jack looked at the sheer walls beside him. How do we do that?

Just past the next ghikada cylinder will be a vertical section of mesh I'll be able to climb.

They reached the mesh a few minutes later. Draycos came off Jack's back, and with Jack gripping his tail he began to climb.

By now the hammering behind them had stopped, but Jack thought he could hear the hiss of a cutting torch. Apparently, the Brummgas and Valahgua had given up trying to get the door open and had decided on the more direct approach.

They reached the next level up, and with Draycos again on Jack's back they continued heading forward. A few minutes later, they reached another of the tween gap access doors.

Draycos spent a few minutes with his ear pressed against the wall, listening for signs of activity. Then, at his direction, Jack pulled on the handles and slid the panel open.

The room beyond was unlit, but in the glow from Draycos's eyes Jack could see that it was long and narrow and low ceilinged. Nearly the entire floor space was filled with cylinders, longer but thinner than the ghikada containers and sporting a different stripe/spot pattern. They were connected to each other and the deck by a confusing array of pipes, all of which seemed to have unique stripe/spot patterns of their own.

Wait here, Draycos said. Again bounding out of the boy's collar, he made his way nimbly across the cylinders and piping to another small door at the far end of the room. There he again pressed his ear against the panel and listened.

A minute later, he straightened and crossed back to Jack. "The area outside appears to be deserted," he murmured. "We should be safe here for a while."

"Good," Jack said. Gingerly, he stepped into the room, trying not to slip on the cylinders. "What is this? More ghikada?"

"Fire suppressant," Draycos identified it. "This room handles fire control for most of the upper/forward sections of the ship."

"And the Brummgas and Valahgua don't know about it?"

"They may," Draycos said. "But only if they bothered to examine the rest of the data diamonds Alison retrieved from the safe at the Chookoock family estate."

Jack frowned. "You kept your ships' schematics in a safe?"

"The complete schematics, yes," Draycos said with a sort of grim amusement. "The set freely available on the ship's computers has certain gaps and omissions."

"Such as this room?"