>>5963923Before the oppressive mood can sink any further, you dispel the silence with a cough, “So, what do you think of Tim?” Like a sleeping fox roused by an approaching wolf at the last moment, Silas jerks away from the table, “Huh? Oh, sorry, was a tad distracted. Can you say it again?”
You never counted it before, but Silas' hairs have grown noticeably whiter. Every now and then, as a blast of air blows over him, a few half-combed stragglers would dance silvery arcs under the phosphorescent noon. “How's Johnson so far? You picked him yourself, remember?”
He stretches his hands behind his backs and takes in a deep draught of air. Slowly exhaling, he keeps a steady eye on the ceiling. Following his gaze, you find an incongruous black dot, a little bump in the dull grey skyscape. Even though you fancy yourself not too incompetent a detective, you doubt you could have detected this bug on your own.
For a moment, an eerie stillness prevailed, the both of you holding your breath. Difference is, Silas was merely steadying his aim. An instant later, the silence remains, but not the bug. Silas has soundlessly torched it with a single shot from his laser derringer.
“How do you like that? AM-pumped gigawatt UV beam released in several hundreds femto-pulses, enough to burn through most light combat armor in a single shot. Shame that's all you get.” He nonchalantly loads another fuel container, ‘slug’ as he calls it, into the back of the laser assembly. “Also has automatic aiming and trigger control, feeding off smart contact lenses, so not as impressive as it seems."
“I thought we already tore through every panels and hatches?" You gesture at the charred ring surrounding the former dot. Silas puts the gun back in its holster, “Yes, but these things are small enough that someone could have been snuck them off ship then on again.” One corner of his lips barely curls up. “At least now we know for sure they have insider help. Either Goldsmith's or Ludlow's boys, one of them.”
