Unstable Prototypes by Joseph Lallo Page A

enter. Lex took advantage of the madness
to enter the pressurized dock and slip into the cockpit. Once the
bay door was clear, the fugitive heaved it shut. It was a heavy
duty, hinged metal device built to keep any docking mishaps from
depressurizing the whole station, and after a blast or two from his
pistol fused the opening mechanism, it wasn't going to be letting
anyone in or out without some serious mechanical assistance. After
that, he joined Lex in the SOB, strapping into the recently
installed passenger seat, situated directly behind the pilot's
seat. The two seats more or less filled the cockpit to capacity,
with a tiny bit of space on the floor on either side of the seats.
The duffel was crammed into one side and held in place with elastic
straps. Ma drifted into the other, hooking her paws around the
straps she found there.
    "Nice ship," he remarked.
    "Yeah, thanks. You mind telling me who you
are?"
    "You are aiding in my escape, but you don't
know who I am? Well, aren't you an interesting little riddle. We'll
do introductions once we are in the clear, if you don't mind. Right
now you and I are going to have to figure out how to get the dock's
door to open, which they will certainly have locked, and how to get
past the security ships, which they will certainly have
dispatched."
    "Interfacing with the SOB on-board systems,"
Ma stated in his earpiece, drifting onto his lap and holding
herself in place with one of the harness straps. When she
continued, it was via the speaker system of the ship. "Attempting
to open doors ... Door access refused, attempting override
security. Processing... Processing..."
    "I say. That's a familiar vocal tick,"
remarked the passenger.
    The creature on Lex's lap had its eyes shut
tight, head jerking and shaking every few moments while the red
light remained almost constantly lit. Finally she relented,
wavering slightly as through enormously fatigued.
    "Encryption complexity sufficient to render
an override impossible within a useful time window with current
resources. Activating tractor beam in order to facilitate physical
override."
    "I rather think a tractor beam won't be
sufficient. Haven't you got any weaponry?" asked the
ex-prisoner.
    "Trust me, my tractor beam will be plenty,"
Lex assured him.
    It had never been Lex's intention to make the
SOB a combat vessel, but considering the ship's creator, the idea
of missing an opportunity to add destructive capability to a
vehicle was practically sacrilegious. Thus – along with a slick
black paint job to blend with deep space, heat syncs to cool
engines and fool heat sensors, and an engine that could be made to
belch all sorts of disruptive radio waves – Karter had installed an
overpowered tractor beam with a setting that had roughly the same
effect on its target that a jackhammer would have on a
watermelon.
    "Calculating resonance frequency and
determining structural weaknesses. Deploying," Ma said.
    The beam kicked on, and instantly it was
clear the sort of damage something that amounted to little more
than a high tech replacement for a tow rope could do in the right
hands. The whole ship rattled as it did its work, forcing the
unrestrained Ma to hold a bit more tightly to Lex's harness. Rivets
popped and welds opened like a zipper on the surface of the door.
In seconds the seal was compromised and the bay decompressed,
wrenching the damaged door free. As it cartwheeled into space, four
security ships strafed into view, with easily a dozen more lurking
a bit further out.
    "Finally!" Lex proclaimed, slipping a stick
of gum from his pocket and tossing it in his mouth.
    "Might I suggest-" his guest began.
    "No talking," Lex snapped, revving the
engines and blasting out of the bay.
    The ships he was facing were slow, clumsy,
short distance patrol vessels. They were barely larger than their
own cockpits and, thanks to the obvious danger of using high
powered weapons near a civilian space station, they were primarily
armed with devices