Page 148 of The Space Between Stars

“Could you make the lamp do something besides explode?”

A laugh bubbled from her throat, excitement getting the better of her. “Anything else. Could you make it levitate? Could you make it repel?”

He shrugged like he’d never thought of it.

Why was it that all men were hopeless pyromaniacs? “Could you make a new one from scrap? Or do you have to have an Aetech product to begin with?”

Fanklao held a hand to her head. “Chaos, Calver. This will change everything! If we can make distortion products, we can topple Aethertech Mechanics’s monopoly. We could fund an entire shratten army, if we want.” The laugh became a cackle. “We can buy the Rollard Isles.”

He shrugged. Like she’d told him what she planned to eat for dinner.

“No, no. This isn’t going to work unless we do this as a team. Our blood is stronger when we’re together.” She wanted to tell him, then. To explain that they were a hair away from royalty. That they were half-way to deities—which was far more significant when all of the deities were dead. Maybe she should.

Calver didn’t say anything.

“What do you want?” she asked him.

She read in his expression that he’d never thought about what he wanted.

There his eyes went again, glazing over. He clenched them shut, gripping at his hair.

She hadn’t thought that simple reflection might send him back into madness. How could she tell him? How much worse would he be if he realized the way the Tera’thians had weaponized him?

Fankalo put a hand on his shoulder. He tugged away, but his eyes fixed back on hers. “So pick a new goal.” She just had to keep him focused on something else. She dug for anything she could. “What was it you were saying, just before you asked for the lamp? You said you could take out Tera’thian command.” Perhaps revenge would serve him better than reflection.

Calver pulled in the salty air around them like it was the last breath he’d ever take. His hands lowered.

She gave it to him.

‘Tera’thu will hold a coronation in the Tera’thian throne room in nine years when the prince ascends. Everyone of importance will be present. There is a dumbwaiter. Buried in the palace’s sewer system. I can make it operational. It raises onto the throneroom dais. We place the lamp, send it up. No more Tera’thian command.’

Fankalo’s fingers rubbed together, and she forced herself not to ask the first question that popped into her mind: why did he have a grip on the palace sewer system? “Supposing we can even get you into position to do such a thing.” She stopped. Bit her lip. Started again. “Wouldn’t the entire dais, the entire floor collapse and…”

Calver’s hands cut into the air between them, before scrawling: ‘It’s not a venture I’d expect to come back from. But it would certainly work.’

It felt as though she’d taken a blow to the gut. Absolutely not. How could he even… “Scrap that idea. We’ll think of a different one. One that doesn’t require human sacrifice.”

‘Do you really think that you can go to war without sacrifice? If you want to do this, you have to be prepared to lose everyone. If we can make it happen, we should. We should level them. It’s worth anything.’

Fankalo saw the change in his eyes. He was starting to believe in this campaign as much as she did. But now, she didn’t want him to. Not if it meant losing him.

“I don’t think this will work. What are the chances one of those lamps could be used against us? Or that it could malfunction and cause collateral damage to innocent parties?”

‘Slim. User error is more likely than malfunction, even with meticulous training.’

Fankalo’s mouth twisted as she looked at the lamp. It made her Luck roil. Positive outcomes. Wealth. Power… and a whisper of danger. Something about it suddenly sat like a stone in her gut.

Left with no better argument, she quoted Katlas Dreiden. “Any asset whose value does not outweigh its risk should be removed from the equation.”

‘Considering the gambles you plan which outweigh this by sums, I think we’re fine.’

So calm. Like it wasn’t a big deal, simply offering to blow himself to bits. Like it was the first thing he’d looked forward to in a while.

‘You are right. There isn’t a greater purpose we can serve, you and I. The Nelfinden won’t do it. And the Tera’thians won’t expect it.’