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   "Oh." A few beats and Gabriel pretended to be intensely focused on the wires of the shield generator. It suddenly felt awfully hot underneath there. "It's nice. Maybe not very useful. Not for me anyway."

   "Perhaps not," Jhuun said softly. "Have you finished your modifications?"

   "Just about. Let's try it."

   Sliding out from under the generator, glad to be able to focus on defeating the M-Alpha, Gabriel went to stand by Jhuun, poised over the remote controls of the M-Alpha. With a flick of a switch, the shield generator was activated. It produced a bright ebbing light, a small-scale version of the energy shields the allied races used for defense. Facing the generator was the M-Alpha, still hooked up to its weak power source, the bare minimum required for them to test-fire the weapon without utterly destroying their shield generator and the workshop around it.

   "Readying to fire the M-Alpha," Gabriel said. "Firing now."

   The M-Alpha hummed and glowed amber as Gabriel hit the button, directing the weakened beam of energy in a wide beam toward the shield. Even watching the dim, near-harmless amber glow of the weapon left Gabriel's blood running cold.

   A successful trial would have energized him, but unfortunately, the test did not last long. The amber beam easily penetrating the modified shield, making the shield generator spark and break down.

   With a frustrated sigh, Gabriel terminated power to the M-Alpha before they lost their shield generator. He doubted Xhani would be pleased if they destroyed their equipment.

   "Shit," Gabriel muttered. "We're not even close to a breakthrough."

   "Don't feel badly," Jhuun said, though it was obvious he felt as frustrated as Gabriel. He drew in a breath and raised his long, elegant arms above

his head, stretching.

   Gabriel found himself staring a little unabashedly at the graceful arc of his companion's body, at the muscles and bones on the bare chest that weren't quite where they would be on a Human. The collarbone ridges fluttered a little as Jhuun brought his arms down again, making a sound a little like a moan.

   "We have other theories," Jhuun said.

   Gabriel blinked, looking away before Jhuun could notice him staring.

   "We will find the correct solution."

   "Easier said than done."

   After a moment of thought, Jhuun said, "A useful phrase at the moment would be
Anarkh."

   "What?" Gabriel frowned.

   "Anarkh. Repeat it."

   "Anarkh," Gabriel said. What came out of his mouth sounded close enough to what Jhuun said, including the slight trill at the end.

   "Very good," Jhuun said. "This is what a Eunnoian would say after a frustrating event, such as striking a foot against a desk. Or after an important experiment has failed."

   "Of course." Gabriel smiled. "Curse words are useful in any language. Anarkh. It's got a good ring to it. Does it translate to anything?"

   "Shit."

   Now it was Gabriel's turn to laugh and it felt good. Perhaps a little too good and soon enough he had to tear away his eyes from Jhuun's mouth, open and laughing still, as thoughts of quite a different nature kept leaping to his mind. Yet again, he found himself dragging a hand across his brow to clear the perspiration.

   "You are one ridiculously busy man," Kurt said as Gabriel slid into the chair his friend had been saving. It was a good thing Kurt had been waiting for him, the cafeteria was packed full of Humans and Eunnoians. It was about the middle of what was considered a day on Section 27 and so most of the inhabitants had gathered for lunch.

   "How long have you been on the station now, almost a month? And this is the first time we've managed to sit down and have a meal together."

   Gabriel picked up a spoon and thrust it into the unappetizing protein mush in front of him. "I've been taking most of my meals in the engineering workshop. It's just easier that way."

   "I noticed," Kurt said. He took a sip out of a water bottle on his tray. "I also noticed you've been looking happier every time I see you."

   Gabriel shrugged lightly. "Work is going well."

   "Good to know," Kurt said. "But it's not that. You look like…I'm sorry to put it this way, but…you look like you did when you started dating Marcus."

   Gabriel felt his cheeks burn. He stared down at his colorless meal, stirring it vigorously. "Must be a coincidence."

   "Someone in engineering caught your eye? What was your new assistant's name again?"

   "Jhuun is
not
my assistant," Gabriel said. He only realized he had raised his voice when the two diners at the other end of their table, a redheaded Human woman and a lavender-skinned Eunnoian female, turned from their conversation to glance at him. "He's a talented engineer and we've been working well together."

   "And that's it?" Kurt asked, spooning some of the protein dish into his mouth.

   "Well…" Again, the bland food seemed terribly captivating.

   "Since when are you so shy?" Kurt said. "Just tell me, do you like him?"

   "I don't," Gabriel said. His appetite lacking, he dropped his spoon back on the tray. "At least, I don't think so. It's…"

   "Don't say
complicated. You
know I hate that."

   "Unusual," Gabriel relented. He glanced at the two females at the end of the table, they had resumed their own conversation. "For several reasons. I don't know if I want to go through this again, falling for someone and then…"

   "Gabe," Kurt said gently. "Listen, if you two like each other—"

   "That's the other problem," Gabriel said. "I
don't k
now. I know he likes males…"

   Kurt nodded. "Most Eunnoians aren't really discerning when it comes to that. You'll find as many same-sex as opposite-sex couples here."

   "Yeah, well, I can't tell if there's any interest or

if we're just friends. Sometimes I wonder, but it's not like flirting with a Human. And besides, are we even…you know…compatible?"

   "Sexually?" Kurt nearly smiled.

   "I don't think Humans and Wreeth are," Gabriel said, dropping his voice to a whisper. "And we were all issued the warning that Humans and Nr'ln
definitely
aren't…"

   Kurt bowed his head. "Poor lieutenant Wilberforce. He learned the hard way."

   "So, would I even feel attracted to…whatever Eunnoian males are like?"

   Kurt shrugged. "If you like him, I think that should be enough."

   "Listen," Gabriel said. "You've been on this station a long time, right?"

   "Three years, yeah."

   "Have you ever seen…you know. Humans and Eunnoians? Together as couples?"

   "None that I'm aware are actually sleeping together, no," Kurt said. "But look, we all wonder about these things. I'd be lying if I said I didn't look at the pretty Eunnoian girls and think about what it would be like. Sure I can look at the medical texts, but knowing the medical anatomy side of things just isn't the same. Anyway, do you know what I did, when I first came to Section 27? I paid a visit to the Specialty shop."

   Gabriel frowned. "Why?"

   "Didn't your old shop rent out porn movies?"

   "Er, no. The Wreeth are very conservative, the

shop wasn't allowed to stock them."

   "Luckily, that's not a problem here," Kurt said, taking another sip of water. "If you're curious about Eunnoian sex…if you're wondering how you and Jhuun might fit together, then just go rent some porn. There's about a dozen Eunnoian titles for all tastes and they're really graphic. Really hot."

   "Kurt…"

   "Most of them have subtitles, in case you want to follow the story."

   "Kurt!" Gabriel said, suddenly terrified that the nearby women had overheard. "Forget it, I'm not going to rent porn movies."

   "Here, I've got an extra rental chit," Kurt said, reaching into the front pocket of his short-sleeved shirt. He pulled out a small round disc. "My treat. Go have yourself a special night. Go get some answers before your mind, or something else, explodes."

   "Oh God," Gabriel moaned, embarrassed beyond words as Kurt gently placed the chit on his tray. "I'm not going to do that. I'm not planning on pursuing anything with Jhuun. We're just friends."

   "As you please," Kurt said cheekily, picking up his spoon again. "Then go rent yourself a nice action movie. There's a great copy of the
Die Hard
5 r
emake in the shop."

   Gabriel rolled his eyes and resumed eating. Mercifully they moved on to a different topic of conversation for the remainder of lunch, though when they finished and gathered their trays, Gabriel made sure to pocket the small chit.

   Just in case.

   "Maybe we've been going at this the wrong way," Gabriel said. It had been a long day. Both he and Jhuun had stayed in the workshop much later than their usual dismissal time, exhausting their last few ideas with the shield generator. Their last experiment had very nearly fried the machine and both were forced to concede defeat.

   Gabriel was sitting cross-legged on the floor by the open guts of the M-Alpha while Jhuun hovered over him, delicately replacing the small power generator they had previously hooked up to the weapon. Occasionally the alien would step close to where Gabriel sat as he worked, brushing Gabriel's bare arm with his knee or his calf, absent-mindedly. Gabriel tried not to shiver when their skin came into contact.

   "Anyway," he said. "We'll go nuts trying to build a shield to block the particle burst. Our current shields are barely holding their own against Maedrom weapons as it is."

   "Agreed," Jhuun said. "We must focus our efforts elsewhere."

   "We need to think offense, not defense," Gabriel said. "Destroy the M-Alpha before it has a chance to fire."

   Jhuun waved his hand in front of his face. "If we had weapons that could easily destroy the Maedrom ships, our situation would not be so dire."

   Gabriel shook his head. "No, we don't need to destroy their ships, we just need to disable the MAlpha. Look, I can almost guarantee you that it's not their native technology, and we know it runs on a different system from the rest of their ships, don't we? It must be vulnerable to something. We just need to focus our efforts on finding something that will hurt this, and only this."

   "Agreed." Jhuun clucked gently. He finished hooking up the replacement power generator, but continued to gaze into the circuitry of the MAlpha. "You keep saying this is not their native technology. Are you certain of it?"

   "Yeah," Gabriel said. "It's subtle, to be honest I can only tell because I spent enough time staring at Maedrom weapons. See here? The circuit connections aren't the same as what they usually use, and they obviously had to modify the current output here to make it work with the rest of their technology. Wouldn't surprise me if they got it off the marauding gangs. They're all over the galaxy, after all."

   "These gangs also travel along the Suni nebula, past Fnorn territory, correct?"

   "Mm-hm," Gabriel nodded, stifling a yawn. "They used to be a big problem before the war. Now they may have sold the Maedrom this damn weapon of mass destruction. Who knows where

they got
it from."

   "Glispex," Jhuun said. He was still staring intently into the M-Alpha.

   "What?"

   "This technology is Glispex. It seems familiar to me now."

   "Are you sure?" Gabriel asked. "How can you tell?"

   "I am not certain," Jhuun said. "When I was stationed on Section 6 and awaiting reassignment because of the language problems, I spent a few weeks reading translated Fnorn books on engineering and military and technological history. The Fnorn spent decades fighting an invading gang of Glispex, eventually defeating them and casting them out beyond their space, by the Suni nebula. I assumed the M-Alpha was of Maedrom design, but it has much in common with the Glispex weapons."

   "Holy shit," Gabriel whispered. "So what does this mean? How can we use that?"

   "The Fnorn had some weapons, mostly particlebeam cannons, that proved effective against the Glispex attackers," Jhuun said. "The M-Alpha is surely more upgraded technology, but obtaining one of the Fnorn cannons will aid us in creating an effective weapon. When the translation service opens in the morning, I will send a request to the Fnorn for one of their cannons."

   "That's great!" Gabriel said, elated. "We sure could use a step in the right direction right now."