Symphony of stars

Chapter-6

If he'd known that Tirana wanted him to show her all his pet projects he might have said no. Might have. She was giving him a direct ride to the Trove. So, he supposed he owed her something for that.

Aaron was worried Tir would yell at him for moving the crate, but she ignored it as she inspected all the scattered tools and pieces of his project. As the jewel like claws and her fingers brushed over the pieces Aaron felt himself tingle. Normally, he hated people messing with his projects, unless he was testing them.

When Tirana settled on his new project, Aaron's breath caught. The exoskeleton was still in the early stages and he worried she would misunderstand why he had started working on it. He watched her lift her arm and glance at the useless piece that once again covered her arms and then look at his new project. "Is this a working exoskeleton?"

"Yes, but it's more," Aaron explained as she picked the piece up. She turned it this way and that, inspecting every inch of it. An odd tug in Aaron's gut made him want to reach out to her, but held himself back. "Do you know why Shimmie claws are harvested?"

At this Tirana cut her eyes over at him and nearly snarled at him. "Because they're pretty and shiny."

Nodding, Aaron reached down for the other project on the crate. "That's part of it, but they can also be used as power focuses. Like quartz, only much stronger," Aaron explained, holding up one of the ammunition shells. "Like this. I use a special quartz and tweak the casing to increase the power output. It's actually stronger than using the Shimmie claw."

Tirana eyed the shell and asked, "You mean there are people cutting off fingers and toes just to get one shot of ammunition?"

"Claws are also used in the guns that fire these shells. Only a sliver of quartz is really needed in the shell. A single claw would produce fifty shells," he explained.

She shrugged and asked, "Why don't more people know about it?"

Gently putting the shells back on the crate, Aaron rolled them under the palm of his hand and answered, "It's a big cooperate secret. Not many people even use these guns anymore. So no one really understands how they work. The Shimmie claws are mostly taken now for their appearance."

"Huh. Learn something new all the time, but what's that got to do with this?" Tir asked, looking back at the exoskeleton.

Biting the tip of his tongue, Aaron took an extra second to put the right words together. "I've never seen a Shimmie that still has their claws and I started wondering if the energy could still be channeled through them." Tirana gave him a glare and Aaron was quick to add, "If you can do that, then you could have both a weapon and a disguise on your arm."

Confusion cross her eyes and Aaron let out a deep breath when she said, "So you're trying to make a weapon? How would it work?"

Scooting over next to her, Aaron lifted the project out of her hands and turned it so that she could see the fingers. "You would put it on just like the ones you have, but by using the same tweak to the ammunition shells you should be able to generate a short energy blast by flexing."

"Where is the energy coming from?"

Glancing at her, Aaron looked her over and tried to gauge her size. After a second, he said, "You are large enough to give off that amount of energy."

"Are you calling me fat?" Tir asked, leaning back away from him.

"No! No, I'm just saying your body, all bodies really, have electrical charge, and because of your claws you should be able to channel it. Human biology doesn't allow for that, but Shimmie biology does," Aaron explained.

Giving him one last glare, Tir nodded. "Is it finished yet?"

"No. I still have to work out a few issues, but if you like you're welcome to try it once I've gotten to the testing stage."

Then she did something completely unexpected. Without so much as asking, Tirana sat down and stretched out in his hammock. Aaron's gut twisted with happy worry. What was she doing? Why was she laying there?

She must have realized he was staring. As she folded her arms behind her head, she said, "I'm going to rest here for a while. The computer notifications don't work down here. You can just keep tinkering."

Turning to the work table, Aaron tried not to think about her laying there. He tried, but it didn't work. Focusing on the shells, he said, "Most women aren't comfortable around me."

"We're different species, Aaron, and you don't seem like that much of a threat," she mumbled from behind him.

Aaron could just imagine stretching out beside her. Not a threat? Different species? What did that have to do with anything? "My species isn't that far removed from your own. We evolved in very similar environments. Maybe with minor differences, but what does that matter?" he said, picking up a small screwdriver and zooming his goggles in on one of the shells.

Tir let out a small laugh and shifted. "Aside from humans hunting my kind down for our claws I see no real problem with humanity. How you've managed to survive is still a bit of a mystery, however. You ravage any and every resource you find and then whine and cast blame when it's all used up."

"I don't like most other humans either," Aaron said, letting his mind zero in on his project.

"And that's why you're not a threat," Tir said. He could hear sleep lacing her voice already. He wasn't sure how much time went by before he turned at looked at her, but when he did she was breathing softly. Her silky soft hair was a little mussed and a small part of her pouty bottom lip was tucked between her teeth. All in all, Aaron had to admit she was a captivating sight when she slept.

It was in that moment that Aaron realized he was torn. He'd be home in less than a day, but then Tirana wouldn't be around anymore. Sure, she might stop by for some mechanical work, but he doubted she'd be around that often. He wanted to spend more time with her. Maybe a lot more time.