It All Started With Magnets

.21.

"Off the records, what happened to Void Breaker?" The question was almost casual as the Commander said it. We were sitting in the canteen, eating a late supper, thankfully done with all the 'interviews'.

"Oh, that ship is pretty much gone." I shrugged. "The one out there is Alpha Orion One." I waved a slightly cold french fry at him before eating it.

"Code name Void Breaker. The question still stands." He gestured at me with his bottle of water and I rolled my eyes.

"No it doesn't." He couldn't just name a ship that already had a name. The ship he had named was gone, this was a new ship.

Bianca chuckled from her spot next to me. "Overruled because Void Breaker is a code name, not a ship specific name. It's a valid point, Roxie." She winked at me and I just shook my head with a smile.

"I took the aliens out so they could get some readings on it and Il'tig and At'kat'vo got freaked out by the slight rattle the hull of the ship had. They asked me if I was amendable to them revamping the hull. I said yes because duh. Nano carbon technology? Fuck yah." I picked up several more french fries and ate them. "They made the hull pretty much one single piece but also revamped the interior a little bit to give me more space and storage. Plus the addition of the new comms." I shrugged slightly and fought back a yawn. "Speaking of which. I need to get back to it or I'm going to have one pissed off antwyn and like seven hundred pounds of pissed off grog to deal with." I wiped my hands together, trying to get the little bits of salt off them.

"What does that mean?" The Commander sat up a bit straighter as he watched me.

"Oh, Gal'rug will get tetchy if I don't comm them within a specific time frame. It's nothing to worry about though. I'll comm them and put their minds at ease." I shrugged again, gathering my bits of garbage and making sure it was all put together before looking around for a garbage can.

"You have communication with them?" Bianca stressed it and I frowned in confusion as I looked at her.

"Well yah. I didn't come from Torin with news of aliens without a way to communicate with them. I dropped comm buoys, I have a direct link to Torin." I wasn't quite sure why they were looking at me like they were.

"For fuck's sakes, Roxie." Bianca nearly groaned. "For being one of the smartest people I know, you can be fucking dense."

"What?" I stared at her and she gave an abrupt laugh before rubbing her face and looking at me.

"Roxanne Estella Matthews, you currently have a full blown communications link with the aliens, yes?" She nodded as she said it and I nodded in return. "Aliens the rest of the world want to know about and have been harassing both the Canadian Military and Government over, yes?" I nodded again, this time frowning at the slight condescending tone in her voice. "And we need specific leverage to get them off all our backs and to put us into a better bargaining position, correct?" I nodded again. "Ergo, Roxie, what does you having full communication with the aliens mean for us in regards to that?" She was staring at me and I realized what she was saying.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" I gave a self-deprecating laugh as I buried my face in my hands. "Me having communication with Torin gives us pretty much unlimited bargaining power with other foreign governments." I looked at her, my cheeks still feeling overly warm and she clapped me on my back.

"Knew you'd get it. You can explain to me all about your little inventions and how they're put together but sometimes the most basic things completely escape you." She shook her head slightly. "It's a good thing I'm around to help remind you." At that I had to nod. It was very much true. Sometimes if I didn't particularly care about something, I tended to forget about it.