Page 37 of The Bully Alien
Nothing is viable. Nothing at all.
I eye her. "I need to sneak onto a naval base."
"A naval base?" Her eyes widen.
I nod.
"Why?"
"A mine engine is so much stronger than a car engine."
"That makes sense," she murmurs. "Wouldn't it have to be used constantly at full power just to move the ship at all?"
"Precisely."
"But how are you going to manage that?" she presses.
"I have my ways." I activate the sensors in my skin and alter my appearance to look like one of our professors.
Her mouth drops. "That's..."
"Stay here," I tell her.
She grimaces. "I don't want to."
"Please. I'm going to be stealing a marine engine. I can't risk any distractions. I can't change your appearance, and how can we make it like you belong there?"
"Fine, but hurry back."
"I'm going to take my good wolf time," I tease her.
She flips me the bird, and I laugh.
* * *
Three hours later, I return not only with the marine engine but also two salads from a different diner.
Delana accepts the salad, but she doesn't eat until I sit down to eat. She's almost too excited to eat, I can tell, and I have to admit that I'm thrilled too. I can't believe I hadn't thought about a marine engine before, and I can't say what made me think of it now either, other than being willing to consider every option.
Because of her.
If I get off this rock, I might have to debate taking her with me.
Once I finish, I return to work. The marine engine is delicate, and I mentally debate whether or not to use that as the base of the engine from Grixulara.
The military engine is powerful, although not as powerful as the one from Grixulara. Still, if I can try to combine the two, it should improve our chances of actually escaping. It will not be an easy task, though. Mixing the two engines might prove to be a recipe for disaster. There are parts that might not be compatible no matter how much I try to tweak them, and if I don't get it right, then we could end up stranded here forever.
I take the measurements and balance them with the parts from the military engine. I start to take apart the engine, trying to piece together different parts and pieces. I assemble pistons, valves, and rods from both engines, but they don't quite fit snugly. I try to force them into place as best as possible, but the engine still won't work correctly. I spend hours tinkering with it, but as I start to piece it all together, I realize that something is off. The engine cannot handle the strain, so I try to make some tweaks and adjustments.
In a last-ditch effort, I reach for a pair of pliers from my tool kit and push back against a frayed wire connected to one of the coils. Nothing happens at first until suddenly there's a spark and an alarming hissing sound that quickly fades away.
Throughout all of this, Delana has been quiet. This isn't her really of expertise.
Honestly, it's not mine either. I'm a flier, a fighter, not an engineer.
Not an engineer from Grixulara. I did, however, work for a long time under an Earthling engineer. I studied under one hailed to be a master, a genius, and that is how I made so much money over the years. I hoped to learn all I could to help with the spaceship, but it had proven worthless as the technology between the two planets did not equate.
But mixing the two, this might actually work if I keep trying.