The Katanga Bay was adrift in the darkness of space.

The drydock had large, jagged gaping holes where dead wires hung lifelessly. One of the cranes had been sheared off and swung from the side by a single cable attached to the underside of the carriage. The drydock shivered, a loud thud echoed throughout the decks, and suddenly the lights came on, one at a time. The shadows cast from the light made the drydock appear more crooked and bent up than it was.

The interior lights were so bright that it made Lael sit up from the gurney left on the floor, her jacket folded near her and her black catsuit had rips in various places. Her right leg had a pair of metal rods on either side with a hinge and assembly covering her knee and ankle. She stared at her bare foot and tried to wiggle it. It didn't move.

"It's paralyzed," Hull said, climbing down a nearby ladder. She looked at Lael's leg, shook her head and sighed. "I'm not much of a doctor. I did what I could." She held her hand out to Lael.

Lael grasped her hand and pulled herself to her feet. "Where are we?"

"Solon Plexus," Hull said.

Lael nodded. She stared at Hull for a long time.

Hull narrowed her eyes. "What?

Lael said, "You're a Weaponsmith."

"And you're a girl."

Lael couldn't help but smile. "You're a smartass."

"And you're stalling," Hull said. "We got a drydock to fix, what's your question?"

Lael waved her mechanical hand in the air. "Why didn't you just..."

"Blow them to bits with a giant cannon?" Hull said. "Ionize them with a missile?"

"Yeah."

"Because that's what Rho does. I'm a builder, not a destroyer."

"But you used to me."

"I used to be many things," Hull said. "Thinner for one. Used to carry rods for another."

"But they were going to kill us. You wouldn't use a weapon to stop them?"

Hull brought her hand up to Lael's forehead and with her index finger, tapped. "That's the better weapon." She said. "Rho will even tell you that."

"Sure you don't love him?" Lael said, raising her hand and doing the same to Hull's forehead. "Or is the problem in here?"

Hull snorted loudly. "You like him so much, date him yourself. That man is hopelessly single."

Lael smiled. "Okay!"

Hull shot a nasty stare at her. "You'd better not."

Lael stepped away, her eyes wide. She shivered.

"What?" Hull said sharply. "Come on, you know I was..." She paused and quickly turned out, hands balled up into tight fists.

A boxy mechanical being towered over them. It had large, wide cables for arms and legs with the body being a large rusted box with a round window in the center with a face painted on the glass. It raised its large claws into the air and let out a mechanical howl.