“Yeah.”
“How?”
“What do you mean how? It needed repairs. I did them. End of story.”
His lips pursed. “I think we both know it wasn’t that simple.” He’d examined it after they used it to stop the alien asteroid from crashing into Earth. The tiny machine had been fried again, making it safe for him to play with. The tech inside was like nothing on Earth, and yet, this woman figured it out. Instead of pussyfooting, he blurted out, “How did you figure out how to repair alien tech?”
Her brow arched. “Machines are machines.”
She didn’t react to his use of the word alien. “If it were that simple, any nanobot engineer would have been able to render it usable, but my boss ran it by a few people before stumbling across Lance, who subcontracted the job to you.”
“What can I say? I’m smarter than them.” She smirked and crossed her arms. It didn’t detract from her beauty one bit.
“Beyond smart, I’d say.” He swept a hand. “This entire workshop is beyond advanced. I’m fairly certain some of these machines don’t exist anywhere in the developed world.”
“Like I said, I’m smart, and I like to tinker with things. If I need something, I build it.”
“Smart people don’t hide in Antarctica.”
“This one does. Not everyone wants to sell their talent.”
He changed tactics. “What are you building?” He pointed to a strange contraption on a table, a metal cylinder about three feet high, a panel in its side open to reveal wiring and computer boards.
“None of your business. Now, did you just come here to confirm I fixed the nanobot, or was there something else?”
“You called me a Zodiac Warrior. What made you say that?”
“Doubt there’s anyone else who could get here as fast.”
“If you know what I am, then you’re aware of my purpose.”
“So much for getting to the point.” She rolled her eyes. “You are protectors of Earth imbued with special abilities by the Astraeus linked to your constellations.”
He almost gaped again. “Who told you about us?”
“No one. Like I said before, I’m smart and know things. Now, are you going to keep yammering or get to the point?”
“Recently the Earth was hit by pieces of an asteroid. An asteroid we only managed to destroy because you repaired the nanobot.”
“The nanobot only made it so the asteroid could be detected,” she murmured. “And it wouldn’t have worked without theastrolábos.”
“Hold on, you know about theastrolábostoo?” He frowned. “And by its original name. I thought the knowledge of its origin was lost.”
“Not lost so much as placed somewhere for safekeeping.”
“By who?”
“People trying to prevent Earth’s annihilation.”
“By aliens,” he stated as if to confirm.
“Yes, aliens. Aliens that would have never landed if you’d not delayed using the nanobot andastrolábos,” she chided.
“Because we couldn’t figure out how to make them work together. We lacked the last page holding the final instructions, and Asterion could not recall what it said.”
“Guess late is better than not at all,” she drawled, not swayed by his excuse.
“Yeah, well, excuse us. We did our best.”
