Page 42 of Lost in Barbarian Space

“There appears to be some kind of lock here.” Honor motioned toward the top of the box. “Maybe if I—” She reached out and touched the lockbox.

There was a zapping sound. She snatched her hand back, shaking it.

“Ow.”

Colm moved toward her and grabbed her hand. He studied her slender fingers but didn’t see any injury.

“It’s fine,” she said.

Dr. Lev’nan tapped a finger against his chin. “We could scan it. See if we can find any weak points in the metal.”

“The metal looks very tough to me,” Officer Abora said.

Colm barely held back a snort of irritation. He had no intention of seeing Honor injure herself opening this stupid thing. He reached over, grabbed the sides of the lid, and pulled. It was tough, and he felt his muscles strain. A tingle ran over his skin. He let the strength of his nanami flood him.

The lid popped open.

Honor stared at him. The archeologists were all gaping as well, then Lev’nan shook himself, and bustled past Colm. He looked into the box.

“Amazing.”

Honor followed and peered over the side. She made a small noise and reached inside. She lifted out some sort of weapon.

“It’s a collection of ancient guns,” she breathed with reverence.

Colm smiled. He suspected she would’ve looked less excited if it had been filled with exotic jewels or precious metals.

Honor and Lev’nan started pulling the ancient weapons from the box. They set them out on the table. Its glowing surface flared to life and Colm raised a brow.

“Holo-table,” Honor told him. “It has a built-in computer. It’s scanning the weapons, taking images and measurements.” She lifted a small gray gun up. “These are fabulous. I know the First Warriors were all former military. They obviously had an extensive collection of ancient weapons on their ships.” She turned the gun over in her hands. “Imagine…someone from old Earth used this.”

“There appears to be something built into the side of the box,” Lev’nan said. “I’m not sure what this is.”

Honor leaned over and gasped. “It looks like what I’ve seen in failsafe storage boxes.”

Dr. Lev’nan nodded. “You’re right. It does look like an early design of a failsafe.”

“What is that?” Colm asked.

“They were designed to download the last of the ship’s records and store valuables, in the event of an emergency.” Honor poked inside the box. “It looks like an early version of a Sync built into the side of the box. Here, let me try…”

She fiddled inside the box for a moment, and when she pulled back, she was holding a small electronic device.

“Definitely a precursor to the Sync,” Officer Abora said.

Honor lifted her head. “Can we integrate it with the Drake’s computer?”

Abora shrugged. “Perhaps. Let me try.”

The science officer took the device and moved over to the holo-table. She set the device down on the surface and tapped in some commands. After a moment, the table made a chime and the woman shook her head. “It’s not working. There are a few other things I can try, but the tech might just be too old to work with ours. Leave it with me.”

Honor and Dr. Lev’nan returned to pulling the final weapons out of the box.

Colm leaned against the holo-table and watched the two of them work. Well, to be fair, he watched Honor work. It appeared he wasn’t tiring of watching this fascinating woman.

A woman who could never be his.

Finally, Abora shook her head. “I’m sorry, nothing I’ve tried is working.”