6th February
08:27 GMT
Guy looks down at the former Alignment prison ship. "Huh. Quick work."
Large parts of the superstructure which were torn asunder by the crash landing have been shoved back into place and sealed. Though… Most of the section containing the FTL drive was fried by exotic radiation. He's-.
I glance upwards for a moment.
He's cut and shut the relevant parts of the ship Martin attacked. Far safer with a power ring performing molecular bonding, and externally the only obvious change is how much shorter the ship is. Eliminating cargo storage and internment quarters it no longer needs would easily enable that.
"He work in a shipyard or somethin'?"
"No, but his self-awareness has improved a great deal since we first met. He knows that he needs this to fulfil his needs, so he can more easily work on it."
"Thing I don't get?"
"Yeah?"
"What's he need a spaceship for?"
"We're not exactly expecting a friendly reception, given that he received a 'transportation for life' sentence for murder. Staying on an Alignment planet seems like a bad idea, and while the two of us could fight their entire navy, that would result in a great many deaths and destabilise the region."
"So it's a flyin' hotel?"
"It's an FTL-capable stealth flying hotel." I frown and tap my ring. "Lantern Xor, have you created a stealth system?"
"Sensor-masking and active cooling."
"Oh, I think I can do a little better than that. Guy, you want to help out?"
Guy holds up his right hand. "See this ring?"
"Yes?"
"What color is it, smart guy?"
I shrug and fly down towards the bow of the ship, ring filtering the rocky ground beneath the surrounding ice for the elements I need. "Pretty sure Malvolio could fix up a ship."
"How'd you even know about him, anyhow? No way you got that off'f John's ring."
"You think the Controllers didn't do a full background check on me after I flew into their capital on the Ophidian? Particularly given that the split with the Guardians happened before humans were really a thing."
Hm. What form of stealth system to use? Holograms and a spatial distortion nullifier would be best for a ship that would have to sneak around an enemy, but our main combat power comes from our rings. A subspace displacement generator would probably be best. Not undetectable, but…
"Have you-?" / "That's not an answer."
"Hm?"
Won't be too hard to place the generators on the hull without compromising the other systems.
"What, you think I don't know what deflection sounds like? Or that you told me you get around Wondy's lie detector by not straight-up lyin'."
"Guy? Have you been paying attention?"
"Yeah, they didn't let me int' the Honor Guard for my pretty face." He folds his arms across his chest. "So how'd you know?"
"Adom mentioned that one of his old-."
"Pretty sure Whaler wasn't a Lantern."
"But how do you know? The Guardians have lost control of Lanterns before."
"Look, if you're not gunna tell me then just tell me you're not gunna tell me."
I only bothered reading up on Malvolio after I read an opinion piece which claimed that he would have made a better explanation for the 'Parallax' incident than either the explanation at the time (he was just really angry) or the eventual explanation (that he was possessed). Jordan was wearing Malvolio's ring after all, and the removal of the Guardians would have been to Malvolio's advantage. But… What he could actually do? Don't.. really remember.
"Alright. I'm not going to tell you."
Orange lights flicker out, forming the raw materials into the first ring of generators.
"Was that so hard?"
"All I got is a name, and a claim that he murdered his predecessor."
"Yeah, that's what the Guardians told me."
"Is that possible?"
"You'd have thought not." He shrugs. "But it worked for Chummuck so I guess not. But Chummuck got called to Oa, same as everyone else. Malvolio didn't."
I move further down the ship and repeat the process. "How'd he manage that?"
"Dunno. Magic? He coulda overridden the recall with willpower, but only if he didn’t ever sleep."
"Did they remotely wipe the ring like they did with Yalan Gur?"
"Tried. Didn't seem to slow him down much."
"Much as I'd like to be the font of all knowledge, the only other thing I know about him is that he looked like Alan."
"He-?" Guy frowns. "Kinda. I mean, his clothes look kinda like Al's old uniform." He squints at me. "Sure there's nothing else you remember?"
"Nothing of any significance. I'll let you know if anything jogs my memory. Xor, how are the internals?"
"Near completion. We will need to pull the ship into orbit."
"Think we can manage that. I've nearly got the hiding system done. Guy, who are the local Green Lanterns? We should probably call ahead."
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