A FAMILIAR SMELL ASSAULTED Jas’s nostrils and alerted her to the outcome of the battle for the bridge before she reached her destination. Laser fire on defense units fried their organic, plastic, silicon, and metal parts, creating a unique odor: part refuse dump fire, part barbecue. As always, it made Jas nauseous.
Swallowing the increased saliva in her mouth, she stopped. Judging by the reek drifting down the corridor, and the fact that none of the units had come to find her and give a combat report, she concluded that they’d failed to gain access to the bridge. Loba must have concentrated his defenses there, protecting the Galathea’s flight controls and Grantwise. If that was the case, her guess that he would try to land the Galathea on K. 67092d was probably correct. The aliens could t
