In this scene, Jawk and Luc have come aboard Luc's new ship, the Crossfire.
The ship itself hadn't been visible from the ramp area, so Jawk had no clue to its size. Once aboard, Luc stopped in front of a panel showing the vessel's layout.
"Here, Jawk." Luc picked up a small lapel pin. "Put this on whenever you're outside your cabin. It'll help you figure out where you are."
He dropped the backpack and attached the tiny pin to his jacket the way Luc did. Two small blinking lights appeared near the bottom of the ship outline. A bubble appeared above each.
Luc touched one. "That's us."
Jawk leaned down to get a better look. "That means this thing's huge."
"Crossfire is a sleepliner-sized vessel. Once it's through trials and gets commissioned, it'll transport seven thousand passengers."
"Seven thou--" Jawk flicked back one ear. "Listen, I only have three years of NETway engineering classes behind me, but I know what kind of power it takes to launch something this big. How does it get off the ground without tearing itself up? Shouldn't you keep it on the lunar station where there's less gravity?"
"Jawk, this ship is all about convenience. Not having to take a shuttle to get to the lunar starport. Not having to use fuel to lift off. This ship produces no pollution, and doesn't damage the ecosphere."
"No fuel?" Jawk blinked, ears straight up. "But physics laws are immutable. There has to..."
Luc held up a hand. "I've spent five years creating this ship. I risked more capital than you can imagine to put it together, and I don't risk anything lightly. For want of a better word, the 'fuel' this ship uses is reproducible and eco-friendly."
Jawk chewed the tip of a claw.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"Haven't seen anything yet to convince me it works, whatever it is." With one foot, he nudged the backpack. "I'll say one thing. You sure think outside the box."
The man gave him a smug look. "What box?"
Book Hooks is a weekly cooperative meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog.
