Austin called the test of his new core a confined-space entry because that was the closest rule in the manual. Xuan Ming called it a bad idea.
The argument ended when Dara approved a permit with two changes: Tie would control the recovery winch, and she would hold the stop authority.
“Anyone can call a stop,” she said. “Including the repair apprentices.”
“Especially the apprentices,” Austin said.
He lowered a silver-steel probe toward the tiny black ring at his waist. At the outer boundary, the probe whipped sideways as the rotating core dragged space around it.
“Frame dragging confirmed,” Austin said. “Right to four decimal places.” “The field can take energy from an incoming beam and send it into a grounded bus.”
“Like regenerative braking on a freight train,” Tie said.
“Exactly. No reason to burn off good energy as heat.”
