One Impossible Technology Per Day

“You know your father’s debt better than anyone. Don’t expect scrap to save you.” The man kicked the gray plate and left. After midnight, Han fell asleep in the wheelhouse with half a bottle of liquor. Lin locked the engine room and removed the black polyhedron. Lan-Zero hovered above the workbench, projecting a broken model of the *Far Tide*. Integrity: two point three percent. “Explain my father.” “Database damage is severe. Eight years ago, the *Far Tide* entered this system under concealment. Pilot Lin Haichuan encountered a scout module by accident. He helped me evade a Hunter-Tide scan, then contact was lost.” “Lost, or killed?” “Unknown.” “You called me captain. Can I command you?”