Duhyle didn?t quite use the "bigger hammer" theory to rebuild the synchronizer. He did calculate exactly how much power each component in the current assembly could take without failing, melting down, or otherwise malfunctioning. Then he started modifying. That resulted in subassemblies angling off from the body of the device.
At one point Helkyria looked up from her makeshift console and at his table.
Duhyle grinned at her. "You did tell me that speed and reliability outweighed compactness and efficient design."
She smiled back, warmly, and went back to work.
Twilight was dropping across the canal by the time he checked the last connections and cleared his throat.
"You?re finished, Kavn?"
"I hope so. And you?"
"I?ve done what I could. I?ve been waiting for you. I didn?t want to break your concentration. Is it ready?"
"As ready as I can make it. I never asked what you had in mind."
"No, you didn?t. For that, I?m grateful. There?s a pattern in the systems, but what exactly completing it will do…of that I?m not certain."
"You must have an idea."
Helkyria nodded. "If Thora?s correct, and she seems to be, then gaining full control of the system might grant us access to the canal?s internal systems."
"Ah…what does Thora have to do with that?"
"Time…There?s no way the canal can exist as it does. Therefore, it doesn?t."
Duhyle shook his head, then abruptly stopped. "The ancients did something to place it somehow outside of time?"
"I don?t see how that?s possible, but if she?s correct, it might be possible to anchor the canal across a continuum of time, not all time, but at points across hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of years, perhaps at so many points that it would seem continuous."
"But the energy…?"
"…had to come from somewhere."
"Where, ser, if I might ask?" asked Symra from where she stood at the top of the ramp.
"There are a number of possibilities, but we won?t know which one unless and until the synchronizer works."
"What do you want us to do? Captain Valakyr-"
"Like all good junior officers, she wants to do something. The question is what will be most effective. We will find out shortly." She looked at the subcaptain. "If you?d have someone bring us some rations and something to drink…? We need a break before we test this."
"Yes, ser."
After Symra left, Duhyle asked, "Have you thought what we do if this doesn?t work and we get to Baeldura?s deadline?"
"I have."
Duhyle waited.
"We refuse to give up the station. Unless we can stop them, the Aesyr won?t stop using the Hammers, even if we surrender. They?ll just keep using them to get their way. Their actions already prove that. If they?d used just one Hammer strike and held back on the others, I?d be more inclined to trust Baeldura?s word, but they?ve already used the Hammers here several times, and we have no idea where else they?ve employed them."
"Isn?t that playing turtle?" he asked.
"Unfortunately, but the First Speaker agrees."
"I thought she wanted us to negotiate."
"That was before she discovered that Aesyr mobs in Asgard cut down forty Vanir with axes. Now both she and the Magistra of Security see no reason to negotiate. None of us trust the Aesyr, and certainly not Baeldura, for all of her public reputation for honesty. She may be beloved, but it?s only by the Aesyr."
"You knew that before Baeldura made the ultimatum."
"I did. We needed the extra time."
Neither spoke.
Duhyle started to say more, but then heard Symra?s boots on the stone of the ramp.
"Ser…I brought the ration paks and some tea. It?s only warm…"
"That?s fine. Thank you," offered Helkyria.
Only after he?d eaten the entire ration pak did Duhyle realize just how hungry he?d been. Then he stood and stretched, looking for somewhere to put the carton because the cycler was down on the lower level.
"I?ll take those," offered Symra.
"Thank you." Duhyle handed her the carton and the mug.
"It will be a while before everything?s powered up and checked," said Helkyria. "You should be here."
"I?ll be right back, ser." Symra headed down the ramp with the empty cartons and mugs.
"She?d be watching and listening from the ramp anyway," Duhyle pointed out.
Helkyria nodded. "Let?s start powering up. If this works, we won?t have that much time to figure out how to manage what we discover."
"You were rather effective with that flaming blade," Duhyle pointed out. "Couldn?t you try something like that?"
"Kavn…I told you. I didn?t do that. At least, I don?t remember doing it, and I have no idea how to replicate that. I?m hoping that if we can get to the next level of commands, we might be able to use the canal for directed forces that way…but I don?t know." For a moment a combination of off-black and green colored the tips of her short hair. "System power…"
"System power on."
"Disabler one…"
"Disabler one…removed…"
By the time Symra hurried back up the ramp and stood behind them, they had the system fully powered and were ready to employ the beefed-up synchronizer.
"Beginning search probe…" Helkyria pressed the stud.
The work space/laboratory exploded into a brilliant silver light so bright that Duhyle could see nothing, nor could he access any of the systems. He closed his eyes against the intensity that was far more than mere glare. For several moments, he thought that the light would dim. It did not. Instead the brilliance increased so much that his closed eyes began to tear.
Then the light vanished. A darkness as intensive and as intrusive as the light had been enfolded him. He wanted to protest that darkness couldn?t behave like light, that it didn?t have a wave form or photonic behavior.
That was before both heat and chill shook him so that he was burning and shivering…and plunged him into depths that were neither hot nor cold, light nor dark…