Cobra Alliance-Cobra War Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Timothy Zahn
Tags: Science-Fiction
both fine," Jody assured him. "Mom picked up a few small cuts from flying glass, but that's about it."
"I don't know," Geoff said doubtfully, fiddling with the view on the display. "Near as I can tell from this, whatever happened left a real mess."
"Merrick wouldn't lie to me," Jody said firmly. "Besides, he's already talked to Lorne, who talked to Mom. You can't hide anything from Lorne."
"If you say so," Geoff said, still not sounding entirely convinced. "So. Where were we?"
"She was showing us her new trap design," Freylan Sonderby spoke up from beside the workbench. He frowned slightly, as if something had just occurred to him. "Unless you were wanting to go to the hospital, I mean," he added awkwardly to Jody. "I mean, you did just say you'd be there, right? There being—wherever there is. Or is going to be?"
Jody suppressed a smile. That was Freylan, all right. He was the tech end of the team, with the analytical and biochemical skills necessary for taking Geoff's visionary ideas and translating them into reality.
He was also the stereotypical socially inept bulgebrain, with a sometimes astonishing lack of ability to put coherent sentences together. Another good reason why they let him do the lab work while Geoff handled the grant-application pitches that had kept the team going for the past year and a half.
Jody herself possessed neither set of skills. Fortunately, she had other things to bring to the table. "That was just a dinner invitation," she assured Freylan, stepping around the desk to join him at the table. "Whenever you're ready, Geoff?"
"Ready now." Geoff took one last lingering look at the pictures of the Sun Center damage, then shut off the feed and got up from his chair. "Ready," he said again, stepping to Jody's side. "Nice little rabbit trap, anyway," he commented.
"It is just a model," Jody reminded him, running her eyes over the device. It didn't actually look like much, she had to admit: a flat, rectangular tangle of mesh, thirty centimeters by fifteen, sitting in midair and supported by a pair of meter-long bars extending outward along each of the rectangle's long sides. One set of bars was currently resting on the end of the table, the other on Geoff's desk. Between each set of bars were a set of five slender crossbars with what looked like thin medicine bottles extending a few centimeters upward from their centers. To the side of the central rectangle was another rectangle, similarly sized, though the mesh in this one was neatly arranged instead of apparently tangled. "We'll have plenty of time to construct a proper one on the way to Caelian," she added.
"Assuming we ever get there," Freylan muttered.
"We will," Geoff promised. "So how's it work?"
"The whole thing gets buried under a couple of centimeters of dirt or leaves," Jody explained. "With a much deeper hole under the central section, of course. Little Rabbit Foo-Foo comes hopping along the trail—" she pulled out her comm and bounced it, rabbit-like, along the desk toward the arms and crossbars "—and comes upon a nice little morsel of food." She stopped at the first medicine bottle and nuzzled the comm against it. "Being a smart, hungry little bunny, she of course scarfs it right down."
"Question," Freylan said, half raising his hand. "How do we make sure that only Little Rabbit—what was it again?"
"Foo-Foo," Jody supplied.
Freylan frowned slightly, but apparently decided to take it in stride. "That only Little Rabbit Foo-Foo takes the bait?"
"Good question," Jody said. "We'll need to figure out how to tailor the bait to whatever animal we're after at the time. Hopefully, the settlers will be able to help us with that once we're there. Anyway, once Foo-Foo has taken the first bite, we keep her going the right direction by having the rest of the bait cups open up in sequence, once at a time, drawing her onto the main part of the trap." She bounced her comm along the bars, stopping briefly at each bait cup , and onto the
"I don't know," Geoff said doubtfully, fiddling with the view on the display. "Near as I can tell from this, whatever happened left a real mess."
"Merrick wouldn't lie to me," Jody said firmly. "Besides, he's already talked to Lorne, who talked to Mom. You can't hide anything from Lorne."
"If you say so," Geoff said, still not sounding entirely convinced. "So. Where were we?"
"She was showing us her new trap design," Freylan Sonderby spoke up from beside the workbench. He frowned slightly, as if something had just occurred to him. "Unless you were wanting to go to the hospital, I mean," he added awkwardly to Jody. "I mean, you did just say you'd be there, right? There being—wherever there is. Or is going to be?"
Jody suppressed a smile. That was Freylan, all right. He was the tech end of the team, with the analytical and biochemical skills necessary for taking Geoff's visionary ideas and translating them into reality.
He was also the stereotypical socially inept bulgebrain, with a sometimes astonishing lack of ability to put coherent sentences together. Another good reason why they let him do the lab work while Geoff handled the grant-application pitches that had kept the team going for the past year and a half.
Jody herself possessed neither set of skills. Fortunately, she had other things to bring to the table. "That was just a dinner invitation," she assured Freylan, stepping around the desk to join him at the table. "Whenever you're ready, Geoff?"
"Ready now." Geoff took one last lingering look at the pictures of the Sun Center damage, then shut off the feed and got up from his chair. "Ready," he said again, stepping to Jody's side. "Nice little rabbit trap, anyway," he commented.
"It is just a model," Jody reminded him, running her eyes over the device. It didn't actually look like much, she had to admit: a flat, rectangular tangle of mesh, thirty centimeters by fifteen, sitting in midair and supported by a pair of meter-long bars extending outward along each of the rectangle's long sides. One set of bars was currently resting on the end of the table, the other on Geoff's desk. Between each set of bars were a set of five slender crossbars with what looked like thin medicine bottles extending a few centimeters upward from their centers. To the side of the central rectangle was another rectangle, similarly sized, though the mesh in this one was neatly arranged instead of apparently tangled. "We'll have plenty of time to construct a proper one on the way to Caelian," she added.
"Assuming we ever get there," Freylan muttered.
"We will," Geoff promised. "So how's it work?"
"The whole thing gets buried under a couple of centimeters of dirt or leaves," Jody explained. "With a much deeper hole under the central section, of course. Little Rabbit Foo-Foo comes hopping along the trail—" she pulled out her comm and bounced it, rabbit-like, along the desk toward the arms and crossbars "—and comes upon a nice little morsel of food." She stopped at the first medicine bottle and nuzzled the comm against it. "Being a smart, hungry little bunny, she of course scarfs it right down."
"Question," Freylan said, half raising his hand. "How do we make sure that only Little Rabbit—what was it again?"
"Foo-Foo," Jody supplied.
Freylan frowned slightly, but apparently decided to take it in stride. "That only Little Rabbit Foo-Foo takes the bait?"
"Good question," Jody said. "We'll need to figure out how to tailor the bait to whatever animal we're after at the time. Hopefully, the settlers will be able to help us with that once we're there. Anyway, once Foo-Foo has taken the first bite, we keep her going the right direction by having the rest of the bait cups open up in sequence, once at a time, drawing her onto the main part of the trap." She bounced her comm along the bars, stopping briefly at each bait cup , and onto the