All of that was fine. It was the helmethanging from a cable above the chair that had Zia a little worried.This was the heart of the beast, or rather, its brain. Once thesolenoid was inserted in the instrument panel, and this helmet wasfitted over the pilot’s skull—
Synergy. A complete bonding of man andmachine.
Or scrambled Zee.
Are you sure about this? she askedherself nervously. Why can’t you settle for 94.23percent?
It was a good question, she decided with asigh. Unlike Rem, she wasn’t obsessed with living up to her familyname. Daniel Quito had done enough of that to last them forever,hadn’t he?
To her amazement, she realized the sentimentdriving her at this moment, making her take the solenoid from herpocket and turn it over again and again in her hand, was honor. Shehad never felt anything like this before—would never have believedherself capable of, much less interested in, experiencing it. Buthere it was—a driving need to repay Malara for that amazing day,fifty years earlier, when it had seemed as if all hope waslost—like Alluva was going to smash Earth into submission—and thenthe Malarans had raced to their rescue.
“And now it’s our turn, big guy,” she toldthe robot. “I wasn’t even born then. Neither were you for thatmatter. And neither one of us has ever fought a challenge in ourlives. But we’re designed for battle, genetically and mechanically.Right? Isn’t it time we found out if we can live up to ourmystique?”
The sound of an engine from a distancestartled her, and she jumped back to the door and poked her headout in time to see that all hell had broken loose. In the air andon the ground, military vehicles were racing toward the robot withred lights flashing.
Then Commander Logan’s voice boomed at herfrom a speaker. “Zia Quito! Exit the giant immediately. Youcould cause serious injury to yourself. Exit the colossus—now!That’s an order.”
She shook her head. It was bad enough thatthey had discovered the breach. But how could they be so sure itwas Zia who had perpetrated it?
Rem!
For some reason, it made her laugh out loud,imagining the look on his handsome, clueless face when the truthhad dawned on him. Hopefully he had been dancing with somebeautiful girl at that moment—that would make it even morehilarious.
Ducking back inside, she exhaled sharply,then strode across the compartment and jammed the solenoid into thesocket in the center of the control panel. Instantly, the giant litup on the inside, and, she supposed, on the outside too. At thesame time, a huge vid panel slid out of the ceiling, giving her anunexpected—and adrenaline-inducing—view of the chaos on the runwayand in the air, where a hovercraft was fast approaching the giant’sface.
Hopping into the chair, Zia ignored theharness and boot straps, reaching instead for the flexible helmetwith one hand, while loosening her hair from its knot with theother.
“Okay, Grandpa. This is it. Ninety-fivepercent, right? Make it count!”
Chapter7
The helmet was huge, but as soon as shepulled it on, it began conforming to the shape of her head, asthough actually shrinking. Tiny waves of electricity stabbedthrough her scalp, and for the first time since she’d entered therobot, she admitted she didn’t know what she was doing.
But it didn’t matter. The robot knew. Andwhat the robot knew, she knew also. It was there before she knewit—synergy. The perfect blend of human and machine. Now when shelooked at the vid screen, she was really looking beyond it. If shewanted to look farther to the right, the screen respondedinstantly. Up. Down. Closer. Farther away. Whatever she wanted tosee outside the robot instantly appeared on the screen.
Meanwhile, the sounds of the approachingintruders filled her ears, so distinct she almost thought she couldhear Rem cursing. And she could definitely hear a stream ofprofanity in Logan’s furious voice.
“Okay, big guy. Time to dance.” Slipping herhands into the gloves, she closed her eyes and willed the giantframe to take a step, knowing that that sight, more than anything,would cause Logan and his crew to back off.
But the giant’s leg didn’t move. Instead, hisenormous arm began to elevate, until his hand was held high ingreeting to the outsiders.
Now she was pretty sure she could hearlaughing. Not just Rem, but every single member of the rescueteam.
“Back off!” she called out cheerfully, and toher delight, her voice resonated over speakers, filling the coolnight air. “Let’s see what this guy can do.”
“Zia?”
She turned to see that Dr. Annur had enteredthe chamber.
“Annur! Do you see? You were right.”
“I see.” He walked up to her and touched herarm. “Next time, put your feet in the anchors. But for now, youneed to stop and rest. This is already too much for your firstexperience with the giant.”
She wanted to argue, but could see in hiseyes that he was honestly concerned. She had made her point, hadn’tshe? Now it was time to do the prudent thing for once.
“It’s for sure? I’m a match?”
“It is for sure.”
“Ninety-five percent,” she reminded him witha smile.
He laughed. “Take off the helmet, Zia.”
“Let’s hope I can. It feels like it’s weldedto my head,” she complained, but as soon as she touched it, itexpanded to its original shape and she was able to remove iteasily. “Wow, that’s so amazing.”
Annur stepped over to the instrument paneland pulled out the solenoid. “Shall we go?”
“You don’t have air boots.”
“There is a hovercraft waiting for us rightoutside the hatch.”
She gave a pained smile. “I don’t supposethey’re going to congratulate me?”
“Eventually. But first, you will be scolded.You frightened Ambassador Humber to death. And as for CommanderLogan, his display of temper was like nothing I have everseen.”
“And Lieutenant Stone?”
Rem poked his head through the doorway andgave her a sheepish smile. “He feels like the world’s biggestfoghead.”
“Good.” She grinned. “Remember when my airboots stalled and I fell into the water? And you laughed so
