Page 69 of Silver Slayer

Rovers rested in a neat row near one end, the familiar silhouettes small and low against the ground, the broader, heavier frame of a hauler beside them. Both sat dwarfed by what waited beyond. Dozens of oval, seamless Gretolic craft arranged in neat lines, floating silent and motionless above the hard-packed earth.

Quin's eyes widened. "Are those the rovers you promised to teach me to ride?"

"They are." I smiled at the curiosity already brightening her face. "To the right are the rovers, and next to them are Gretolic craft salvaged after the invasion."

She slowly turned back toward me.

"So..." She folded her arms with playful suspicion. "Am I learning to drive a rover or a salvaged Gretolic craft?"

I chuckled. "Neither."

Her brow furrowed. "Then what exactly is this mysterious surprise?"

Instead of answering, I guided her past the rows of craft toward what appeared to be an empty stretch of training field marked by two white stones.

"Vennox..." She looked down at the stones before sweeping her gaze across the empty ground beyond. “The view of the city?”

“No.”

"But… there isn't anything here."

"There is."

She frowned harder. "I don't..."

I reached out and pressed my palm against what appeared to be empty air. Cool, smooth hull met my touch, exactly where my eyes insisted nothing existed. A seam split beneath my palm, and the hatch slid open, the craft's cloaked surface parting to reveal the cabin within.

Quin yelped and stumbled backward so quickly I barely caught her elbow before she lost her balance.

"What the hell!"

The hatch slid open to reveal a compact, spherical cabin that hadn’t been there a moment before. At the front, a single console held a smooth control sphere beneath where the pilot’s hand would rest. Lights glimmered like scattered stars across nearly every surface. The hull was transparent, so clear it seemed to vanish, leaving the city laid out around us as though we were standing in open air.

Quin stared from the open hatch to the empty air surrounding it, then back again. "What... is... that?"

“Vallon said the females call it a bubble craft,” I said, offering her my hand once more. “Come on, this is only the beginning of what I have planned.”

Quin accepted my hand and stepped through the narrow opening. Her grip tightened the moment both feet crossed the threshold, and the city remained visible around her through the transparent hull. She turned slowly, taking in the curved walls and the thousands of tiny lights scattered across nearly every surface.

“This is incredible,” she breathed. “So we are invisible while inside the craft?”

“Yes. That is part of what makes the craft useful.” I released her hand and moved toward the command console. “The cloaking field hides it from anything outside, while those within can still see their surroundings.”

She followed closely, her gaze shifting to the smooth sphere embedded in the console. I hovered my palm over it and mock-demonstrated the slight movements Vallon had drilled into me through the dark hurs.

“This controls the direction of the craft. Push forward, and we move forward. Draw it back to slow or reverse. The slightest movement to either side changes our course, so you must keep your hand steady. Lifting or lowering your hand against the curve changes our height.”

Quin leaned closer, studying the control sphere with the same concentration she gave unfamiliar plant life. “That’s it? No steering wheel, pedals, or flight stick?”

“I do not know what any of those things are, but this is the primary control.” I pointed out several of the illuminated switches surrounding it. “These activate the power source.”

“There is only one seat,” I admitted, gesturing toward the narrow Gretolic chair positioned behind the console. “It was designed for a much smaller species.”

Quin glanced between the seat and me. “You fit in that?”

“Fit is perhaps too generous a word.”

From the compartments in the back of the craft, I stowed my sword and retrieved the thick cushion I had placed there before leaving the craft on the field, taken from one of the palace storage rooms. It went down where Quin would have an unobstructed view through the hull. “Vallon says passengers ride seated on the floor, but I thought this would be more comfortable.”