Paying the Price (Book 5 of The Empire of Bones Saga) Read Free Page B

doubted even he could hack it without his personal knowledge of the algorithms. Good luck to the outsider that wanted to tap in.
    Avoiding jamming was ridiculously simple, in theory. The actual hardware and new scientific theory was a lot more complicated. The execution was fiendishly difficult and he’d had to create an entirely new branch of science to make it work. Well, expand one that existed into something that was actually useful, rather. That had taken the last two months to get working.
    Everyone knew about Einstein’s pre-Imperial work. Pre-spaceflight, really. Specifically, spooky action at a distance. Quantum entanglement of photons so that changes in spin replicated on the linked pair without regard to distance or time.
    A curious scientific oddity. Nothing had ever been created that could successfully harness the effect in a meaningful way. He’d torn up the databases at the research facility and a few separate projects had smashed together in another dream. The work on that had been so intense that he’d yelled at Doctor Leonard for interrupting him.
    He’d been mortified later, but the older scientist just beamed at him. He acted as though Carl had passed some kind of test. Older people were weird.
    The quantum validation unit worked in tandem with the long-range communicator. It used an expected sequence of photon spin changes to validate the commands. Someone might tap into the encrypted communications frequency, he supposed, but they wouldn’t even be able to know there was a second signal required to validate orders.
    It also kept the two units linked. The hammer and wielder would always know where the other was, within the range of the quantum unit. Whatever that ended up being.
    Now that he’d brought it all together in this device, it was time to see if it actually worked. He’d test the range later.
    Quantum theory said it was unlimited, but nature didn’t behave that way. Even flip points had limits. There would be a maximum useful range. He just hoped it was enough to prove workable with Mjölnir.
    He linked his implants to the hammer and hefted it. With the grav assist, it seemed light enough. It would collapse the table if he turned that off.
    The target was a set of the Old Empire marine armor on a stand at the other end of the room. It looked as imposing as hell. Part of him expected the hammer to bounce off, leaving him looking like an idiot.
    “I’m ready,” he said after taking a deep breath.
    “The recorders are on,” Black said. “You’re clear to go. I have a med team standing by. Just in case.”
    “Thanks for the confidence booster,” Carl said in the same dry voice he’d been practicing after hearing how good it sounded on Admiral Mertz.
    The hammer had a strap to wrap around the wrist, but this wasn’t the time to use it. He drew the weapon back and awkwardly threw it while designating the armor as the target.
    It left his hand and flew toward the armor at maximum speed.
    In retrospect, that was probably a mistake.
    The hammer brought up its miniature battle screen, broke the sound barrier just in front of Carl, and blasted into the armor with the force of a speeding pinnace. And a good fraction of one’s weight.
    It blew through the chest of the armor as though it were tissue paper. The reinforced plascrete behind the target faired just as poorly. Carl had a clear view of the hammer’s surroundings as it screamed around in a tight turn and howled back toward him, generating two more sonic booms right together as it reversed course.
    The first blast had deafened him, even with the protection of his implants, and blown him into the wall. It thoughtfully slammed the table on top of him. He’d ended up sitting with his back to the wall as the hammer arrowed toward him like a freight train.
    He had just a moment to get his hand up and the hammer abruptly slowed, creating a fourth sonic boom that almost knocked him unconscious. The handle slapped into his hand as gently