Cutlass Sharpened by Jr H. Lee Morgan Page B

to
recent years.” She promised. He patiently nodded. To the others her
grin somehow grew more. “One last interesting fact I neglected to
tell everyone.”
    “ What? That it’s sentient?”
Renee said with heave sarcasm.
    “ In a way.” Stephanie didn’t
hold back. “Even though my readouts showed the edge of the sword to
be a single molecule thick…” She paused for dramatic effect. “I
could not make it
cut anything beyond semisolids like a stick of butter. I even tried
cutting my desk in half and all it did was rebound. I tried to even
nick my thumb, but it would not work.”
    “ But how is that possible?
Does it make a protective shield?”
    “ So far I can’t discover the
how. It didn’t detect any energy output. But my theory is not as
absurd as I originally believed. It’s Oliver’s blade and only in
his hands can it cut. Oliver, please demonstrate if it can cut by
sliding the tip through the ground.”
    Seeing they wanted to know, he turned it
point down and slowly the edge sunk below the surface with minimal
effort, but gave enough sensation to know it met resistance. He
then pulled it out with much more care. “This is dangerous.” He
admitted. “It could stop the movement like I did to the
creature.”
    Sensing damage to the ship, it began
self-repair and the hole sealed itself as if nothing happened.
    “ You mean it could kill us.
And yes, it can. I’m glad you understand the concept of death. And
the creature is called a Beast we refer to as a
Salamander.”
    Oliver sat the sword down and it stopped
sparkling. “Why do I not want to see any of you dead when that
Salamander made my mouth get wet and this area be in pain?”
    “ It’s hunger just so you
know. Hunters eat Beasts and other animals. As to why you don’t
want to see us to die is good. It means you would never again see
us.” Jessica said, curling her auburn hair around a finger.
“Oliver, you know how bad you struggle to understand us? Death is
just like what you were when my wife found you, but in death you
don’t recover… you lose everything. Death is the end.”
    “ I don’t want to see anyone
die… I like talking.”
    “ We’ve diverted from the
main topic. Can we get back?” The blonde archeologist didn’t get
denied.
    “ If you thought his sword
was interesting, it pales in comparison to the armor found with
him.” She lifted the strangely shaped brown cloth from the case in
her lap. It held a faint sheen to show it was metallic, but felt
like silk.
    “ This is the second ever
recorded armor discovered to be organic metal.”
    “ No.” Hissed Sparky as he stretched his neck closer to get a closer
look and sniff. “Organic metal is
myth.”
    “ It’s fact now.” Stephanie
challenged. “I thought it was some hoax too. A rumor of a rumor of
yet another rumor since no one of any credibility has seen a
genuine one before.
    “ After I was cleared
medically I took it back to my study and cleaned the Star-saber and
the armor. I should have done the armor first because it is more
fundamentally inspiring than the weapon.
    “ When I say organic, I mean
the material acts and reacts like our immune system. Cut a piece
and it begins repairing, sensing damage, but without a nervous
system I could find no nanites. Unlike our own nanite infused armor
which basically makes patchwork. His armor regenerates , given enough time… like
our natural bodies or ships. And the metal has what I can only
assume to be a type of stem cells just waiting for some kind of
program… and I think the programmer is on Oliver’s arm.”
    He pulled the sleeve back on his right arm
out of sheer curiosity. “This?”
    “ The original multi-tool,
yes. Oliver, just for a test I want you to imagine turning this
brown color snow white.”
    Stephanie’s prompt had him imagine just that
and in a moment the idea was formed. The vambrace reacted to its
host’s will and a needle thin spike pierced the distance between
them. Spreading from