He showed her his hip. Affixed to his belt was something that looked like a black pistol with a green sparking light at its top. For a moment Park’s vision went dark. It was an ELG—an electrolaser gun—a device that fired such a powerful ionized track of plasma that it could immobilize entire rooms, or melt the teeth of a single assailant. It was like shooting a stream of lightning at a body. Regular guns had been banned off-Earth: the hulls of ships were bulletproof, but that meant the ricochet from one projectile could be devastating to whoever was trapped inside, especially with unpredictable gravity. Electrolaser guns were the next deadliest thing. The ISF claimed that they were non-lethal even in the wrong hands, but—that was just it. They were only claims.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Park said, stiff with fear. She meant for Holt, but she also couldn’t see why Boone needed a weapon at all. The thought of him using it on a crewmember—or on her—made her stomach lurch. Why did he have such a thing? Had he had it the entire time they’d been on the ship? Did ISF know?

“Then it’s a good thing it’s not your call, isn’t it?” drawled Boone. He sniffed again, rubbed a finger under his nose. “Word has it that Holt’s gone crazy. He might be dangerous. We need some way to immobilize him.”

“He’s not an escaped mental patient. There are other ways.”

“Like what? You got a tranquilizer gun?”

She glanced sidelong at Jimex. “The androids could restrain him. He can’t hurt them.”

“I wouldn’t trust a clunker to know Holt from a handgun,” Boone said, derisive. “Speaking of, I don’t much appreciate you letting this one run wild. It watches everybody.”

“I’m not responsible for that.”

“Sure you’re not. Just like you’re not responsible for spying on me and Natalya today at lunch.”

Park pressed her lips together. “You seem to have the misconception that I’m unduly interested in what you do, Boone,” she said. “That I would go out of my way to watch you, through the androids or other means. I don’t have the time or energy for that.”

“So I imagined you eavesdropping on me earlier?”

“You were talking very loudly.” Then she looked again at the EL gun at his hip and thought twice about antagonizing him further. Boone saw her look and laughed.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Park asked him, self-correcting. She cleared her throat. “Anything you need for Holt?”

“No,” Boone said, flexing his hands a little. “He’s somewhere on this ship. It’s only a matter of time until we find him. In the meantime I’d suggest that you hole up somewhere and write your incident report.”