Read Online Regan's Reach 4: Avarice by Mark G Brewer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Mark G Brewer
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turned to face them, a male
hardly recognizable due to the awful grimace and drifting across the hull of a
ship. They could see ship markings; it was the leased ship Fair Passage.
Ham spun his command chair around to face
them. "You are looking at the 'ex' Commander Tyrian Juno, from Reubus."
"TJ . . . are you sure it's him?"
Regan stumbled forward to her chair.
"What happened?" Leah asked.
Marin's eyes were locked on the tumbling
figure, looking for something . . . injury?
Ham too looked back at the images. "We
don't know what happened, but we know for sure it's the Commander."
"How can there not be a record of what
happened?" Regan asked. "Have you checked with the ship AI?"
"The ship AI . . . has a name Regan,
his name is Lucas." Ham's tone admonished her. "You of all people
should know Lucas is not just a low level AI, he is as much a member of crew as
any other and yes, of course I've checked. He opened to me without question and
we've reviewed all his vid-feeds from everywhere on ship; there's
nothing."
"How did he die?" Marin was still
following the body.
Ham glanced casually at the screen. "A
deficit of air perhaps?"
Hilary interrupted them. "The recording
we are viewing is taken from the perspective of the Ascendant which is
alongside, hence our view of the Fair Passage hull. Regarding the cause of
death we have recovered the body and there is no evidence of injury that we can
see. Tests will be carried out soon to see if there was anything in his blood,
however it appears he may have been ejected into vacuum, possibly through a
refuse ejector tube."
"Ham, what does Lucas say about this?"
Regan turned to him.
"He's embarrassed, believe me. This shouldn't
happen with a Mind - we are everywhere, all the time and to not have any record
of what happened is deeply disturbing to him. Vid-feeds from the refuse area
were somehow turned off briefly and he doesn't know how or why. It was only on
reviewing the refuse exit itself that Lucas identified a body and asked for a
feed from the Ascendant. He's as shocked as we are."
"What does Lucas say about TJ's state
of mind, Ham?" Leah asked.
"You think it may be suicide?"
Regan was shocked.
"Well, he did lose his Dahlian wife
seven months ago. He seemed to be fine to me as we went through the crew
selection but it's a factor and I haven't seen him for weeks."
Ham was stretched back, clearly
communicating with someone, probably Lucas, and so they waited for his input.
"Hmm, Lucas doesn't know him that well;
it seems TJ was a last minute appointment of the shipping line when we leased
the ship. He now wonders whether Juno took the appointment to give himself a
break following the death of the wife and I guess it is a possibility. Lucas apparently
didn't communicate much with TJ on a personal level and he doesn't think anyone
else did either. Let's not forget the entire crew other than the Commander is
from this Solar System after all, and they've only been aboard Fair Passage a
month. TJ has been spending a lot of time with the colonists helping them
settle in and he focused more on the staff relations than the ship Mind. Lucas
didn't worry that he was neglected, that suited him actually."
The sight of the tumbling body was both mesmerizing
and disturbing; Regan had had enough. "It's time to move on Hilary; please
take those images off screen. I take it you are already making arrangements for
a funeral?" She slumped back into her chair without waiting for an answer.
A moments silence followed with everyone
lost in their own thoughts. Finally Regan pushed herself up and focused on the Fair
Passage, the image of the huge liner dominating the screen with the Ascendant
just visible in the background.
"Guys, we have a meeting in an hour, it's
supposed to be a getting to know you time that will now be dominated by this
news. So we all need to be on deck, circulating and with something positive to
share. There's no time to get morose or introspective about this, it looks
hardly recognizable due to the awful grimace and drifting across the hull of a
ship. They could see ship markings; it was the leased ship Fair Passage.
Ham spun his command chair around to face
them. "You are looking at the 'ex' Commander Tyrian Juno, from Reubus."
"TJ . . . are you sure it's him?"
Regan stumbled forward to her chair.
"What happened?" Leah asked.
Marin's eyes were locked on the tumbling
figure, looking for something . . . injury?
Ham too looked back at the images. "We
don't know what happened, but we know for sure it's the Commander."
"How can there not be a record of what
happened?" Regan asked. "Have you checked with the ship AI?"
"The ship AI . . . has a name Regan,
his name is Lucas." Ham's tone admonished her. "You of all people
should know Lucas is not just a low level AI, he is as much a member of crew as
any other and yes, of course I've checked. He opened to me without question and
we've reviewed all his vid-feeds from everywhere on ship; there's
nothing."
"How did he die?" Marin was still
following the body.
Ham glanced casually at the screen. "A
deficit of air perhaps?"
Hilary interrupted them. "The recording
we are viewing is taken from the perspective of the Ascendant which is
alongside, hence our view of the Fair Passage hull. Regarding the cause of
death we have recovered the body and there is no evidence of injury that we can
see. Tests will be carried out soon to see if there was anything in his blood,
however it appears he may have been ejected into vacuum, possibly through a
refuse ejector tube."
"Ham, what does Lucas say about this?"
Regan turned to him.
"He's embarrassed, believe me. This shouldn't
happen with a Mind - we are everywhere, all the time and to not have any record
of what happened is deeply disturbing to him. Vid-feeds from the refuse area
were somehow turned off briefly and he doesn't know how or why. It was only on
reviewing the refuse exit itself that Lucas identified a body and asked for a
feed from the Ascendant. He's as shocked as we are."
"What does Lucas say about TJ's state
of mind, Ham?" Leah asked.
"You think it may be suicide?"
Regan was shocked.
"Well, he did lose his Dahlian wife
seven months ago. He seemed to be fine to me as we went through the crew
selection but it's a factor and I haven't seen him for weeks."
Ham was stretched back, clearly
communicating with someone, probably Lucas, and so they waited for his input.
"Hmm, Lucas doesn't know him that well;
it seems TJ was a last minute appointment of the shipping line when we leased
the ship. He now wonders whether Juno took the appointment to give himself a
break following the death of the wife and I guess it is a possibility. Lucas apparently
didn't communicate much with TJ on a personal level and he doesn't think anyone
else did either. Let's not forget the entire crew other than the Commander is
from this Solar System after all, and they've only been aboard Fair Passage a
month. TJ has been spending a lot of time with the colonists helping them
settle in and he focused more on the staff relations than the ship Mind. Lucas
didn't worry that he was neglected, that suited him actually."
The sight of the tumbling body was both mesmerizing
and disturbing; Regan had had enough. "It's time to move on Hilary; please
take those images off screen. I take it you are already making arrangements for
a funeral?" She slumped back into her chair without waiting for an answer.
A moments silence followed with everyone
lost in their own thoughts. Finally Regan pushed herself up and focused on the Fair
Passage, the image of the huge liner dominating the screen with the Ascendant
just visible in the background.
"Guys, we have a meeting in an hour, it's
supposed to be a getting to know you time that will now be dominated by this
news. So we all need to be on deck, circulating and with something positive to
share. There's no time to get morose or introspective about this, it looks
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