Read Online Space Relics (Galactic Archaeology Book 1) by Nathan Duke - Free Book Online

Chapter 1
    “Are you insane?” Amy paced around the transport shuttle and brought her hands to her head. She stopped in front of Rick’s seat and leaned forward to look straight into his eyes. “Do you think that a famous relic hunter would work with you without expecting something in return?” Her high-pitched tone marked her contained anger. She shook her head with disdain and a strand of black hair fell over her eyes. She moved it away with one hand, but she didn’t break eye contact with Rick.
    If Rick hadn’t seen her circuits and her motherboard, he wouldn’t have believed that he was talking to a hologram. Amy was almost human, especially when annoyed. She should’ve waited aboard the Argonaut, Rick’s battered carrack of a ship, but she didn’t like to be alone. Or to keep her opinions to herself.
    Rick had spent years trying to join an archaeological expedition to find signs of ancient civilizations beyond the Solar System. Most expeditions didn’t want former smugglers turned archaeologists, and Rick didn’t have much more to offer. His ship was older than most, his only friends were an absentminded bookworm and a know-it-all hologram, and he hadn’t passed any of the state’s accrediting tests. Jobs were scarce, and he couldn’t afford to decline Lord Baylor’s offer.
    But he wasn’t going to argue with an artificial intelligence. Besides, she was way smarter than most humans, so she’d win one way or another.
    “Lord Baylor is working on too many expeditions at once,” Rick said. “He needs more hands, and he won’t pay me unless I find something.”
    They’d spent over three months in that inhospitable planet, and now they were starting to find signs of advanced architecture. They hadn’t earned a cent yet, and they wouldn’t earn anything unless they found something. He’d get 10% of all relics and artifacts, and Lord Baylor would pay the workers from his own pocket once the expedition ended. Leaving wasn’t an option.
    “And you expect him to give you credit?” Amy scoffed and the lights in the transport shuttle flickered as she became more annoyed. “Do you really think that he’ll stick to the contract? Your word means nothing to the justice system. You have no means and no powerful acquaintances who can help you buy your way through a trial. What makes you think that he hasn’t cheated his way to the top? He’s made far too many discoveries to be real.” She wore a tight double-chested jacket that marked her perfect curves, and a mid-thigh skirt that hinted at her perfect anatomy but left more than enough for the imagination. She sat down on one of the control panels and deliberately crossed her legs right in front of Rick. It was all part of her strategy to convince him of her views.
    Rick’s eyes went straight to her legs. He’d been too long without female company.
    He shook his head and looked away. It wasn’t going to work. Not this time.
    “Ugh, come on, Amy! He’s the best in his field; he isn’t after my soul or my right arm.” Rick pushed his pilot’s chair back and walked over to the kitchen cupboard to get a freeze-dried fruit snack.
    She followed him, walked through him, folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. She wasn’t going to leave it there.
    “What?” he said.
    “I don’t like something about him,” she said. “Call it a hunch.”
    Oh, no. Not again. Amy was starting to act too human again, almost as if she didn’t remember that she was made up of circuits and chips.
    “Computers don’t have hunches.” Rick opened a packet of apple chips and smelled it. It was still edible. “Just take it easy. I’ll still make a fortune if he pays me half of what we’ve signed. And he’s an aristocrat; he won’t want any scandals.”
    Amy impatiently cleared her throat and fluttered her eyelashes at him.
    Rick sighed. That woman was impossible. She wouldn’t stop until she convinced him to go back to the dumpster they’d come from and to