Read Online The Dying Light by Sean Williams, Shane Dix - Free Book Online Page B

staring quizzically at the view that Roche had just turned from.
    Then it struck her: the drive was no longer audible. But the Ana Vereine hadn’t completed its slow-jump. It had just... stopped.
    “Uri,” she asked, her voice booming in the quiet. “What’s going on?”
    The holographic projector in the center of the bridge flickered. Kajic’s image appeared through the static, the light brown skin and black hair of his old body looking as composed as always. His expression was serious, but not concerned.
    “Minor damage,” said the ex-captain. “We weathered the stress well.”
    “How long until we can see where we are?”
    “My sensors are gathering some unusual data. The Box is checking to see if the irregularities are due to instrument malfunction. When its diagnosis is complete, vision will be restored.”
    “I have partial telemetry readings,” said Haid from the weapons console. After a moment he reported: “No targets. No sign of the point-source, either. We must have left them all behind when we jumped.”
    “We did jump, then?” Roche asked Kajic.
    “Well, we certainly entered hyperspace,” said Kajic.
    “But have we left it?”
    “I didn’t think an open-ended jump was possible,” Haid said.
    Kajic’s image shrugged. “You’ll have to ask the Box. I just did as it told me.”
    Roche put her palm on the arm-link of her chair, intending to access the raw data herself, but changed her mind before she did so. Better to remain distant for a moment rather than dive in headfirst. She needed to maintain a measure of objectivity if a quick decision was required.
    “There appears to be a planet nearby,” said Kajic. “That much I can tell you. A medium-sized gas giant if its mass reading is accurate.”
    “Try cross-referencing it with the navigation records of Palasian System,” said Roche. “A match would at least confirm where we are.”
    Kajic dissolved in a burst of static that lasted a few heartbeats. When he re-formed, he said: “There’s a ninety-nine percent chance the planet is Voloras, the outermost planet of Palasian System. If so, that places us well inside the cometary shell and the third dark-body halo.”
    Roche searched her memory for what she knew about the system. “Wasn’t there a refueling base around Voloras?”
    “Guhr Outpost,” confirmed Kajic.
    “Any signals?”
    “Apart from some strong crackles on the hydrogen band,” said Haid, “we aren’t getting a thing on any frequency.”
    “Try elsewhere,” Roche said. “This far out, we should be able to pick up hyperspace transmissions.”
    “Already tried,” said Haid. “Nothing; not even the beacon of the local anchor point.”
    “That can’t be right.” Roche frowned. “We’re near the N’Kor border, and the Kesh have warning stations every few light-years—”
    “I’m telling you, Morgan,” said Haid, glancing over his shoulder. “There’s nothing there.”
    “How could all of those beacons be blocked?” Roche could feel her confusion gradually developing into frustration. “Uri, could it be instrument failure?”
    Before Kajic could reply, the Box cut in:
    “It is possible, Morgan. And the fact that it has happened confirms my hypothesis quite neatly.” At that moment, the main screen cleared. “Welcome to Palasian System.”
    Roche studied the screen. Initially she saw nothing but darkness—not even stars. Then the view changed, and a single red speck slid into view. Increased magnification made the speck a bright circle. The image was too fuzzy to make out any detail, but there was no mistaking what it was: against the unnaturally black background, one solitary sun burned.
    “It can’t be,” she muttered, standing. “Hintubet is a calcium star—”
    “And should be on the green side of yellow,” the Box interrupted. “I am aware of that fact, Morgan. The difficulty in reconciling the emission spectrum of this star and that which Hintubet’s should be was the main reason I