Read Online The Virtual Man [The Virtual Reality 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Nikki Sinclaire - Free Book Online Page B

Security Officer with an intense glare that could have breached the hull of a battle cruiser a light year away. Being a kind and fair man, he typically did not let his temper get the best of him, but this was not a typical situation.
    He was tired of excuses. The safety of the 1,200 passengers on board and the ship’s crew rested upon his broad shoulders. To make matters worse, they were entering a sector of space that was not fully colonized by the Galactic Alliance. In many ways, the sector resembled the proverbial wild and lawless West of ancient American history. Protecting the people under his care was his job, his sworn duty, and he was not one to take the protection of his wards lightly.
    “What do you mean you can’t locate its source?” Maverick demanded as he ran his fingers through his still-full head of thick brown hair lightly dusted with gray. “Someone has been tapping into our central computer, opening up a com link through the galactic-net, mind you, not just a com link, but a secured com link that we can’t intercept, and downloading information, and now we have an intermittent beacon sending out signals that a Chihuahua with a cold could follow and you can’t locate the source of any of it? Commander, maybe I need to offer your job to whoever is responsible for creating havoc with my communications!”
    Commander Cathy Hollinger, an Amazon of a woman who could almost look at the captain eye to eye, understood her superior’s concern. She was an attractive woman in her mid-twenties, smart, tough and, having served her career to date under the captain’s tutelage, was fiercely devoted and loyal to her mentor.
    “I’m sorry, sir,” she said, showing signs of a rarely seen nervousness, “but whoever is doing this is covering his or her tracks very well. We don’t know the origin, can’t decipher the message and have yet to identify the method.”
    “Listen very carefully. I have a thousand alarms going off in my head, all telling me to be extraordinarily concerned. My gut is screaming at me and I’m listening. I want you to leave this room and do not come back until you know who’s doing this. Run background checks, check the logs on legitimate communications, hell, get dressed as a maid and run manual scans of each individual room and occupant, but find out where these transmissions are originating. Do I make myself clear?”
    “Yes sir,” she barked, availing herself of the opportunity to leave the bridge.
    As his Security Officer headed out the door with a new urgency to discover the source of the strange signals, Captain Maverick, a veteran of the Terrilian war and the recipient of multiple decorations, hoped he hadn’t been too rough on the younger officer. She was one of his best, just like the rest of his officers. They were all one of his best. He had no doubt she would get to the bottom of this. He just hoped it would be before anyone got hurt.
    “Captain, we are being hailed by a Galactic Alliance Law Enforcement cruiser,” reported the Communications Officer “They have ordered us to drop out of hyperspace and prepare to receive a Space Marshall, sir.”
    “They’re not giving us much room to refuse, are they? My hunch is that this surprise visit is probably related to the strange transmissions. Acknowledge the request and provide them with docking instructions. Helmsman, drop us out of hyperspace. Commander, bring me my sidearm, I don’t like this breach of protocol. As soon as the good Marshall is aboard, I want us back in hyperspace and on course. Let’s attempt to keep to our schedule. I’ll go down to the shuttle bay and receive our new passenger.”
    Making his way through the brightly lit, metal decked service corridors, the Captain pondered the puzzle before him. Unauthorized communications were one thing. He could easily envision a paranoid passenger not trusting the ship’s on-board communications system for conversations of a discreet nature. But now, somewhere