Read Online Voyage of the Sanguine Shadow 1: Shadow Galactic by Erik P. Harlow - Free Book Online Page A

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    After reaching the end of the barracks’ hall,
Taryn and Takeo invited Gavin to enter the cabin assigned to them.  Located at
the aft-most starboard side of the top deck, it bore the designation “E-052,”
those characters emblazoned in black on a medium gray steel door.  Takeo
pressed his hand upon the palm scanner, and a cheerful sound chimed at the same
time as a green mote blinked.  The door slid aside, and one by one, the three
crossed into the cabin’s confines.  Recessed lights flickered on overhead, and
Taryn tapped the door closed.
    “Not bad,” she noted.  “Not bad, at all!”
    The walls and carpet were light gray, with brick
red and pale blue trim.  Just inside the door, against the right wall, stood a
video kiosk seated atop a wide storage compartment.  Across the room, a long
glass table rose up amidst four glassy chairs, placed before a wide porthole
that looked out upon the stars.  Left of the entrance, a stout, rounded cabinet
occupied a curved nook, and opposite it a comfy-looking bed awaited use,
stationed at a slight diagonal to the wall and its end table.  Halfway between
the bed and the cabinet, an arched doorway led to a narrower room with a closet
and a plush deck chair.  The door to the bathroom was seated within the far
wall of the smaller chamber, and a second bay porthole let in the light of the
star-filled expanse.
    “I’ll take the floor tonight,” Takeo offered. 
“Maybe we can trade off?”
    Taryn smiled gratefully.  “Aw, thanks, Takeo. 
Yeah, we can trade off.”
    Gavin crossed his arms and nodded.  “I should
probably let you guys unpack.”
    “Har har,” said Taryn, and she jutted out her
tongue just a bit.  “Oh, look!  We’re done!”  She exaggerated a beaming grin. 
“Fastest move, yet.”
    They shared a laugh and sat around the room,
falling into lighthearted conversation.  Each of them bore much heavier
considerations, but no one wanted to ruin the mood.  Their jovial discourse
continued until Zerki issued a ship-wide announcement, calling all hands to the
briefing room.
    It filled up fast, and much of the starship’s
complement stood in the hall near the doorway.  Zerki activated the large
screen and holographic table.  Bright colors skittered across both displays,
and starship diagrams instantly formed.  The crew quickly fell silent, and
Zerki approached the table.  By hand gestures, she manipulated the
three-dimensional image of a lengthy warship, panning it slowly for all those
gathered to see.  “This is the Imperium , a Turii-class cruiser of
ellogon make,” she began.  “It’s standard issue for all merchant princes in the
Ellogon Empire.”  She took time to tap and enlarge each of the warship’s
weapons systems.
    “In about fourteen hours, we’ll be rendezvousing
with Merchant Prince Lodoxol in the Ixion system, somewhere near the outskirts
of the inner debris ring.  He’s certain to make a grab for our starship, so we
should all be aware of what we’re up against.”
    Seated at the far end of the holographic table,
D’Arro shifted forward and asked, “What’s our goal?”
    “Behemothylax,” she responded.  “Lodoxol knows
where it is.”
    Some gasps followed, and confused mutterings
ensued.  Zerki raised her hand, and the crowd fell silent.  Taryn leaned toward
Takeo and whispered, “What’s that?”
    He shook his head in response and pointed toward
Zerki.
    The captain called up an encyclopedia file, and a
colossal, millipede-like machine replaced the ellogon cruiser.  “For anyone who
doesn’t know,” she explained, “Behemothylax is something of a myth, a white
whale for a lot of us salvage crews.  It was the Union’s only attempt at
infusing a planet shaper droid with any meaningful AI.  Their plan was to set
this thing loose in a system scheduled for terraforming and let it learn, let
it be… creative.”
    She called up several images of grisly
devastation.  “Unfortunately, it started to