Escapology Read Online Free PDF Page B

grotesque visages built to terrify smaller ships into submission. Others are pirates out for trash, flesh and treasure, preying on any ship caught in their sights and occasionally hitting the harbour district for whatever can be snatched before the sec-drones attack. The worst of all are totalitarian states, with flags and laws and dire punishments for transgression—and the most notorious of these is the
Saskatoon Ark
, captained by Daly Pentecost.
    Petrie was born on the
Ark
, amongst all that filth and horror, under the iron hand of Pentecost. He ran away when he was fifteen during a short dock for supplies at the Gung. Jumped clean over the side. Pretended to drown so no one would think to follow, swimming through icy waters to hide under the dock, shivering and terrified of being found.
    He thought then that he could survive anything, but two years living rough on the streets of the Gung left him so desperate to get back to the ocean he took the first ship that came in. Lucky for him, that was
Resurrection City
.
    Today there are thirty refugees hoping for the same luck, and only he stands in their way. From the info they shoot to his IM, he has to turn down six straight away. The rest are a mix of skilled WAMOS—Passes, the so-called well-adjusted members of society—done with living inside the system, and Fails wanting to try out life on the seas—all of whom are easy to accept. Except one.
    Her records seem perfect: a high-level Tech WAMOS fresh out of Corp life and wanting freedom, but her timing is interesting. Questionable. He beckons her forward.
    “Name?”
    It’s on her info, but sometimes they forget their own cover stories, the names on fake records bought in haste.
    “Volk,” she replies in a soft voice with a burr of accent he can’t place. Perhaps Nordic. Unusual if so. Close up, he can see she’s packed with augments, her gaze remote, but he can feel the life in her. She’s angular and fair-skinned, with untameable red hair to match the energy he can sense leashed within. She’ll make a good sailor if she’s fit for it.
    Volk. Just like her records. That’s a good start maybe.
    “No other names?”
    “None I like to give. I’m not close to my family.”
    “Any reason for that?”
    “The usual. Confliction of life goals, gradual estrangement none of us particularly tried to prevent.”
    “I see. You realize we’re an extended family aboard the
Resurrection
? We’re pretty much obliged to get along even if we don’t agree with one other. Not many places to get away from someone you dislike on a land ship, not even one of her grand size.”
    She forces a smile, clearly struggling hard to make a good impression.
    “I said I’m not close to
my
family, that doesn’t mean I’m incapable of getting along with other people. You can’t choose the family you’re born to. It’s not like you get a free pass from being the offspring of absolute arseholes.”
    Her dry humour is such a surprise he finds himself laughing.
    “True enough. How are you with teamwork?”
    “I’m ex-Corp, Bosun. Teamwork was my life.”
    “Why the
Resurrection
? I see you’ve been waiting on a ship for over two weeks. Rest of this bunch have only been here ten days—missed the
Hepzibar
. You didn’t though. Good ship, that. Not good enough for you?”
    She regards him steadily, her remote eyes giving away nothing.
    “It has a good reputation, yes. But it isn’t
Resurrection City
.”
    “Afford to be choosy, can you?”
    She raises her brows, as if it’s obvious.
    “With my stats? Of course.”
    Petrie considers her carefully for a moment. His instincts tell him she’s in some deep trouble. Frightened. Is she trouble for the
Resurrection
though? He thinks not. Not only is her record clean but he’s finely attuned to hidden malice and he gets no sense of it from her. He has no concern about anyone who might be after her.
Resurrection
is a titan, well armed and battle hardened. Coming after her once