Mapped Space 1: The Antaran Codex Read Online Free PDF Page A

welcoming
port to Earth Navy ships operating far from home. Once the navy came to stay, the
money flowed – lots of money. Little wonder they executed anyone who threatened
their lifeline to the rest of humanity.
    Mankind had learned the hard way
that access to interstellar space was a privilege – not a right – a privilege
that could be revoked in the blink of an eye.
    I cut power to the shield,
causing it to collapse rather than gradually de-energize. Anyone watching would
believe the Lining’s shield had
barely survived the extreme heat outside, concluding we were equipped with an
ablative shield, rather than the much tougher bleeder type.
    Jase threw me a sideways glance.
“You’ll upset Izin doing that.”
    I smiled mischievously as Izin’s
voice sounded through the intercom.
    “Captain, I remind you there are
maintenance protocols for shield deactivation.”
    “Thanks Izin, must have slipped
my mind.” He was a smart little tamph and would know I was lying.
    “I know you like playing games,
Skipper,” Jase said, “but I think you’re a little paranoid.”
    “Paranoid . . . cautious – no
difference. I’m still alive. That’s what counts.”
    Out here, low life informants
made a healthy living selling out traders to anyone with a few credits and an armed
ship. In the Outer Lyra region, it was to the Ravens, although there were other
Brotherhoods, each with their own territory, all loosely affiliated. I
preferred making their job as hard as possible, which was why I kept my aces
hidden and my weapons ready.
    A sultry, over-sexed female voice
sounded over the intercom. “Hello Captain. I’m pleased to inform you that
engine shut down is now complete. You’ll also be delighted to know, the energy
plant will be dormant in seven minutes.”
    “What was that?” Jase asked
incredulously.
    “Tamph humor?” I suggested before
activating the intercom. “Thanks Izin. Ah . . . not sure about the new vocalizer
settings.”
    Again, the ridiculously sexy
female voice sounded on the flight deck. “My research indicated you boys would
find this tonal combination stimulating, even arousing.”
    I shut off the intercom a moment.
“I swear, he’s trying to get even with me for crashing the shield.” The voice
might have been stimulating coming from a female Homo sapien , but as we knew it was coming from a one point two
meter high amphibian with an oversized head, large bulbous eyes and small
triangular teeth, it was simply unnerving. “We liked your voice the way it was,
thanks.”
    “As you wish, Captain,” Izin replied
in his standard male voice.
    “Log the cargo,” I said to Jase
as I climbed out of my couch. We were carrying data dumps to synchronize the city’s
update level and one of the vacuum-radiation-sealed containers we were towing was
full of supplies for Hades. “I’m going into the city to see what contracts are
open.”
    “No problem, Skipper,” he said
without looking up. He was hurrying through his post-flight check list with a degree
of concentration that told me he was keen to go moonside for a little recreation.
    “And try not to get arrested this
time.”
    Jase gave me a wounded look. “Who
me?”
    “Any fines come out of your cut.”
    Jase raised his hands innocently,
“Only wine, women and song, I promise. No fights this time.”
    “That’s what you said last time!”
Doubting his sincerity, I headed for the airlock.
    It was a short walk through the pressure
bridge to our berth’s gate. It DNA scanned my hand before letting me into the
spaceport, where to my surprise, I found the air didn’t have the stale metallic
smell I remembered – a sure sign they’d upgraded their environmental systems
since my last visit. Powered walkways carried many human and a few non-human
passengers between the terminal and the ships, giving me an opportunity to practice
using my threading’s sensors.
    The bionetic filaments read and
amplified impulses passing through my nervous system