Mapped Space 1: The Antaran Codex Read Online Free PDF

that normally went
unnoticed by the human brain. The threading then selected and displayed
information it decided I needed to know, or in answer to my queries. The
sensory amplification was augmented by microscopic, biological machines
designed to be indistinguishable from human bio-matter. The most useful of
these was my DNA sniffer. Providing I had line of sight, the sniffer could
sense DNA sequences at short range, enough to identify a contact in a large room
or on the street.
    The sniffer scanned every person
I passed, checking their DNA codes against a database of the Orion Arm’s most
wanted. Not surprisingly, I got a hit every few minutes. Hades City’s distance from
Earth made it an ideal hiding place for humans on the run. To most alien law enforcement
agencies, it was an obscure human backwater, which was why there was also a
disproportionately high number of unsavory non-humans in the city.
    Little did they know how easily
they could be discovered, irrespective of disguises or appearance altering
surgery. The hits ranged from petty criminals, escaped prisoners and missing
persons to a few hard cases that the local Unified Police Force detachment would
have locked away in their deepest, darkest dungeon – if they’d known they were
here. The non-human criminals were all known Orion Arm species whose DNA codes
had been passed to UniPol by their representative governments. Handing fleeing
criminals to our neighbors was a good way to build trust, but keeping bionetic
technology a secret was more important than making friends, so I let the Orion
Arm’s mad and bad walk free.
    The terminal was lined with
screens listing every ship docked and their current status. There were personal
data nodes everywhere for travelers to make enquiries or reservations, or contact
ships directly. UniPol was supposed to watch all such communications on every
world, but Hades City suffered from profound blindness where money making
activities were concerned. It was a common trait among remote outposts.
    It was why a precondition of
renewing contact with Earth had been the merging of local police forces into
UniPol. Integrating civil law enforcement into a single collective effort was
officially intended to ensure local criminals didn’t commit Treaty violations
and unofficially designed to ensure Earth’s enlightened interpretation of law
was spread to every corner of Human Civilization. Local governments retained nominal
influence over their police forces, but the direct link to Earth – and to the
EIS – quickly became more important. Joining UniPol was a sign of commitment to
working within the Access Treaty, bringing with it huge benefits, while refusal
meant continued isolation from the rest of humanity. Very few refused. In time,
every major center became committed to UniPol. Only at the most remote stations,
far from oversight, was there an opportunity to bend the rules, and Hades City
was about as remote as it got.
    Outside the spaceport, I hopped a
silver commuter tube to the central commercial cavern, the largest in the city.
It was a well lit expanse filled with a mix of historic carved stone and
shining metal and glass spires surrounded by genuine Earth transplanted trees
and flowers. Hades had started out as an uninhabited robot mining base eighteen
hundred years ago, but centuries of digging had created abundant empty space
which the Hadians had turned into a surprisingly comfortable habitat. The
curved ceiling several hundred meters above was covered by simulated blue sky
and drifting white clouds, creating an illusion so real I almost forget I was
deep underground.
    The surface might have been a
charred cinder, but the excavated interior was remarkably amenable for human
life. Out of necessity, mankind had made constructing such habitats an art form
because the galaxy’s prime real estate had been snapped up long before we
entered the market. Interstellar civilizations had been emerging throughout the
Milky Way for