Shadow Core - The Legacy Read Online Free PDF Page A

'Sigma-225-Deca-2',” Nexus said, much to their surprise.
    “Err, Static... why is the unknown ship using one of your old ID codes?” Drake asked with a dumbfounded expression.   
    “That... is a very good question,” Static said. 
    “Guess we'll find out soon enough. Nexus, stand down from defence condition one and start my re-animation sequence. Time to stretch my legs a bit I think,” Drake said. 
    “Working;” Nexus said. “Shutting down Drake's neural interlink. Starting reanimation sequence.” 
    “Stay safe my friend,” Static said as Drake vanished from the virtual environment. 
     
    On board the 'derelict'...
    In a room with walls lined with a multitude of sleeper pods, the only source of light was the control console of the one occupied pod. A soft blue glow lit up the darkened room as the pod's status suddenly changed. The reanimation sequence had started, and the occupants life-signs were growing steadily stronger as an ice-like substance slowly dissipated from inside the pod and a timer counted down until full user reanimation: '29 minutes remaining.'
    In the mean time the Icarus was continuing on its approach, but with a minor detour. A slight course correction had been made in order to do a fly-by of the nearby wreckage.
     
    “Are we in range yet?” Kade asked impatiently.
    “We should be close enough,” Jude said as she started running active scans on the debris. 
    “They got ripped apart pretty bad. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of whatever hit them,” Nick said as he looked over the scan data as it came in.
    “No energy signatures to speak of,” Kade commented as she reviewed the scan information. “The reactor seems to have been ejected, as were all the escape pods. Whatever happened to it made the crew abandon ship.” 
    “From what's left I would say this was...” Jude paused as she finished the scan of the debris, stopping in order to double check her findings and confirm her suspicions.
    “If we have to guess, can we get a hint?” Nick asked.
    “What? Oh, sorry... it was a Shrike vessel, probably a heavy assault frigate,” Jude said.
    “No big loss then. One less pirate ship to deal with,” Kade said calmly, but this development worried her.
    “Normally I would agree but...” Nick started saying with a concerned look “...we're probably flying towards something that shredded a pirate ship.” 
    “Maybe it really doesn’t like pirates? They aren’t exactly the friendliest bunch,” Jude said. “On a more serious note, there is something odd here. The ship was carved up by a high energy weapon of some kind, a very precise one at that. It cut clean through the primary power distribution node, avoiding any major damage to the reactor housing. This allowed the crew to eject the reactor before it could overload and destroy the ship.” 
    “Sounds like a clean kill, so why does it look like it has been put through a shredder?” Nick asked. 
    “The remaining damage was caused by internal explosions. The crew seems to have scuttled any useful equipment as well as most of the key structural points before they jumped ship,” Jude reported.  
     
    They were still pondering the implications of the wreckage when the ship suddenly jolted, as if it had hit something, causing it to lose some momentum but quickly returning to normal.
     
    “What the hell was that?” Nick asked as he turned his attention back to the navigation console.
    “Oh my!” Jude said as she stared at her console.  
    “Talk to me Jude!” Kade said to a rather perplexed looking Jude that was desperately trying to make sense out of what had just happened. 
    “I'm not sure how to describe it...” Jude paused for a moment while trying to compose her thoughts, “the derelict is on sensors now. It would seem we've entered some kind of shielded area... fascinating,” she said with wide eyed wonder.  
    “Area? How big?” Kade asked. 
    “Well... it's hard to tell. We're about 25,000