Shadow Core - The Legacy Read Online Free PDF Page B

much. An experimental ship, but I forget what about it was experimental... the engines maybe? Anyway, the ship was supposedly reported as lost during an engagement in deep space with an unknown target,” Nick said, struggling to remember.
    “Anything else? I was hoping for something more specific. Crew complement or weaponry, maybe how it was lost,” Kade pushed for information.
    “There was speculation that it was lost in a battle with... oh!” Nick said just as he remembered exactly where he had seen the information.  
    “Oh?” Kade asked.
    “No, it's nothing. I wouldn’t put much stock in my information. After all, like Jude said, the Shadows are little more than a myth.”
    “Well this 'myth' seems pretty real right about now, and she’s a beautiful ship,” Jude said as the sensor scan finished building up a detailed composite image, which she quickly transferred to the main view-screen.
     
    The screen flickered briefly as it updated to show the image of the Zenith.
    The design didn't exactly follow most current ship building standards. It was sleek and symmetrical, and felt as though it belonged to a bygone era. But it didn't come across as outdated, far from it, it hinted at being a ship of the line.
    At almost four kilometres long it sent out one clear message to any would be attackers, 'defy me at your own peril'. And yet the design did not come across as aggressive like most present and past warships.
     
    “It's just like I imagined it would be,” Kade said almost in a trance as she remembered her grandfather's tales.
    “What I wouldn’t give to meet the team that designed this ship,” Jude added in a daze. 
    “Hey! No drooling on the consoles! Plays havoc with the wiring,” Nick said, breaking the other two out of their daydreams. 
    “Way to kill the moment,” Kade said as she was snapped back to reality. “How are we for time?” 
    “We'll dock in 20 minutes, more or less,” Nick replied as he updated the ship's flightpath.
    “OK, see to it. I have a few things to take care of before we can board. Jude, ready your gear.” 
    “Will do,” Jude said with a smile. 
     
    Kade and Jude got up from their seats and headed towards the door. Jude heading down to the engineering deck so as to check on all her equipment, as Kade headed for her quarters.
    Meanwhile, Nick had been left in charge of the bridge and was taking this opportunity to update a few things on his personal Echo unit: a forearm worn technology that married the power of the latest photon processor core, and vast capacity of crystal molecular memory storage, with a standardised holographic interface.
    Nick grinned as he typed into what appeared to be a log. Writing down in intricate detail all of the events that had transpired since the Icarus had un-docked from Titan Orbital II. And paying particularly close attention to the demonstrated technical capabilities and perceived limitations of the Zenith.

The Smuggler
     
     
    Kade stepped outside the bridge and started floating forward along the narrow corridor, with her sister following close behind her. 
     
    The Icarus, unlike most normal ships, did not have full gravity plating coverage. This was something the sisters had always attributed to the simple fact that it was an old ship and they had never seen it as a flaw. If anything, it made moving about the ship a relatively effortless task, while at the same time reducing the sustained load on the ship's reactor output. 
    Their ship wasn't exactly a 'standard' model. When compared to the outer sections of the structure, the bulk of the inner sections of the ship were made up of narrower corridors and smaller rooms. It was a strange arrangement for this class of ship, but one that maximised cargo bay space nicely. It was one of many modifications that their grandfather had made a long time ago.
    There were so many differences between the Icarus and the Patriarch's baseline design that Kade's trusted repair crews, who