Shadows Bear No Names (The Blackened Prophecy Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

crash into the planet, probably right into the City of Bunari. Ray didn’t want to think about the consequences of a cargo ship towing tanks full of highly volatile fuel slamming into the middle of the small planet’s capital and only major city.
    He made an injury assessment. Although his chest burned with every breath, he felt all right. “At least better than my divorce.”
    Ray touched his ribs and a sharp pain cut his breath. He gently opened his shirt and saw the dark red bruising on his chest.
    “All right,” he grumbled under his breath, “Maybe not better but equal.” He ignored the aches. Broken ribs or not, if he couldn’t make it to the escape pods before the stabilizers failed, he’d become a comet riding through the skies of Bunari.
    The ship rattled violently, confirming his thoughts. Sparks flared from the cables hanging from the ceiling, brightening the room. The emergency lights were barely powerful enough to see the controls, let alone illuminate the whole bridge.
    The sparks saved his life.
    His eyes glimpsed a shadow moving toward him. By instinct he swung the pipe he’d at the silhouette. In mid-air the metal bar hit something soft, making a thick, fleshy sound. Ray realized the blow had exploded on the creature’s neck when its painful wail filled the bridge. The sudden impact also caused Ray to drop the pipe.
    He was lucky. The creature hadn’t expected such a heavy swing from its prey and it staggered a moment and collapsed, giving Ray the opening he needed. He landed a kick to the thing’s belly and rushed past it, half-running, half-stumbling into the elevator, panting. He looked away from his friends’ dead bodies, focusing his attention on the control switches.
    The freak saw its prey slipping away, and with unbelievable swiftness the creature pushed back on its feet, throwing itself at the elevator.
    “Come on!” Ray desperately hit the emergency button. The elevator doors closed lazily and the moment they were sealed, he heard something hefty hitting the door, followed by a sound he could only define as a hurtful howl.
    “Yeah,” he whispered, “I know what you mean.” He collapsed where he stood and tried to catch his breath, hoping the creature didn’t know about the emergency hatches connecting the bridge to the other decks. “Computer, seal the bridge. Authorization Raymond—Harris—two—one—five.”
    “Bridge access locked.”
    “That’s the best thing you’ve ever said.”
    He lowered his stare and on second glance, saw he was wrong about his injuries. He had a nasty cut to the stomach he hadn’t noticed earlier and it was bleeding badly. As the adrenaline washed away, dizziness took over.
    The elevator lost power twice before it reached the engineering deck, keeping Ray on edge. To his relief, the doors opened and he didn’t have to use the emergency hatch. He wasn’t sure he could have pulled himself out of the hatch, anyway. He stood up and tried to walk toward the escape pods as fast as he could before the stabilizers failed. He was no technician, but judging by the sounds of it, the ship was being torn apart.
    A minute, maybe two, he guessed. Then the stabilizers would overload and Canaar would enter free fall, losing its balance and reaching terminal velocity. It would be impossible for him to make it to the pods in a careening ship.
    He was managing the pain of the broken ribs but the cut was taking its toll. The thing burned like a forest fire in summer. Whenever he leaned on a wall to avoid falling down, it hurt as if a bull had torn him in two. His vision was blurry at best, his eyes watering.
    Ray made his way to Engineering, mostly by pulling himself blindly in the direction of the blinking evacuation lights. Emergency escape pods were at the end of the deck.
    At the end of the light.
    He half-fell, half-crawled off the platform stairs, only to bump into Sanders’ body.
    “I-I’m armed!” he faked, yelling at the still shape. No response.