Slave Empire - The Crystal Ship Read Online Free PDF

Amranon. He swore and activated it, showing his
teeth aggressively to the officer who appeared on the screen. The
officer raised his scaly crest in a reciprocal gesture of
aggression, inflating his throat sacks to deepen his hissing
speech.
    “ The pilot has detected two ships ahead, on a converging
course, Captain.”
    Envar snorted
and glared. “So? They’re probably from Amranon.”
    “ They don’t answer our hails.”
    “ You’re probably on the wrong frequency. Try another. And tell
that pilot I’ll yank out his wires if he disturbs me again. I’m
busy!”
    The crystal
screen went dark, and Envar returned to his speech writing with a
grunt of irritation. In the preferred way of the Draycon
priesthood, he impressed the swirls and lines of writing into a
malleable clay tablet with a sharp stick. Clay tablets and sticks
were in short supply aboard a ship, and only the captain was
allowed such privileges. Writing in the time honoured way was an
almost religious rite, precious in space.
    Despite their
vast empire, Draycons were unhappy aboard ships, and those who took
on this onerous duty were well paid. Common crewmen were
pressganged from the streets, but officers were seduced with money.
For this reason, mutiny sometimes happened aboard Draycon ships,
though it rarely succeeded. The short tempers and frequent spats
between officers were due to their dislike for their situation.
Draycon males were uneasy in each other’s company, a legacy of age
old territorial instincts. The lack of females made their
cohabitation possible, but not comfortable, and fights were not
uncommon.
    Envar disliked
the first officer more than most. Not only was he younger and
larger, he also possessed the blood-red eyes females coveted. Envar
outranked him because of his experience, but he could see the time
coming when he would have to fight the youngster, and his captaincy
would be threatened. Shaking off the unpleasant thoughts, he read
the words he had written, disliked them and started again. He was
halfway down the tablet when the crystal buzzed again, and he
glared at the first officer’s handsome visage.
    “ What is it now?”
    “ Those two ships you told me to ignore, Captain. They have
demanded our surrender. I thought I should tell you. They belong to
the Shrike; two cruisers, big enough to defeat us.”
    Envar put down
the tablet, hiding his dismay behind a rigid expression he hoped
was fierce. Unable to cope so quickly with the greater problem, he
concentrated on the lesser one. “I didn’t tell you to ignore the
ships. I said you were probably on the wrong frequency when you
tried to hail them.”
    “ We’re on the right frequency now. Do you wish to
surrender?”
    “ No, I don’t wish to surrender!” Envar jumped up. “No Draycon
ship has ever surrendered! What in Purdor’s green haven is the
Shrike doing here, and why is he interfering in Draycon
business?”
    “ I would guess it has something to do with the human
girl.”
    “ You smug adolescent! Of course it has! What else could it
be?”
    “ Well, you asked...”
    Envar’s throat
sacks swelled with rage. Only his training prevented him from
sprinting to the bridge, grabbing his rival by his throat and
trying to throttle the life out of him. “Get me the Shrike on a
line, immediately!”
    “ The Shrike is not aboard either of the cruisers.”
    “ I don’t care! Find him!” Envar broke the connection with a
well-aimed blow that smashed the crystal. He flopped down, breathed
hard and nursed his aching hand. After a moment of contemplation,
he rose and headed for the ship’s control centre.
     
     
    Tarke picked
up his mask and pressed it to the edge of the reinforced skullcap
that covered the rest of his head, and it sealed with a click. The
mask not only hid his identity, it served as armour and filtered
noxious gasses from the atmosphere through miniature scrubbers in
the air vents on its sides. The catches on its edges were keyed to
his DNA and