Space Relics (Galactic Archaeology Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

a difference.”
    “There’s a high incidence of disappearances amongst Lord Baylor’s colleagues. I’d even say that it’s too frequent to be based on chance alone.”
    “Are you telling me that he gets rid of the people he doesn’t like? Why didn’t you say this sooner?”
    “I did tell you,” Amy said with that annoying know-it-all voice of hers. “Why do you think that I was against working with him?”
    “You’re against drinking, flying too quickly, and skydiving, and you get mad at me whenever I suggest disconnecting the autopilot. How could I know that this suggestion made sense?”
    “Those objections are founded! Drinking affects your neurons and slows down your thought processes, flying too quickly makes it more likely to make a lethal mistake, and skydiving is far riskier than living a normal life. And do you think that the autopilot is there for decoration purposes? Humans can’t think quickly enough when they’re aboard a fighter at full speed. Your instincts are inadequate, and that’s why engineers have added navigation computers to your ships.”
    Rick didn’t like to risk his life, but relying on engineers who considered themselves infallible wasn’t a good idea. They made mistakes, messed things up more often than not, and they always ended up killing people like Rick. It wasn’t about not trusting technology, but about not trusting cheap and untested technology. Rick preferred to rely on his skills and to do everything the way it had been done for generations. If his great grandparents had survived the time of manually controlled airplanes and spaceships, why was it risky for anyone to stick to that lifestyle?
    “In fact,” she continued, “those risks are far more unjustified than this one. Right now, you don’t have many other options, but you do have a choice when you board a fighter.”
    “Awesome,” Rick said, “if this is as risky as flying a fighter, I’ll captain the Argonaut before dinner.”
    “I haven’t said that it was less risky, Richard.” She spoke slowly and paused in every word to make it clear that he was nothing but an imperfect human being. “Lord Baylor has never been accused of killing his colleagues, but he is wealthy enough to bribe a jury. Even if we record everything, he’d be able to walk out of danger without any consequences. Lucas is wounded and receiving treatment, and you are one man. They’re probably a dozen, even more. Unless you let me take the shuttle to the hangar and shoot at them, you don’t stand many chances of getting out of there alive and free.”
    “Thanks for the motivation,” Rick said, “but I’ll test my chances. I wouldn’t get anything done if I was as pessimistic as you are. The world isn’t doomed, and the whole justice system isn’t corrupt. If I’m killed, let’s hope that Lord Baylor will spend at least a month in jail.”
    “The world is corrupt, Richard.” She paused like whenever she disagreed with something. “And the sentence for murdering someone isn’t a month of imprisonment; it is a life term, or at least 20 years if there’s a mitigating factor.”
    One of those days, Rick was going to have to explain to Amy that not everything had to be taken literally.
    He took a deep breath. Time to act. “I have my gun. He won’t expect me.”
    “Your gun is broken, Richard.” Amy’s words were tinted with nervousness. “It will be ineffective if you try to shoot at someone.”
    “Yes, but they don’t know,” Rick said. And besides, if he had to take his gun out, stunning one or two of Lord Baylor’s gorillas was going to be the least of his problems. He needed to be quick and to keep out of trouble.
    If he started shooting, he was going to end up with the whole port shooting at him. He would’ve been happy with so much action if he’d had a lighter dinner, but he didn’t want to risk getting an indigestion like Lucas’. Stomach-related problems were always unpleasant.

Chapter