Surviving The Theseus Read Online Free PDF Page A

and
pointed down. She heard some scuffling noises above her in the
stairwell.
    As she ran up the stairs, she caught a flash
of movement from the corner of her eye, and immediately turned
toward it. Nothing there.
    She kept climbing, jumping two and three
stairs at a time. When she got up three flights of stairs, one
floor up from the previous level, she stopped and listened.
Nothing.
    And then she saw what she missed
before. A white t-shirt came floating down, a floor above. It fell
onto the banister below her and then slid onto the stairwell.
Whatever fell before must have been so heavy; offering no
resistance, it fell fast. A shoe? A toe? A foot? A head? Jesus , she thought.
    “Whoever you are, you’ve got seconds before I
find you. Know this: I’m a SOAD officer and if I discover you’ve
harmed one fucking person I’ll drop you dead where you stand. You
got that? YOU GOT THAT?” She regretted saying what she did as soon
as she said it. She knew it was stupid. Stupid to threaten anyone.
Stupid to expect anyone to wait around after that tirade. Stupid to
tell anyone she was a SOAD. Regina ran up the stairs.
    A flash of orange light filled the stairwell
one flight above, moving towards her.
    Regina stopped. Her heart raced. She pointed
her gun up the stairwell.
    She backed down the stairs, slowly, her gun
steadied at the wall above. And then she turned just as another
orange flash occurred. She caught it out of the corner of her eye.
It was closer. Not only did it look closer, but she felt it, like a
presence, the hairs on her neck and arms stood up, electric.
    As she turned and started down, she slipped
on one of the stairs, quickly flipping her gun to her left hand and
grabbing the railing to steady herself as another orange flash
consumed her.
    For a moment, the moment the flash occurred,
she froze. The light blurred her vision and she smelled a strange
odor, like burning leaves, but she didn’t feel singed in anyway.
There was no pain. She felt odd. What was it? That feeling? And
then she placed it. She felt sick. Not because the light made her
sick, but because the feeling the light evoked as it consumed her
made her want to be sick. She felt violated.
    The flash lasted for only a second, and once
it disappeared, Regina ran down the stairs. At the bottom of the
flight, she dared a look back.
    Regina waited, staring up the stairs, her
eyes wide, heart still racing, gun at her side.
    And then, making a sound like a suction cup
snapping from glass, something came at her.
    It beat out the pile after pile of clothing
as the strangest thing she had seen yet.
     
     

Chapter 12
     
    In the commander’s shuttle, Travis talked
with the gate patrol officers, via a microphone built into the
holographic display panel in front of him. “Gate patrol, this is
SPARS group one with precinct ship Lancer, clearance code Zulu,
Bravo, Tango, Quebec, Five, Alpha, Foxtrot, Niner. Verify.”
    The response came seconds later, a female
voice. “SPARS one, this is gate control. Code verified.”
    Travis leaned forward, closer to the
microphone. “We are in pursuit of a runner who has stolen a SPARS
ship. As soon as we surround them again and lock them in, we need
to take them through to Gate Quadrant Seven, Section B.
Confirm.”
    “That’s affirmative, gate set to Quadrant
Seven, Section B, whenever you’re ready.”
    “Thanks, Debbie. You’re a doll.”
    George shook his head. “Kids.”
    “ You owe me a drink,” came Debbie’s
voice from the speakers, also a part of the holographic
display.
    “You got it.” Travis clicked a button on the
display to cut communications and the link between his ship and
gate patrol ended. He then looked over at George. “What do you mean
– kids? I’m forty three.”
    “Yeah, but she’s like nineteen.”
    “Good point. I better buy her more drinks.”
Travis smiled. George did not, but Travis rarely saw him smile
since he’d known him.
    After the runner went through the gate, it
moved