The Virtual Man [The Virtual Reality 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Online Free PDF Page A

spaceport, Derek spoke to the Marshall for the first time since the courthouse. “How are we traveling? Military or commercial transport?”
    “Not that it should matter, but we will be boarding a short-range freighter that will take us to Lunar 5 where you will be serving your time. I will sign you over to the Warden and be back here in time for dinner. Be smart and make life easier on both of us—don’t try anything funny.”
    Though his fate appeared sealed, Derek was in too high a spirit to throw in the towel. Who was that woman? He was heading to prison for the next twenty years, yet he was giddy over the cute little redhead at whose feet he had fallen. He wondered what her name was. More importantly, he wondered why he cared. Instead of torturing himself with guilt and regrets as he had been for the last few months, his new attitude had him focusing on his surroundings and preparing to avail himself of any opportunity for escape. As he and the Marshall strolled through the spaceport’s baggage check-in area, Derek applied that genius IQ and his outside-the-box thinking to solving the most significant problems of his life. He needed to figure out how to escape and clear his name.
    Much to his and the Marshall’s surprise, the same woman from the courthouse shoved past them, almost running into some man and his two kids. She was probably worried about missing her flight. He would be missing the next twenty years. The Marshall turned his attention to the woman, taking his eyes off Derek and, for just a second, releasing his grip on Derek’s arm.
    “Hey, look, Romeo. It’s your new girlfriend. I think she’s come to see you off.”
    A plan came together in Derek’s mind in a fraction of the time it takes most people to blink. This was the opportunity he had been anticipating. Knowing he had at best two or three seconds to make use of it, Derek hurled himself onto a conveyor belt moving checked luggage. Behind him he could hear the Marshall cursing and giving chase. The belt quickly dumped Derek on an anti-gravity luggage transport, which proceeded to scan the destination code off the label in his pocket and, having identified the starship on which it belonged, sped off at a fairly significant speed.
    Derek hit the flat, rectangular deck of the transport harder than he normally would have. Apparently, the Marshall had reacted quickly and had already activated the restraining suit. Not only was the outfit designed to be an eyesore and an abomination to fashion designers everywhere, but it was also equipped, he recalled, with a built-in magnetic mesh that enhanced the pull of gravity, and thus increased the prisoner’s weight by a factor of five. Theoretically, the suit made it easy to recapture an escapee.
    Yes, he supposed, it would have been easy to recapture him if he had not planned his escape out in detail in the seconds it took to jump from the Marshall’s side onto the conveyor belt. Derek’s fingers raced across the keypad of the suit’s locking mechanism as he tried to hack it open. In a matter of seconds, Derek had slipped out of the unlocked suit, relieved a large suitcase of its contents, and concealed himself inside.
    Momentarily, he felt the suitcase being moved from the transport to its destination’s cargo hold. He knew that at this point, the luggage transport would return to the terminal taking with it the restraining suit that was still stuck to its deck by the enhanced gravitational pull. Derek was certain that the Marshall would waste precious time tracking the suit through its built-in homing device, under the incorrect assumption that he would still be in it.
    Derek opened the suitcase he’d used for his getaway and got out, for the first time realizing that, having discarded the single garment he had been wearing, he was now stark naked.
    Immediately, he began rummaging through the sea of luggage in the ship’s cargo hold, trying to find suitable clothing so he could mingle with, and