Too Close to the Sun (The Sun 1) Read Online Free PDF

the internal pressure.
    After a moment, the alarm ceased its incessant pealing and the bridge grew unusually quiet. Angel stared out the front viewport, watching reflected light from the stars race by and swore under her breath.
    “Are you okay?” She turned to look at her companion whose complexion had taken on a greenish hue. When he nodded, she turned her attention back to the ship. “How do you run a diagnostic on this thing," she muttered, mostly to herself, hoping something as simple as a malfunction explained their unscheduled jump.
    “There was no malfunction,” the computer replied. “I made that jump.”
    “What?” Her voice came out barely a whisper.
    “You took too long.”
    “Too long? Without the correct coordinates, a jump to hyper drive can be fatal.”
    “I had already calculated the correct coordinates. There was no danger.”
    “Excuse me,” she bit out, “but I am the pilot.”
    “I think not. Since you are obviously incapable of following directions, I have assumed control of this ship.”
    “Over my dead body,” Angel muttered. The thought of a free-thinking computer taking over scared her. She wanted to end this - now. She typed in a command to override the computer control, but the ship failed to respond to her.
    She glared from her passenger to the tube still plugged into the console. “Disconnect it.”
    He shook his head at her request. “No.”
    She grabbed the tube and pulled, all the while enduring her passenger’s quiet stare, as if he were a parent waiting for his child’s temper tantrum to subside.
    “Is there a problem?” the computer asked patiently.
    “Yes there’s a problem, you self-absorbed, mutant computer chip. Disconnect from my ship immediately.”
    The damn computer had the nerve to laugh at her! It was a full-bodied male laugh that sent shivers of awareness tingling down her spine, despite her anger. “First of all, this is my ship. And from now on, I give the orders and you’ll do as I say. If that’s a problem, get over it. Or get out. Your choice. Shall I open the hatch?”
    As if she could leave, she thought furiously. With a last yank on the tube, she gave up. It wouldn’t budge.
    “It seems you win,” she addressed the computer. “For now.”
    “Clearly. Now be a good boy and sit back and relax. I don’t know how far we have to go or what type of space we’ll travel through to get there.”
    Boy? Even the computer thought she was a boy! Surely Yanur would have mentioned she was a woman if he had finally noticed. She'd lost her hat at the airfield, but could imagine how her short hair might be plastered to her head and with her hoarse voice, she supposed she did look and sound like a boy. Well, maybe that wasn’t so bad.
    “Computer, how long do you intend to hold me hostage?”
    “Until I complete my mission.”
    “What mission?” When her question met with silence, Angel narrowed her eyes to glare at the old man, who, in turn, watched her closely, his expression unreadable. “Exactly where are we going?”
    “Harvesters’ home planet.” The words were spoken so matter-of-factly.
    “That’s impossible. No one knows where it is. Myths and legends, but nothing factual.”
    “That’s not entirely true,” the computer pointed out.
    “Well yeah, but even if you could find a Deep Space Trader, you’d never get one to tell you that particular location.”
    “True. But we don’t need them to tell us.”
    “Why?” Angel couldn't believe she was arguing with a computer.
    “Because the Harvesters will take us there themselves.”
    It took Angel only a moment to make the connection. “That signal we’ve been following? That’s a Harvesters’ ship?” She rubbed her forehead, hoping to ease the pressure building behind her temples. “Just how did you manage to get close enough to tracer-tag one of their ships?”
    “Actually, the tag is implanted in one of the victim’s bodies.”
    “Come again?”
    “We had a volunteer