Redline Corps 2: Besieged by Rachel Aukes

Author:Rachel Aukes [Aukes, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2024-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

Jason led the way as if he’d walked these corridors a thousand times. After two miles and a dozen turns, he continued to guide us without hesitation. It was amazing (and a bit scary) how the direct-mind interfaces worked. But was that what had happened back in the seed library—an interface? I’d never seen a light before when interfacing; everything I’d seen had always been in my mind.

The sphere was clearly built differently from the rings. Here, the lights seemed to be on everywhere, all the time, albeit dimmer than standard lighting back on Earth. The walls, floors, and ceilings looked the same as those on the rings, though this section had smaller corridors—I didn’t know if that was unique to this section or if it was the same throughout the sphere. Since the sphere must’ve had at least a couple times the surface area of Earth, I figured the entire infrastructure couldn’t be identical—but what did I know? The one thing I knew for sure so far was that the Coalition was a race whose minds did not work like humans’.

Thankfully, Sam had been right about the defense network shifting its priorities away from us. We didn’t come across a single firefly on our walk.

Jason interrupted the silence. “I keep wondering how well insulated this place must be. We’re this close to a star”—he pinched his forefinger and thumb together—“yet here we are, not being boiled alive in here. It’s a bit chilly, even. They must have some really good insulation in these walls. I’m going to have to print myself a sweater unless we can pump up the heat around here.”

“With all the technology you’ve seen, you’re impressed by their insulation?” Sam asked.

Jason shrugged. “Hey, I’m a ship mechanic. Computer systems are like mysterious black boxes to me. Give me a wrench over one of those interface pads any day. At least I know what I’m getting with the wrench.”

“He has a point,” I said. “Every time I touch an interface pad, I’m a little freaked out about whether it’s going to work or if it’s going to fry my brain.”

“You and me both,” Sam said.

I paused. “Wait a second. You, Sam Carter, are afraid of interfacing?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, so?”

“Uh, because when we were back on the ship, you were interfaced with Gray constantly,” I said.

“Yeah, but I did it to learn everything I could so we could stay alive. Interfacing still scares me a bit. Maybe more than ever now that I got this.” He held up his hand.

“How much does that silver cover? Because it looks like it covers your entire arm,” Jason said.

Sam stopped and tugged at the neck of his shirt, revealing his right shoulder completely covered in silver branching out to his neck, back, and chest.

“Ah, so the entire arm,” Jason said.

“Yep, the whole arm,” Sam agreed.

“Do you feel it? Does it feel any different?” I asked.

“Nope. Still feels like me. Even the skin still feels like mine, but maybe, I dunno, thicker, if that makes any sense?”

He held out his arm and pulled up the sleeve.

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