Krakenscourge (Voidstalker Book 2) by John Graham

Author:John Graham [Graham, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: KDP
Published: 2018-10-19T06:00:00+00:00

THE TERROR

Undulating hills and semi-arid plains zipped past the mag-train’s window at high speed. High above, the bright blue gas giant Odin loomed large in the sky, the light from the setting sun reflecting off its cerulean clouds. The coloured shadow it cast across the landscape was a scene that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the system; perhaps not even in the entire spiral arm.

More than a dozen satellite cities had sprung up around Asgard City, and countless smaller towns had also sprung up around each of these, creating an urbanised web that brought the planet’s population past 100 million. Each settlement was connected by air-links and high-speed mag-trains as well as wired and wireless communications, keeping the entire planet connected not just to itself but to the rest of Human-settled space.

The traveller’s hooded shirt covered his freshly-cut greying hair. He was clean-shaven with irises that had been drop-dyed a watery blue, and he was glued to the news reports about a mass-murder using toxic gas at a medical clinic. The prime suspect was Dr Mortimer Shelton, a physician who had apparently been using the clinic as a lab to synthesise the poison.

The traveller turned his head towards the mag-train window, hiding his face by pretending to be enamoured of the landscape. The surveillance state was everywhere and could do a far more effective job of outing him than the general public. Even so, there was no need to draw extra attention to himself.

The train began to slow down. Outside the window, the landscape became dotted with structures as the train entered the urban limits of Haven. As the mag-train approached the station, people began to pack up their belongings and the traveller did the same, collecting a backpack from under the seat in front and fitting his arms through the straps.

The station was a modest one, built with plain steel columns and a low roof, eschewing the elaborate architecture of the grand complexes in Asgard City. Automated luggage carriers on wheels waited on the platforms, and when the mag-train stopped and the doors opened, the passengers poured out and began to load their luggage onto the carriers.

The traveller walked past the gaggles of day-trippers and headed straight to the elevator, keeping his hood up and his gaze down lest the security cameras flash-scan his eyes and grab his biometrics. He made it up the steps of the platform without incident and into the arrivals hall, filled with people coming and going or standing and waiting.

He couldn’t go any further. Local uniformed Civil Security officers were patrolling the station entrances accompanied by armed support androids. No doubt there were plainclothes officers prowling through the crowd as well. He turned sideways, keeping his head down and his pace quick, hoping to reach a side door without attracting attention.

With his gaze directed downward, the palm of someone’s gloved hand passed across his field of vision. The traveller saw an imaging device attached to the palm of the glove a split second before it flash-scanned his eyes.

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