Read The Agathon: Reign of Arturo for Free Online

capable of following the rule of law,” he paused.
    “Or we will die as a people and the universe will never know what could have been for the human race,” he finished. He looked out at the faces. He spotted a familiar one, recognising it from the folder he had created for Florence. It looked at him angrily. He smiled at the face of the man. He turned to face the old man in the airlock who was now looking at him calmly. The man closed his eyes.
    “Thomas Greenly, you are hereby sentenced to darkness. We thank you for your service,” he finally said. He turned to his left, to one of the heavily armoured Colonial Guards that was flanking him and gave a light nod. The guard nodded in response and tapped a command into a control pad fixed onto the rail of the bridge. The lights in the cargo bay dimmed. Inside the airlock a flashing rotating red light silhouetted the man. He placed his hands on the window and drew a breath. An alarm began to sound from inside the airlock. An explosive sound echoed through the cargo bay as the outer doors were opened. Greenly was ripped from the window, and a second later he was gone. Silence descended on the cargo bay as the sound of crying filtered through the crowd. The lights lifted to normal levels. Arturo looked at the empty airlock and looked at the handprints left on the glass. He turned, and with his entourage of guards, made his way across the bridge and out of the cargo bay. Arriving at the entrance, he was greeted by Florence.
    “So, what else have we got for today?” he asked her flatly. He looked at her sad face and sighed.
    “Oh, for God’s sake, Florence, get a hold of yourself, will you? We have a busy day today,” he said.
    She looked at him red eyed for a moment before addressing the floor.
    “Yes, sir, I apologise,” she said.
    She was growing tiresome
, he thought.
    “You have a meeting with Vishal, sir, in two hours,” she said. “Aron Elstone’s ship is docking presently. I have notified him that you wish to speak with him. He should be in your office in thirty minutes,” she said.
    “Very good,” he said moving past her out of the cargo bay and into the halls of the space station. He could hear the muffled sounds of the colonists behind him as he left.
    The Unity
    India flipped the switch above her head. “Docking clamps engaged, sir,” said India. There was a light thud as the ship made contact with the outer hull of Earth One.
    “Okay, lock her up, India, I gotta go see the boss,” said Aron, shifting out of the flight chair. She looked at him curiously.
    “Bring a knife,” she said. He smiled and moved past her out of the cockpit and into the main walkway that led to crew quarters.
    “Good morning, sir,” Oliver Jones said from the other end of the corridor. The forty-two-year-old engineer was doing chin ups from an overhanging strut.
    “Morning, Ollie,” Aron responded, “Bit early for that, no?” he said mockingly slapping him on the shoulder, “You’re putting me to shame you know.”
    “Healthy body, healthy mind, sir,” he said letting go and landing gracefully onto the deck. He was a well-built man with thick black hair and a slightly out of control beard.
    “You not get enough exercise drilling asteroids?” said Aron.
    “Ah, it’s not the same. Doesn’t hit the deltoids,” he said flexing his arms.
    Aron laughed.
    “Right,” he said moving past him.
    “We got a good haul this time round,” said Oliver.
    “We did, my friend. You are the best,” Aron responded, making his way to the airlock and opening the door.
    “Where you off to?” he asked, “sneaking out before the real work starts again?”
    “I wish,” Aron said, “Gotta see the man upstairs.”
    “Jesus, good luck with that. Tell him I was killed in action, will ye?” Oliver shouted as he closed the airlock behind him. Aron gave him a thumbs up through the window before leaving The Unity and making his way into the Earth One docking area. Crews from the