Read The Outer Worlds: Book One of the Epherian Chronicles for Free Online Page A

toward nothing, and
the fact that he still had to pay his crew as he had promised was
at the forefront of his mind.
    ‘ Near enough is good enough,’ he said.
    ‘ Agreed, please take a seat,’ said Thompson as he drew the
trolley through a door into another room. ‘I will return in twenty
minutes with your repaired android.’
    There were two
metal chairs in the centre of the room. He sat down on the one
furthest away from the spiders; he had always been a little afraid
of spiders. Dog-Two was still snarling at him; however, the
synthetic K9 hadn’t made the slightest move from his place in the
corner. Michael was ready to turn his rifle on the android dog if
it attacked. He sat still and waited patiently in the bizarre
apartment for twenty minutes, and the eeriness was more than a
little disconcerting. Thompson returned exactly on time, and Ivan
followed him into the room.
    ‘ Captain, thank you for paying for my repairs,’ said Ivan in
his monotone voice.
    ‘ It’s a pleasure, Ivan,’ replied Michael.
    ‘ For an extra hundred credits I can update his voice program.
You must grow tired of that dull monotone.’
    ‘ No, I like his voice the way it is. I’ve had to listen to his
voice for nearly three years, and I’m used to it.’
    Thompson
nodded as he reached for his GCTD. ‘That will be one thousand
credits.’ Michael lifted his own GCTD and transferred the one
thousand across, which was a wireless transaction between the two
devices.
    ‘ All right, Ivan, let’s get out of here,’ he said as he turned
for the door. They both walked toward the exit. Dog-Two stood up
and followed them across the room.
    Thompson
Vega’s brow deeply furrowed. ‘No, you can’t go with him. He isn’t
the one who ordered you!’
    Dog-Two
whipped his head around and bared his large teeth. Thompson took
several steps back as the dog started barking at him. Meanwhile
Michael and Ivan watched on from where they were standing beside
the door.
    ‘ How dare you bark at me? I made you! You have to do what I
say; it’s in your programming!’ shouted Thompson. Dog-Two snarled.
‘You better return to your corner or I will be forced to remove
your batteries!’
    Dog-Two backed
away from Thompson and sat down beside Michael and stopped barking
immediately. Thompson scratched his chin and pondered the
situation. He eventually shrugged his shoulders.
    ‘ It seems that his loyalty program has started operating.
Unfortunately, for some unknown reason he has made you the prime
focus of the program. I don’t think I’ll be able to deactivate him
without a fight, and even if I could I would have to completely
remove his internal circuits and start again. I simply don’t have
the time for such nonsense. I’m afraid Dog-Two will have to go with
you.’
    ‘ I can’t afford to buy him,’ said Michael as he glanced down at
the large dog. Dog-Two was looking up at him with glowing eyes, and
his tail was wagging.
    ‘ Consider him a gift.’
    ‘ I’ve never owned a dog before,’ said Michael in a low voice,
feeling unsure as to whether he should accept the offer.
    ‘ He’s technically not a dog. He’s highly capable synthetic
organism; nevertheless, his programming is designed to make him
think and act like a dog.
    ‘ Well, all right then; I guess I will take him.’
    Thompson
nodded. ‘I am sure he will be a valuable asset.’
    Michael gave a
curt nod as he walked out of the apartment. Ivan and Dog-Two
followed. They proceeded back toward the elevator door.
    He lifted his
wrist-com. ‘Hey crew; Ivan is fixed. I’ll find a place for us to
meet up before we set out.’
    ‘… Yo, Cap, I found a bar down on level fourteen…’ said Ajax.
‘…It’s called The Waiting Saloon; just the kind of place we
like…’
    ‘ Did everyone hear that? Let’s all meet at The Waiting
Saloon.’
     

CHAPTER
THREE
     
    Ajax lifted a
glass of red glowing liquid to his mouth. The Waiting Saloon was a
dark and rather dank bar that was lit by