Autonoma- Gate 13 Read online

  Autonoma - Gate 13

  By Emily Reading

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2019 by E Reading Publishing

  All rights reserved. This eBook or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and places resembling any actual persons, living or dead, or locales are entirely coincidental.

  To discover more about the series: www.AutonomaTheBooks.com

  Cover by E Reading Publishing 2019

  E Reading Publishing Ltd

  www.ereadingpublishing.com

  Table of Contents

  Autonoma - Gate 13

  Copyright

  Table of Contents

  The Survivor

  Chapter 0

  Initiate Sequence

  Chapter 1

  //Autonoma_13

  Chapter 2

  Flight of the Triathics

  Chapter 3

  The Spider’s Web

  Chapter 4

  PodSled

  Chapter 5

  Prepare for Lunch

  Chapter 6

  The Severed Seas

  Chapter 7

  The Hold

  Chapter 8

  Exit Path

  Chapter 9

  Welcome to the A.N.C.E.

  Chapter 10

  Who Are You?

  Chapter 11

  Henri’s Next Move

  Chapter 12

  DeliverA.N.C.E.

  Chapter 14

  Enhancement Can Be Yours

  Chapter 15

  Welcome to the A.M.I.

  Chapter 16

  The Individual

  Chapter 17

  Duct! Where?

  Chapter 18

  Dr. M. Hartwick

  Chapter 19

  Subject: A

  Chapter 20

  A lesson in familiarity

  Chapter 21

  All Good Things

  Chapter 22

  Remember

  Chapter 23

  The Gatekeepers

  Chapter 24

  Welcome to the other A.N.C.E.

  Chapter 25

  But you can call me H.E.N.R.I.

  Chapter 26

  What Lies Beneath

  Chapter 27

  Gate 13

  Chapter 28

  The Open Sea

  Chapter 29

  Autonoma - Needshakha Center for Energy

  Chapter 30

  RememberA.N.C.E.

  Chapter 31

  AcceptA.N.C.E.

  Chapter 32

  VengeA.N.C.E

  If You Enjoyed This Book

  Claim The Survivor

  The Survivor

  One chance to save the city – all it will take is the ultimate sacrifice.

  When Eva comes face to face with the choice of saving herself or her friends, there’s little to discuss. Captured, she’s forced to accept the help of her enemy to rebuild her, all they want in return is to know everything.

  With her companions missing, Eva must make a series of difficult decisions to restore her strength, and strike when the opportunity arises, taking the fight to the heart of her enemy’s fortress.

  In a world of hoverbots, robotic prosthetics and a single mega-corporation, there’s nothing to lose, but everything to gain. They may have rebuilt her, but they could not break her.

  Find information on how to claim your copy of the prequel to this series at the end of this eBook.

  Chapter 0

  Initiate Sequence

  .- ..- - --- -. --- -- .-

  Is this transmitting? Are you there?

  .-- .. .-.. .-.. .--. .-. . ...- .- .. .-..

  If you are reading this, whoever you are - I’m being held against my will, in a Quincunx Inc facility using a mixed reality of physical surfaces and virtual images, until I confess to a crime I did not commit. I don’t know how long I have been here, days, weeks, months, or years. My name is Alex, damn it, and this is the story of how they woke me.

  .. - .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... -.. --- . ...

  Please, don’t send help.

  …|…|…|…|… //transmission from Subject A interrupted<< Loading last known sequence: //…

  I came to rest against an external panel of the space station and cupped my hand, hoping to cast a shadow across the face of the dial.

  “Alex?” Michael asked.

  I looked up, slowed by the weight of the suit. My little brother stared back. Even with the reflections of the stars scattered across his visor, I could sense his concern.

  “Yeah, it’s fine. I’m on it,” I replied.

  Michael pushed off from the terminal and glided backward, his stare fixed toward me, as I grabbed the external rail and pulled myself along the wall of the station.

  ‘REROUTE POWER SUPPLY: TERMINAL 7A-13B’, flashed on my visor, accompanied with a monotone voice.

  “I know, I heard you the first time. You don’t have to keep reminding me,” I griped.

  The light above the terminal turned red. I encouraged the door open, pulling myself in closer to the blank plate, surprised to find no buttons or dials.

  ‘REROUTE POWER SUPPLY: TERMINAL 7A-13B’, repeated on my visor and in my ear.

  I checked the number above the door, closed my eyes and sighed.

  “Alex?”

  “Shut up, Michael. I know what I’m doing.”

  The light above the door illuminated green as I turned the handle and sealed it shut once more, turning my attention to the one above it, the one the little arrow next to the label pointed to.

  ‘RELEASE PANEL’, overwrote the previous text on my Heads-Up Display.

  “How, would be helpful,” I muttered to myself, scanning the surface for a screw, a fixing or some kind of clue. The words ‘PUSH’, stenciled onto the panel seemed obvious once I’d spotted them.

  Removed, the cover floated on its tether, and I stared into the blackened mess it was concealing.

  ‘REPLACE COMPONENT’.

  Pulling on the cord to the tools, I drew them nearer, locating the hand drill, and removed it from the bag. Releasing the blackened block from its position, I inspected its melted case, sealing it into another bag. The new unit located into the connectors with a gentle push, and I sealed up the panel.

  Running through their sequence, the lights, one by one, lit up green.

  “You did it,” Michael exclaimed, his voice distorting with excitement in my earpiece.

  For once he was right about something, I thought, lights inside the station switching from the emergency low level lighting, to the bright glow of the overhead units.

  ‘OBJECTIVE: COMPLETE’.

  I knew I could do it. There wasn’t ever any doubt, I convinced myself, a rare smile breaking through my otherwise persistent frown.

  ‘NEW OBJECTIVE INCOMING’.

  Oh, now what?

  “Oh, OK,” Michael remarked, as if he was talking to someone else, swinging his legs around.

  “What are you doing?”

  “The objective.”

  “What objective? I don’t see an objective,” I remarked, as Michael pulled himself into the side of the station and scrambled like a lizard across its surface.

  “Where are you going? You’re only eight, get back here!”

  “The objective, and I’ll be fine.”

  I grunted my frustration, as he came to a stop.

  “Got it,” he chimed happily.

  ‘OBJECTIVE: COMPLETE’.

  “What did you do?” I asked.

  “Flicked the switch, like it told me to
.”

  I glared at him for a moment, as my HUD updated with a new objective.

  ‘OBJECTIVE: RECHARGE SYSTEM’.

  Again, I followed the demands of the emotionless voice and the text dominating my visor, while Michael flitted across the station flicking switches and cutting twisted metal.

  “This is great,” Michael declared, pirouetting off toward the far end of the external wall.

  “Yeah, I do all the heavy work while you scutter across flicking switches,” I sneered, Michael’s tether passing overhead, dragging along the rails running the length of the station. I looked at the plasma cutter in my hand.

  “Weeee…” he squealed.

  What if his tether should suddenly break? I wondered. My hand guided the cutter closer to the line.

  ‘WARNING!’

  I pulled my hand to my chest.

  Wait? Was I letting myself be commanded by a machine?

  “Warning,” blared into my earpiece.

  OK, my hand wasn’t by the line anymore. I got it: Don’t leave your little brother to float off into the endless void that is space.

  ‘Warning!’ flashed across my screen in red, the emotionless voice repeating.

  I didn’t do it. Why was it screaming into my ear?

  “Alex?” Michael called out, stopping himself at the far end of the station’s wall.

  “Warning!”

  “I heard you the first time.”

  “Me?” Michael asked.

  “No, the alarm. Why is it still going off?”

  “What alarm?”

  “You can’t hear it?”

  “Warning!”

  “Alex?” he repeated, concern rippling through his tone.

  “Warning!”

  “Shut up!” I demanded, the repetition of the words burrowing deeper into my ear.

  “Alex?”

  ‘WARNING!’ pulsated on my visor.

  “What?” I screamed, desperate to clamp my hands over my ears.

  “Alex!”

  ‘WARNING: COLLISION IMMINENT!’

  Collision?

  I turned as fast as my suit allowed, my little brother’s appearance turning to a silhouette against the glow of the planet behind him. Inside the station, the overhead units switched to a pulsing red, and the exterior lights illuminated in a linear sequence. The reflection in the panel to my side was unmistakable, the fierce orange glow spreading across the surface, bleeding into the next.

  “Michael,” I whispered, in a vain hope a hushed voice would lessen the fear I could feel within him, even from this distance, “come here.”

  He reached for the rail and pulled himself along, his former agility sapped by the situation.

  “It’s OK,” I told him, “don’t panic. Keep coming.”

  ‘BRACE FOR IMPACT!’

  “I’m scared,” Michael cried, each breath louder than his words.

  No, those were my breaths deafening my thoughts.

  He reached out for the next handhold, time ebbing to a slow crawl, and his suit bathed in the fiery glow.

  With no time to turn the debilitating, cumbersome suit around, I strained to turn my head within it. The rubber tensed against my neck, pressing against my throat, the rear half of my helmet and the hinge for the visor obstructing my view.

  I looked back to the station, and Michael reached his hand out toward me.

  An audible exhale escaped my lungs. It was the loudest sound I’d ever heard.

  ‘IMPACT!’ filled my visor.

  I pulled him into me, making out Michael’s face between the letters, as my attention was snatched. The ball of flames collided with the spot Michael had been, and the station gave way. Like a castle made of sand being crushed under foot, the delicate silver foils, the gold-plated metals, the fixings, the panels, and the units exploded outward and scattered. My HUD went blank.

  I moved my free hand to shield my eyes, forgetful of the visor and suit protecting me from the debris jettisoned toward us.

  Michael buried his head into my chest, pushing me backward and away from him. I grabbed the rail, the cutter in my hand, as my tether drifted free.

  The station went dark, and the exterior lights faded. As the station tore apart behind my little brother, the light of the nearest star fell onto his terrified face.

  Michael’s tether jerked taut. I reached out to grab his hand, but I was not quick enough. As my little brother was dragged backward with the station’s fractured arm, a scream roared from his lungs, echoed by one of my own.

  Bracing my feet against the ruptured wall, I launched toward him, clamping onto my little brother’s arm, pulling myself closer.

  With determination, I pulled myself along the thin cable, into the fracturing station, and grasped onto the rail holding Michael.

  The cutter spluttered and struggled. In frustration and a moment of stupidity, I lashed it against the station’s wall, and it fired up. Unhurried and with slow progress, the cutter worked the rail, as if I was trying to cut diamond with a butter knife. I pressed harder, though I wasn’t sure any progress was being made. If it was, it was not happening fast enough.

  “Alex?” Michael cried.

  “It’s OK, I’ve got this. Everything is going to be fine.”

  “Please don’t leave me.”

  “I won’t. I’m right here. I’ve got you.”

  The cutter extinguished, and I slid Michaels tether toward the gap, pulling with all my might, but it wouldn’t budge. A curse escaped my lips.

  “Alex?”

  “Not now, Michael.”

  I rotated to look at the damaged station. We had drifted a long way, and we didn’t have time to cut the rail again, not if we were going to make it back unpowered without freezing to death or worse, our oxygen running out. I looked back at the rail, my eyes flashing over every surface, desperate for a quicker solution.

  Settling on the bracket a foot or so away, I fired up the cutter and pulled myself closer. The thinner metal cut in half the time, but was it enough? Was I saving time, or wasting it?

  With the bracket melted into two parts, I placed Michael’s tether between my fingers and grasped the rail with both hands. I planted my feet against the wall of the fractured station’s arm and pulled.

  I cried out, locking my knees and pulling the tether through, releasing the rail to return to its former position. Michael was free. I took a moment to catch my breath.

  “Alex?”

  We were out of time to discuss this. We had to go now.

  “Look at the station,” I told him. “Brace your feet against the wall.”

  I took my position, watched Michael copy, gave my legs a few seconds to recover and started the countdown.

  “Three, two, one. Push!”

  Some of our energy transferred into the station’s fractured arm, but what remained was enough to move us forward.

  “We’re not going to make it,” Michael cried.

  “We will - it’s fine. We just needed a little push. Everything will be fine.”

  “We’ll slow down.”

  “No, we won’t. Trust me.”

  As we drew nearer, I got a better view of the damage to the station. It might have survived the hit had it been anywhere else, but the end of the third arm was the weakest point. It was obvious the hole in the station was irreparable. All that was left of the science lab was a six-foot square hole, scattering oxygen, equipment and wiring into space.

  “Michael, we need to get to the escape pod, OK?”

  “OK.”

  I reached forward and grasped a piece of dislodged metal, pulling myself in, dragging Michael in behind me.

  “Don’t touch anything, OK?” I told him, as I observed the arcing wires a small stretch from his right arm.

  “OK.”

  Eager to see Michael inside, I steadied myself against the remains of the doorway, and pushed him through.

  My little brother glided into the station with grace and poise, coming to rest with his helmet against
the far wall. I followed him inside.

  “Why didn’t you stop yourself?” I asked, righting him.

  “You said don’t touch anything.”

  I glared at my little brother and sighed, gathering my bearings.

  “Will it work with the power off, Alex?”

  “Yeah, should do. They tend to use hydraulics and gas, not electricity. Wouldn’t be a good escape pod if you can’t escape when the power’s off.”

  My little brother looked at me, his brow furrowed with thought.

  “Come on Michael, you first,” I declared, releasing the door and giving my little brother a gentle push.

  With Michael seated, I hurried myself in and pulled the door. Before us, a series of red buttons pulsated in different patterns, while one remained green and solid. Green is good, right? I pushed it.

  Gas vapor engulfed the outside of the pod, blocking the view through the glass door as the capsule rocked and bounced.

  Michael squeezed my arm.

  “Everything is going to be fine,” I told him, or perhaps I was trying to reassure myself? I wasn’t sure anymore.

  The vapor at the door cleared and the station was far away.

  “Where are we going?” Michael asked.

  I looked about the small capsule. Apart from the buttons and screen, there didn’t appear to be any form of control.

  “Daddy would know what to do,” my little brother remarked.

  “I don’t think he would,” I replied with a skeptical snort.

  “He was a scientist, he’d know how it works.”

  “Dad was a computer engineer, not a scientist, and he never worked on space crafts.”

  “Same thing.”

  The lights in the pod reduced to a dim red glow, as the panel of buttons turned to a single pulsating blue light. The lines of green text on the screen faded away, replaced by a logo like an A, with half a cog protruding from its side.

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  I tried to rotate in my seat, hopeful there was a window to see where we were going, rather than where we had been, but all I could see was the back of my helmet.

  Text appeared on my HUD, but none of it made any sense. It was a jumble of symbols, letters and numbers.

  “Look at that!” Michael gasped.