AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“STOP!” a voice bellowed.
It did not come from any particular direction, but from everywhere at once, as if the ship itself was speaking to them. There was an odd, tinny quality to the voice that reminded Shannon of the phonograph she’d heard at a technological fair a few years ago in Tucson.
And it also reminded her of something else.
Her father’s voice.
“Stop,” the voice repeated, more softly this time. “Do not leave yet. I intend you no harm. I merely wish to speak with you. What are your names?”
There was a long moment where nobody said anything. Finally, Tanner spoke. “My name’s Tanner McBain. This here is Logan Summerhill. The wolf’s name is Rufus.”
“And the woman?”
“My name’s Shannon. Shannon Duffy.”
Silence followed, but Shannon could sense the entity thinking. She couldfeelit thinking within the walls around her.
“Shannon Duffy,” the voice said at last. “Yes, I have been expecting you. Samuel informed me you would be coming.”
CHAPTER 38
“You knew my father? You knew Samuel Duffy?”
The vibrations humming through the metal structure had died down, but the strange colored lights were still racing along the lines in the floor and walls. Once again, Shannon had that unnerving sensation of being observed, studied, as if the various parts of her body and mind were being cataloged down to the minutest detail.
“Yes,” the strange, mechanical voice replied . “I am acquainted with the human named Samuel Duffy. You say he is your father, but I am unable to detect any familial resemblance in your facial traits.”
“He wasn’t my father by blood,” Shannon explained. “He rescued me as a baby, adopted me.”
“I see.” There was a pause, then: “It appears Samuel did not accompany you. Is he unwell?”
“He’s dead,” Shannon said. “He died several years ago from smallpox.”
Another, longer pause.
“I see.”
There was no emotion behind the response. No offer of condolence or sympathy. Not that Shannon had expected any from the entity to whom she was speaking, an entity who had just made a human being disappear before her very eyes. Whoever this entity was, it was clearly dangerous. Yet Shannon sensed it did not pose a threat to herself or her companions… as long as they behaved themselves.
Her alpha mates seemed less certain. Tanner, Logan, and Rufus—the latter in wolf form—closed in protectively around her. Shannon appreciated the gesture, but she wasn’t sure they could protect her from something that had made Flarity disappear without a trace.
For a moment, nobody said anything. Then Tanner spoke up.
“Hey, if you don’t mind my asking… what did you do with our guns?”
“I transferred your weapons outside the ship. You may collect them after you leave. My instructions are to avoid direct physical interference with the life forms of the planet. However, the directive to preserve the integrity of the ship overrides this. Combustion-based projectile weapons could damage the machinery.
So itwasa ship, Shannon thought. It looked like a lot of the machinery had already been damaged though, probably in a crash.
“What about Flarity?” Tanner asked. “Did you transfer him outside too?”
“Flarity no longer exists.”
Shannon’s guts went cold when she heard that. She guessed it was a painless way to die, but there was something about it that seemed truly horrible. Just a few minutes ago, she’d been facing the prospect of death at the end of Flarity’s gun. Somehow that seemed preferable than simply blinking out of existence.
“One more question,” Tanner said. “You got a name?”
“My designation, approximately translated, is Research Vessel 1139. However, you may call me Crusoe. That is the name Samuel gave me. I believe he found it amusing.”
