WARDEN 3
CHRONICLES OF A CYBORG BOOK 3
Isaac Hooke
Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
About the Author
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1
Rhea resided in the cramped cargo hold of the spacefaring merchant vessel. Crates lined the metal bulkheads and covered most of the deck. There was no gravity aboard and as such, the cases were strapped down. Using some of the spare cords, she had secured her sleeping bag to the deck between two of the crates and was tucked inside it at that very moment.
Will and Horatio had taken up residence in the same cargo hold and had secured their sleeping bags between other crates not far from her own. Will floated free at the moment, drifting in the space between crates, while Horatio occupied his sleeping bag just as she did—though his was attached to the overhead.
“Can’t believe we’re going to spend two weeks in here.” Will drifted into a crate and gently shoved off. His beard was progressing well, and his dreadlocks floated out from all around his head like the tentacles of some octopus. He wore the usual black and gray uniform. His pistol was locked away in storage, just like all of their weapons, including Rhea’s X2-59, which they’d transferred from the shuttle upon boarding. Gizmo, Will’s drone scout, was also in storage.
“Going to feel like forever, I tell you,” Will continued. “I thought this dude considered you a guest of honor. Why doesn’t he give us better quarters then?”
“Considering what we’re paying, I’m happy we have quarters at all,” Rhea said. “It’s not a very big ship, in case you hadn’t noticed. There are no guest rooms, and little else available in terms of amenities. And Targon did offer to give up his own stateroom.”
“Yeah well, you should’ve taken him up on his offer,” Will said.
“I couldn’t do that,” Rhea said. “This is his ship. It would feel wrong.”
“If you were worried about how it would make you feel, you could have accepted and then given the stateroom to me,” Will said flatly.
“Or we could’ve simply purchased passage aboard something bigger,” Horatio interjected. “A proper transport vessel.”
Rhea glanced at the faceless robot. Its gray and yellow body was all polycarbonate cylinders and servomotors, while its face was an oval with a grey visor and a grill in place of where a human’s eyes and mouth would reside. On the robot’s head, two insect-like antennae pointed in opposite directions.
“We have no money,” Rhea told the robot.
Horatio shrugged. “You could have issued a call for donations. Even if you posted to SubverseTube, you have more than enough followers to rebroadcast your message. It would have spread like wildfire, even to the sites you’re banned from. You would have received more than enough to cover the trip.”
“Why waste perfectly good credits when we had someone offer for free?” Rhea told him. “Especially considering I’m going to Ganymede mostly on a whim.”
Will shook his head and gently kicked off from another crate. “We won’t be able to get through to her on this Horatio.”
“Can you stop floating around like that?” Rhea told the salvager. “It’s distracting.”
Will glanced at her and chuckled. He purposely shoved off from several more crates, zigzagging back and forth above, which only further irked her. She looked away.
“Happy now?” Will asked from above.
She glanced up. Will had pulled himself into the sleeping bag he’d secured to the overhead.
She nodded curtly, then couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t be cross, at least for long. Not now.
“What’s so amusing?” Will asked.
“That you’re sleeping bag is attached to the roof, maybe?” Rhea replied.
Will shrugged. “That’s what happens when you hitch a ride aboard a spaceship, especially one with less room than a tuna can.”
Her smile deepened. “A spaceship. Can’t believe I’m actually here. Going to Ganymede.”
“You make it sound like it’s been a lifelong dream,” Will said. “When you only learned you were from there a short while ago. Like you said, this was a whim.”
“Yes,” she said. “It was. But I’m from there. It’s my home.”
“Yeah, well, I guess we’ll see what you think when we actually get there,” Will said. “You’ve seen the videos, right?”
“I know what to expect, yes,” she said guardedly.
“Okay, just checking,” he told her.
“I wonder what the Europans will think,” Horatio said.
“What do you mean?” Rhea asked.
“You’re the last Ganymedean left alive,” Horatio clarified. “They haven’t met one in thirty years.”
“I’m sure there are others,” Rhea said. “Hidden away on Europa itself, or other moons. They just haven’t made themselves known yet.”
“I already told you when we first met…” Will began. “The Ganymedeans are extinct. Half the population of Earth died in the disaster Ganymede caused: the Great Calming. The survivors wanted vengeance, yes, but they also wanted to ensure nothing like the Calming ever happened again. Everyone lost someone they knew when the Calming hit. Friends, relatives, entire branches of families. The people of Earth heartily supported the military slaughter. Sure, there were some who protested the war, but they were few and far between. You might be surprised at how thorough a military can be when it’s fully supported by its people and government. Though much of the technology of Ganymede was superior to our own, we still won in the end because of our sheer determination and our rage over what they had done.”
Rhea was quiet for a moment. “If I survived, there have to be others,” she finally insisted.
“You were an exception,” Will said. “Don’t you understand that?”
Rhea crossed her arms. “The mayor said he heard rumors Khrusos kept Ganymedean prisoners for personal entertainment.”
“If he did, I doubt they survived as long as you did,” Will said. “Considering, when we found you, you weren’t in the most pristine of conditions.”
“No,” Rhea admitted. Her eyes defocused. “I
