Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) by Michael G. Thomas Page A

within forty
minutes.”
    Spartan looked to Khan who showed no sign of emotion
on his face.
    “ If we tell them,
then they’ll seize the ship, and we lose the contract,” he said
plainly.
    Spartan sighed. APS
Corp really needed this business, and the security contracts on
several of the key T’Kari mining installations in New Charon would
keep them going for another five years. He also knew what the
threat of the Biomechs had been, and could be again. Khan looked at
his changing expression and knew right away what his old friend was
thinking. Spartan connected directly to the communications officer
on board the warship.
    “ This is Security
Manager Spartan of APS Corporation. We’ve discovered potential
Biomech activity on this vessel. Advise an exclusion zone until the
situation is under control.”
    There was no
immediate reply before a surprised sounding woman’s voice came
back.
    “ Spartan, I know who
you are. This is Alliance controlled space, and I am preparing a
boarding party of marines to search all ships in this area. Stand
down and prepare to be boarded.”
    He hit the disconnect option and looked back to his
team.
    “ We need to secure
any prisoners and get out of here. Alliance can mop up, but we have
work to do. Let’s go.”
    He moved in the
direction where Pontus had first appeared, while the other three
followed with Pontus in tow. It meant he was forced to pass
directly alongside the machinery and equipment in the center of the
ship.
    No guards other than a few substandard Biomechs. Why
is that?
    They found the open doorway where Pontus had come from. The
room on the other side was filled with pods laid out in a massive
lattice. In the center a cluster of them were all open, but there
were no signs of people or anything else nearby. Spartan pushed on
to reach the left-hand cluster. The pods were dark, but as he
approached, the hardened glass flickered and the pod lit up. He
looked at the figure inside with horror.
    “Gods, have you seen this!” he cried out.
    Khan stopped at his
side, looking at three pods before he spoke.
    “ Each one if
different, and there are creatures I’ve never seen. Some look like
T’Kari. There are two more humans to the right.”
    Spartan moved over
to one of the pods in question and looked inside. He stared
intently at the face. He looked on in fascination as though gazing
at some great miracle before shaking his head and pulling himself
back. It contained a man, but a man he was all too familiar
with.
    “What is it?” asked Khan suspiciously.
    “ Typhon, he’s in
that pod and still breathing.”
    Khan moved along the ceiling and lowered himself
down to look.
    “No, it’s not possible. I saw you kill him on Terra
Nova.”
    Spa rtan pushed up to the ceiling
so that he could pull his bodyweight behind while looking down at
the pods. He counted over a hundred, of which only two more
contained humans. He noticed at least five T’Kari figures, but none
looked familiar to him. The others contained creatures or people he
couldn’t even imagine to have seen before. He finally stopped and
turned back to join the others near the entrance.
    “ There are different
types of pods in this place. ”
    Khan looked back in
the direction they’d come from as if
expecting danger. Spartan pulled himself down to the floor, and his
boots clumped as they made contact with the metal floor.
    “ The ones running
around the outside all contain Biomechs of one type or another.
Some of them are open, probably contained the creatures that
attacked us. The others in the center are a mixture of different
creatures, including people like us...and him.” He finished by
pointing at Pontus. Several dozen of the outer pods lit up, and
light flashed down the sides of the units. Hisses and a gas or mist
gushed from the seals. Then one by one each one started to
unlock.
    “ This isn’t a Raider
ship. N o way is it just cruising through
New Charon and initiating attacks. We’ve found