Atoned by Steve McHugh EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Steve McHugh
- Language: English
- Genre: Galactic Empire Science Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Sabas Gossard
Two-dozen large dorsal fins broke the water as fourteen people in militaryspec combat armour stood on the bank of the lake tossing bodies in, the
strong current immediately carrying them toward deeper waters where the
sharks waited for their next meal.
Sabas Gossard watched the gruesome display from atop a stone
bridge, a hundred feet above the lake itself. He continued to watch as the
bodies were thrown into the lake. It was horrific and terrifying, but Sabas
couldn’t turn away. He watched as the town of Onnab’s dead became food
for those monstrous creatures beneath the darkness of the water.
A forest nestled beside the lake, and the barren tundra to the south
stretched for hundreds of kilometres. Onnab had been built to allow the
population to mine the nearby mountains, and they’d done a good job.
Being so far from anything close to civilisation also meant they were in an
excellent place to be manipulated into doing exactly what Sabas’ partners
needed them to do.
Onnab had been home to a little over four thousand people. One of
the few towns on the planet of Ocrion, the majority of which were all there
to mine the vast mountain reaches. Men, women, and children living in a
thriving mining community in a quiet part of Union space.
All dead.
When Sabas had been informed of the deaths, he’d assumed
something a lot more dramatic than the empty streets he’d walked though
upon arriving. He’d wondered why there were no corpses. No blood. No
scent of death. Although there was a sharp, pungent odour he couldn’t quite
place.
Doors to homes were open, food on tables that had been left to rot
explained the caustic scent. Visi-screens showed nothing but static as the
satellite system for the city of Onnab had been destroyed. No one had been
able to get a message out about what had happened, and the vast distances
and general distrust between towns meant people minded their own
business. A saving grace.
It had been eerily quiet.
Sabas had the sudden need to be off the bridge but this was where he
was told to meet her, and he was not about to become the first living meal
for those monsters in the lake.
He was still a little unsure exactly what had happened to the town.
He’d heard that everyone had died, and been told to come to the planet
quickly, but no one had explained what he would be walking into. They’d
said it was safe, but that was the extent of their imparted knowledge.
While Sabas had arrived on-planet with his three bodyguards, he’d
left them back at the small space port. Two ships had been moored there,
both squire corvette’s—sleek, red and chrome ships with seats for four—
and both with extensive plasma burns around the engines and wings.
Neither would fly again.
He was a little sad about that. The ships had done nothing wrong,
and both looked like something he would have enjoyed flying. He cared
little about the human or alien population of Onnab, but destroying
expensive property for no reason just seemed… wasteful.
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