Curse of the Iris by Jason Fry Read Free Book Online Page A

it.”
    â€œCursed?” Yana asked. “Cursed how?”
    â€œGenerations of fools ’ave hunted that treasure, and plenty of ’em ’ave come to bad ends,” Huff said. “We knew better than to discuss the cache around ol’ Johannes—said he never wanted to hear about it again.”
    Huff trailed off, his flesh-and-blood eye narrowing in suspicion.
    â€œBut why all this ancient history? What are you not tellin’ me?”
    Tycho watched his grandfather as Carlo explained what had happened. The living half of Huff’s face registered shock, then dismissal. But in between, Tycho saw a flash of the last emotion he would have expected: fear.
    â€œWhat a load of bilge,” Huff said. “Listen, boy, there’s two kinds of people what never tell the truth, and that’s Earthmen and prospectors.”
    â€œBut we have the Lucia ’s flight log,” Tycho said. “We know where she was headed. The old woman said Lumbaba searched his whole life for the treasure—what if he was following a lead when the accident happened?”
    â€œAin’t you been listenin’, boy?” Huff demanded. “I told you the Iris cache is cursed, and what happened to that ore boat proves it.”
    â€œCome on, Grandfather—that’s just superstition,” Carlo said. “How can the contents of a mailboat be cursed?”
    â€œI bet Cap’n Lumbaba believed they was, there at the end. There in the dark.”
    For a moment, all on the quarterdeck were silent.
    â€œI don’t believe in curses,” Mavry said. “But I also don’t believe in wasting valuable time and fuel on prospectors’ fantasies.”
    â€œBut Dad—” Yana began.
    â€œThat’s enough, all of you,” Diocletia said. “We don’t have enough information to make a decision—but we can change that. And Dad, your power indicators are red.”
    Huff glowered down at the lights in his chest, which were warning that his cybernetic parts needed to be recharged. Still grumbling, he clanked laboriously up the ladderwell to the crew quarters on the top deck.
    â€œWell, then,” Diocletia said, “get your consoles up and running. Mavry’s loading the navigational data from the Lucia . Let’s see if we can figure out where she was going.”
    â€œWe know that,” Yana said with a sigh. “It’s the end point of her flight plan.”
    â€œThis should be easy, then,” Diocletia said. “Vesuvia, are you monitoring? We’re going to plot some potential flight plans.”
    â€œAcknowledged,” the ship’s AI said. “Awaiting input.”
    â€œVesuvia, plot these points,” Yana said. “Here are the coordinates where we intercepted the Lucia , and here are the coordinates of her destination.”
    â€œPlotting onscreen,” Vesuvia said.
    The main screen lit up with the ellipses of planetary orbits and a pair of blinking crosses.
    â€œThere’s nothing there,” Yana said. “Deep space.”
    â€œThat’s not a surprise,” Diocletia said. “Who can tell me what it means?”
    Tycho swallowed. They were being tested again, and even though they were in orbit above Enceladus and not in combat, their success or failure would become another note in the Log.
    â€œWhat if someone found the Iris cache, put it aboard a gig or in a message capsule, and launched it in the direction of Sirius?” he asked. “Didn’t the old pirates used to do that? They’d memorize the heading instead of writing it down, right?”
    â€œRight,” Mavry said. “And then half of them would forget it after the next shindy.”
    â€œIf that’s the case, the treasure’s gone forever,” Carlo said.
    â€œWait a minute,” Yana said. “You said it wasn’t a surprise that there’s nothing at those coordinates.”
    â€œYes, I