Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) by Michael G. Thomas Read Free Book Online Page B

chunks of flesh scattered around the
weightless interior of the ship. Three more of the creatures
emerged from the shadows before the assault finally stopped. Each
of the APS operatives moved closer to the machine and the pipes.
Spartan examined the structure but noticed the engineering was
definitely not the same as the equipment he’d seen on human ships.
The principles were the same, but this looked unique to the T’Kari.
The head was the most obvious part of the creature that shared some
of the important facial features of the T’Kari.
    Why the
hell are there Biomechs on a T’Kari Raiding ship?
    As the four looked
on , a dark shape appeared from the
blackness. They all lifted their weapons, expecting another
onslaught from the foul things. Instead, it was a man wearing a
respirator and odd clothing. He staggered and flailed about as if
he’d never moved in a weightless environment before. Khan lowered
his arm slightly as he looked at the figure, a glimmer of
recognition showing on his face. Spartan knew him
immediately.
    “Pontus?”
    The man looked as if
he was nodding but then twisted his head about. He lifted his hands
and drifted up to the ceiling before crashing and spinning out of
control. He then dragged and clawed at the floor, trying to move
toward the APS operatives. Unlike the biomechanical creatures, he
was having a hard time making any sort of progress in the zero
gravity of the ship.
    “ What the hell is
wrong with him?” asked one of the two operatives, waiting at the
flanks of Khan and Spartan, but neither looked at them, as both
seemed awestruck by the sight of the man. One of them lifted his
carbine, but Spartan reached out and blocked him.
    “No, not yet!”
    Instead, he moved
out in front and grabbed hold of the man. He pulled him straight
and pushed his weightless body up against the wall. His clothes
were different, more like those worn by the T’Kari civilians, and
there were bruises and cuts on his face. He yanked and tugged at
the mask on his face, gasping in the thin, barely breathable
atmosphere.
    “ Who...who are you?”
he demanded with great effort.
    Spartan pulled him
close so that the man was directly in front of him. He’d wanted this man for so long, and it took
every measure of self-control not to shoot him where he
stood.
    “ You know me, I’m
Spartan,” he said through clenched teeth.
    Pontus looked back
at him without even a glimmer of recognition on his face. It was
then he spotted the smashed remains of the Biomechs and recoiled in
terror. It was this reaction more than any other that surprised
Spartan. The last time Spartan had seen Pontus; he’d been with the
machines and Biomechs of the enemy as one of their trusted
commanders. Spartan gripped tighter and pulled the man close once
more.
    “ Don’t play games
with me. Your name is Pontus, and you are the most wanted man in
the galaxy.”
    Khan moved to
Spartan and gazed upon his sworn enemy. The man seemed just as
terrified at the sight of Khan as he was at the other non-human
creatures on the ship.
    “ You worked with the
machines,” he stated, his voice dripping with venom. “You helped
them and the Biomechs to wage war against your own people. Millions
died because of you.”
    Khan, normally stoic
in these situations, clenched his right fist, desperate to exact
some revenge for the massed suffering of his own comrades at the
hands of Pontus and his friends.
    “ Pontus?” cried out
the man, “No...no, that’s not me.”
    Spartan lifted his
armo red fist in a threatening manner and
looked into the eyes of his enemy. He could see genuine horror and
fear staring right back, and it worried him.
    “ I don’t know
who...my name?”
    He reached for his face as though expecting to find
somebody else.
    “ Who am I? Where am
I? Are we in space?”
    Khan shook his head angrily.
    “ Tell us what are you doing here?”
    Pontus started
spluttering, his voice confused and scared. Spartan was forced to
lower his hand