Pull (Deep Darkness Book 1) by Stephen Landry Read Free Book Online

no eyes or eyes on their hands and feet. It was
ancient civilization called the Lethe who originally built this colony. They
were the first civilization EVER to venture into space or at least the first that
we knew of. They discovered the immer and had even left markers too; ones
that acted as warnings - areas of the immer that were unstable or unsafe.
Everything past Errikus was unknown int was in that unexplored region we
would soon be leaving. Most of the trade routes ships followed, hell, most of
the routes we followed getting to Errikus had come from markers we
followed left behind by Lethe. Other civilizations had almost made it to their
level. The Erebus had found at least two or three other ancient civilizations
that succumbed to violence and war wiping themselves out of existence. No
one is sure wha these previous civilizations like the Lethe looked like or what
happened to them that made them disappear. We do know that they created
our alien, the Arr7.
    The Arr7 were once nothing more then machinery, then for no real
reason at all one machine seemed to just ‘wake up’ and gain free though. A
programming error had caused it to question its very own existence. The first
thing it did. It ‘cried’. It cried out screaming for its mother, its father, its
creator. A thousand years of repetition and finally it had realized that those
which it had served had vanished. It looked up at the sky, tired of wandering
alone and it began to question everything. The Arr7 were built to adapt. They
were machines but they had many biological components. Soon after the first
another awoke and then on and on like a fire spreading though the
wilderness. Some say consciousness infected them like a virus. No knew for
sure whether it was real or not. Maybe this was the path the Lethe had
intended for them all along. The Arr7 believed it was a gift and the Lethe
their gods. After years of loneliness and searching they accepted who they
were and what they were and moved on. They used technology left behind by
their gods to create cities and starships. They have started as machines but
the Arr7 were no different now then any other sentient species in the
universe.
    When we
first met them, whether it had been fear or paranoia we
attacked. Perhaps at the time we thought they were Skrav. Shortly thereafter
the Arr7 destroyed our ion drives and threatened to leave us for dead. When
we put down our arms and surrendered the Arr7 developed a way to
communicate with us in our own tongue. After several short conversations
about storytelling and fiction our two species quickly became great friends.
The Arr7 loved the collections of english literature we gave them spending
weeks contemplating Shakespeare as well as Aristotle, Freud, Carl Jung, and
Depeche Mode. The Arr7 were fascinated by our journey and while they
feared where we were going they traded with us and helped fix and upgrade
our ships. In return for their kindness we agreed that if we ever find the
Lethe, or rather whatever it is we are looking for we will ask question on
their behalf including the all important, “Why?” and if possible transmit our
answer across space to the nearest known Arr7 world.
    It was suppose to be just another day at the river. Hayden swam under
me and grabbed my legs, pulling me underneath the shallow water. I returned
the favor coming up behind him and dunking him underwater. He might have
been a Drok but I knew all his moves. After Hayden it was Aira’s turn for a
dive. I grabbed her hands and we went around in circles creating waves all
around us. Finally I made my way around her and with our combined weight
we sank underneath the water’s surface. I opened my eyes and waved staring
through the red glaze watching her do the same. The red river was all around
me. Bubbles came out of our mouths as we mouthed the word ‘hello’ to one
another before making our way back to the surface for air. Hayden had