The Santana Nexus (Junkyard Dogs Book 3) Read Online Free
Author: Phillip Nolte
closer and closer the sheer size of the thing was almost overwhelming, the rings are each a full two kilometers in diameter and the central spindle itself is over a kilometer long!..".
First impressions of the Santana Nexus Station recorded by reporter Rebecca Tyndall of The Intergalactic Digital Press upon her visit to the station in 2597.
Onboard the heavy cruiser JRS Hercules, recently defected from the Jasmine Republic, on station near the hyperlink zone of the Santana Nexus system, January 2, 2599.
On the bridge of his powerful ship, the JRS Hercules, Captain Gazwhan Kassab scowled at the image of the huge, complex construct that was the Santana Nexus Station rotating slowly on the main viewscreen of his cruiser. As one of the largest free-standing space stations in all of Human space, the Nexus was also the de facto Capital of the entire quadrant. The image was being relayed from monitor feeds that were located in the spaceship docking area near the huge construct. The Hercules was several astronomical units away where she was currently maintaining station out near one of the hyperlink zones for the Nexus system. She had been sitting there idle for almost a week, parked where she could observe the vital hyperlink zone while she supplied power to a mysterious module that had been brought on board and mounted in the front cargo hold up in the nose of his ship. Other than that, the ship and crew were essentially doing...nothing. His crew was becoming restless; Kassab knew that too much pointless waiting was very detrimental to morale and to discipline. Perhaps he had better schedule some drills and some practice exercises.
The Captain's thoughts returned to a theme that had been nagging at him for some time. Perhaps this Sheik of Barsoom wasn't the leader they had all hoped he would be. Yes, things had pretty much gone his way during the early stages of this campaign but since then? Not so much. Losing an engagement and two destroyers to a bunch of refugees holed up in a floating junkyard had done little to boost Kassab's confidence. Kassab shook his head disgustedly. Who was this Sheik of Barsoom anyway?
Kassab fervently believed that the restoration of the leadership of the Islamic Alliance to a Monarchy was necessary to restore order to the Universe but maybe there was someone else who was better suited to the task than this Sheik who, in Kassab's opinion, was little more than a blustering, bad-tempered old fool.
Kassab himself was descended from royalty though his link to the throne of Jasmine was somewhat tenuous, having come through one of the former emperor's cousins and a distant one at that. On the other hand, he had rapidly climbed the ranks of the Jasmine Republican Navy through hard work and a natural talent for leadership. He nodded his head. Yes, perhaps there was someone better suited for the task. The Captain decided he would just have to be patient a bit longer and wait for the right opportunity to suggest a better option.
***
Santana Nexus Station, somewhere on the tenth ring, January 2, 2599.
On the Santana Nexus Station itself, Rahman Halabi, one of the Sheik of Barsoom's most trusted Lieutenants, and the chief interrogator for the Sheik's security forces, finished questioning another of what seemed like an endless supply of prisoners and others accused of wrongdoing. As the man was taken away, Halabi knew that he had few minutes to prepare for the next accused miscreant and he took a short rest break.
The interrogator was very good at his job, being able to alternate between threats and persuasion with consummate skill. No one knew for sure, but it was rumored that he had been trained as a truthseer. Halabi did nothing to confirm or deny that rumor, knowing that it merely added to his mystique. So feared had his reputation become that many of those that he was asked to question blurted out the truth without Halabi having to resort to any unusual persuasion. As he grabbed himself a
First impressions of the Santana Nexus Station recorded by reporter Rebecca Tyndall of The Intergalactic Digital Press upon her visit to the station in 2597.
Onboard the heavy cruiser JRS Hercules, recently defected from the Jasmine Republic, on station near the hyperlink zone of the Santana Nexus system, January 2, 2599.
On the bridge of his powerful ship, the JRS Hercules, Captain Gazwhan Kassab scowled at the image of the huge, complex construct that was the Santana Nexus Station rotating slowly on the main viewscreen of his cruiser. As one of the largest free-standing space stations in all of Human space, the Nexus was also the de facto Capital of the entire quadrant. The image was being relayed from monitor feeds that were located in the spaceship docking area near the huge construct. The Hercules was several astronomical units away where she was currently maintaining station out near one of the hyperlink zones for the Nexus system. She had been sitting there idle for almost a week, parked where she could observe the vital hyperlink zone while she supplied power to a mysterious module that had been brought on board and mounted in the front cargo hold up in the nose of his ship. Other than that, the ship and crew were essentially doing...nothing. His crew was becoming restless; Kassab knew that too much pointless waiting was very detrimental to morale and to discipline. Perhaps he had better schedule some drills and some practice exercises.
The Captain's thoughts returned to a theme that had been nagging at him for some time. Perhaps this Sheik of Barsoom wasn't the leader they had all hoped he would be. Yes, things had pretty much gone his way during the early stages of this campaign but since then? Not so much. Losing an engagement and two destroyers to a bunch of refugees holed up in a floating junkyard had done little to boost Kassab's confidence. Kassab shook his head disgustedly. Who was this Sheik of Barsoom anyway?
Kassab fervently believed that the restoration of the leadership of the Islamic Alliance to a Monarchy was necessary to restore order to the Universe but maybe there was someone else who was better suited to the task than this Sheik who, in Kassab's opinion, was little more than a blustering, bad-tempered old fool.
Kassab himself was descended from royalty though his link to the throne of Jasmine was somewhat tenuous, having come through one of the former emperor's cousins and a distant one at that. On the other hand, he had rapidly climbed the ranks of the Jasmine Republican Navy through hard work and a natural talent for leadership. He nodded his head. Yes, perhaps there was someone better suited for the task. The Captain decided he would just have to be patient a bit longer and wait for the right opportunity to suggest a better option.
***
Santana Nexus Station, somewhere on the tenth ring, January 2, 2599.
On the Santana Nexus Station itself, Rahman Halabi, one of the Sheik of Barsoom's most trusted Lieutenants, and the chief interrogator for the Sheik's security forces, finished questioning another of what seemed like an endless supply of prisoners and others accused of wrongdoing. As the man was taken away, Halabi knew that he had few minutes to prepare for the next accused miscreant and he took a short rest break.
The interrogator was very good at his job, being able to alternate between threats and persuasion with consummate skill. No one knew for sure, but it was rumored that he had been trained as a truthseer. Halabi did nothing to confirm or deny that rumor, knowing that it merely added to his mystique. So feared had his reputation become that many of those that he was asked to question blurted out the truth without Halabi having to resort to any unusual persuasion. As he grabbed himself a
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