Free The Pandora Chronicles - Book 1 (A Scifi Adventure Thriller) by Ryan Attard

had been ingrained in his head countless times at sea. There was always a way.
    Always.
    The plan formed like a flash of lightning in his mind. Time seemed to stop and, like the markings on a chart, he saw exactly where he needed to move and where his blades needed to be thrust. Before he could offer any argument, any thought that might hinder his strategy, his body shot forwards, right in the midst of four terrible, indestructible men of steel.
    He ducked under one’s outstretched arms. Their moves were suddenly slow and sluggish.  
    No, it isn’t them, he realized.  
    His mental perception had risen far above theirs, and for the moment, he had the advantage over them. His swords pierced one’s heart, and then, another’s, in a continuous swift movement. Pushing against one and blocking the other’s grip, he thrust his secondary weapon beneath the automaton’s ribs and felt it snap. He threw the now useless sword handle in front of the last automaton’s eyes and stabbed it, too.
    He could already feel the orb understand his actions, and it had already begun building newer automatons, ones stranger than those Finnegan had defeated.  
    He had to act now .
    In his awakened state, he could see the energy around the orb, spinning like a miniaturized typhoon. He also saw a small space where the energy fluctuated: the one weakness in an otherwise flawless design.  
    He ran like his life depended on it and jumped. Finnegan plunged his saber into the weak spot, putting his weight behind his strike. The opposing forces were strong, but the tip of his blade was already touching the orb. He doubled his efforts, yelling with strain, and the black orb moved a fraction of an inch out of alignment.
    But it was enough.
    Finnegan felt the resistance lessen and pushed further. The orb hovered uselessly, resting against the sword wedged in its way. He pushed further and let go.  
    The saber was now wedged in place, and the orb remained stuck to it. The strange black machine was emitting a soft hum, but remained quite dormant.
    “Warning.” The disembodied voice echoed throughout the room once more. “ System shut down in progress.”
    Every machine began dying out in a bizarre coalition of hissing, blinking lights and the whirring of steel. Every chamber shut down and the automatons melted, as if they were no more than blocks of ice left in the afternoon Caribbean sun. They were now only a memory, like a lingering shiver after waking up from a nightmare.
    In mere seconds, the room went dead.  
    As he watched, Finnegan’s mind was transported to another place, much like the visions he had when Rodriguez had spoken to him on the Belladonna . Information filled his mind and he knew of things that no man could ever dream of knowing: the birth of his species; the gods that came from the sky; they way they tampered with our nature. He saw what they meant to do with our world and he understood his place in destiny, what he was meant to do.
    He saw the future, lived it for the briefest of moments, and Finnegan felt something inside of him break. His cry echoed throughout the cavern, screaming until both the air in his lungs and the visions in his mind faded away.  
    No , he thought. Not like this. It will not end like this.
    Suddenly filled with defiance and willpower he never knew he had, Finnegan scooped up the red ledger from Rodriguez’s corpse and knelt by Tier. She was conscious, but weak. Gently, he lifted her in his arms and walked out of that cursed place, intent on rewriting the destiny of mankind, and save it from certain calamity.

Chapter 12

    Finnegan’s return to the native encampment was met with genuine surprise. They did not inquire about the other men—they knew very well what fate they had met. The chief and other elders tried to get him to divulge more details of his journey, but all Finnegan told them was that he had managed to stop, albeit temporarily, whatever was inside that cave.  
    Then, he beseeched them