Code Breakers: Prequel Read online

  “Yeah, Gabe, really. If I don’t go now, I’ll never go, you know?”

  “I understand ya thinking, girl.” He could relate, but he was too scared to go back home just yet. Too many memories, enemies...

  Gabe turned to Petal, watched her fall asleep. He hoped their next job would be more straightforward—assuming it was still available. He was getting tired of fighting for his life every time. For once he just wanted to do a simple job in return for food and shelter. No violence, death, or psychopaths. That Shelley kept in touch with the people at the settlement, however, told him they were unlikely to be normal. Crazy was behind every turn in this world; he’d just have to keep fighting, surviving.

  “Okay, big guy, you look after her. It’s time for me to leave.” Holly gave him a big grin.

  “You take care, girl,” Gabe said, wishing she would go with him and Petal. She’d make a fine companion and maybe he could help keep her safe for a while.

  Holly just waved, pressed the accelerator, and rode off, the tires kicking up a cloud of dust.

  Gabe throttled the Ranger and drove off in the opposite direction, wishing Holly all the luck in the world.

  As he drove away, he watched the scrapyard disappear behind him in the mirror and watched in horror as Shelley’s body moved and stood up. Crap, should he go back? He looked at Petal in the seat next to him. He couldn’t risk it. The hell with it, he thought. He didn’t want go back now; there was only forwards to the next job: some kind of AI that’s got out of control.

  It might be routine this time.

  Click here to read the next book in the series.

  Other Titles by Colin F. Barnes

  Novels

  Code Breakers: Alpha

  Code Breakers: Beta

  Code Breakers: Gamma

  Code Breakers: Delta

  Salt: Book 1 of The Last Flotilla

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  The Daedalus Code

  Dead Five’s Pass

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  About The Author

  Colin F. Barnes is a full-time writer of science fiction and thrillers. He’s a member of both the British Fantasy Society and the British Science Fiction Association. He honed his craft with the London School of Journalism and the Open University (BA, English).

  Colin has run a number of tech-based businesses, worked in rat-infested workshops, and scoured the back streets of London looking for characters and stories—which he found in abundance. He has a number of publishing credits with stories alongside authors such as: Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, and Graham Masterton. He lives alone with a black cat in Essex in the UK. Rumours that the cat is the one with the talent is a malicious slur.

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  All Rights Reserved

  This edition published in 2014 by Anachron Press

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this work are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher. The rights of the authors of this work has been asserted by him/her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Table of Contents

  Part 1 - The Journey

  Part 2 - The Tinker

  Part 3 - The Job

  Part 4 - The Betrayer

  Part 5 - The Wolves

  Part 6 - The Deal

  Part 7 - The Handover

  Part 8 - The Node

  Part 9 - The Handover II

  Part 10 – The Skins

  Part 11 - The Reunion

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