Download Grand Central Arena AudioBook Free
It was said to be a straightforward test flight, one that pilot Ariane Austin was on only as a last-ditch backup; wise, superhumanly fast automation would manage the test activation and air travel of humanity's first faster-than-light vessel. But when the Sandrisson Drive turned on, every robotic system crashed, the nuclear reactor itself shut down, in support of the reflexes and training of the racing pilot kept the test vessel Holy Grail from crashing into the impossible wall membrane that had appeared before them, a wall membrane which is merely part of the monstrous enclosure bordering an area 20,000 kilometers across. With all artificial intelligences inert and their reactor lifeless, that they had to find various other source of power to reactivate the Sandrisson Drive and - hopefully - take them home. And that was only the beginning. As Ariane, Dr. Simon Sandrisson, darkly enigmatic electricity engineer Marc C. DuQuesne, and the rest of the Holy Grail's crew explore the immense artifact, they discover that they aren't alone; they have got entered a place the alien inhabitants call "The Arena", and there is no way out without joining one of the alien factions...or winning popularity as a faction in their own right, participating in by the Arena's rules - and by the Arena's rules, one failed problem could mean death or worse - perhaps for the complete human race. Surrounded by alien factions, each using its own secret programs and motivations, some wielding powers so strange concerning be marvelous, Ariane sets out to defeat the Market at its own game. With DuQuesne's strategies, Sandrisson's genius, and her own unyielding willpower, she is going to bring the Holy Grail home - even if she's to defeat every faction in the Market to do it!
