Fallen Empire 1: Star Nomad by Lindsay Buroker

Author:Lindsay Buroker
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, General Fiction
Published: 2015-12-31T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Alisa was about to step into the airlock, both Beck’s borrowed blazer and her Etcher in her hands, but Leonidas caught up then and stretched out a hand to stop her. She opened her mouth, intending to bark at him to get out of the way, but he only held her up long enough to step in front of her. He strode into the airlock tube, his own rifle pointing down it.

“Stay between us,” Beck whispered from behind her. He shooed Yumi toward Alisa, and they followed Leonidas into the tube.

As soon as she could, Alisa hustled into the cargo hold, searching in all directions, afraid she would spot blood—or worse. The chickens were still there, squawking plaintively. If a bear had stormed onto the ship, would it have gone for them first? Or would it have been drawn by larger prey?

Leonidas must have felt some of Alisa’s worry, her urgency, because he broke into a run, heading for the stairs. With the cargo hold empty, it did not take long to verify that there weren’t any bodies in it, so Alisa hurried after him. She prayed that they would find Mica and Alejandro in the rec room, still playing that game. Maybe something had simply happened to short out the comm system.

They reached the small kitchen and mess hall, and Alisa peeked into the rec room off to the side. The asteroid game hovered in the air over the table, the back of a character’s head and gun in view as he stood in a spaceship, ready to clear more enemies from the level. The game was a little too apt at the moment.

Leonidas continued toward NavCom, but Alisa headed toward the game station. Dread curdled in her stomach as she worried she would find one or more bodies in the back. Nobody was there. The chairs and table were locked to the deck, so they couldn’t be knocked over. Too bad. That might have been a clue to suggest a fight or that Mica and Alejandro had gotten up in a hurry to run and hide.

Clangs sounded as someone checked the sleep quarters. As Alisa finished her circuit of the rec room, something caught her eye. A necklace with a broken chain. She knelt and picked it up—it was the three-starred pendant that Alejandro wore outside of his robe.

Leonidas appeared in the hatchway, his armored shoulders brushing the jamb. “NavCom is empty, as are the cabins. If they’re here, they’re hiding.”

“I don’t think they’re here,” Alisa said quietly, spreading her palm to show him the pendant.

“There’s no hint of the animal den smell I detected on the station, nor did I see any blood.”

“So, it wasn’t the bears.” Alisa felt a modicum of relief at that, but their people were still missing. Mica was the closest thing she had to a friend here, the only person she had any history with. “Then what got them?”

“The pirates, I’d wager.”

Alisa stood up, clenching her jaw. “No, they couldn’t have. I did what you said.

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