Hear, O Earth! (A Prayer for Earthrise Book 1) by Arenson Daniel

Author:Arenson, Daniel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moonclipse
Published: 2023-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

The two ships raced toward each other, rippling spacetime. They were like jousting knights of old, charging in a duel to the death.

At one side, stars at her back, flew the Bee's Knees. She was stubby, thick, heavily armored. Indeed she looked like a bumblebee, complete with black-and-yellow stripes across her bulbous hull. From her prow thrust out machine guns like antennae, and from her stern emerged her stinger. She was a tugger by trade, equipped with a powerful tractor beam to haul ships many times her size. But today the Bee was a warship.

Before her, coming from the starless void, flew the Embrace of Many Arms. An alien and deadly galactopod. She was larger than the Bee's Knees. Her tentacles thrust out, as long as city blocks, coated with dark metallic plates of armor. From this distance, Marco could see the suckers more clearly. They opened and closed, lined with rings of tiny claws. The ship's bulbous head seemed to stare at Marco with its two red portholes. The galactopod seemed alive. A breathing, flying creature. Impossible! Marco knew it was impossible. But he couldn't shake the thought. The enemy seemed like some bizarre creature from the ocean depths, ready to feed.

The two ships stormed closer toward each other. Closer. And closer still.

Marco's knuckles whitened around the yoke.

I don't want to fight, he thought. I never did. Not my first battle. Nor the second. Nor the countless battles that followed. And not now.

He looked at Addy. She looked back and nodded. A reassuring nod. She was here at his side—as always. His sister in arms.

No, I didn't want this. But I will fight nonetheless.

They flew closer, charging toward a head-on collision, and Marco stared into the galactopod's red eyes. Two tentacles rose with fluid grace, aimed at the Bee's Knees, and opened fire.

Two inkblots streaked toward the Bee.

Addy's fingers grabbed the machine gun controls.

"Hold," Marco whispered to her.

He kept flying straight forward.

The inky blobs streaked closer.

"Marco, we have to fire—"

"Hold," he repeated.

The inkblots flew closer. Closer. Addy's fingers twitched over the triggers. The corrosive ink was ten seconds away. Five seconds. Four. And—

Marco yanked the yoke hard. The Bee spun madly, spiraling forward like a corkscrewing baseball. One inkblot flew above the Bee, the other below. The acidic blobs grazed the striped hull, melted some of the black-and-yellow paint, then rolled into the distance.

Scarred but still in the fight, the Bee's Knees raced toward the Embrace of Many Arms. The galactopod loomed before the rotund tugger, tentacles spread wide.

"Fire, Addy!" Marco shouted.

She pulled the triggers.

The twin machine guns on the prow unleashed. A hailstorm of bullets flew toward the mechanical squid.

The Embrace of Many Arms recoiled like a wounded spider. The galactopod tried to dodge. But several bullets slammed into her hull, sparking.

A second later, the two ships raced by each other, so close they nearly collided.

As she streaked by, the galactopod thrust a tentacle. The enormous digit unfurled joint by joint, its suckers spinning with blades. The tip spewed an inkblot.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.