Lost Planet 01 - The Lost Planet by Searles Rachel

Author:Searles, Rachel [Searles, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Retail, YA 09+
ISBN: 9781466856950
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Maurus awoke in a fury, spewing profanity. “You idiots!” he cried hoarsely. “What have you done?” He kicked out with his feet, nearly connecting with Chase’s head.

“I’m sorry, but it was the only way to get the shuttle,” said Mina. She had bound Maurus’s hands and feet before placing him in the back of the tiny escape shuttle, a two-seater with just enough cargo space for a limp body. “Once you made it clear to Vo how important that case was, he wasn’t going to accept anything else.”

“And you couldn’t have bashed his head in instead of mine?”

“That would have been mutiny, a crime with severe—”

Maurus pounded the back of the seat with his boots. “You’ve ruined me! When I get my hands free, I’m going to rip out your wiring.”

Chase cringed at the outburst, but Mina said nothing, making some adjustments on the guidance console. Vo’s shuttle was as well maintained as his ship: A jagged fissure ran across one of the consoles, and the cracked seats were patched with yellow stripes of sealing tape.

“I curse myself for ever trying to help you blasted Earthan trash,” Maurus roared. “Useless boys! Not worth the oxygen you consume.”

Parker lay sandwiched between Chase and Mina, drenched in sweat and alternating between violent tremors and utter slackness. Mina had bandaged the puncture wound on his chest with a piece of clean fabric, but he radiated a sickly heat as his body fought the poison in his bloodstream.

Mina slid a few markers on the console screen and leaned back in her seat. “We’re going to be here awhile, so you may want to save some of your insults for later. This shuttle can’t reach a speed much beyond a camber of two.”

“That’s because it’s an antique,” spat Maurus. “You’ll never make it anywhere in time to save Parker. He was dead as soon as that spike hit him.”

“Shut up,” said Chase. He glanced over at Parker, whose dark hair was plastered to his face with sweat. His eyes were closed, and Chase hoped he was oblivious to the conversation.

“I’ve activated the distress beacon,” said Mina. “We’re not too far from a commerce route. It’s only a matter of time before a ship sees it and picks us up.”

Maurus snorted. “Fantastic. I’m sure the Fleet will be on top of us any moment now.”

Chase’s stomach plummeted.

“Not necessarily,” said Mina. “There are plenty of trade ships out here that could pick up the signal. And if it’s the Fleet that finds us, then I suppose you’ll just have to face the consequences.”

Maurus said nothing for a moment. “I’m a dead man as soon as I step on any Fleet ship,” he finally muttered.

“That seems like something you should have been prepared for, given what you did on Trucon,” said Mina.

Maurus stamped the back of the seat again. “I told you I had nothing to do with the attack!”

“Then tell us who did,” said Chase.

“There’s a traitor within the Fleet, but it’s not me. I was

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.