Paul Collins - Earthborn Wars 01 by The Earthborn

Author:The Earthborn [Earthborn, The]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-05-29T17:41:39+00:00

Shouting was interspersed with the constant reports of laserlites and ballistic gunfire.

“It’s deafening!” Lucida yelled. She spotted a red firefly on her chest and screamed. Leaping out of the craft, she threw herself to the ground as a shot thudded into the hull beside her.

A dark-haired girl stood up and fired several shots into the dark.

“Gillian!” Welkin cried. So it had been Sarah’s family outside.

Gillian grinned, but her smile faltered when she laid eyes on the blond beside him. “Got Ilija, by the way, but Pedros and Green are still out there somewhere. You’d better get a move on. It’s getting crowded out here.”

“This is my sister, Lucida.”

She nodded, and her grin returned, bigger than before. “Sarah’s over there. Move it!”

Sarah and Con were carrying a food crate between them. “That’s some diversion,” she said. “We owe you, Welkin.” Her forehead crinkled. “What happened to you?”

Welkin wiped his hand across his shaved and pockmarked head. “Dark edge technology. You don’t want to know.”

She dumped the crate in a dugout several feet from the ramp and returned for another. Welkin and Lucida went to lend a hand.

“You’re Welkin’s sister?— y’welking’s ‘ista?”

“Sarah?” Lucida was staring at the woman with curiosity. “Welkin was right. You’re … tall. And you do talk kind of funny.”

Sarah grinned. “Thasa complent, righ?”

Lucida turned a bewildered frown to Welkin. “A compliment,” he translated.

Con laughed. “Don’t worry, girl. We’ll teach you Earthspeak if it’s the last thing we do.”

“Ohmistars!” gushed Lucida. “You’re wearing … eye focals— glasses!”

Con curbed his amusement. “So they tell me.”

Sarah squeezed Con’s shoulder. “Your leg, Welkin. You don’t seem to be limping as much.” She spoke as she ran, the others trailing close behind at a crouch.

“Colony fixed it,” Welkin said, puffing. “Probably thought it was contaminated. Couldn’t have Earth germs spreading throughout the ship!”

“I just don’t see how they could—what the heck! You’re fixed up. That’s all that matters.” The words were lost up ahead.

They kept moving, stooping below the level of the deck and carting crates of food that Gillian’s kids had located. Lucida found the uneven ground easier to negotiate than Welkin had.

No matter what the Earthborn might think of the Colony softies, they were a lot stronger due to their high-gravity upbringing. He noticed with pride that he and Lucida had just carried a crate heavier than Gillian and Con’s load.

“Isn’t the cold funny, Welkin?” Lucida was saying. “It numbs your skin. Just like pressing your face against the viewport in space.”

Welkin nodded acknowledgment. He knew how close to death they were right now. How just one stray piece of metal could cut them in two.

“And why’s everything ruined? It’s nothing like—”

Gillian sized up the spaceworn Colony. “Your home doesn’t look so hot right now, either.”

Sarah came up silently behind them. “Gillian? You got a problem?”

“Sorry,” Gillian said quickly, then disappeared toward the gaping rent.

“That’s about it,” Sarah said wearily. “We can’t carry any more.”

There was an explosive burst of small arms fire from the ruins. Sharp spits in the cold air.

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