Starstruck by S E Anderson

Author:S E Anderson [Anderson, S E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bolide Publishing Limited
Published: 2017-05-03T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It’s a Long Way Down from Outer Space,

But We're Only at Lower Earth Orbit

People scrambled everywhere, screaming, shouting, pressing buttons, but it was too late. The ship hurtled toward Earth at an increasing rate, and it was going down. While everyone on board jumped out of their seats and toward what must have been escape pods, Zander tossed the weapon to the ground and wiped his palms.

Okay, not quite the way I had wanted this to go.

“What the hell did you just do?” I screamed, dropping all pretense of ever having been Blayde. Zander shrugged as a light burst above his head and sent sparks through the room.

I tossed the wig to the ground as it caught fire, my face hot with fury.

“Never fear, sister dear.” He winked, sliding to a control panel and typing in an apparently random assortment of numbers. “Ship's going down in the Atlantic. They're taking an escape pod far away from here. Their weapons are useless, and we're free to go. Great performance, by the way. Totally sold the Blayde-itude. I couldn't have done it better myself. Well, I probably could, but I wasn't feeling the dress today. Too bloated. Anyway, shall we?”

He held out his hand, expecting me to take it, but I drew back.

“To go where?” I screamed. “We’re crashing, Zander. And guess who has the pods?”

He grinned in response, picking the large weapon up again. “So, we jump.”

“Out of the ship?” I sputtered. “Zander, I don't do well with heights.”

“Trust me?”

“Not enough to jump out of a spaceship, no.”

“You trusted me enough to get on it. I promised to keep you safe, and you are going to be safe.”

“By jumping out of a spaceship?” I looked out of the window, and my stomach fell. At least we had artificial gravity. The thought of tumbling around the gigantic room did not sound very pleasant, and by the way the earth spun outside the window, it gave me enough of an impression to last a lifetime.

“Safest way,” he replied. “Give me your hand if you're scared.”

“Scared?” I shouted. “Of course I'm scared. This is suicide.”

“Have I led you wrong?” he asked. “Ever?”

“I’ve only known you for a week!” I snapped, but I grabbed his hand like it was the last lifeline in the middle of the ocean and closed my eyes. Seconds later, we were falling.

Plummeting was more like it. The wind ripped the bun away in seconds, my hair pulling itself upwards as I tumbled toward Earth. Zander screamed in excitement, squeezing my hand tightly.

I forced my eyes open, the land rushing toward me at a vertiginous rate. And yet I could see it all, recognize the large cities, the huge hives of light in the middle of the dark expanse. I could see my world beneath me. It was small, and it was huge, and it was incredible.

And then I began to choke.

Falling from near outer space does that to you.

I gasped for air too thin to breathe. My lungs burned, begging me to take a breath, a real breath—

The ground felt soft against my face.

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.