Lunar Supremacy: A Hard Science Fiction Thriller (Eighth Continent Book 3) by Rhett C. Bruno & Felix R. Savage

Author:Rhett C. Bruno & Felix R. Savage [Bruno, Rhett C. & Savage, Felix R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2023-11-27T16:00:00+00:00

30

They went back to their hotel and changed out of their suits. Nick put all his stuff in his new rucksack. Dressed more comfortably, they went to look for a midtown bar Nick remembered. Grayson came with—and so did Flynn, Gonzaga, and Schiller. It had been too much to hope they wouldn’t.

They had some trouble getting out through the police cordon. The protestors surged forward, yelling, as soon as Nick and Harlan came in sight on the other side of the barriers. Their signs said NO MORE MOON ROCKS and END LUNAR IMPERIALISM.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Flynn said.

“Listen, I haven’t had a rum and Coke in years,” Nick said.

He met Harlan’s eyes. Harlan grimaced. They had no real plan. Joe had left it up to them to figure that out, knowing they’d just have to seize their chance.

The spooks cast about for a way out of the cordon. They ended up slipping out through the staging area on East 39th where the tour buses parked.

Grubby children were begging from the tourists. “Please, sir, I’m hungry. Please, ma’am, my mom is sick. Please, please.”

“In New York,” Harlan muttered.

Grayson, limping along with them, shook his head. “I wonder if it’s like this in Texas.”

“Houston’s OK,” Gonzaga said sourly. “They’re doing all kinds of business with the Chicaps.”

“Please. Please.”

“Don’t give them anything,” Flynn said.

A little girl with missing front teeth dashed up to Harlan and offered him a wilting dandelion. “Please, sir, I ain’t eat nothing today.”

“Shit,” Harlan muttered. “Breaks your heart.” He dug in his pocket, stuffed chips into the girl’s hand. They left her counting the slivers of plastic in speechless joy.

“The big kids will take them away from her,” Schiller said.

Harlan shrugged, his face set. Nick guessed he was thinking of his own kids down in Louisiana.

More children flocked around them like seagulls. “Please, please, please!”

Nick’s travel fund of about forty thousand dollars in chips was burning a hole in his rucksack. What had he mined the platinum inside those chips for, if not to help people? Why else had he persevered with his money drops these two long years? Yet, it had been a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. And this was the same. He could give away all the money in his rucksack and not begin to make a difference.

“Which way, for God’s sake?” Flynn said.

“It was near Grand Central,” Nick said, and hooked north. He was walking strongly now. The problem was Grayson. He was just barely keeping up.

On 2nd Avenue, a girl in black saw them and began to scream. She just stood there, travel coffee mug in hand, and screamed at the top of her lungs. It was an eerie sound, like a human siren. More antis sprinted around the corner from East 45th. They surged through the scaffoldings at street level, flourishing the sticks that supported their protest signs. Pull the sign off and each stick became a spear. The girl hurled her travel mug at Nick. It fell short and spilled coffee on the sidewalk.

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.