Starlit Path: A Sci-Fi Thriller (Gunn and Salvo Book 7) by Joshua James

Author:Joshua James [James, Joshua]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-09T16:00:00+00:00

19

The trip to the surface of Batana passed in what felt like less than a second, presumably because the process of being conveyed through space as little more than particles or lightwaves didn’t allow much opportunity for brain cells and the like to process what was going on around them. No doubt Okoli would have had a suitably exhausting explanation for how it all worked, and why it didn’t hurt, and blah blah something sciencey that only Salvo and Hypatia could ever follow. From Gunn’s perspective, he was standing on the Odiyan ship, and then he was nowhere, and then he was falling.

He hit the ground with a thump that brought him to one knee, and was only just getting back to his feet when roughly fourteen stone of alien muscle and bone slammed into him from behind and knocked him face-first into the dust.

“Sorry, Golden-Mane,” Hypatia said, not sounding sorry at all. “I must have slightly misjudged the distance to the ground.”

“If you’re going to squash me, you can at least call me the right name,” Gunn grumbled as he elbowed the big cat aside. The streets of Batana were shockingly quiet. He’d never seen the place so still.

Icarus stood a few paces ahead of them with his face turned to the heavens. “I think we’re a little late,” he said.

Gunn squinted up at the artificial blue climbing above them and shrugged. “I think Pasha’s the one who’s late. Why put up the shields now, when the mods have already hit the ground?”

“Grey hasn’t made it to the surface yet.” Icarus dusted himself off, then whirled to Gunnison. “Which means that we might not be too late. Come on. We need to get to the tower.”

Icarus began to stride away in the direction of Pasha’s towering villa, the gold roof of which was lit with a dim blue by the glow of the shields. The dome flickered ever-so-slightly, just enough to make Gunn’s eyes throb and his head ache.

“Not that way,” he told his father. “If the shields are up, they’ll have evacuated the city.”

Icarus paused. “Oh? And where will they have gone?”

Gunn tipped his chin toward the nearest nexus point where the reinforced infrastructure of the city below Batana opened to ground level. “This way. Trust me, we used to run drills all the time.” He couldn’t resist adding a little jab when he added, “You know, after you left me here?”

Icarus’ mouth snapped shut, and he gestured for Gunn to lead the way.

He set out in the right direction. Hypatia trotted beside him and sized him up from the corner of one eye. “Now might not be the time to air family grudges,” she murmured.

“I’m not airing anything,” Gunn protested. “He left. That’s just a fact.”

Hypatia nudged him with her shoulder as she paced at his side. “He got stuck in a wormhole from which neither of you would have returned if I hadn’t intervened. How would you feel if Salvo got mad at you for having left her back in Ismaros?”

Gunn cast a guilty glance back over his shoulder toward Icarus.

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.