Trapped (Shadows of the Void Space Opera Serial Book 7)
Page 8
“Not our roof,” Mrs. Lee called in reply. “But we’ll have to take shelter from the heat of the engines. I think Phelan was trying to warn us.”
“Over here,” Mr. Lee said, and he led them to a raised section. Sayen picked up Makey and carried him over. They hid on the side facing away from the descending shuttle. Nevertheless, the air turned very hot as the aircraft fired its landing jets.
When the shuttle’s noise was quiet, they ventured out. A couple of Shadows must have tried to emerge onto the roof as the shuttle was landing. Their lobster-red, blistered remains were contorted into tortured shapes. They made their way across the roof. The shuttle door opened, and Sayen’s brother, Phelan, came out.
“Hurry,” he called, gesturing at them. “This place is going up in flames. We don’t have long before it collapses.”
Sayen ran to her brother, who took Makey from her before disappearing inside the shuttle. Jas and Carl helped Erielle as she shuffled along on her crutches. Mr. and Mrs. Lee brought up the rear. Crashes and explosions came from the disintegrating mansion beneath them. Suddenly, a portion of the roof collapsed, a jet of flame leapt up, and the shuttle began to slide toward the hole.
“Come on,” yelled Phelan, gripping the door edge for support in the angled, moving shuttle. He waved frantically at them with his other hand and moved aside as Jas and Carl arrived at the door and helped Erielle through. Sayen stepped aboard, then turned to check on her parents.
Her mother was right behind her, but with horror she saw that Shadows were pouring onto the roof, and that her father had stopped to fire at them, trying to hold them off so the others could get away. Her mother noticed Sayen’s expression and turned back to see her husband’s plight.
“Craven,” she screamed.
“Go,” he shouted over his shoulder.
The shuttle was sliding inexorably toward the hole. “Inside, Sayen, Mama,” yelled Phelan. “Now.”
He pushed Sayen in and tried to pull his mother aboard the shuttle, but the woman shook him off. “I’ve been with that man for forty years. I’m not abandoning him now.” She gave her son a mighty push, sending him through the shuttle doors. The aircraft was at a precarious angle, and everyone was slipping down the floor.
Sayen had fallen down in the entranceway and was staring at her brother in shock. Phelan slammed the doors shut. The engines fired, and they were airborne.
Chapter Sixteen
Jas went to comfort Sayen, but she was inconsolable. She sat on the floor, sobbing and rocking in almost animal-like despair. Her brother was white-faced and trembling. He was shaking his head, as if trying to rid himself of the memory of the last few minutes. After a while, he sat with his sister, and they held each other.
No one spoke. Everyone but Makey was in the entranceway of the shuttle. Away from the heated air and the roar of the burning mansion, the quiet, cool interior of the spacecraft seemed almost surreal. Its flight was easy and smooth.
Finally, Phelan composed himself a little. He held his sister’s shoulders and looked into her face. “When I got the packet from Mama saying you’d gone missing,” he said, “I came as fast as I could, but I was on the other side of the galaxy.”
Sayen nodded and wiped her eyes.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” said Phelan.
Jas, Carl, and Erielle went into the passenger cabin to give them some time together. There were only eight passenger seats in the small craft. Jas sat down and wondered what it was that Sayen’s brother did that took him across the galaxy. She hadn’t noticed a company logo on the side of the shuttle.
Makey had been deposited in a seat. He was awake but disoriented. Jas inspected the already deep purple, large bruise on his forehead. She hoped there were medical facilities wherever it was that the shuttle was taking them.
“Are you okay?” Carl asked her. When she nodded, he said, “I’m gonna talk to the pilot.” He left her with Erielle and the kid.
The underworlder was looking better after her short stint of care at Sayen’s home. She was clearly troubled, however. She glanced repeatedly at the doorway to the shuttle’s entrance, obviously concerned about Sayen.
Jas sat back in her seat and stared unseeing into the back of the seat in front of her. Mr. and Mrs. Lee didn’t stand a chance, of course. Even if they survived the searing heat of the shuttle’s engines and they defeated the attacking aliens, there was no way they would make it out of the burning building alive.
They were such wonderful people. So smart and wise, and they loved their family so deeply. The world would feel their loss. She felt their loss, and she’d hardly known them. She wanted to weep for them, but as usual, the tears wouldn’t come.
Yet the ache in her heart had to be nothing compared to how Sayen and her brother must be feeling. It was at times like these the fact that Jas had no family that she knew of brought her some small comfort. She missed out on the warmth, closeness, and love that most families seemed to experience, but she also missed out on losing them.
Carl reappeared from the pilot’s cabin. He sat next to Jas and fastened his seat belt.
“How’s the kid?” he asked.
“He needs medical care.”
Carl nodded. “He should get it soon. I talked to the pilot. It turns out Sayen’s brother owns a deep space mining company. His starship’s in orbit, and we’re going to it now.”
“They’ve been in deep space for the last few months?” Jas asked.
“Looks like it.”
“So it’s unlikely they have any Shadows aboard?”
“I think so. The pilot had no idea what I was talking about. Never heard of Shadows. Never seen a trap.”
For the first time in what seemed like forever, Jas relaxed. For the immediate future, she wouldn’t have to worry about encountering one of the hostile aliens. She wouldn’t have to wonder if the person she was speaking to really was who they appeared to be.
What was more, they’d done what they set out to do: they’d alerted the Transgalactic Council. Yet somehow, she couldn’t take any pleasure in the achievement. So many lives had been lost. The Shadows were even abducting children and replacing them with weird, animal-loving dopplegangers.
Carl reached out and took her hand. He folded his fingers over hers.
“After we get to Phelan’s ship?” she asked him. “What then? What do we do next?”
“I don’t know. I have to go and get Flux, for one thing. The little fella probably thinks I’m dead. After that, I’m not sure. I don’t want to abandon the farm, especially if the Shadows have plans for it, but Earth isn’t safe anymore.”
“No, it isn’t. When the Transgalactic Council receives the packet, what do you think they’ll do?”
“They’ll have to react. If they don’t stop the Shadows from taking over Earth, the rest of the galaxy will be next.”
They lapsed into silence. The shuttle flew on, taking them farther from their alien-infested world and closer to their temporary safe haven.
Carl’s fingers loosened their grasp on hers. Jas looked at him and found that he’d fallen asleep. She was glad to see that peace had settled on his face.
But then, despite their miraculous escape, and despite the fact that they were on their way to the first safe place they’d known since the Galathea had landed on K. 67092d, a chill settled over her heart. There was only one way the Transgalactic Council could react. They would have to go on the offensive to decisively rid the galaxy of the Shadows’ menace.
War was coming, and somehow Jas knew that she, Carl, and their companions would find themselves caught up in it.
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About the Author
It isn’t easy to look back over a lifetime and pick out the bits that others might find interesting. I was born in a humble home in London’s East End—a caul birth—more than half a century ago, but I’m now both British and Australian. I picked up Aussie citizenship after living in Melbourne for many years and working as an Australian Volunteer Abroad. My AVA stint led to some time in Laos before returning to the UK and spending fifteen years or so teaching English to immigrants. Most important to me in all my experiences are my three gorgeous, amazing sons, who graced me with their appearances along the way.
I now live in Taiwan, where the weather suits my clothes, and I spend my days writing about the voices in my head.
Copyright © 2017 J.J. Green
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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