Eradication: A Space Opera: Book Four of The Shadow Order
Page 18
“What do you think’s happened?” Bruke said as he paced up and down, shaking his head.
“She’s woken up, hasn’t she.”
“And left us?”
“I can’t imagine she knew what else to do. She probably couldn’t remember anything from when she was under.”
“But we tied her up,” Bruke said.
Seb let out a laugh. It died as quickly as his hope had. “Have you not met Sparks? I’d imagine she’s back at the hangar right now, looking for a ship to fly herself off this cursed planet.”
Bruke’s shoulders slumped and he turned his head to the side. “You think?”
“She wouldn’t have known we were still in the forest. What else could she do?”
Bruke sighed and sat down next to Seb. A second later, SA did the same. Seb and the other two stared across the arid wasteland, the bright sun slightly dulled because of the yellow tint to his visor. He shook his head. “What a way to go.”
CHAPTER 74
Seb watched another minute of his radiation timer tick away. Four minutes left. He sighed again. If he had to go out like this, he at least wanted SA to know how he felt about her.
Just as he turned to her, the loud roar of a vehicle came at them from across the desert. As one, all three of them looked up to see the tank tearing towards them. The vehicle shook as it travelled over the hard and bumpy ground.
The tank hurtled towards them at what looked like full throttle before the vehicle turned sideways, skidding to a halt. A second later, the door at the back opened.
Bruke jumped to his feet and ran into the vehicle first. SA looked at Seb like she knew he’d wanted to say something.
Seb stood up, held his hand down to her and then showed her the way with a sweeping arm gesture. “Ladies first.” He’d tell her what he wanted to another time.
Just before Seb followed SA into the back of the tank, he looked at the forest one last time. After shaking his head, he smiled to himself and walked into the vehicle, his legs burning with exhaustion, his entire body made of lead.
The door closed behind them as Sparks spun around in the driver’s seat and smiled. “Why did you tie me up?”
“You don’t know?” Bruke said.
The familiar purple glow lit up Sparks’ eyes and she laughed. “I’m guessing it has something to do with that thing I threw up?” She pointed at the ground.
Seb had nearly stepped on it. A grub—small like the ones that crawled from the people in the mines—lay dead on the floor of the tank.
“Now strap in,” Sparks said. “I’m going to get us out of here.”
It felt great to sit down. It didn’t matter how hard the bench, Seb sank onto it and leaned back against the wall of the vehicle. The grubs had been taken down and his friend had returned. Everything else would be just fine.
CHAPTER 75
The front window of the tank showed Seb they were closing down on the hangar. Sparks could fly any of the ships to get them out of there. He leaned forward and picked up the dead grub she’d vomited out. It still glistened with bile.
When Seb sat back, he saw both SA and Bruke staring at him. “What are you doing?” Bruke said.
“Wilson said he thought the grubs were dropped on this planet on purpose. I’m inclined to believe him. I want to take this in case it gives me any clues.”
“Do you really believe that?” Bruke said.
“Ruthane’s worth a lot of money. Wilson said that where there are credits, there’s often corruption. I think he’s right. I don’t think his ship going down was an accident. And if it wasn’t, I owe it to him and his family to find out the truth. After all, they gave us the information that saved Sparks.”
A shake of his head and Bruke sat back in his seat. “I’m too tired to think about it.”
“Me too,” Seb replied. “But I’m not too tired to forget about it.” He held the grub up. “If I take this for now, I can look into it when I get the time.”
The hangar doors opened up as they got close to it, and Seb looked down at the reading on his screen. Just three minutes left. “You think we can get out of here soon, Sparks?” he said. “My radiation suit won’t last much longer.”
“Don’t worry,” Sparks called back at him. “I’ll have us off this planet in sixty seconds. Get ready to change vehicles.”
Seb smiled at his friend. “Although you’re a little rat, I’ve missed you. I’m glad you’re all right.”
Sparks threw the hand gesture he’d seen from her in the past. One of these days he’d have to ask her exactly what the insult meant.
End of book four.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Like most children born in the seventies, Michael grew up with Star Wars in his life. An obsessive watcher of the films, and an avid reader from an early age, he found himself taken over with stories whenever he let his mind wander.
Those stories had to come out.
He hopes you enjoy reading his books as much as he does writing them.
Michael loves to travel when he can. He has a young family, who are his world, and when he’s not reading, he enjoys walking so he can dream up more stories.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Edited and Cover by …
Copyright
Mailing List
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
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