Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“Don’t worry, we’ll be out of range in a moment,” Vic promised. “I don’t want to accelerate too quickly—it could hurt you.”
“So could a shotgun blast!” Torri gasped. “Go!”
He shrugged.
“All right.”
The ship shot upward in a way that made Torri feel like she had left her stomach back on the ground below. The experience reminded her of those “Tower of Terror” rides you go on at the amusement park, where they strap you in and raise you up fast so they can drop you even faster. She just hoped there was no drop coming after the initial ascent.
There was a shotgun blast from below and then another as the cop emptied both barrels at them, but neither shot hit the ship—at least not that Torri could feel.
She frowned down at the officer, who was now about the size of bug beneath them. Why did some people always want to shoot first and ask questions after? She would have thought that seeing what was clearly an alien vessel would make the cop think twice about shooting. But apparently not.
“You can relax, we’re out of range now,” Vic told her. He still looked cool and collected, as though getting pulled over and shot at was no big deal.
Torri’s heart was beating like a drum, but she managed to give him a weak smile.
“Well, that was some fancy flying. Your ship is amazing!”
“Thank you.” He smiled at her. “It’s just a standard long-range scout ship, though.”
“Nothing about this experience is standard as far as I’m concerned,” Torri murmured, looking around. “Oh—did it get bigger back there?” she asked in surprise, when she looked behind her. The back seat area of the ship had looked no bigger than that of a regular sedan when she had first gotten into it. Now it was considerably larger, extending back into a living area almost like a camper or an RV.
“The shuttle can expand and contract depending on what kind of camouflage I need,” Vic explained. “I tried to make it look like a standard-sized Earth vehicle. But now it can expand to its true size and shape again.”
“Will you give me a tour?” Torri asked. “I can’t wait to see all the sci-fi gadgets you must have in here!”
“Maybe in a moment,” Vic said, frowning. “First I need to contact the Mother Ship and ask them to fold space for us. They are several solar systems away, waiting for my report, and they won’t come closer until I call them,” he added.
“Oh, uh, okay.” Torri shrugged. “That’s fine.”
“Thank you. Now I’ll just…” Vic had a look of concentration on his face as he did something with a complicated looking piece of equipment which seemed to include a small screen. He frowned when a line of alien-looking script flowed over the screen. “What in the Seven Hells?” he muttered.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Torri asked anxiously.
“My com-link seems to be broken.” Vic frowned with obvious frustration and tried several more things. But the little screen stayed stubbornly dark. After a moment, he swore in a harsh, guttural language Torri had never heard before.
“Vic?” she asked anxiously. “What does it mean if we can’t get hold of them?”
He looked up, his face grave.
“It means, we have no way of contacting the Mother Ship and letting them know the Scourge are on the way. It means we are in trouble.”
Thirty-Seven
Torri felt sick. All their trouble to break out of St. Elizabeth’s and the narrow escape from the armed cop and now their mission was going to fail because of the equivalent of a broken phone?
The Seeing Dreams I’ve been having are going to come true, she thought dismally. What if the AllFather really does search me out? What if I have to see him for real?
And what about the Earth itself? Everyone she loved—everyone she knew—everyone in the whole world was going to be killed or enslaved!
But just as her thoughts got really dark, Vic reached over and put a hand on her knee.
“Don’t worry, Torri—we aren’t giving up yet,” he said with a glint of determination in his blue eyes.
“We aren’t? What are we going to do?” Torri asked.
He frowned, his brow furrowing with concentration.
“If I remember correctly, there is a stable wormhole just outside your solar system that comes out in the Tau Quadrant.”
“Just outside the solar system? But won’t it take us years and years to get there?” Torri protested.
The corners of Vic’s mouth turned up in apparent amusement.
“Maybe if we were using Earth technology. But in a Kindred ship, it won’t take long at all.”
“Okay. Well, say we go through this, uh, wormhole,” Torri said. “What are we going to do once we get to the other side?”
“Get the ship fixed, of course,” Vic said. He frowned. “I think our best bet for that would be Gemma Alpha Three. The Gemmites are very able mechanics.” His brow furrowed. “I just hope I have enough to pay them.”