Eden's Mirror: (LUMINA Book 2) by I.G. Hulme (interesting novels to read txt) 📕

see Grande’s crew rushing out from the control centre, pulling on their helmets as they scrambled to get aboard the Interceptors.

One-by-one the little ships gunned their engines, lifting off the docking platform and disappearing out amongst the array of refugee craft.

Ryann and Angelique waited, but all had fallen eerily silent.

“What do you think that was all about?” breathed Angelique. “Do you think we’ve got company? Luminal?”

“I sincerely hope not,” murmured Ryann, still gazing across to the empty space-station.

“There!” Angelique pointed out beneath the elegant silhouette of the Aurora, a large cruise-liner converted into a refugee ship. Coming into view was the distant shape of a spacecraft, heading towards the landing pad. It was a dark and brutish-looking ship, a medium-class fighter with heavy armour, squat weapons pylons and an array of gun turrets.

“It’s the Marianne! It’s Anders!” called out Angelique in excitement. Anders was one of the Ghost-Runners, a good friend to Grayell and Mellarnne. He had been with them since the early days of the invasion.

“What’s he doing here?” she continued, squinting through the grimy glass. “Do you think they’re looking for us?”

“Maybe,” muttered Ryann.

“We have to try and warn them somehow!”

They watched helplessly as the Marianne’s landing gear deployed, and the heavy craft touched down upon the landing pad.

“Ryann?” hissed Angelique.

“We can’t do anything!” he replied in frustration, watching as the loading ramp slowly descended from the front of the craft amid a cloud of steam and vapour.

The unmistakable figure of Anders appeared, walking down the ramp. He was a great bear of a man, his wild hair and bushy beard only adding to the image.

He stepped warily out onto the landing pad, looking around for any signs of life.

The door to the control centre slid open, and Ryann was dismayed to see a small group of Grande’s men appear, all of them armed, with Jean-Baptiste himself at the head.

Anders stood waiting for the group, and Ryann noticed the tall man signal up to the cockpit with a wave of his hand. A gun turret on the underbelly of the Marianne swung around, locking in on Grande and his men as they approached.

Ryann and Angelique looked on in concern as they saw Anders call over to them. His words must have made an impression, because immediately Grande’s men raised their weapons, though Anders himself seemed unmoved.

And then, he turned suddenly, looking upwards as though hearing a noise. To Ryann’s dismay, he saw the sleek shapes of the five Interceptors drift into view, hovering unsteadily over the Ghost-Runner ship.

There was a brief moment’s stand-off, but then Ryann saw Anders come to a decision, talking briefly into his commlink before raising his arms in surrender. Moments later, three more figures appeared at the top of the ramp and walked down to Anders’ side.

Grande’s crew came forward, leading their new prisoners back into the control centre, while more of them disappeared inside the Marianne. The five Interceptors hovered for a little while longer, and then landed alongside the bigger ship, their pilots following the others back into the control centre.

Soon, the landing pad was empty and silent once again.

“Ryann! Angelique! Well at least we found you in one piece!”

Anders swept the pair of them up in his arms as he walked in through the door with the rest of the Marianne’s crew.

“When we found your ship we feared the worst.” He watched Grande’s men with a look of contempt as they left the room, sealing the door behind them.

“You found the Raven?” exclaimed Ryann. “It’s so good to see you guys!”

“I’m afraid we’re not in a position to offer much help though,” muttered Anders in frustration. “What the hell’s going on Ryann? Where are the crew of New Eden?”

“Angelique!”

Ryann looked up in surprise as one of Anders’ crew stepped forward, reaching out towards her. They embraced warmly, then the man stepped back to look upon her, a great grin spreading across his face. Angelique smiled back, then caught Ryann’s questioning gaze and looked away in embarrassment.

“Angelique, I was so worried!” exclaimed the young man. “When we saw the state of your ship, well, we thought…” He was tall and athletic, in his mid-twenties with olive skin and black hair. His dark eyes were fixed intently upon her.

“It’s so good to see you too Mara,” replied Angelique. “Though the circumstances could be better.”

“You’ve met my crew haven’t you?” asked Anders, and Ryann looked around, shaken from his thoughts as Angelique continued to speak quietly with the young man.

“This is my co-pilot, Ashe,” he said, nodding to the woman beside him. She was in her mid-forties, with close-cropped hair. She wore a battered leather jacket over her flight-suit. “Torrens is my mechanic, and over there, that’s my gunner, Kobo, Mara Kobo.” The young man looked up from his quiet conversation with Angelique when he heard his name, reaching out his hand towards Ryann.

“What the hell brought you back to New Eden?” asked Ryann, turning back to Anders, ignoring the young man. “Not that I’m not grateful to see you.” He laughed and led Anders to a seat at the table. But he couldn’t resist glancing back to where Angelique and Kobo were still talking in hushed voices at the window.

“When you didn’t come back from your scouting mission your father sent out search teams from the Defiance. And then one mother of a Luminal ship jumped in from the Gateway and we picked up all sorts of fireworks on the passive scans.

“We hid out for a while until the Luminal got bored and headed off, then we picked up a scan of a couple of ships heading into the Halion Belt. We followed them and came across the remains of your Raven along the way. When we first saw the state of it we thought that Luminal ships must have found you. But then we had a closer look and found the hatches sealed and you gone, and well we hoped that you may have been picked up by one of the