Truehearts & The Escape From Pirate Moon by Jake Macklem (ebook audio reader TXT) 📕

Dropping the empty gun, Ace charged forward as Cam riddled the beast with bullets. Running up the rock formation she repositioned the spear. “Hold fire!” she shouted as she jumped, lifting the spear overhead, gripping it in two hands.

Cam stopped firing and watched her fly through the air.

Driving the spear into the monster, she let her momentum and weight sink the shaft deep. Bright orange fluid and purple chunks of meat erupted from the wound. The creature wailed a high-pitched hiss and thrashed in rage and agony. Ace hung on as she continued through the air, pulling the spear with her, the point tearing through the insides of the creature. It stayed plunged inside the monster as she let go and fell.

Sinking to the ground, the beast released its last, gurgled hiss as it died, its long legs folding in on itself. Orange liquid pooled and flowed in the grooves of the floor, it looked unreal on the muted stone colors. The curled legs twitched with the occasional violent spasm.

“You alive, Red?” Cam scanned the ceiling for any other sign of movement.

“Yep. I’m good.” Ace pushed herself up and walked to the fallen monster. “What are you gonna name this one?”

Cam lowered his rifle, slowly letting the barrel drift to the floor, his eyes shifting to the dead beast. “I don’t know,” he said as she grabbed her spear shaft. “You killed it. You should name it.”

Ace smiled. “Yeah?” Wiggling the shaft, she said, “Okay, they’re called Shondas.”

“That someone you know?” He asked watching her pull the spear free with a jerk and a wet sucking sound.

She spun the spear around and firmly planted the end of the shaft on the ground. The bright orange blood of the creature oozed down the shaft, dripping in globs over her hand. Some splatters covered her face and arms, streaks ran through her hair. Ace grinned. “She’s kind of my evil stepmom.”

Cam studied her face. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

  13: Cam

Cam sat against the wall. Ace lay nearby in the long tunnel running from the entrance to the chamber with the dead Shonda. She kept her eyes closed, but he was pretty sure she was awake. I wouldn’t be able to sleep after that stunt. They had been resting and waiting for close to eight hours. The rain had stopped as the white sky came. Probably evaporated the clouds. He figured they should get moving. We didn’t hit our distance. He pushed himself off the ground. “I’m gonna head to the entrance, have a look around.”

Ace rolled over. “Want me to come?”

“Nah. Stay and get some rest,” Cam answered, walking down the tunnel.

The heat intensified as he got closer to the mouth of the cave. The sky was changing from pale white to a vivid pink. Reaching the entrance, he looked down. Blades of red grass danced in the rapidly flowing water. The current, flowing south by southwest, was fast and powerful. Water‘s got to be at least a foot or two deep. That current is too strong to risk walking. Gonna have to make the backup plan work, now. Turning to look up the mountain, Cam saw plants growing hundred and sixty or seventy meters above the cave. His eyes traced the path he could take to get there. I should get Red. He looked back down the cave and thought about the Shonda. Turning away, he started up the mountain.

She acted like that spider was nothing. Like an everyday thing. Did she not realize the danger we were in? The path was steep in parts, but an easy climb. No. She knew. She saw the Shonda before I did. With the right pace, he estimated it would take a couple of minutes and not expend extra energy. The air felt cooler as he approached the vegetation. She’s asking about ladles in the middle of a life and death situation. Danger just isn‘t the same to her as it is to other People. He paused at the edge of the old-growth and looked back down his path. She is a STAR, folks say they‘re trained to view themselves as already dead. He continued up the slope, contemplating.

Cam saw the largest trees on the moon yet, between fifteen and twenty meters. Below the tall plants with large open pod-like petals grew, a few long pistils extending from the flower. Purple-colored shrub-like plants with blue-tipped leaves spread throughout the thick vegetation and short yellow grass.

This place doesn’t flood. I should collect some samples before I go back. But first...He strolled under the shade of the towering plants, scanning the ground, his rifle resting in the nook of his arm. There we go. He knelt next to a branch about three meters long and about thirty centimeters in diameter at the thick end. Looking up, he saw where the branch had broken from. It’s one of the hemp trees from the valley. Just ten times the size! Examining the stick, he noticed how much harder it was than the small trees below. Oh yeah, this will work.

Scanning the immediate area and seeing no threats, Cam set the rifle down and pulled his knife. He went about carving a paddle, returning to his assessment of Ace. STARs are like the samurai from the old Streamers. Practicing the acceptance of their death and becoming fearless. With skill and ease, his knife sent wood chips spinning into the air. But for it to work, you have to believe you are dead. “Huh.”

As that sunk in, he heard a rustling off to his right. The brush sat still, unmoving. Slowly, he set the mostly finished paddle down and slid his knife into its sheath. He squatted and scanned the area, looking for the threat he knew was there. He was reaching for his rifle when the