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

Ace did, her eyes scanning in the stone, then shot Cam a questioning smile. “I think you see something I don’t.”

“All that metal is silver.” He set his food down and marked the location on his GSS. “There are good metals on this moon. Hopefully, there will be enough and I’ll get a cut.” Sitting back against the edge of the raft, Cam picked up his food and started eating.

“What do you mean enough?” Ace paddled absently as she asked.

“I don’t make a percentage on minerals until the company makes triple the cost of their investment. Sometimes the moon or planet is tapped of resources before I get a cut.”

“That sounds like a bad deal.”

Cam shrugged. “I get paid for my work, but mineral commissions take longer. I know someone who’s set for life. Not a credit-tosser mind you, but he lives on Rosetta Station now and doesn’t have to worry about much.”

Ace grinned. “Is Rosetta as great as they say?”

Cam nodded as he chewed, swallowed, and said, “More aliens living and working together there than anywhere else in the Verse. Rosetta is the most diverse and amazing place I’ve ever been. And mind you, I’ve been stationed on Dal Rixian.”

“The Feral homeworld?” Ace asked with skepticism.

“They prefer O’rix.” Cam smiled. “People started calling them that because they look like cats, but Dal Rixian doesn’t have cats. It’s a jungle planet with trees so big they have carved cities right on the side. Most of the planet’s water is tucked away in underwater seas, and the only way to it is through these huge caverns. The water is so clear you can see the bottom twenty-five meters below. It’s amazing. On the bottom of the sea grows a sort of algae that’s bioluminescent, so the ocean floor glows pink.” He chuckled and smiled, his eyes wide with remembered wonder. “And against that, you see the lights from other plants, and the creatures…truly a sea of color. They love their planet and treat it accordingly. Nothing like the way we did our planet.”

The smile faded from Ace’s face. “The Sidarians did the same thing to their homeworld that we did to ours,” she said quietly.

“And they’ve spent the last eight hundred years living a nomadic lifestyle floating from one planet to the next, staying just long enough to remain gravity prepared. You know, some of them don’t even want to move onto the new homeworlds. They prefer a life in the stars.”

“I get that. It’s calm in space. Just stars and black. Nothing holding you down.” Ace tilted her head as she looked in the water. “Cowboy, what’s that look like to you?”

Cam shifted his gaze. Seven meters long and wider than the raft, a shadow glided through the water. His legs went numb and his fingers felt cold. Looking fiercely at Ace, he shook his head and put his finger to his lips, signaling her silence. Nodding in understanding, she quietly pulled her spear-paddle from the water and began untying the metal fin.

The creature had a body like an eel, with the head of a crocodile. Two short and muscular arms protruded a short distance behind the head. On its muzzle, two large whiskers, about two meters long, reminded him of a catfish. It’s huge. It could knock this raft over easy. He grabbed his hat, wiped his brow, and put it back on, adjusting the brim. He racked his brain for options, but the tiny raft held none.

Suddenly, the water near the rapids erupted. Six meters long, another of the creatures twisted frantically in the air. The sun glistened on the slimy coating covering the leviathan. Nestled in its skull for protection, the creature's strange violet eyes reflected the red light of sunset. It crashed back into the water, creating a massive wave. Another one. Bet there’s a whole bask of them.

The long shadow under the raft vanished toward the new occupant of the reservoir. Ace looked expectantly at Cam and whispered, “What do we do?”

Cam was about to answer when another splash drew their attention. Another behemoth, this one over seven and a half meters, wiggled through the air, its arms clawing at nothing as it jumped over the dam, careening toward the still smooth water. The water burst where the creature was about to land, from the rippled waves, a leviathan close to twelve meters long rose, its maw opened wide and snapped shut on the creature in the air, and crashed back in an eruption of foam, water, and blood.

“That one was really big, Cowboy?”

Cam nodded. “Yep. Kinda wish we had a bigger raft.”

  18: Ace

As the green gas giant lit up the night sky, Ace tried to focus her thoughts on anything but the massive creatures swimming under her. Other than whispers, the duo had not made any noise for the last three hours. They had simply drifted on the faint current, listening to the water lapping at the sides of the raft. They barely moved, even when one of the massive creatures swam beneath them.

Hat tilted forward, Cam slept, his rifle, as always, in the crook of his elbow. Ace stared at the green and white swirls of the gas giant, letting her mind drift and her eyes soften. What did she call it? Soon, blackness washed over her.

&

The door burst open and people wearing black body armor and riot helmets poured in, their transparent body shields held ready. They charged into her bedroom and faced a young woman with red hair. Sitting up, her hand blocked the bright light attached to the man’s shoulder.

I was sixteen when this happened.

The officer moved, grabbing at her. She slipped out of the way and rolled off the end of her bed wearing only a t-shirt and underwear. With nowhere to go, she turned to face the officer.