Space Race (Space Race 1) by Nathan Hystad (book recommendations for young adults .TXT) 📕

I bet he was feeling the urge to protect the CEO standing across the room, since it had been programmed into him for the last twenty years.

“If we die, it will not be for nothing,” Bryson said.

“Die? Oh, I’m not dying,” Jade said, and she ran for the corridor we’d entered on. The floor trembled again, and I sighed as I followed her.

“You can’t go out there!” I saw another dozen incoming ships, and finally, armed drones were arriving to fend off the attack.

“What choice do we have?” she barked. “Bryson, come on. We’re leaving!”

He stared at us and shoved his son forward. “Right. We have much work to do.”

So far, none of the other teams were contemplating leaving, and were huddled against the opposite side of the room a good hundred meters away, waiting for the elevators. Let them have their safehouse. I really didn’t want to be trapped inside a cramped space with all those blowhards anyway, if they even let us in. Judging by their reaction to our names being announced, there was a slim chance of that.

The battle raged on outside as Defenders around the Corporation’s offices in the city arose to join the drone fleet. The hovering platform was fuller than when we landed, and our transport was much smaller than the other nine. We raced for it, legs pumping as fast as they could go.

Before we arrived at the entrance, one of the rebels shot at the platform. And another.

“Come on. Get in!” Bryson called as he fumbled with the door’s keypad.

The sound of powerful thrusters resonated through my ears, vibrating my entire body, and I glanced up, seeing a lowering freighter. It was dark gray, with slender ion blasters stretching from each side. Jade and Holland had already entered our transport, and I stood beside Bryson with Luther behind, as the three of us stared at the ship. It came to hover twenty meters in the distance, tilting so we could see the cockpit. The dark material vanished, becoming see-through, and I saw a face beyond.

The guns were charged, the cyclers crackling in anticipation. Blue energy coursed around the barrels, and I knew this was it.

I met the gaze of the woman next to the ship’s pilot, and recognized the eyes. “Eclipse,” I whispered.

She nodded at us, and the ship rose into the sky, tilting quickly before flying toward the city limits. Drones chased them, and we clambered into the transport vessel as the rebels continued to fire on HQ.

The robot pilot raised the transport into the air as soon as Bryson gave him the command, and Luther occupied the gunner’s chair, ready to fight our way out. But no one attacked.

He flew upwards first, and soon we were crossing the Atlantic, leaving the disastrous ceremony in the backdrop.

 

 

 

Eleven

“Is there going to be a delay?” Jade asked. We’d been holed up on the big island for a week now. Flights were grounded across the entire planet, and that meant we weren’t even allowed to practice. There were rumors about vessels being shot down and destroyed for breaking the new rules, and everybody was on edge since the incident.

It was unheard of to attack Primary City. Until now, no one had dared.

“They might cancel the whole thing after that,” I suggested.

“I still don’t understand how they broke the shield,” Luther said. We sat in the room on the top story of the SeaTech head office while Luther bounced a red ball off the wall and caught it.

“It’s possible,” Jade said. “If you know what you’re doing.”

Holland had been sullen these past few days, and he had every right to be upset. “Or someone on the inside.”

“You think? I mean, if that’s the case, heads must be rolling in their security department.”

“It’s always security’s fault, isn’t it?” Luther threw the ball again and missed catching it. It rolled across the floor and hit my boots.

“Guys, we’re missing the big picture. Something significant is transpiring. Eclipse saw us. She recognized Bryson, and moved on.”

“My father isn’t with Liberty!” Holland shouted.

“I didn’t say he was, but sometimes business decisions are made because of symbiotic outcomes. This could be some quid pro quo thing,” I said.

Holland lost his rage and tapped the table. “He has acted sympathetic to their cause before. I know he’s an idealist, and his aspirations for Proxima wouldn’t be in alignment with the other Corporations.”

Eclipse and her team had exited Primary City almost as quickly as they’d come, and two of their fleet were destroyed in the battle. I guessed none had survived for interrogation. HQ was going to endure, and only the eighth- and ninth-ranked teams and their CEOs had been left on the top floor for the duration of the fight. They’d ended up with a few cuts and scrapes from the assault, but it could have been far worse.

“It wasn’t meant to obliterate anything. It was a warning,” I said.

“Or an example to the others considering joining the revolt or not. It showed that this is the first group that actually might have a chance at real change,” Luther suggested.

“You don’t make change with violence,” Holland mumbled.

“Is that so? Then you haven’t read much of Earth’s history, have you?” Jade sat beside him, slowly spinning in her chair. “This exact thing has happened repeatedly over the centuries.”

Luther caught the red ball I tossed to him. “They let you read that stuff at Luna?”

“It’s not illegal to read, Luther. Plus, sometimes it helps to remember how bad our previous generations had it, so I can sleep at night knowing I’m better off.” Jade stopped moving in the chair. “Anyway, I suspect the Race will go on.”

I wanted to tell them what I knew but kept it to myself. Now wasn’t the time to freak them out. We had a job to do, and if it was running, we still had to show up at the Race.

Bryson popped his head in, his lips scrunched up like he’d eaten something sour. “May