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

second it was a sea of orange; the next only space remained as the flames snuffed out.

“Tell me you filmed that,” I whispered.

“Affirmative.”

I’d spent most of my adult life in space, hauling people and goods across the solar system, and this was the first time I’d seen anything that shook my nerves to the core. I stared at the empty space where the ship had been, trying to calm my ragged breaths.

“CP, run scans. Ensure the hull is okay,” I ordered, and watched the reports roll across my screen, replacing the display of alien text.

“Capricious is functional,” CP said after three or so minutes.

The clock was ticking, and I resumed course for Eris, wondering if I’d make it in time.

A day and a half later, I arrived at Oasis’ distant mining operation with more questions than answers. I wasn’t going to risk sending any communications to the Belt, or to Earth, for that matter. There was always a danger using the shared network to convey important information, and I couldn’t lose this valuable edge to one of the other Corporations—not that I really felt like I owed anything beyond this job to Oasis.

They were just another Primary Corp, fighting to retain their assets and mining resources like the rest of the power-hungry companies. Nobody knew who I was beyond my contract number, with the exception of my handler, and he didn’t seem to like me a whole lot. That feeling was mutual.

Eris was a barren hellhole, a wannabe planet that had happened to reveal a significant resource a kilometer below its icy surface a hundred years ago, and had since brought Oasis from thirty-third rank to number four among the Primary Corps. Who knew that a cache of metal would be so valuable in producing drive coolers? Apparently, they had, and consequently profited from it for decades.

A skinny space station orbited the dwarf planet, but the entire crew awaiting pickup was on the surface. I sent a message to Kol, the lead mining operator, alerting him I was about to breach the atmosphere, and I quickly received a return call.

“Arlo, what kept you? We’re hours from doom!” The man on screen was skinny, his hands nervously wringing in front of him.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Kol. I made it. You could always use the underground bunks,” I said.

“Those aren’t safe for the duration of the sun’s orbit. You know the atmosphere’s collapse is imminent!” His eyes were wide, and I glanced past him. There was a total of forty crew in the container, and I was under strict orders to return them all to Earth until Eris’ orbit brought the facility close enough to the sun to melt the atmosphere again. The things Corporations would do for healthy margins.

“Hold on to your britches, Kol. ETA is twelve minutes.” I ended the call, cutting off his retort, and lowered toward their base. It was an efficient setup. So far, they’d mined only ten percent of the valuable core, ensuring Oasis would have income for centuries—or until someone created a more cost-effective method to cool the drive, and in that case, their placement would drop substantially. Either way, I doubted I’d still be working for them by the time that occurred.

Capricious was a hauler meant to attach to various units, whether that meant ships, ice train cars, or personal containers like this one. I maneuvered her through the jutting ice chunks circling the base camp, and over the spires of the digging apparatuses, until I hovered above the container that held the workers.

“Atmosphere collapse in one hour twenty-three minutes,” CP said casually.

“Plenty of time,” I said softly, tapping the latch icon until my camera view blinked green, indicating we were in alignment. Four arms expanded from my hull and connected to the large boxy container. I pressurized the passageway cylinder, and started pre-flight protocols.

“Wait!” Kol appeared on the screen again, his face ashen. “I did a count. We’re missing a crew member!”

I froze in my seat. My eyes were the only thing moving as I checked the countdown digits quickly lowering. This couldn’t be happening. “Kol, you were supposed to count before you sealed the unit!”

“I did… I seem to have scanned somebody twice. It’s Veera, the biologist.”

“You can’t expect me to stop what I’m doing and let you out!”

Kol slapped his palms together and brought them to his chin. “Please, Arlo. She’s somebody’s daughter. If we abandon her, we’re both as good as fired.”

“But you were the one—” I blew out a lungful of air and tried to think clearly. “How long will it take to locate her and bring her to the container?”

He squinted, gulping air before speaking. “We can’t leave the container after we’re sealed. It’s impossible to break the program.”

He didn’t have to say it for me to understand what he was implying. “You want me to rescue her.”

“I wouldn’t ask if there was any other way.”

I stared at him through the viewer and shook my head slowly, wanting to decline. “Where is she? Do you have a tag?”

He smiled brightly, his teeth flashing. “That’s my boy. I won’t forget this, Arlo. Sending you her location now.”

My screen pinged, and I selected the incoming data stream. The map showed the entire base camp in three dimensions, and I traced a line from Capricious to the blinking red pulse that revealed Veera’s location.

“What are you doing down there?” I asked out loud.

“I am securing the—” the AI started to say.

“CP, I wasn’t talking to you. Keep the container access closed until I return, understood?”

“Affirmative.”

I didn’t want the workers entering Capricious with me on the surface. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them… but it was exactly that.

I jogged from the bridge, heading for the air hatch. This was above my pay grade. If I took into account the amount of fuel, and time, along with the wear and tear on my old ship, the fee from Oasis would barely feed me for a month. I had to find better ways