The Last Narkoy: Gathow: Book 2 by Elizabeth Price (find a book to read txt) 📕

Lolum slowly stood, chuckling as he rose. “That went better than I thought.”

“Honestly, me too,” Danstu admitted.

Zion grunted amused. “I figured one of us was going to lose some blood,” he mentioned.

“No, just a door,” Cidele pointed out, causing everyone left in the room to chuckle.

“She conducted herself like a leader… more so than I thought she could. I’m proud of her. We had a chat the other day that I think really sunk in,” Lolum said.

“Maybe she’s finally growing up and understanding this isn’t a game?” Noral mentioned as he rose from his seat.

“A game? That’s exactly what it is, Dr. Noral. It’s just a very… dangerous one. Now, who here has any military connections?” Danstu asked his uncle then Lolum.

“Connections? Sadly, not anymore,” Lolum returned.

Dranuim raised his shaky hand. “I do. I spent nine years with the Underground. I still may know a few people.”

“I have some experience with them too. Let’s talk,” Danstu told Dranium.

Sedom rushed back into the room, causing everyone to stand once again. “You, you, you, and you, follow me,” She demanded, pointing to Zion, Lolum, Danstu, and Nokinil. The four men followed Sedom outside where Garric stood, waiting for Sedom to emerge.

“Sortec, I need to speak with you about…” Garric started.

“Later, follow,” she demanded Garric to follow as well. The group continued to follow her into the ship bay.

The ship bay was housed in a massive cave, beneath a raging waterfall. Lengthwise it reached nearly a thousand yards long. Ten rows of fighter ships, six rows across with plenty of room to maneuver.

Sedom turned to the group, seeing all of their jaws gaping. Even Lolum stood staring at the ships, his sparkling ruby eyes in awe of what he saw.

“This, gentlemen, is what I’m talking about. Gathow has six more levels exactly like this one. That means I have three-hundred and sixty ships that all need pilots. You find me pilots and I’ll address all of your other concerns. Hell, find me fifty pilots and I’d be happy.”

“For awhile,” Zion smirked. He waited for Sedom to say return with a snappy response, but something had caught her eye.

Sedom walked over to a gleaming pearl white ship. The outside hall was like opaque glass, icy to the touch yet burned hot against her small hands. The thrusters jetted out in both sides, both top and bottom as if its creators had made a statement; this ship was built for speed. The front of the ship was what enticed her most, slick, unadulterated curves leading to a precise point at the nose. The window of the cockpit melted into that very point as if the metal that created the outer hall and the clear shield were made from the very same sheet.

“She has that gleam in her eye,” Garric quipped, nervously shuffling back and forth behind Lolum and Nokinil.

Zion shook his head slowly in a slight panic. “Great! If she sinks her teeth into that we won’t see her for days.”

An uneasy grimace appeared behind Lolum’s white beard. “Sedom, we have no time...” he called out, but before he could finish his sentence, the ship’s cockpit was already sliding back, inviting Sedom to enter. “Sedom Sortec!” Lolum called up to the ship. She ignored him, her eyes wide, too preoccupied with the excitement of something new.

“Go after her!” Nokinil demanded Garric.

Garric tugged at his slave collar. “Sortec? Right,” he returned, his words elongated to show his amusement. He smirked as if Nokinil were insane. “It’s a new toy to play with. She’ll be back. Give her time.”

Inside the ship, Sedom’s hands felt over the many controls with great fascination. Every button had a purpose and she had to see what that purpose was. She had seen the diagrams of the ships in her quarters, but to actually control one fascinated her to no end. When she was younger, she desperately wanted to fly, but because of her station no one would ever allow it. She was the Chidi and Chidi’s simply didn’t travel off the planet without a good reason, and they never piloted their own ships.

“Does she know how to fly?” Nokinil asked, too paralyze with the fear that if she hit one button the ship would explode.

“Hell if I know what that girl is capable of. I learn more about her every day,” Lolum answered honestly yet his voice told the group just how irate he was with the situation. The pulsing of the veins in Lolum’s hands caused Nokinil to back away, first from Lolum, then slowly away from the ship. But when Sedom engaged the main engine, Nokinil moved a bit quicker, taking Lolum with him. Danstu, though, remained exactly where he stood, watching as Sedom maneuvered the ship out of the bay.

Inside the cockpit, Sedom had no clue what she was doing. She only knew that somehow she felt the controls call to her as if her flying was as natural as eating.

The ship levitated, sending a wave of dust over her friends. She could feel the power the ship’s engines held just from her firm grip on the guidance control stick. But how did she get out of the cave? As the ship raised so did an area in the far corner of the roof, revealing the outside and the waterfall beyond. The automatic guidance system engaged and the ship sped off outside and towards the stars.

“Now what?” Nokinil asked. The wind of the ship’s engines nearly blew the men to their knees. He held onto Garric, trying to keep his balance. Lolum’s long beard blew across Nokinil’s pudgy face, forcing him to step away from the man.

“Wait until she comes…” Garric started to scream over the noise of the engines, “…back,” he continued more subdued after the ship was out of sight and the wind