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

“The Board’s. But at the start, I suppose it was Bryson Kelley’s,” she said, and we all perked up.

“He wasn’t even a Primary,” Eclipse said.

“I know, but he had the best technology for the Rings and had already created a prototype for the camera drone’s compatibility. It sounded like a reasonable way to disperse the rights, rather than handing them to Under and Sage Industries. We already have enough issues of infighting between the Primaries. This was our way of trying to even the playing field. Space Race was a real contest they could sink their teeth into.”

Eclipse scowled. “Bryson lost his wife on that mission, Octavia.”

I glanced at Holland, and he was still, frozen in place. Jade wrapped an arm around him, but he shrugged it off.

“I know that, Ellie. And he did what it took to win, so if we survive today, I have to give him Proxima as promised.” Octavia broke off.

“I’m surprised, to say the least.” Eclipse looked at her screen, and I checked our radar. The giant tentacled ship still hadn’t moved, and so far, no fighting between Liberty and the Defenders had begun.

“Why isn’t it attacking? It’s sitting there.” Octavia’s eye twitched.

“It already displayed its power. I expect it wants us to concede with minimal effort.”

“You know I won’t.” Octavia stared into the screen, and it felt like her eyes were sending me a signal, even though she couldn’t see me.

“I won’t either,” Luther whispered.

“Neither will I,” I muttered.

“Where’s my dad?” Holland asked.

“He has to be around here somewhere,” I suggested.

Eclipse broke the silence on the viewer. “How many people are on Boardroom?”

“Two thousand.”

“You need to get them out of here!” Eclipse had obviously changed her mind after hearing Octavia’s side of the conversation. “We’ll hold this thing off.”

“Do you have a plan? We’ve established our weapons won’t work against them. They have our number,” the Lead Chair said.

“Hang tight. We need to regroup. I suggest we—”

The tentacles began pulsing. I tried to get a feeling for the size of the enemy ship, and guessed it was nearly as large as Boardroom, which currently held a couple hundred of each Primary Corporation. My ship was tiny compared to it, but maybe that was a good thing.

“I have to reach out to them. Try to stop this.” Octavia smiled at her sister over the viewer, and the call ended.

“They’re going to blast the CEOs!” Holland shouted. “My dad might be on there.”

“Captain,” R11 said, but he was drowned out by Bryson’s son.

“Captain! It looks like the ship you contacted earlier is on the move.” R11 sent me a blip on the radar, a tag for Velvet. It was positioning itself between the enemy and Boardroom.

“We have to stop her. She’s not going to be able to do anything.” I began flying. Varn followed, probably thinking this was part of my plan. All I wanted to do was keep Bello and Grid from orphaning their children in the Wastes.

The tentacles burned hot with red energy, the tips cracking and arcing between one another. It didn’t seem to care I was heading straight for its port side, and I flew as fast as I could, using the Racer’s advanced speed to cross the distance quickly.

“This better work, Jade,” I whispered, and didn’t have to tell Luther what to do.

The moment we were within range, he began firing, testing the weapon. At first, I thought it had been stopped by the invisible shield, but it passed through, striking the hull. A bright flame erupted and extinguished.

“It works!” We flew on, Luther shooting effortlessly. The enemy didn’t even target us, but from here, we couldn’t see the front of the ship. I prayed they hadn’t used their weapons yet to aim for my friends. “R11, send out an All-Call to anyone in the vicinity. Reverse the weapons’ polarity and attack! We’re only going to have one shot at this!”

The communication went out, and we received dozens of pings, saying they were ready to assist. The huge Defenders blinked on the radar, and I noticed Boardroom starting their departure. The Board had decided to fight alongside Liberty, and I was glad for it. If these fiends were coming to invade, everyone would be enslaved by them regardless. I’d rather die fighting than lying down, and that was exactly what we were doing.

Varn must have been enjoying himself, because his Number 1 Racer danced under us, firing with everything he had. We circled the giant vessel, and I spotted the crackling tentacles to my left in the viewer. Others came to join the battle, which was fully one-sided up to this point. The enemy hadn’t even acknowledged our existence.

The appendages were huge this close up, extending half a kilometer each, rotating its surplus of energy. I avoided them and moved for Velvet, who’d finally reversed their weapon systems as well, judging by the eruption of the ion cannons breaking through the shield.

It seemed like we were about to destroy them. Our blasts were miniscule against the breadth of this vessel’s hull, but it could only withstand so many strikes. The rest of Eclipse’s fleet was in on it now, and we fired without grace. Jade was talking, but my heart was beating so loudly, I couldn’t understand the words.

The behemoth’s tentacles lashed out, all four of them taking aim as their hull began to break down. At least a hundred of our allies were pounding them with firepower, and it was almost done. The explosions rolled across its exterior, but the arms still managed to fire first.

The red pulses were like nothing I’d ever witnessed. Boardroom was moving so slowly and had no chance to alter its fate. The balls of energy sped through a few ships in the way, turning them to dust, right before striking the giant luxury liner. Both Boardroom and the enemy’s Core exploded at the same moment, and on instinct, I arced away from the blasts.

My ears still rang, but I finally