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

down, and you will each be killed. And they prefer to inflict pain.” He looked like a maniac, his eyes wide, his grin showing too many teeth. “First, they’ll disable your ships. They’ll board them, boots on the ground, and they’ll gather you into a holding bay. You will lose all dignity. You’ll watch them torture your loved ones. You don’t understand their culture. I do. You may consider it barbaric, but it’s allowed them to dominate for millions of years.”

“And you’ll watch this? Under the safety of your partnership with them?” Octavia didn’t seem scared of his descriptions.

“I won’t be sticking around. My time on Earth is over. My family and I will be moving on.”

“Arlo,” Jade said. “He means you.”

“He’s my grandfather.” I couldn’t join his ruthless endeavor, but he was also the voice of reason I’d heard in my head since I was five years old. It was difficult to separate the memory of the man from what I was seeing on screen.

“He also sold us out,” Luther muttered.

The drones were almost in position, and according to my radar, more were destined to arrive. The circle they were forming was gigantic, ten kilometers in diameter. “Whatever comes out of that isn’t going to be pretty.”

While I scanned the radar, I saw Velvet’s ID number.

Bello. I had an idea.

“You have five minutes to get in line. I will report the insubordination to the Velibar if you fail to comply. Arlo Lewis, bring the Racer over here, and we will dock you.” Preston didn’t wait for a response; he just killed the communication. Octavia’s face left the screen as well.

I found Velvet and sent her a communication request. “Hawk, what are we supposed to do?” Bello asked.

“Obelisk is a model PLO-5617, right?” I asked, crossing my fingers.

“Sure is. We had one at the shop for a few years.” Bello smiled at Grid beside her.

“Hawk, you’re a genius,” Grid said.

“He is?” Bello asked.

“If you knew the schematics, we might be able to breach the Core remotely. They had a flaw that was overlooked for the first two years they were on the market,” Jade chimed in.

“Gotcha.” Bello stuck her tongue out, her fingers hopping across her computer screen. “We tore that baby inside out. This is what I have…”

“R11, did you get those?” I asked the robot.

“Sir, we have the files. Would you like me to patch it to your dash?” R11 asked.

“Yes. Make it quick.” Preston had given everyone five minutes, and I thought it best if I played along, slowly flying past the other fleet ships toward Obelisk. She floated there, my grandfather at the helm, with nothing but space as a backdrop.

I noticed Luther keeping an eye on Holland. We couldn’t trust his actions now that he knew his mother was alive. His loyalty had always been with his father and SeaTech, but he was being tugged apart. Jade took over my keypad, and a few minutes later, she was confident the pulse ray would disarm the older expedition vessel’s Core.

I held my breath as we flew close enough to touch the other ship, and Jade sent the invisible blast. His Core would be deactivated.

“For how long?” I asked.

“If they have someone who knows what they’re doing in Engineering? Twenty minutes at best,” Jade warned.

“R11, get me Octavia, Eclipse, Bello, Varn, and Bryson!” I had to be quick. The drones were still clicking into place, and now, their circle was half formed, growing closer to completion with every passing breath.

Their faces appeared sequentially on the viewer, and they all spoke over each other. “Listen, we don’t have long,” I said. “We’ve disabled Obelisk. We could destroy them, but we might need him as a bartering chip. If they do open this gateway, he won’t be able to move to them. It’s the only advantage I could think of.”

“Good work, Lewis,” Eclipse said. “We have a fleet here. It’s not pretty, and they’re untrained, but we can defend ourselves if necessary.”

“These Squids, as Preston called them. Yes, they’re powerful. If they put their energy into fighting us, I don’t know how effective we’re going to be. We’ll have to be fast. Use the reverse blasts until they clue in to what we’re doing. Any race that’s survived millions of years will adapt quickly,” I said. “I want any Racer in the vicinity to come with me. We’re the fastest craft around. We can move efficiently, and distract them.”

Octavia nodded along. “Make it happen.”

I saw the Racers on the radar. Lotus, Luna and Sage were here with us.

“We could hit the drone ring with everything we have before they finish the job,” Luther suggested.

“What are we going to do about my mother?” Holland asked softly.

“Son, let’s stop an invasion today, and we’ll figure out the next step after we’re safe.” That must have pained Bryson to say.

His gaze was distant, and he stared at me for a second. I gave him a single nod of my head, and he agreed. “I’ll help.”

“Bello and Grid, I have a special job for you.” They didn’t look pleased, but I needed someone I trusted to carry out the impossible.

 

 

 

Twenty-Three

Jade had managed to cut into a camera feed from the interior of the Obelisk’s bridge, and we watched Preston losing his cool as he realized they had no mobility. I stared at him, trying to determine how he’d gone from my hero and mentor to a traitor. What happened in those nineteen years since he’d vanished? Was my grandfather buried inside this man somewhere? I could hardly focus on my task but didn’t have much of a choice.

The three huge Defenders from Mars lined up against the drones. None of the small drone ships had attempted any violence toward us, and that meant they were originally meant for surveillance, and later to become gateway pieces.

The ring was nearly complete, with only fifty or so left angling into position. It was a remarkable structure, reaching a lengthy span. If we could prevent