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

Racer, and if you don’t want to be the team to seek out allies, we’ll find someone that does. Perhaps Varn Wallish.”

She knew how to get me. “Fine. We’re in.” I glanced at Luther, who’d remained silent for the duration of their visit. He nodded at me, supporting my decision. “Jade?”

“Fly to another solar system on untested FTL drives? Why not?”

A plain white robot approached behind her and stuck his hand out. “I’m in as well. But I wouldn’t mind a nice paint job before we go.”

“R11, it’s good to have you back,” I told the recently downloaded robot.

Holland’s absence was a black hole of our own.

“We’re all reconvening at Earth. Head to the rendezvous, and we’ll begin working on the redesign at once,” Octavia told me. “And, Arlo…”

I stood, facing the sisters. “Thank you for sticking your neck out. We couldn’t have done this without you.”

“I’m just doing my part,” I said. “Any idea when we’re getting our Space Race trophy?”

____________

After a quick visit with my parents on their retirement island, I found myself in Bryson’s head office. Mom and Dad had been crestfallen at the news. It was so bittersweet for Dad to hear his own father had lived. It was quickly ruined when I told him about the demands, and that Preston Lewis was working on behalf of the Velibar. I’d left them with promises I wasn’t sure I could keep.

“Welcome, Arlo. I know you’ve had a lot on your mind, and I thank you for joining me today.” Bryson motioned for me to follow him into the elevator.

“I’m sorry about Holland.” I’d already said this a few times, and I couldn’t help but feel to blame for his absence.

“Nothing that happened was your fault, Arlo. You won the Race for us. I’ll never forget what you accomplished. Maybe one day, we’ll see our reward together,” he said.

“If we survive that long.”

“Yes.”

The elevator lowered, and when the doors opened, I wasn’t surprised to find more guards on duty.

“At ease,” Bryson told them.

“Sir, is everything going to be okay?” one of them asked their CEO.

“You’ve watched the feeds, right?” I asked the pair of men. They were young and obviously took their posting seriously.

They nodded in unison. Everyone knew of the Velibar now.

“Don’t worry, Sal. You have nothing to worry about at SeaTech. Keep doing your job, and we’re going to find a way to make this all right.” Bryson smiled at the guards, and they hesitantly accepted his blanket statement.

We passed them, heading inside. The room was empty, and we walked for the central consoles, activating the camera feeds. They showed the same glass chamber I’d seen before. More had been added, and all were covered by the same mossy substance. “You’ve been multiplying,” I whispered to them.

“I have an idea, but it’s going to take some finesse. I’ll work on it while you’re gone in search of an ally, but when you return, I expect to have it operational.” Bryson’s eyes were wide, his face stoic.

“What kind of plan? You’re going to use these creatures?” I recalled the woman’s red eyes and anger as she battered against my helmet.

“That’s about the gist of it.” Bryson turned to face me and set his hands on my shoulders. “I learned that Catarina is alive, and now my son is gone. You’re on my team…a member of SeaTech, but more importantly, the only person I trust to have my back. Holland is going to need your assistance in the coming weeks.”

“You want to find them, don’t you?”

He nodded slowly, letting go of me. “With Jade’s help, we started to search for their home. Using the computer on board the ship you captured, we think we have it.”

My jaw dropped. “You already found the Velibar home planet?”

“Perhaps not. They seem to be nomads, but we discovered a post. Come back safe, and I suspect that’s where we’ll find Holland. If they built a gate, it’s logical they were feeding ships through it from the closest system they’ve occupied after Proxima.”

“How do you know they aren’t there?” I asked.

“Because Jade says there’s no communication from that region, and I believe her. Preston was lying to us.”

“Why?”

“Because he wants to keep humans penned on Earth. It makes the Velibars’ life much easier to invade,” he said.

“No problem. I’ll be ready when you are.” I shook his hand as I glanced past him to the green moss creature’s glass case beyond. I wondered just what he was planning on doing with them, but didn’t get a chance to ask.

“Arlo, are you there?” Jade’s voice was rushed in my earpiece.

“Go ahead.” I saw the moss rippling as I spoke.

“You have to get to the ship. Now.”

“Why?”

“They’ve responded.” Her call ended, and I took one last glance toward the ocean beyond Bryson’s tall glass walls.

“I have to go. We’ve made contact.”

“I wish you speed and safety, Hawk,” Bryson said, and I dashed ahead, leaving SeaTech behind for the time being.

I hurried in Capricious, making my way to Primary City in my old vessel. No matter how many times I asked Jade to relay the communication, she refused. Finally, my ship lowered into the giant city, and we moved for the Board’s head office, where Pilgrim was undergoing her confidential modifications.

Luther and Jade were on board, with a freshly painted R11. He’d opted for a more toned-down color palette, and was gray and black, without the splashes of red across his face.

“What does it say?” I asked.

Luther just pointed, and I saw the string of alien text on the screen. The words were displayed in English beneath.

Welcome Earth. Destination: Refuge. First stop. Assault circumvented. Meet in sixty rotations.

“They want to meet us,” I whispered.

Jade and Luther smiled, but I sensed their trepidation at the response. It meant this was real, that we were stepping into the unknown. Now, with the Velibar threatening our very existence, things had changed.

I stared at the image of a blurry star in a distant place and grinned. I’d always