“I’ll miss you guys,” Benny called after them.
All three of them turned back.
“Pish,” Drue said. “No need to break out the holographic hearts, man. We’ll see you soon.”
“We’ll keep a room ready for you at the Taj,” Jasmine said. “It’s only right that the leader of the Moon Platoon has his own suite.”
Hot Dog put her hands on her hips. “You’d better visit. Otherwise we’ll have to come back down to find you, and, honestly, I’m already grossed out by how much dust has to be in my hair right now. And you could’ve warned me not to wear lip gloss in the desert. My lips feel like sandpaper.”
She smiled wide, her blue eyes gleaming beneath the blazing sun. She waved, and then the three of them turned away. Benny caught the last of their conversation, listening as closely as he could until their voices were lost to the desert.
Drue groaned dramatically. “I can’t believe he’s not coming and it’s just the three of us. I feel outnumbered. And like my skin is totally burned from, like, five seconds in the Drylands.”
“You are looking pretty pink,” Hot Dog said. “Maybe you should get outside more.”
“Pinky told you to wear sunscreen,” Jasmine offered.
“We’re going to the Moon! Why would I pack sunscreen?” Drue said, exasperated. “Ugh, this is exactly what I’m talking about. It’s two on one now!”
“By the way!” Elijah shouted. He held up a small black box in his hand, and it took Benny a few seconds to realize that it was one of Dr. Bale’s stealth drives. “I brought you a little thank-you gift. I figured you’d earned it, given the fact that you spent more time in it than I did.” He flashed his impossibly white teeth. “You’ll find it over the dune behind me. Just make sure you take care of her.”
And with that, the four Space Runners took to the sky and disappeared.
Benny paused a moment before climbing the dune to see what Elijah was talking about. And when he saw it, he felt the same way he had when he’d fallen out of the sky in the escape pod, only in the best way possible.
An electric-green Chevelle was parked in the sand.
Benny raced down toward it, hesitating just a moment before touching the outside just in case this was a trick and the car was a hologram. But it wasn’t.
Something gleamed on the front of the car: his father’s hood ornament. He’d left it in his suite weeks ago, and Elijah must have found it and stuck it on for him.
His chest felt light, and he was sure he’d never seen something so perfect. His dad would’ve loved this car.
He slid into the driver’s seat. There was a piece of paper stuck to the steering wheel with a single word written on it in Elijah’s looping script.
“Detroit?” Benny said to himself, confused.
Suddenly, the inside of the car lit up, the hyperdrive engaging as the Chevelle powered on.
“Hey, there, Benny.” Pinky’s voice came through the speakers. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Holy whoa,” he whispered, looking at the holograms popping up all over the dashboard, displaying interfaces he’d never seen before.
“Agreed,” Pinky said. “Elijah made a few . . . modifications to the Chevelle since the last time you saw were inside. This is perhaps the first official Space Runner–Muscle Car hybrid.”
“You mean . . .”
“Race across Earth or through the cosmos. The choice is yours.” A warm little laugh filled the cabin. “Congratulations.”
“This is . . .” Benny said, hardly able to wrap his mind around what he was sitting in. “This is incredible.”
“It’s pretty stellar,” the AI agreed. There was a moment of silence. “I understand you met the real me.”
“Oh, yeah. It was . . . kind of weird.”
She laughed. “I imagine. Tell me . . . what was she like?”
Benny thought about this for a few seconds. “Wonderful.”
The AI sighed. “You’re too kind, Benny Love.”
“So, with her going back to the Taj, does that mean you’ll . . .”
“My operating system will be getting a bit of an overhaul. No use in having two of my personalities there, especially since one of them is flesh and blood.”
Benny’s heart sank a little. He couldn’t imagine the Taj without Pinky appearing out of nowhere in a swirl of holographic projections.
“Oh, don’t look so sad. Really. I’m glad there’ll be someone Elijah can’t mute to keep him in line. And he has big plans, as always. There will be many new places for me to manage. Plus, you know . . . I’ll be right here, any time you need me.”
Benny smiled. “Good. I’m glad.”
“Now,” the AI said, her voice taking a more authoritative tone. “I understand the Taj is off the table for the time being, but the world is at your fingertips. Where to? Tokyo? Neo Paris? I can automate the flight plan or you can drive yourself if you prefer.”
A smile slowly spread across Benny’s face, until his cheeks started to hurt.
“No,” he said finally. He looked in the side mirror, catching sight of his brothers sprinting across the sand, heading his way. “Unlock the passenger door, please, Pinky. I think a joyride across the Drylands is the best way to test this baby out.”
Benny tightened his hands around the steering wheel. In the distance, the sun was beginning to set and the dunes were shining like an ocean of gold. He could just make out a slice of the Moon above him. It seemed closer to the Drylands than it ever had before.
Outside, his brothers’ voices filled the air, screaming with excitement. Benny rolled down the driver’s-side window and climbed halfway out of the car.
“So, guys,” he yelled. “Who wants to go for a ride?”
About the Author
PHOTO BY DRUE DAVIS
JERAMEY KRAATZ is the author of the Space Runners series and the Cloak Society series, and he is a graduate of the MFA writing program at Columbia University. He’s actually pretty scared of outer space. Jeramey lives in Texas, where he sometimes teaches, sometimes writes cartoon scripts, and is always up for queso. You can find him at www.jerameykraatz.com or on Twitter @jerameykraatz.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Books by Jeramey Kraatz
Space Runners #1: The Moon Platoon
Space Runners #2: Dark Side of the Moon
Space Runners #3: The Cosmic Alliance
Space Runners #4: The Fate of Earth
The Cloak Society
Villains Rising
Fall of Heroes
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Copyright
SPACE RUNNERS #4: THE FATE OF EARTH. Copyright © 2019 by Full Fathom Five. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Cover art © 2019 by Antonio Javier Caparo
Cover design by Molly Fehr
Digital Edition JULY 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-244608-4
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-244606-0
1920212223PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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Space Runners #4 Page 22