by Geoff North
Hegstad raised his eyebrows at him. “Yeah, as a matter of fact, we are. Good guess, kid.”
“It wasn’t a guess. We were learning planet distances in class before the school shut down. Three days from Mars at fold speed equals about two billion kilometers. Saturn’s almost that far away this time of year.”
Tarrace actually smiled. She hadn’t had much reason to in the last few months, but seeing the smug look on Hegstad’s face drop was definitely smile-worthy.
“Well, smart-ass,” Hegstad countered, “if you want to get technical, we’re not going directly to Saturn. We’re going into orbit around one of its moons.” He called over his shoulder into the cockpit. “Will we be able to see it yet?”
“Final approach to Titan,” Raleph Green replied. “You should be able to see the ship in about… half a minute.”
“Ship?” Tarrace asked. “What ship?”
Hegstad lowered the viewing monitor down from the shuttle ceiling. Saturn’s largest moon appeared on the screen, wrapped in a thick blanket of orange. Beyond Titan, the great ringed planet loomed in the black sea of space. Loke and Charm gasped. They had seen pictures of all the planets before, but this was different. This planet was right outside their shuttle.
“Okay,” Hegstad said. “Watch closely.”
A bright light appeared at the very top of Titan, like a glistening jewel set into the band of a golden ring. It grew as Green maneuvered the shuttle closer. The light began to break apart into hundreds of smaller lights. The object took on a triangular wedge shape.
“Looks like a whole bunch of diamonds,” Charm said.
The shuttle dropped down directly over the gargantuan vessel. Tarrace covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. It was double the size of Retribution, and appeared ten times as lethal. Its gleaming surface was covered with more weapons than hull. Hundreds of turrets, thousands of cannons. It was pure destruction.
“My God,” Tarrace whispered. “What is that thing?”
“That’s going to be your new home for the next little while.” Hegstad smiled at the twins. “There’s going to be a family reunion soon, kids. We’re going to find your father—your traitorous grandfather, too. And when we do, Annihilation is going to send them straight to hell.”
Thank you for reading RETRIBUTION, the second book of my Long Haul trilogy. I would love to hear your thoughts. If possible, please try and leave a review. It means a lot to authors!
The story continues in (you guessed it) ANNIHILATION, available in June 2017.
Other Books by Geoff North:
Ambition (The Long Haul Book 1)
Thawed (CRYERS Book 1)
Horror (CRYERS Book 2)
Lawmen (CRYERS Book 3)
Live it Again
Make Believe
Children of Extinction
Conspiracy Hotel
Out of Time
As the World Ends (Book 1)
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Please visit my website at www.geoffnorth.com to see what else I’ve been up to.