“These friends of yours. Are you sure we can trust them?”
The question came from a man with long hair flowing down his shoulders. A moustache painted his lip. Grey had seen him once before exiting Jet Yien’s chambers after a strategy meeting. If she remembered correctly he was a major, and he seemed to be the leader of the second team, Mom being the leader of the first. They discussed how they would be split into two groups.
“Most of them are loyal,” Mom answered. “But I admit there are a few rogues who skirmished with us sometimes, and they were a tough bunch.”
“Not everyone wants to be exiled,” another man said, his arms crossed.
Grey peered out again, hardly surprised to see Corporal Lennox squaring off with her mother. But if Sue Alexander sensed the younger man’s challenge, she didn’t show it. Grey had always admired her mom’s calm demeanor and remembered how she never seemed fazed when Grey or Rin hurt themselves as children. She just calmly dressed their wounds and whispered reassurances.
Now Grey knew why she was so levelheaded. She had to be.
Ducking back, Grey leaned her head against the hard metal of the container. She wanted to trust her mother. She really did. And while neither Mom nor Dad had lied to her outright, they’d just omitted a very important truth: they weren’t who she thought they were.
“The civilians or you, Lennox?” Lieutenant Johansson said.
Grey smiled at the woman’s counter in defense of her mother. Call him out. Make him backpedal. She wished she’d done the same earlier when he’d challenged her about Dana.
“Permission to speak freely?” Lennox asked in a low tone.
“Granted,” Mom said.
“No one really knows you, Captain.”
Lennox might’ve been out of line questioning her mother’s command, but in a way she understood his hesitation. No amount of training could truly take the place of trust.
“Nor I you, soldier,” Sue Alexander replied. “But we must put aside our doubts and unite behind this. These people are counting on us to do our jobs. Am I clear?”
“Very,” Lennox said.
Grey heard a faint beep—the hologram turning off—and she hoped she wouldn’t be discovered.
“That’s it then. Godspeed to each of you, and may we meet again after this is all over.”
Boots thudded near Grey’s hiding place. She wouldn’t move until the coast was clear. When the steps faded she dared another glance at Mom.
Sue Alexander stood with her back to Grey, the map open again. “You can come out now, Grey.”
She climbed to her feet and slowly approached. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to listen.”
Her mother turned around, a smile on her lips. “You were here first.”
“I should’ve said something.”
“Yes.”
They stood face-to-face. She desperately wanted to know the woman her mother was now, but how could she possibly measure up to the talented team Mom was surrounded by? Surely her oldest daughter had to be a disappointment.
Grey swallowed. Her family needed her to stay strong, just like she had at the hands of General Yurkutz. Now was not the time to fall apart. But everything that had once grounded her was gone. The home that had sheltered her and Rin through the darkest of days lay buried under rubble. Even Earth’s blue sky was only a memory.
Sue Alexander seemed to sense her daughter’s struggle and pulled her into a gentle hug. Like the child she had once been, Grey let her.
“It’s going to be okay,” Mom said.
“Is it?” Her words came out barely audible.
“I’m just so thankful I have my girls back.”
“Mom, Dana woke up.”
Her mother pulled back. “When?”
“An hour ago. Mrs. March was going to talk to her.”
“Then maybe we’ll finally get some answers.”
“Didn’t you help her defect?”
Mom held up her hand, as if listening to a voice in her auris plug. She pocketed the coin-size projector.
Mom’s eyes grew wide, and she clutched Grey’s arm.
A deafening siren screamed and a wave of Yien soldiers flooded the room, running and shouting with their rifles brandished.
“Mazdaar has entered the atmosphere,” Mom said, pushing Grey toward the door. “Stay right behind me!”
Grey ran with her mother, nearly slamming into a soldier heading the other direction. There was no time for questions. No time to wonder how they’d miscalculated the enemy’s arrival. Nothing mattered but staying alive, and she wasn’t even sure if that would happen.
Sue Alexander guided her straight to the armory and flung open the nearest cabinet. She grabbed the last two blueflare rifles, handing one to Grey. A step up from the violetflare pistols, these had the power to blast through armor and bone. Only a redflare cannon was stronger.
Outside, the chaos followed them. The warning siren still pulsed, though it was fainter. People ran in every direction, and her mother latched on to Grey’s arm again, pointing at a smaller vessel on the edge of the clearing.
“What about Rin and Dad?” Grey kept running but swung around toward the animal pen where she’d last seen her sister. It was empty. “We can’t leave them behind!”
Her mother shoved her forward. “We’ll be no good to them dead.”
The gangplank was down, the ship already full of people in civilian clothes. Several reached their hands out to her and her mother, pulling them the rest of the way inside. This was the group they were supposed to evacuate to safety.
The moment Grey’s boots hit the deck, the ramp lifted with a screech, and the Jupiter rainbow dirt disappeared behind a scratched metal door. The siren faded, and Grey felt a deep thrum beneath her feet.
“Grey! Sue!”
She spun around to see the frantic civilians parting for Tanner Alexander, Rin right behind him.
“Get them ready,” Sue said to her husband.
Grey ran after her mother even as her father’s voice boomed through the hold, instructing everyone to hunker down and hold on to what they could. An explosion outside shook the floor, and Grey threw out her hand to catch herself on the Jeep tied to the floor.
“Dear Lord, help us,” Mom prayed, racing through the narrow hold and pushing past civilians yelling questions. Grey forced her way through the throng to keep up with her. Mom flung open the cockpit door.
But the cockpit wasn’t empty. Sitting in the pilot’s seat was a snowy-haired woman intently manning the computers. As the door shut with Grey and her mother inside, the pilot turned her head.
“About time you showed up,” Mrs. March said.
Her mother gaped at the old woman. “You’re supposed to stay here!”
“Don’t just stand there flapping your mouth, Captain. Fly this thing!”
Commander March switched to the co-pilot’s seat, and Mom secured her rifle to a rack behind them and sprung into action. Grey did the same with her weapon.
“Change of orders,” Mrs. March said softly.
Through the polymer view screen Grey watched a massive battleship drop out of the swirling clouds. Larger than anything she’d yet seen, she could only imagine the destruction it would inflict. When she saw the smaller, triangular vessels dropping from its belly, she realized it was some sort of transgalactic carrier, and those were the infamous Mazdaar Triangle jets.
Her mother saw them too, and there was no mistaking the worried glance she exchanged with her commander.
“Do we even have a chance?” Grey whispered.
“Always,” Mrs. March replied, but her words didn’t convince.
“The gunner’s station is unmanned, correct?” Mom said.
Mrs. March focused on the controls. “Turret’s below us, but we’ll have to do without.”
Grey stepped forward. “Why?”
“Your father’s not small enough to fit,” Mom said
“What about me?”
Her mother’s hands fl
ew over the console. “No.”
“Mom.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“And flying unarmed isn’t?”
“I said no.”
Grey turned toward Mrs. March.
The old woman glanced at Sue Alexander.
“Let me do it,” Grey said. “We have to defend ourselves.”
Her mother and Mrs. March exchanged another look. “She isn’t ready,” Mom said.
“You’d be surprised,” Mrs. March replied.
Another thundering boom sounded from outside. Grey flinched at the flaming explosion near Orion Settlement’s domed headquarters. They did not have time to argue.
“Sue, we don’t have a choice. She’s right.”
Her mother finally gave a quick nod, and Mrs. March waved toward a trap door at Grey’s feet. “Get down there, girl.”
Chapter 7
Mom opened up the throttle lever, and Grey jumped down into the gunner’s nest, pulling the hatch closed behind her. She crouched into the seat, mesmerized for a moment by the three-sixty view through the bubble surrounding her. The ground flew beneath her, blurring into a muddy spectrum.
Then they were flying like one of those weird dragonflies over the massive, yellow trees with white leaves. Here in this turret surrounded by glass, it felt like her feet could touch the treetops. What would the wind feel like on her skin if she really were flying? Would there be oxygen at this altitude? Not all of Jupiter’s surface atmosphere contained it, but usually around the vegetation it was strongest.
Grey slipped on the headset hanging from the handles of the redflare laser cannon she was about to commandeer and barely heard Mom and Mrs. March’s voices in her ears over the wind rushing past the turret.
“What’s our power level?” Mom asked.
“Eighty-four percent,” Mrs. March answered.
“That’ll have to work.”
“Grey, can you hear us?”
She cracked her neck and gripped the cannon’s rubber grip handles with both hands. “Loud and clear.”
“The turret’s spin is controlled with the foot pedals,” Mrs. March said.
She placed her boots on them and pressed one. Instantly the turret spun to the right.
“Do we have shields?” Grey yelled.
“Basic shields,” her mother added. “They’re a power drain, but we have no choice.”
Grey spun forward again, swallowing down nausea. Was Rin okay back with the others? She wished she could make sure her sister had found a place to hold on, but Dad was with her. He’d see that she was safe.
“Altitude 500 meters,” Commander March said. “Shields holding.”
“Any sign of pursuit?”
Grey wasn’t sure if her mother was asking her or if the vessel was advanced enough to scan the space surrounding the ship, but she decided a set of human eyes couldn’t hurt. In the distance a cloud of smoke rose, and her stomach clenched. How many were dying back there? Had Jet Yien gotten away safely or had he stayed behind to command the Yien forces?
“Incoming,” Mrs. March said through Grey’s earpiece.
“Where?” Grey asked.
“Starboard.”
“Which way is that?”
“Right,” her mother answered.
Grey spun to face the ship’s rear again. That would make it her left now. She strained to see one of the Triangle jets gaining on them like a massive black raptor, as if it could smell blood.
“Any more power?” Mom asked.
“If we take down the shields we’ll recover ten percent.”
“Do it.”
“Mom?” Grey watched the Mazdaar jet as she swung her weapon upward. She sighted down the barrel, putting it in the crosshairs. But her mother banked again, and Grey lost them.
She braced against the handles and re-sighted. She’d seen a Triangle up close once in Mazdaar City, right before they’d taken her here. Sleek and powerful, they were rumored to possess technology for complete stealth.
“Power level rising,” Mrs. March said.
Grey felt the ship accelerate, but the Triangle was still gaining on them. Her heart pumped in her fingers, and she squeezed the handles harder. Could she really fire this thing, potentially killing anyone on board that jet?
“Do you have the target, Grey?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“Are you okay?”
“No.” She took in a breath. “But I’ll do it anyway.”
“That’s a girl,” came Commander March’s voice.
But before she could fire, a beam exploded from the jet. They were firing!
“They’ve locked on us,” Mom said in her earpiece.
“Evasive maneuvers.”
The ship plummeted so fast Grey’s head hit the ceiling, and she struggled to strap on the flight harness she’d forgotten. “When should I shoot?”
A brilliant flash on the left—make that port—side blinded her.
“That was too close,” Mom said.
Were Dad and Rin still okay?
“Fire at will, Grey,” Mrs. March ordered in her ear.
She clenched her teeth and forced herself to think of her sister at the hands of someone like General Yurkutz. She pictured Dad, a violetflare held to his head, willing to give himself up to save her. Mazdaar had used her as bait for her parents. She’d been tortured mercilessly for information about them. These were the people who even now would take them down without hesitation, murdering the civilians on board.
In that moment Grey understood Rin’s hatred for Mazdaar. She would use that hate to get this job done and figure out how she felt about it later.
Grey spun her weapon around again and fired, aiming for the vessel’s engine.
A flash of light—this time from her—shot from the cannon’s barrel. The Triangle jet banked right before her shot could hit its mark, and it didn’t even graze its wing.
“Aim in front of them,” Commander March said.
She sent off two more volleys directly in front of the jet, but they seemed to anticipate the move and dropped to avoid the beams.
“Raise shields,” Mom said. “We aren’t outrunning those—”
“Shields up.”
Dad. Rin. Mom. If she didn’t take this bird down, none of them would live.
A blast shook the ship. But the shields held.
“What about their shields?” Grey yelled through her headset.
“Hang on,” Mom said.
The nose flipped up, and Captain Alexander took them into a climb. Grey fought back another wave of nausea, picturing the civilians being thrown back and forth in the compartment. She knew her father would do everything he could to keep everyone safe, but she didn’t want to think about the possible injuries. They had all fled into the ship with no time to restrain themselves. No one had expected Mazdaar to arrive so quickly; otherwise, wouldn’t they have given them a vessel with seats equipped for passengers?
A thunderous explosion blasted off their port side again, but it didn’t feel like it hit them. She hung on, struggling to keep track of what was up and what was down. If they couldn’t permeate the attacker’s shields or outrun it, how could they expect to survive?
They leveled, then banked, then leveled again. Grey felt their speed increase, and she dared a look down at the Jupiter landscape.
Lush, fine grass blanketed the ground. Another strange thing she’d discovered about Jupiter. She’d seen sandstone bluffs intermingling with vegetation that required a lot more moisture on Earth. Mom had said that underground springs made it possible.
“They might outgun and outrun us,” Mom’s voice stated in Grey’s ear. “But they don’t know Jupiter like I do.”
“What does that mean?” Grey called.
No one answered.
Chapter 8
Grey fired a volley of laser beams aimed for the Triangle’s left engine. She would not sit back and let her family die because she was too soft to fire.
They banked a
gain, and Grey lost sight of the enemy. When they leveled off, she scanned the sky. For one brief, hopeful moment she thought they’d shaken their pursuer.
No. There it was again.
Grey spun herself with the foot pedals and aimed straight for the heart of the vessel. If she couldn’t pierce the shields, at least she could weaken them.
“Power level sixty-four,” Commander March said.
Grey yelled insults at the jet, trying to bolster her confidence. She felt her adrenaline surge and her legs strengthen, even as they zipped from left to right, down and up.
A deadly enemy streak shot past her.
Another flew beneath her feet, nearly clipping the turret.
The landscape below turned rocky, almost like the bluff she and Rin loved to climb in the Preserve. She stared down at what looked like snow—or maybe it was sand—swirling amidst the Jupiter rocks. Grey positioned herself toward the direction they were flying so she could get her bearings.
Her heart nearly stopped.
They were heading straight for a rock wall.
Grey braced, closing her eyes.
“Evasive maneuver Zenith 5,” Mom said. “Get ready to cut off all power.”
“Copy that. On your mark, Captain.”
She had to trust Mom really did know what she was doing. Or else she was about to die.
Grey opened her eyes, not sure if she was ready to face her Maker. Was she right with Him?
“Three . . . two . . . one. Now, Commander!”
Grey’s neck snapped forward. She hit her head on something, and for a second everything went black. Then she was weightless, and all she could do was brace for impact as they plunged into a free fall.
“Reverse thrusters,” Mom said.
It sounded like a cyclone hit the ship, and she held her hands over her ears. Rock walls surrounded them on all sides. At first she thought the darkness was due to the blow to her head, but as shadows danced on the rocks, she realized the ship was descending into a narrow canyon.
“Let’s hope they think we crashed,” her mother said.
A jolt hit the floor, and all was still.
They’d landed on . . . something.
Grey heard movement in the cockpit above her. The hatch opened, and her mother reached down to pull her up.
Jupiter Storm (Jupiter Winds series Book 2) Page 4