Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

deep rumbling coming from Mutt, vibrating his whole body. His muscles quivered under my hand. I could tell he was prepared to pounce on my go. Relief fluttered through me that the Rung had not shot him, and I wanted to keep it that way. I kept my hand on him, hoping he would stay calm and by my side.

Gasps and screams came from everyone around us as they called for help from the Civil Authority Officers working the wall. Over the last month, Stacy had taken it upon herself to train recruits and arm them with the latest and greatest Remboshi tech from the Cerberus Installation.

The Rung in front of me was skinnier than I was, but that didn’t mean he was any less deadly. His thick tail stuck straight up behind him. It was strong and muscular-looking, as if it could take out someone with a good swipe. He eyed me with his one green eye and his one cybernetic eye that shone red. He moved to look at Mutt, uncertain of his next actions.

My heart was racing a mile a minute. Still, one thing spoke to me above all others. He hadn’t killed me, yet. He had me dead to rights. Still, he had refused to pull the trigger. Something was up.

“Listen,” I started. “I’m not sure if you can understand me, but there’s no way out of here. You shoot me and this dog will tear you apart from limb to cybernetic limb. If he doesn’t kill you, then the Civil Authority Officers who are on their way will.”

As if to emphasize my words, heavy footfalls from a pair of Civil Authority Officers, or suits, as we called them, could be heard rounding the corner. I saw them out of my peripheral vision but didn’t turn to see who the pair were.

The Rung in front of me didn’t look like he knew what I was saying, but he understood the predicament he was in. Instead of lifting his weapon, he lowered it to a holder on his right side.

He lifted both hands slowly into the air, the universal sign for surrender, even here, it seemed, then gave me a toothy smile. Short, stubby teeth poked up out of his top and bottom gums.

What’s he doing? I wondered. He has to have some kind of plan here.

The Rung moved the thumb on his left hand to his middle finger and pressed a button on the black gloves he wore.

Thrusters sounded on the back of his tight-fitting suit. I let go of Mutt, lunging for the Rung as he lifted off the ground a second later.

It seemed both Mutt and I had the same idea. Mutt grabbed onto his left booted foot, crunching down with powerful jaws. I abandoned my rifle, running to him and finding two handholds on the belt the Rung wore around his waist.

Two heartbeats later, we were tearing over the tops of the tents. The Rung was too busy trying to keep airborne to deal with me and Mutt. It was obvious whatever propulsion system was hard-wired into his suit was not designed to carry three bodies as it struggled to gain altitude.

Yelling and shouting from below took a back seat to what I was focusing on now. My hands were full as I tried to climb up the Rung’s body. I needed to take control of the thruster on his back via the control system he used on his hand.

Mutt fell a second later, taking the Rung’s boot with him in his jaws. The dog crashed into a tent not even a foot below us, seemingly all right. Without his extra weight, the thruster propelled us higher into the air and I held on for dear life.

Trying to fend me off and maneuver the thrusters was proving too difficult for my opponent. We careened into tents, the side of the wall, and even slammed into one of the two watchtowers that flanked the main gate before sliding across the catwalk.

If nothing else, I was stubborn. One hand clinging to his belt, I tried to work my way up to his right arm, where he controlled or at least tried to control our trajectory.

The Rung was getting annoyed with my tenacious hold on his person. Thus far, he hadn’t struck out at me, but it seemed he had had enough. It was just my luck that his free hand was made of cold, hard metal.

He hit me, opening a painful cut above my right eye. Warm blood oozed into my vision. When he came at me again with the hammer fist, I changed my grip. Holding on to his belt with my left hand, I caught his fist with my right.

I had no idea where we were, thanks to the swirling topsy-turvy motion of the thrusters. All I knew was that we were still inside the Orion wall, or so I hoped.

I saw him right before he leapt off the catwalk. Boss Creed was either a genius or a mad man, maybe a bit of both. He must have seen us heading toward the wall, gaining altitude faster since Mutt had fallen off.

He timed his jump just right. Boss Creed sailed over the catwalk that circled the inside of the gate like some kind of gymnast, grabbing onto us both.

The other man’s weight proved too much for the power of the thrusters, which were obviously made for one occupant. As one, the three of us fell from the sky, slamming into the hard ground underneath us.

I was the lucky one on the bottom, cushioning the falls of the Rung and Boss Creed, who knocked the wind out of my chest when they both landed on me. While the Rung couldn’t weigh more than a hundred and thirty pounds, Boss Creed most likely was double that and I’d felt a sickening crunch come from my left shoulder when we landed.

Pain shot through my shoulder and down my arm and I had the absurd urge to