Space Race (Space Race 1) Nathan Hystad (ebooks children's books free .TXT) 📖

We were in the homestretch, with under thirty minutes to the final checkpoint. The Ring wasn’t visible yet, but I could almost see the dot of orange out there, taunting me to win. Time went fast now, each minute feeling like a second.

“We can do this, Arlo!” Luther called supportively.

“Are the boosts prepared?” I asked, but Jade didn’t respond. “Serrano, where are you?”

“She’s in Engineering.”

Her voice carried through the ship’s speakers. “Arlo, we have a problem. Maybe not a problem, per se…”

“What is it? Can we pull this off?” I asked, smiling at Holland.

“There’s…this ship has some serious weapons. It’s concealed, but not connected. Bryson essentially...created a killing machine.”

“Here? I thought you saw the blueprints, the technical designs.”

“Why would we have guns?” Holland asked.

“That’s a good question,” Jade answered. “These aren’t listed anywhere. I only saw the barrels and charging ports when I opened the floor panels. I don’t know what he expected the Racer to be, but…”

“This changes everything. Maybe we’re not here for a Race,” Luther said.

“Can you hook them up after we win?” I asked her through my dash speaker, and she said she could.

A bright light flashed ahead, and Lotus began hurtling toward the Ring. They were going for it. Full overdrive. In my estimation they were too far out for that move, unless they had information I didn’t.

“This could be over quickly!” Luther shouted from his feet.

Varn and I were nose to nose, and I almost expected him to duplicate Lotus’ action. But he didn’t.

Lotus flashed again and went dark. They were still ten minutes from the finish line. “Jade, prepare for the transition. Send all secondary sources to the Core in five…” I counted down, glancing through the viewer to see Sage’s ship beside us. The Ring was huge, a welcoming opening into victory, and I imagined the feeling of winning this thing, and entering in first.

Jade worked her magic, and we sped up, the Core processing the power into the thrusters. The ship shook, the dash and pilot’s seat vibrating. It rose through my bones, my teeth chattering as the Ring grew closer and closer. With the gravity flipped off, some forgotten materials floated in front of my face, and I batted them away with an arm.

Sage threw themselves into overdrive as Lotus had, but I knew it was too little too late.

We were a couple of minutes from the end. Victory would be ours. Lotus was behind us, and Varn pulled Sage ahead, frying his couplings.

“Patience,” I whispered to myself, knowing Sage could blow out at any moment.

The final checkpoint was so close, I could almost touch it. I glanced to the dash, seeing the distance to our arrival counting down quickly. Two kilometers would go fast.

“Go, Arlo!” Luther shouted.

“You can do it, Captain.” This from R11.

“Don’t let him win.” Holland’s voice was low, but it cut through the noise of the ship.

My vision centered on the Ring, and then it happened. Sage’s thrusters burst blue, and they slowed. Pilgrim shot by them, and we entered the final checkpoint in first place.

Everything was silent for a moment, until the Ring exploded in a series of bright holographic fireworks. SeaTech’s logo appeared underneath the lights, and I pumped my fist in the air. “We did it! We won Space Race!”

The team cheered from their positions, and Jade unclasped, floating from her seat in the zero gee.

But our celebration was short-lived.

The spark of light was so bright, it nearly scorched my retinas, and for a second, I thought it was more celebratory flashes. Then the light faded, and Pilgrim’s alarm sounded. At first, I thought we’d damaged the ship; then I realized we had a visitor.

The radar didn’t reveal anything, but a massive vessel hung between us and the Boardroom. The newcomer was familiar but wouldn’t have been a few hours ago. Long black tentacles stretched in front of it, with four descending wings tilted toward the nose. I assumed it was meant for suborbital travel as well, but it was so enormous, I didn’t know why that would be necessary.

“Jade, get to Engineering! Switch our grav on and connect those weapons!” I called the order out, and she didn’t hesitate.

“I’m on it!” And she was gone.

The Defenders the Primaries had constructed on Mars were there, moving to intercept the mysterious craft. I assumed they were trying to contact it as everyone panicked. The mystery ship made the first move. A tentacle flung out, firing a blast of red fury, annihilating a giant Defender. It was there one second, gone the next.

“How did they get here?” We were all strapped in, so I couldn’t see his face, but Holland was clearly afraid—and for good reason.

The newly minted Defenders fired now, unleashing fury on the other vessel. I let out a cheer at the sight and expected to find it exploding at any second. But their fire ended, and the craft remained unharmed. More Corporation ships neared the behemoth, circling it, but I had a feeling their efforts would be ineffectual.

“We need to do something.” Luther tried calling out, but we’d turned the comm systems off.

“Jade, get us back online. I don’t care what you have to do,” I said into the speaker.

“This’ll just take a minute,” she said from Engineering.

“I don’t think we have that long,” I whispered.

The enemy lingered in silence, dark and threatening. No one spoke.

The Boardroom was helpless, not a war machine by any account. I was sure there were defenses built in, but they wouldn’t be useful against whatever this monster was.

“Captain, I’m seeing movement,” R11 said, and I peered out the viewer at the incoming fleet. It was a mishmash of vessels, and I was shocked to see the numbers in the hundreds. Eclipse had turned Liberty into a real force to be reckoned with.

“My father must be with them,” Holland said.

“If he was smart, he’d turn around and leave before this bastard obliterates us all,” Luther said.

“Any ideas?” I asked the big man.

“We need to