Read Chasing the Stars for Free Online Page A

violently, knocking those few still standing off their feet. That last blast had been too close. If just one DE blast were to hit us, then we’d be toast.
    Mum came and sat down next to me. She put her arm around my shoulder and kissed my forehead. I let it pass as it might be the last kiss I got from her. We were on an Earth vessel. That meant we weren’t out of danger, far from it. A cocktail of emotions stirred within me. Back on the planet surface, I really thought my last moments had come. Now here I was in the cargo hold of some anonymous Earth ship. Some of my friends were back down on the planet surface, no doubt still having to endure the continuing Mazon attack. I could only hope they’d make it to the cavern in the mountains. But was I any safer on this ship which could be blasted out of the sky at any moment?
    Every second counted and was precious because it could be my last. I made a vow in that moment never to squander a single second of my life again. If by another miracle we got out of this alive, I would grab hold of life and squeeze every drop out of it.
    A strange mist descended from the vents above us. I knew a moment’s foreboding at the sight of it but if someone wished us harm, they’d hardly go to the trouble of rescuing us first. However, this was an Authority Earth Vessel. Had we really come this far only to be recaptured? The thought made me feel physically sick. I would fight and die before I let them take me back.
    ‘Mum, d’you recognize this ship?’ I whispered.
    Mum shook her head.
    I looked around again. What kind of captain was in charge of this vessel? Would he or she listen to the truth about us and at least give us a chance? Or had we jumped out of the frying pan and straight into the fire?



9
    Focusing on the positive was so much easier said than done. All my thoughts were caught up with those poor people left behind on Barros 5. Just once I wanted to be able to properly help. All I seemed to do was dab and dabble at the edges, blotting up only a tiny amount of the damage from the mayhem around me. Just once, I wanted to be at the centre of doing some good for a change. I would make it my mission to get these people back home to Earth. I could do that, if nothing else.
    As if on cue, the door to the bridge slid open with a hiss. These people hadn’t wasted any time making their way up from the lower deck, where the cargo hold was situated, to the bridge on the upper deck. I jumped to my feet as a swarm of people flooded onto the bridge. I took an eager step forward, then stopped.
    People.
    Lovely, beautiful people.
    But so many of them. Too many to fit on the bridge. They were spilling out into the corridor.
    A quick glance at Aidan for reassurance. He wasn’t nervous like me, just curious. I straightened up and deliberately set my expression so that hopefully my anxieties were carefully masked. After years of just me and Aidan on this ship, the sudden influx of people was totally overwhelming. Someone was crying, there was a nervous cough or two, some fast panicked breathing. An assortment of smells hit me: sweat, blood, flowery scents, body odour and worse. So many people on board my ship, all of them staring at me and my brother. How many months and years had I spent longing for human companionship? Now it was here and this stream of people was shocking to my senses. And wondrous. And exhilarating. But mostly shocking.
    These people, beautiful and welcome as they were, scared me. I caught sight of a five- or six-year-old girl with cropped brown hair, clinging to the leg of the willowy Indian woman beside her. I tentatively smiled at the girl. She didn’t smile back but clung even tighter to the woman’s leg. That was all right. The girl’s expression was a reflection of how I felt inside. It was something we had in common and, strangely enough, made me feel slightly better. I could do this.
    A woman with auburn-red hair and dark green eyes pushed herself through the crowd