Read HeartStorm (HeartFast Series Book 3) for Free Online

chair, Hunter stared at the cobbled board that the ingenious little man had created. There was no screen, just a myriad mishmash of dials, switches, and buttons. There was no way he could make any sense of the mess, and he felt his panic increase.
                Star was having the baby. He wasn't there, and he'd promised he would be at her side during the delivery.
                "How...how do I..."
                A hand poked him in the shoulder. Glancing up, he saw Wooly holding a connector. "I haven't the faintest idea where you could put that," Hunter grimly admitted.
                "Not a problem," the little man said. "May I?"
                At Hunter's nod, the engineer hunched over and examined the lower elements of Hunter's helmet. "Ah! I think this is it. Hold on." There was a slight bump under Hunter's right ear, and faint voices came through his earpieces. His visor lit up with a blue-white haze that threw dizzying patterns of lights into his retinas. Unconsciously, he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.
                "Master Hunter?" Wooly took his hands. Or, at least he thought it was Wooly. It was difficult to tell with the hiss and ghostly voices filling his ears. His gloves were placed on top of the comm board. "Use this knob with your left hand to adjust the visual input. The right for volume. Sorry, but I can't make it any clearer with this crap growing over us. You're already hooked into Guardian Command. Hopefully they can do some fine tuning on their end."
                "Sender, can you see this?" Hunter inquired, knowing the woman was nearby.
                "No. No sound or sight, but that's all right. Fill me in later." Although she sounded disappointed, he got the impression she understood his need for flying solo.
                He experimented turning the visual knob until the light finally coalesced into shadowy figures. The voices became more distinct, almost to the point where he thought he could make out the words. Amping up the volume, he tried to call in. "Hello? Guardian Command?"
                Deceiver answered roughly seven seconds later because of the spacial distance between the moon and Synaria. Through the speakers his voice sounded scratchy, but the signal was strong enough to keep him from being cut out.
                "Guardian Command. This is Deceiver."
                "Deceiver, this is Hunter. How well do you read me?"
                "Hunter! Like someone spit on your relay. Challenger says the storm intensified beyond your ability to return the survivors to the ship."
                Hunter bit his lip. At the moment, his mind was on StarLight, but he was still on duty, which meant a mission status update had priority.
                "We have no idea how long it'll be before it lessens to the point where I can take up the first survivor." Again, he hesitated. There was no sense in adding to the Guardian leader's stress level by saying there was a critically injured man awaiting adequate medical treatment. If the miner survived, it would be a miracle.
                "The moment we get a break, I'll return to the ship, and Sender will transport the remaining crew aboard Three. "
                "Good. Challenger will continue to keep me abreast of the situation. Uhh, Hunter, hold on. I'm transferring you over to the clinic." He didn't ask if Hunter knew of Star's situation. He didn't have to.
                "Hey, can you get Commander to see if he can't get rid of some of this static so I can get a clearer picture?"
                "Will do. Hold on."
                The fuzzy image darkened. Silence filled his earphones. Seconds passed, and with every heartbeat, Hunter's anxiety grew.
                "Hello? Star? Doctor Perlakian?"
                A shriek nearly punctured his