Read Morgan's Return for Free Online

mob. Judging by the lowered brows and tense expressions, they wouldn't get any help here. Time to take charge.
    "We'll be on our way." Ravindra strode forward, dragging Morgan with him, thrusting between the bodies pressed around him. He stumbled on a broken slab. And there was Metal Bar, his teeth bared like a snarling dog, the bar hefted in his hand.
    Ravindra snatched the weapon before his attacker had finished the step. "I think you'd better go. Don't you?"
    The look of surprise faded from the man's eyes, replaced with red-faced rage. "Yeah? Yer big, but ya can't beat us all. Get them." He lunged forward.
    Ravindra dodged, tripped him and flattened him with a blow to the back with the iron bar. Somebody shoved him in the back. He swung around and floored the thug with a punch to the jaw while he rammed the metal bar into the gut of another. "We can't afford this. Prasad, get her out of here."
    But Prasad had his hands full, twisting the knife out of a second boy's hands, followed up with a push that sent the lad cannoning into some of the spectators. The shouts merged into a roar, a many-headed monster looking to maim and gouge. Ravindra picked up the next attacker, and tossed him at a new group of attackers, who fell into a struggling heap.
    The throb of an approaching engine drowned out the wail of a siren. The crowd not immediately involved in the fight scattered. Authority was the last thing they needed. Ravindra picked Morgan up, threw her over his shoulder and ran.
     

    Chapter 3  
    R avindra dodged down the nearest alley, a noisome tunnel between the buildings. Judging by the stink, it was commonly used as a toilet. Morgan had stopped struggling while he ran, but now she wriggled. "Put me down," she hissed. "I'm not a sack of taters."
    Swallowing the snort, he set her back on her feet, eyeing the entrance, looking for Prasad or the police. Prasad had been right behind him. Ravindra's stomach muscles clenched. Prasad was as close to a friend as any man he knew. If they lost him, it would be all her fault. Sometimes her stupidity defied belief.
    Morgan's voice was a whisper behind him. "If we go down here, we should be able to get back to a main road, and around to the space port."
    "We're waiting for Prasad."
    "Of course we are," she snapped.
    Anger raged into his gut. He'd give her annoyed. He glared at her over his shoulder. "What possessed you? The last thing we can afford is a run-in with the authorities."
    She glared back at him. "I hate seeing innocent people being beaten up by bullies."
    "Innocent? She was a prostitute trying to steal the rest of his money."
    "Maybe. So why was she a prostitute?"
    Did she really expect to take on the social system on a planet they were just passing through?
    She pursed her lips. "Okay, I'm sorry." She certainly didn't look sorry, her eyes like slits. "Just don't treat me like a little kid or a… a sack of taters."
    Outside in the street, the mob roared. Sirens wailed, voices shouted, footsteps thudded past. Ravindra's heart pounded. Somebody would be looking down here very soon, and then it would be run, or act the innocent. A figure slipped into the alley. Ravindra pressed back against the wall, ready to strike. Prasad. Ravindra sighed with relief.
    "Okay?" Ravindra asked.
    Prasad brushed his hand down his sleeve. "Filthy, bruised, but a lot better than the fellows who attacked me."
    Weren't they all? "Morgan has a way out. Hurry."
    Ravindra followed Morgan, jogging along between the slimy walls. This place stank so badly, his eyes were watering. His foot slipped as he stepped in something. Behind them, the racket became a muted hubbub.
    "Slow down," Ravindra said when they had turned a corner. He didn't add the rest; they would both realize that running would be seen as guilt—although running would get them out of this stinking warren faster. Their footfalls, little more than a rustle or a squelch, disappeared as if swallowed up by the fetid fog surrounding them.
    They