Read Star Runners 2: Revelation Protocol for Free Online Page A

saya akan mengambil ini, Star Runner,” he breathed.
        He leaned forward and ripped the silver wings from Josh’s chest.
        Josh sprang forward in protest, but the pirate gestured with his pistol. Exhaling, Josh leaned back and lifted his hands slightly.
        As the wretched pirate attached the Star Runners’ wings onto his own chest, Josh looked around the destroyed interior of the freighter. Other passengers formed a line, marching at gunpoint out of the vessel. Small fires popped, seats burning from the brief firefight.
        Bodies, blackened and burned from the fire, had been shoved between the seats to keep the aisle clear for the exiting passengers. Among them, Fischer lay twisted in an unnatural shape between the chairs. Josh stared, unable to pull his eyes away from the man he had been speaking to hours before.
        The foul pirate yanked Josh to his feet and shoved him into line. He laughed, pointing to Josh and making sure the other pirates saw him. Josh didn’t understand, only obeyed and fell into line with the rest of the passengers.
        Josh fought against the nausea filling his stomach as he passed more destroyed bodies of the men and women who died as the freighter had been captured. He tried to make sense of the situation. Hours before, he couldn’t sit still because he would soon be home. Now, he would be at the mercy of a pirate gang.
        The petite woman in line before him trembled as they passed the pirates. They touched her straight black hair, sneering and cackling like hyenas. Josh hit one of their hands away but received a blunt shot to the back of his head for his troubles.
        Adding the growing lump on the back of his head to the other pains flaring around his body, Josh kept his eyes low and winced. The pirates led them through the hatch and into a large cavern in low light. The rocky interior stretched far enough to fit the freighter and several smaller fighters. Two openings to the cave flanked either side, both revealing a field of stars and asteroids.
    They must have taken us to a hidden base somewhere, he thought. 
    A ragged group of men worked on the far side of the cave, digging into the rock with pickaxes. Their skin appeared painted on their bones, their clothing nothing, but tattered fabric linked by strings. Pirate crews brandishing rifles and menacing swords surveyed the entire room from different points.   
        The pirate at the outer hatch pushed Josh down the ladder. They forced Josh into a line at the right of the ladder’s base. Pirates stripped all the passengers, piling the clothing near the closest wall. The lady in front of him went to the left with the other women and the elderly. She glanced back at Josh, her dark eyes wide, and smiled. Josh nodded, trying to project confidence, but the pirates quickly ripped apart their connection. They pushed her back into the group of crying women. 
        “What’s going on?” the man closest to him asked.
        A laser shot flashed, filling the cave with the sound of thunder. The man flew into the rock wall, sparks erupting from his chest.
        His eyes wide, Josh turned toward the direction of the shot. The foul guard sporting his wings stood at the edge of the line, his rifle trained on Josh’s face.
        “Cukup!”
        A voice boomed from the edge of the platform. All eyes turned to fall upon a well-dressed, middle-aged man. He stood with his hands on his hips, a flashy silver pistol in a black holster on his hip. He wore a red uniform with black trim and had his dark hair slicked back. The man appeared in stark contrast to the other rabble in the cave as he took a few steps in their direction.
        Dax Rodon.
        Rodon paused, pointing at the line of the women and the elderly.
        “Memindahkan mereka ke kawasan pegangan,” the man said. “Kita akan bincangkan kemudian.”
        The pirates led the women and elderly away at gunpoint. Some screamed and