Free The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos Page B

Mason had never seen before. The ESC had rough translations for a few inscriptions found inside the captured Hawk, but most of the Tremist language was not translated.
    â€œWhat do you see?” Tom asked, raising an eyebrow.
    â€œIt has a heads-up display.” In the top right corner of his vision, a circle pulsed once every second, showing the location of multiple white dots. Some of them were purple. He guessed the purple dots were other Tremist wearing armor, and the white ones were humans, but couldn’t be sure. And straight ahead, a little window with an arrow pointed to the far right side of the ship, where Mason knew the Hawk was connected to the Egypt. It was like someone had dropped a flare he could see through the walls, the arrow appearing in three dimensions. Perfect.
    When he looked down at his belt, his HUD showed grenades attached there, two separate kinds. He had three of each. That would come in handy, once he figured out what they were. They were definitely not fragmentation grenades: no one used those in an enclosed, pressurized space.
    â€œI can’t come with you,” Tom said. “Obviously.”
    Mason nodded. “I know that. Thanks for your help. I know we don’t always agree on stuff.”
    Tom shook his head. “I don’t agree with this.”
    Mason stuck out his hand. Tom shook it briskly, though he didn’t look directly at the mirror over Mason’s face.
    â€œI hope you…” Tom began.
    â€œI hope so too,” Mason said, his brief smile hidden by the mask.
    â€œJust don’t get killed,” Tom added.
    â€œAny other valuable advice?”
    Tom actually laughed, and Mason did too, which was nice. Neither had laughed in a long time, and Mason figured it might be a while before they laughed again.
    â€œDo you have a plan?” Mason said.
    â€œGet back to the others safely,” Tom replied. “From there, I don’t know. It depends on what condition the port side of the ship is in. If we can get to the escape shuttles…” He looked at the deck.
    Mason’s throat tightened, but he said, “Don’t hesitate. I’ll find a way off if I have to.”
    â€œI know you will. Sorry about the lip.”
    Mason had almost forgotten about the punch Tom threw after Mason’s magnet prank. It had been a solid punch. They hadn’t spoken about it since Jeremy pulled them apart.
    â€œSorry about the eye,” Mason replied.
    With that, Tom Renner, son of former Captain Joy Renner, disappeared into a different access tunnel, locking the door behind him.
    Mason let his gaze roam over the ship, as parts of it highlighted in his HUD. The white and purple dots glowed in the corner. He stretched his fingers and wished everything away, wished he were in the sparring room with his sister, learning a new move, or even in school, learning about the Martian Revolution. When his wishes didn’t come true, he started toward the white and purple dots, pausing to pick up the talon.

 
    Chapter Ten
    The dots led Mason through a thousand feet of an engineering deck, past mazes of pipes that routed through the Egypt like roots of a tree. He couldn’t help but worry that if he could see the dots, they could see him too, a lone dot moving toward them. Maybe this particular Tremist was not supposed to leave his post.
    Mason stepped lightly, but his Tremist boots rang softly on the decks. He sweated inside the suit but refused to let fear control him, not with so many of the crew in a worse position than he was. Not with Merrin’s and Susan’s fate hanging by a thread. He was still free and alive, and a true ESC soldier would use that rather than hide.
    After going through a narrow tunnel onto an adjacent deck, he entered the main storage bay. It was the biggest area of the ship, all twenty levels high, used to house smaller spacecraft, including the handful of Fox fighters that could be dispatched to protect the