Free Quantum by Jess Anastasi

must have been the most exciting thing this planet had ever seen.
    “And here we are.” Hendricks stopped and waved his arm at the wall with a flourish.
    Rian hooked his thumbs into the loops on his belt, waiting for a couple of nerds to move out of the way so he could get a clear look.
    The discovery turned out to be a door-shaped indent in the smooth rock face. To the left, a hand-sized square had an orderly bunch of symbols carved on it, while along the top what appeared to be words in a sentence ran the length of the seam.
    Frecking hell. Reidar.
    Of course, it wouldn’t have run to his current streak of crappy luck that his hunch about the planet was wrong.
    And that wasn’t just some random carving in a rock—it was actually a doorway, the symbols on the left a kind of keyboard. Being forced to read and understand their alien language had been just one of the many wonderful things the bastards had imparted to him.
    “Fascinating.” He tried to sound interested, really, he did. But it was kind of hard when he was so goddamn pissed. For once, he’d wanted that damned heebie-jeebie, bad-juju sensation that wormed its way down his spine every now and then to be wrong.
    Hendricks frowned at him, while Callan and Lianna had knowing, wary looks on their faces. Hell. Those two had gotten to know him too well. Inevitable when they practically lived in one another’s pockets onboard the Imojenna .
    “Do you plan on staying very long?” Hendricks asked as they started back through the tent city to where the shuttle waited. “Because you’re more than welcome to attend the celebration tonight.”
    Rian glanced back at where the nerds were swarming around the discovery like ants on a dead slug. He had to get back here and take a closer look when no one was around—he needed to know what was behind that door.
    “You know, I think we will stick around. Any excuse to join in a party, right, guys?” He aimed a silent check at his two crew members, who both nodded their agreements.
    It would eclipse the twelve-hour time limit he’d put on being dirtside, but he was the frecking captain, and if he wanted to change his mind, well, that was his prerogative.
    On the shuttle, Callan and Lianna got closer seats to him.
    “What’s the shakedown with this situation?” Callan asked in a low voice. “Why are you so hot to party all of a sudden? I thought you wanted to get to Barasa like yesterday.”
    Rian glanced around to make sure Hendricks wasn’t close enough to listen in.
    “Those symbols? They’re Reidar. And it’s not just a pretty picture—it’s a doorway to whatever’s hidden in that mountain. We’re not going to the celebration, we’re going to wait until everyone else has gone and then come back here to see if we can get inside.”
    “Jezus damn.” Callan sat back, a scowl darkening his features. “Even when you make us go dirtside on some piss-poor excuse for a planet, we still can’t get away from the scum bastards.”
    “I don’t know whether this means there are any Reidar around. It could just be an unmanned outpost of some kind. But we’re going to find out and add it to our arsenal of things to use against them.”
    “Yeah, ’cos that’s working out real well so far,” Callan muttered.
    Rian clenched his jaw at the jab. Did they think he liked skulking around the edges of the galaxy? While they’d managed to collect valuable information, they didn’t have the man- or firepower to take the Reidar head-on.
    Somehow, he had to find a way to beat back the incursion before the invasion was complete. He might not know what the Reidar had planned for the universe, but years of experience at their hands had taught him it would definitely be the stuff of nightmares.

Chapter Six
    Tocarra
    Three hours until dawn, and his watch had come to an end.
    Zander pushed himself up from where he’d been leaning against a tree for the past few hours and stretched. Jezus, his body hurt all over. Bruises and