Free Living in Freefall (Living on the Run Book 1) by Ben Patterson

Reliant would fight free and run like
crazy, and the feds would give chase. Trap, fight, run . . . trap,
fight, run . . . day after day, week after week, month after
insufferable month for two solid, exhausting years.
    But there were a lot of them and only one Reliant . Eventually
the Confeds caught up to the Archer’s little freighter over Coredei, a pirate
stronghold that skirted Providence territory. They were so close to the Prov
Union and safety, yet not quite close enough. With overwhelming odds, the
Confeds cut off their every escape and, after exchanging cannon for cannon, shot Reliant out of Coredei’s skies. Dad managed to crash land the ship, and
get Ericca and Riley off before the enemy ground forces arrived. A short
distance from the crash site, Ericca hid Riley in the brush and kept him quiet.
But she couldn’t keep him from hearing the soldiers drag his parents off the
ship. Then came the screams and the sickening smell of burning flesh, and Riley
holding tight to his sister who rocked back and forth as she pressed Riley’s
face to her shoulder, stroking his hair to calm him. Hour after tortuous hour,
she watched and waited for it to end, all the while shushing him, telling him
it be over soon, that it’d be okay.
    Presently Riley couldn’t begin to imagine the effect that
experience had on her. Why did Ericca have to watch the whole thing?
    He remembered the fire’s heat on his back, they were that
close. Afterward, when the screams finally stopped, there were no tears in Ericca’s
eyes, no emotion at all. Just a look that scared Riley more than anything he’d
ever experienced before or since. It was then that Ericca became hard and stoic,
no longer laughing as she once had.
    He shook off the thought.
    “Sorry, sis. Leave it to me to yet once again put my foot in
my mouth,” Riley said, unable to hide the shame in his voice.
    She shook her head. “Sorry, I . . .” she
swallowed. “I just . . .”
    He gave her time to collect her thoughts.
    “Remember our being on Reliant , Archer? I mean before
Los Dabaron?”
    “Some,” he said trying to recall those years. It was all
such a blur now. “I remember the planet stronghold. I remember Major
Richardson. A few things like that. And a few things from before that time.”
    There was a moment of silence before Ericca spoke. “I
remember Dad and Mom and you and me on our old freighter – of doing the
‘Rogers’ and ‘Yes sirs,’ while under heavy fire. Doing so made me feel like one
of the grownups.”
    “I remember us on Reliant .”
    “Dad said discipline helps us keep our wits about us when
we’re under the stresses of combat.”
    “Ericca, Daddy trusted you in command of our ship because
you always keep a cool head under pressure.”
    “Both of us did and do,” she said. “Nah. We can’t afford to
get sloppy out here. I say we keep the discipline.”
    “Roger, Captain. I knew you’d see it my way.”
    “Your way? Why you little rat!”
    “That’s Mr. Little Rat to you, Captain. A little
respect, please.”
    She chuckled. “How little do you want?”
    That’s what he wanted to hear. Her spirits had risen. Now if
he could just keep from bringing her back down. Riley suddenly noticed his
scanner. The chance to slam into something unseen was greater the faster they
went. “Drop your speed, Cap. We’re closing in on the Nebula way too fast.”
    “Roger, Archer.” Ericca dropped her speed and, as she
entered the nebula, the scoops automatically drew in Radical Ions, filling
their batteries.
    “Sis, I’ve looked over the preliminary readings we took from
Hawthorn. I don’t see enough metal there to account for one Talon, let alone
two. I was thinking one or both may have crashed, but the readings say that
didn’t happen.”
    “Thanks, Archer.” Ericca hesitated. “Where could they have
gone?”
    “Maybe Rachel miscalculated their fuel supply. If they ran
dry before they reached Hawthorn, they may have overshot it