Over the Moon (Star-Crossed Book 1) by K. McLaughlin Read Free Book Online

happened?”
    “Electrical burst from the breakers,” she said, pointing at the offending machinery. “Knocked him out.”
    “We’ll take care of him first. Then I’ll get someone out here to look at the problem,” he said. “Now, I need you to stand on my feet.”
    She blinked. “What?”
    “I can’t hold him and hold you and still steer this thing. I need at least one hand free to control the thruster pack. So I need you to stand on my feet and hold on tight to me. You OK with that?”
    “Yes,” she said. Gingerly, she stepped up onto his suited feet. The boots were reinforced, though, and she remembered that she weighed almost nothing out here. She wasn’t going to hurt him. Hanging on though – to what? She reached around his side – there was a handle on his hip. She grabbed on to that with her left hand, and then slipped her right hand up under Jacob’s still form. She wrapped those fingers into the spacesuit fabric as best she could.
    Standing on his feet, she was as tall as he was. They were almost nose to nose, only the glass of their helmets dividing them. And why was that thought making her pulse race even more than thinking about flying?
    “Hold on tight,” he said. “I won’t fly high. If you lose your grip, keep your feet down and knees bent. Don’t forget, you can fall from a lot higher here than you can on Earth.”
    She nodded. He looked down at his wrist, which had some sort of display she’d never seen before. It looked like it must be an interface for the thruster. Then he did something with a control in his hand, and they…
    …were…
    …flying!
    “Ohhhh!” She couldn’t help exclaiming. This was amazing! She looked down, watching the domes slide by underneath them. Patrick wasn’t feathering the thrusters, the way he had coming to get her. It looked like the extra weight was pushing them hard. But it was working. They sailed up, and then straight toward the ship, still sitting a short distance from the domes.
    “Why the ship?” she asked.
    “There will be unloading equipment nearby. We can use one to haul him to medical. Fastest way.”
    All too soon, they were sinking toward the ground, raising huge plumes of dust as they approached. Carmen would have happily continued flying out there for much longer – but Jacob was still in danger, and she still needed to figure out something to save her father’s samples. Maybe Patrick would help with that, after all?
    He brought them down right in front of the ship’s crew airlock. Carmen stepped off his feet and got out of the way as he cycled the airlock and hauled Jacob inside. She followed him in. A few seconds later, and the lock was done filling with air, the inner doors open, and crew were there, taking Jacob off his shoulder and pulling the spacesuit off Jacob as fast as they could move. Patrick unlocked the thruster pack from his back and undid his helmet.
    “How is he?” Patrick asked.
    “Breathing. We’ve got a cart ready to haul him to medical.”
    Carmen undid her helmet and took it off. She bit her lip. Jacob looked so pale, lying there. If he was badly hurt…!
    “Go, get him moving,” Patrick said. The crewmen had a stretcher already waiting. They lay it on the floor next to Jacob, rolled him to his side, and slid it beneath him. Then they were off, carrying him away.
    Once they were gone, Patrick whirled on Carmen. “What the hell did you think you were doing out there?”
    “I–”
    “You’re not rated to be outside. Have you ever even been in a suit before? You sure as hell had no clearance for it. I’d know, because you’d have had to get it from me.”
    Carmen struggled out of the top half of her suit. “The power was out in my father’s lab. I went to get help, and Jacob said he couldn’t go fix it without a second person.” She shrugged. “I was a second person.”
    Patrick groaned, putting away bits of his own suit. “There are rules here, Carmen. For a reason. This place can get you