Resonance 4th Edits - Bleeding Worlds Bk 3 by Justus R. Stone Read Free Book Online

out.
    “Good job buddy,” Jason said. “I knew I could count on you.”
    Brandt’s chuckle was weak.
    “You didn’t give me much choice.”
    “No,” Jason replied, “I didn’t.”
    They looked beyond the torn door. All they saw was a solid wall.
    “I can’t fix that,” Brandt offered.
    Pridament ran through the torn door and inspected the space.
    “It’s a lift. We’re probably still below the surface.”
    Great, Jason thought. A hanger door and elevator, all probably requiring an operator in some external control room. Who were you going to leave behind to do that job, eh Katsuro?
    “We’re good,” Pridament called. “I can see the motors for the lift. I should be able to spark them to life.”
    “Good. Then we’re out of here.”
    Jason helped Brandt to the jet’s ramp. Caelum still stood there, firing a volley of arrows into the fray between Katsuro and Kydoimos.
    “I’m good,” Brandt said. “I can get up the ramp.”
    He stumbled away from Jason’s grip.
    Jason cupped his hands over his mouth.
    “Katsuro?”
    “Go!” Katsuro responded without taking his eyes from his opponent.
    “Saddle up, Caelum. We’re leaving.”
    Caelum let his bow dissolve back into the Veil and trotted up the ramp to join the others. Jason pressed a button on the wall to raise the ramp. He doubted Katsuro would notice, but he snapped him a salute anyway.
    Once he felt confident the ramp wouldn’t fail—with their run of luck it was a distinct possibility—he jogged up to join Marie in the cockpit.
    The instruments looked nothing like he’d seen before. Not that he was an expert. Marie, lover of all things fast, was more knowledgable when it came to things with wheels and or wings.
    “You sure you can fly this thing?” he asked.
    She pressed a button. The jet’s engines coughed and then hummed in response.
    “Yeah,” she said, “I should be good. Thankfully, English seems to not only be the international language of choice, but also intergalactically too. If anything, this seems easier to control.”
    “Thank god for small mercies.”
    She eased the wheel forward, moving the jet toward, and then through, the torn doors. She pulled back, bringing it to a stop on the elevator. Soon afterward they began to ascend with a lurch.
    “You said we could be coming out in the middle of a war zone?” Marie asked.
    Jason nodded grimly.
    “That’s why Pridament’s still outside. He’s our cover fire.”
    “Seems like a tall order for a single person.”
    Jason sighed.
    “I’d usually agree, but I’m pretty certain he’ll be able to handle it. My bigger concern is if we’ll have enough runway to take off.”
    Once they’d risen above the top of the torn door, they plunged into near darkness—a few blinking yellow lights providing only periodic illumination.
    Thump.
    A dark shape deposited itself on the nose of the plane.
    “Shit,” Marie yelled.
    Jason grabbed her shoulders before she inadvertently jerked the wheel.
    “Easy, it’s just Pridament getting into position.”
    Marie blew a held breath out in a huff.
    “You have no idea how terrible this day has been,” she said over a suppressed sob.
    Jason sank into the seat next to her and buckled himself in.
    “I noticed. No Nat, or Wade. I’m sorry, Marie. I know she was like a sister to you.”
    Marie bit down on her quivering lip and took a few hasty breaths through her nose.
    “Thanks, Jay. When we’re out of here, I’m going to need some time.”
    Jason nodded.
    “I think we all will.”
    Time. Yes, he’d need time. To find a way back to their Earth, to search for Fuyuko. Hopefully, she’d know where Angie was too, so they could reunite the remaining members of their adopted family. Together, they’d be better equipped to figure out what to do next. If there was anything to do next. What happened today? Did it need repairing? And assuming it did, were those repairs possible? Could the members of Ansuz be the ones to do it? And what of the