Read Online Hunter by S.J. Bryant - Free Book Online Page B

shoulders and hips in an effort to
buy herself more time.
    "Look," she
said and turned directly towards Cal. "I'm doing everything I can
to help them. Until the lecheons resurface there's nothing more I
can do. So instead of waiting around, twiddling my thumbs, I'm
going to let my mind relax. They're in exactly the same position
they would have been if I'd never come."
    "Actually,
you've provoked the lecheons like a stick in a hornets nest, so
they are worse off now than if you had never come," Cal
said.
    Nova groaned
and laid her head on the steering stick. Her head ached with lack
of sleep and with stress and with all of the same questions which
Cal was now asking.
    "I'll make
sure they're okay," Nova said after a long silence.
    "How?" Cal
asked.
    "I just
will!" Nova blurted. "I'm tuned into the police frequency and
Briggles has got me on speed dial. There's nothing I can do, so
right now I'm practicing for the race. I don't need to be thinking
about a coven of lecheons. Besides, I'll have them sorted before
the race. I still have two weeks."
    Cal was
silent. Nova glared at him, daring him to comment, but he
didn't.
    "Did you get
clearance with air control?" she asked.
    "Yes. As long
as you stay on the east side of town you won't have any
problems."
    She nodded
and turned back to the panels laid out before her.
    "Scan the
video feed as I go. We might just spot some lecheons from the
air."
    Nova
swallowed the guilt welling in her stomach. She'd use it as a
scouting mission as much as a test drive. If they could find out
where the lecheons were hiding, then the rest of her job would be a
lot easier.
    She flicked
the switch and the engine hummed into life, vibrating the whole
ship. She pressed a grey button and the glass cover slid into place
above her head. She took a deep breath and shoved the accelerator
forward.
    The ship
lurched into life and went careening across Crusader's floor. The
massive storage bay door was open and the smaller ship shot out of
it into the daylight. Nova had debated flying at night, but with
the lecheons on the prowl it just wasn't worth it. The sunlight
shone down into her glass cacoon and reflected off the metallic
surfaces. The glare was too much and she had to squint to see
anything.
    "Sun-shield,"
she called. In response a second layer of glass rose up around her.
This layer was tinted black and blocked out the sun's fierce glow.
She reopened her eyes and allowed her shoulders to relax as the
glare dissipated and the temperature inside the pod started to drop
and Nova allowed her shoulders to relax.
    The view
outside was tinged brown from the glass, but she could still see.
The large buildings of Boullion Five rose up on either side and the
roads stretched out below. She cheered, enjoying the freedom of
shooting across an endless sky.
    "Let's see
what you can really do," Nova said. She rested her left hand on the
throttle and pushed it as far forward as it would go. She kept her
hand resting there, ready to pull back if she needed to. Her ship
shot away, jumping up over a thousand kilometres an hour and
blasting across the city sky.
    She was
moving too fast to hear the engine roar, which she was sure would
cause many citizens to gaze up into the sky in confusion. Compared
to many planets, Boullion Five didn't have much air traffic. It was
such a small planet, practically just a city, so there wasn't any
real need for it. Her space-racer would definitely be an anomaly on
a planet like this.
    A skyrise
building loomed in front of her. She nudged the steering stick and
the ship veered to the right. It twisted in mid-air, oversteering
and careening directly for another tall tower.
    Nova grimaced
and tapped the steering stick back to the left. It was just enough.
Her ship jumped to the left and avoided both buildings. She let out
the breath she was holding but didn't stop to enjoy it. Her
attention returned immediately to the city and the sky and the
readouts on her dashboard. At these speeds even