Page 33 of Lunar Bound
As they rounded a bend in the canyon, a lone figure appeared in the path ahead, illuminated by the jeep's headlights.
"There," Lunar said.
Poppy's heart leapt with recognition. Dani stood in the desert, waving her arms frantically, her posture betraying both pain and determination. The motorcycle she must have taken from the clinic was nowhere in sight.
Poppy felt Solar's energy surge behind her, his dimmed light suddenly brightening with an intensity that cast golden shadows across the dashboard. Without conscious thought, she was already turning the wheel, guiding the jeep toward the fire dancer.
Dani limped forward as they approached, her face tight with pain but her eyes alight with relief as they locked onto Solar's glowing form in the back seat. Poppy brought the vehicle to a stop beside her, dust billowing around them in a protective cloud.
Dani’s voice was barely audible over the idling engine, and Poppy didn’t hear what she said as she caught Lunar's gaze in the rearview mirror.
With Dani safely aboard, squeezed in beside Solar despite the cramped quarters, Poppy pressed the accelerator once more. The jeep surged forward, carrying its precious cargo deeper into the desert night where Mack's hidden cabin waited.
They were alive and mostly together, but they were still missing Eclipse. She had to believe Milano wouldn’t kill him if they caught up to him. They’d want to take the aliens alive. And somehow, that felt like enough to hold onto as they fled into the gathering darkness.
Chapter
Ten
Lunar sensed the approaching aircraft before the others heard it. The sound was different from Milano's helicopters. Higher-pitched. Irregular. Familiar in the worst possible way.
As they turned into the canyon, the whine grew louder.
"Incoming aerial vehicle," Solar warned unnecessarily.
Lunar frowned.
Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides.
“What do I do?” Poppy yelled.
"Get off the trail," Solar ordered. "Find cover."
Poppy quickly complied, slowing down and guiding the jeep behind a cluster of large boulders.
"That flight pattern seems familiar," Lunar told Solar.
A flickering light appeared over the ridge, wobbling in a flight pattern that defied common sense. The Galaxy Brides transport pod came into view, its hull patched with what appeared to be… Lunar frowned. He seemed to remember humans called it duct tape.
Their odds of survival had just plummeted.
"No," Solar groaned beside him. "Not them."
Lunar agreed with the Solarian.
"Who?" Dani asked.
"Bob, Gary, and Pudding," Lunar answered.
"Bob and Gary," Solar replied simultaneously.
The pod lurched toward the ground, landing struts deploying unevenly. Dust billowed as the engines sputtered and died. The hatch opened, and Gary's yellow face peered out with inappropriate cheerfulness.
"Hello! Yoo-hoo! We've come to rescue you!"
"They're going to get us all killed," Solar muttered as Gary and Bob awkwardly climbed out of the craft.
Lunar studied their poorly fitted skin-suits with distaste. They looked like unattractive Earth children with oversized heads. Their arrival complicated an already desperate situation.
