Alpha Rising Read Online Free PDF Page B

helium,
“Gravity’s blown!”
    The sudden acceleration jerked Faith and
G.R. from their feet in the galley and propelled them toward the
rear bulkhead. Like weightless beanbags bouncing off everything in
their paths, their flailing arms grasped wildly for anything within
reach.
    At the same time, Bach’s and Kaz’s chairs
ripped from the floor panels and slammed against the bunks with the
two still strapped in.
    Deep space flashed past the portholes in a
meteoric blur as a violent, unrelenting force mercilessly hurled
the three-piece spacecraft across the galaxy.
    Lynch tried to reach an oxygen mask, but
grinding pressure fused him to his seat. His eyes receded into
their sockets and the wrinkles on his face stretched elastically
over his ears. “Eight g’s,” he grunted in the chaos.
    Books, food packets, air tubes, space gear,
and electronic equipment slashed through the cabin like cruel
weapons as ten-plus torturous g’s knuckled into helpless life,
compressing bodies and minds as the craft ripped through a vast
expanse of space, then funneled through a vortex of absolute
blackness.
    A final cry went unheard. “Oh, God!”
     
     
    *****
     
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    The earthships crashed in deep white sand on
a rocky, crater-pocked terrain somewhere in deep space where
silence seemed deafening and darkness was absolute. The pitch black
atmosphere concealed a peculiar lake thirty yards away.
    Inside the AstroLab, blackness hid what
looked like the aftermath of a bomb blast where familiar things had
taken on outlandish shapes, and dangling debris swayed in the
airflow.
    Minutes later, a reverberation rocked the
huge, three-piece space station forward. The structure groaned like
a sick baritone as it sank deeper into its sandy grave. In eerie
harmony, a human moan arose from the rubble in the tomblike cabin.
Whispers and rustling sounds filtered through the darkness.
    Bach opened his eyes but couldn’t see.
    A disoriented female called out from the
cockpit. “Account yourselves.”
    An unrecognizable voice spoke, “Lynch. Both
arms broken.”
    From aft ship, G.R. groaned. “G.R. here. Can
hardly move. My back!”
    Strapped in his uprooted seat in the rubble,
Bach called out, “I’m okay, but buried in junk.”
    In her chair at his side, Kaz cried, “Oh,
God, I can’t see. I’m blind!”
    Bach comforted her, “Calm down, honey, it’s
total blackness. I can’t see either.”
    “ I was knocked cold,” she
said in a panic.
    Struggling to breathe, G.R. said, “It’s from
G-LOC. Gravity induced loss of consciousness. We blacked out from
acceleration forces after losing onboard gravity.”
    Deni’s query filtered through the disarray.
“Faith?”
    No response.
    She tried again. “Faith? Are you okay?”
    Kaz yelled, “Faith? Where are you?”
    Deni’s voice grew forceful, “Bach, try to
find a light.”
    “ What about you, Deni? You
okay?” he asked.
    “ Left ankle’s
broken.”
    G.R. called out, “Faith!” then mumbled, “In
my opinion she can’t be out this long from G-LOC.” He rambled in
the darkness as if reading a medical manual. “When pressure
increases beyond human endurance it can create a centrifuge that
shuts down the metabolic oxygen reserve and impairs cardiovascular
response. But the unconscious state lasts no more than twenty-four
seconds.” He coughed a couple of times. “I think we went the full
twenty-four.” Another cough. “Awakening’s a slow
recovery—disoriented, anxious, fearful, memory loss. Sometimes a
give-up reaction, but it’ll pass. Still, she can’t be out this
long.” After a pause, he yelled again, “Faith, please say
something.”
    Lynch mumbled, “This ain’t right. This can’t
be happenin’.”
    Surrounded by rubble, Bach felt around the
floor for something to grasp to pull himself up. Teetering as he
stood, he lost his directional bearings in the pitch darkness.
“G.R., you’re at aft cabin. Say something to guide me through