Imminent Danger: And How to Fly Straight Into It Read Online Free PDF Page A

my people lived on our home planet, we used our sharp teeth to strip the bark from the mighty galea trees.”
    “Your people don’t live there anymore?”
    Miguri bowed his fluffy white head. “Rakorsian forces invaded our home planet over a century ago,” he said. “We Claktills have been scattered across the galaxy in refugee ships ever since.”
    “That’s horrible!” Eris exclaimed.
    He shrugged. “We survived. At least, those who escaped the chemical gas clouds released by the Rakorsians over the planet. All that is left now on Claktilla is a toxic biological soup.” He offered her a sad smile. “Horrible things always happen to those who least deserve it.”
    “Don’t I know it,” she sighed. “So how did you end up here?”
    Miguri glanced at the two Ssrisk at the control console. “Shall we sit down over there?” he suggested, indicating the outer wall. Eris nodded, and they sat on the floor near Miguri’s cell.
    “I was a passenger on a cargo ship bound for Psilos when the Ssrisk attacked,” Miguri explained, leaning back against the curved wall. “I lost track of my family and thought I might pick up their trail in a populated center like Psilos.”
    “Lost track? How so?” Eris asked.
    Miguri shrugged and said, “It is a big galaxy.”
    Eris sensed he was reluctant to say more. “All right. But what happened to the other people on the cargo ship? Why weren’t they taken prisoner too?”
    “They are dead.”
    Her eyes widened. “Then how did you survive?”
    “The Ssrisk have a curious fascination with my species. On their home planet, Ssriss, Claktills are kept as pets. At least, that is my understanding, as no Claktill has ever returned from Ssriss.” Miguri’s hair drooped tiredly. “Although I suspect I shall soon learn the truth myself.”
    “Miguri, that’s—”
    Eris was cut off when an overhead speaker blared to life. “This is Captain Hroshk. All crew proceed to Pull stations immediately. Repeat, all crew to Pull stations.”
    “Pull stations?” Eris asked.
    Miguri looked surprised. “You really are a terrestrial.”
    “Huh?”
    “I mean your species has not yet discovered long-distance space travel. It is very rare to encounter someone who does not know about the Pull. The Pull is what spaceships use to travel across large distances quickly. You see my lamri?”
    “Sure,” Eris agreed, glancing at the white orb attached to his belt. “As far as I can tell, it translates things.”
    “It does much more than that,” the Claktill said. “It is also used to Pull. All spaceships carry a lamri at least several inches in diameter. If a ship pilot wishes to travel from one system to another, he attunes his ship’s lamri to a much larger lamri in the destination system’s interstellar navigation hub. When he activates the Pull, the big lamri pulls the ship with the smaller lamri toward it. The Pull between two lamri bends space and time, allowing ships to travel so rapidly it seems almost instantaneous.”
    “But if the Pull is so fast, why aren’t we at Sirius already? Grashk said it was going to take three days to get there.”
    “You need to be far enough away from any planetary or stellar objects before you can activate the Pull,” Miguri said. “If you start a Pull in the middle of a solar system, the bending of time and space could wipe out a planet, or the entire system—and probably your ship—in the process.”
    The intercom blared to life again. “All crew ready for Pull.”
    “Hold your breath,” Miguri said.
    “Begin Pull in five, four …”
    “Why?” Eris asked.
    “It will hurt less.”
    “… three …”
    “What do you mean, hurt ?”
    “… two …”
    “Do it!”
    “… one.”
    Eris sucked in a deep breath and prayed for dear life.
    SHWOOP.
    Time seemed to stand still as the lamri engaged. The shwoop noise resounded through the cell block as an incredible force pulled at them. Eris and Miguri’s hair and clothes billowed back as