Shackleton's Folly (The Lost Wonder Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

spotted.
    Alec was determined to end this hunt on his terms. He turned the corner at the end of the block and saw an open entryway three doors down. Alec bolted down the block and threw himself into the empty storefront. He scrambled behind the counter and sat listening for the sounds of his pursuers. Alec’s attention suddenly zeroed in on what appeared to be a still, used to make alcoholic beverages. He had stumbled into a micro-distillery. Alec remained low as he got up and examined the still. He estimated about a two-hundred-liter capacity. It was not the first time Alec had grabbed an upgrade for the Quest while he was being hunted. This had the advantage of being portable. It would be useful, and Alec would have another story to tell at the next bar they went to. Alec set challenges for himself far above the situational need. He needed to escape. He needed the additional risk.
    He didn’t need the whole thing — just a new coil for his own still’s condenser. Alec looked over his shoulder and then reached up to the copper coil and removed it quietly. He pulled off the hoses, leaving just the coil. He put it down gently on the counter.
    He took the wrist bracer from his left forearm, and it curled in on itself, the memory metal forming a tube. He squeezed the tube hard, and it responded to the pressure and exploded into a two-meter staff, just as the three looters who were chasing him came down the street.
    The looters fanned out, weapons at the ready. “He must be around here somewhere. They got into the pyramid — we need him to tell us how,” snorted the short warthog-like creature as it waddled down the middle of the street. The other passed the store’s front door and continued down the street. But a tall, dark-green reptilian, who brought up the rear with a large energy cannon, looked into the storefront. Alec froze, but the click of his commlink broke the stillness of the moment. The reptilian quickly turned his gaze in Alec’s direction while raising the cannon.
    “What is it, Dancer?” Alec said evenly as he leapt to his feet, his staff a blur as he came down with a cross-body strike on the reptilian claws holding the firing mechanism, dislodging the weapon. Alec spun himself and the staff to take a second strike at the back of the reptilian’s leg joints. He continued his attack with a finishing strike and crack to the side of the alien’s head.
    Dancer’s voice on the commlink was laced with excitement. “I lost them and returned to the ship. Where are you?”
    “I wasn’t as lucky as you. My pursuers were smarter than yours, and they found me when you called,” Alec said intently.
    The reptile fell to the floor, crashing into display cases. His companions, a few doors down the block, were alerted by the noise. Alec grabbed the coil in one hand and his staff in the other; he ran from the building and down the block. He took the next right turn and stopped at a street corner; looking over his shoulder, he saw his pursuers coming. One came to a halt and looked for their missing comrade; the other came toward him arming its weapon.
    “I could use a lift,” Alec said most directly.
    “Don’t blame me because you forgot to set the commlink for vibrate. I never understood why you set it to do anything but that,” Dancer’s voice said in exasperation.
    Alec spotted his pursuers coming toward him from different directions, their ranks now swollen by the group of looters that Dancer had lost and who had called for reinforcements. Alec was becoming a bit irritable. “Dancer, I could use some assistance.” The now-20 alien thugs fanned out, not giving Alec a single good target. He put down the coil and spun his staff to keep them at bay. “Dancer?” Alec was doubtful his signal had gotten through.
    The deafening sound of cracking tree limbs, falling debris, and engines from above startled everyone but Alec. He swung the staff; it smashed the face of a looter as more debris rained down. Alec