The Planet Thieves Read Online Free PDF

He would ask himself Why? and if there wasn’t an obvious reason, he had to grit his teeth while carrying the order out. Why clean the urinals in the boys’ bathroom? They were just cleaned twelve hours earlier by another cadet and were still utterly spotless. It was discipline, Mason knew—they were trying to teach him discipline. But there had to be another way.
    Once, Instructor White caught Mason laughing at a joke in class, and then ordered Mason to stand in one spot for six hours, out in the hallway with his hands held above his head, so everyone passing would know why he was out there. He made it thirty minutes before he left, because it was stupid. It was a stupid order. But his refusal had only gotten him sent to Headmaster Oleg, where he got another order to reorganize the headmaster’s library of actual paper books. Mason took hundreds of the covers off and put them on other books, so no cover matched what was within the pages. That was three years ago, and still the headmaster never sent for him. And Mason never expected him to—the books had been so thick with dust it was clear they were never read. Stupid orders.
    Small blue dots began to flash on the Egypt’s starboard side, right next to where the Tremist Hawk was connected.
    â€œWhat does that mean?” Merrin said. They were all crowded around the screen.
    Tom visibly paled and his mouth fell open. “They’re firing weapons inside the ship.”
    â€œAttention all crew,” someone said over the shipwide com. “All able hands report to an armory. The Tremist have boarded.”
    No one spoke for a few seconds. Mason’s mind spun, and his heart hammered: having the enemy inside the ship was so different than fighting them on a planet’s surface. Here there was metal surrounding them, like a cage. No place to run. And if one of the energy weapons somehow melted through the hull …
    â€œWe’re able hands,” Jeremy said. “That’s us.”
    â€œWe’re trained,” Mason added immediately, hoping the idea would catch.
    Stellan stepped back. “Lockwood’s orders supersede any thoughts of heroism you might have. You saw his face—he was dead serious.”
    Tom nodded absently. “You are correct. I’m not even going to cite the code on that one.”
    Mason clenched his teeth. There had to be some loophole in the codebook, some way they could avoid a punishment that severe.
    â€œCan you tell who’s winning?” Jeremy asked quietly, which meant he was frustrated. Jeremy only got quiet when things weren’t going like he wanted.
    Tom shook his head. “No, but I’m sure we’re winning. Engineering is a maze of levels and corridors that only we know. We have the advantage.”
    He tapped the screen again and a video expanded from one of the security cameras. It showed a catwalk with steam rising in the background, red lights flickering on the metal. It was the coolant level on the engineering deck, where the Egypt’s pumps were located. Susan showed him once, pointing out the massive tubes that ran parallel to the engine, keeping it from melting the rest of the ship.
    Right in the center of the screen, two Tremist crouched in their magnificent armor. It resembled plate, like knights in ancient Europe once wore, but this was not dull hammered metal—the surface of the Tremist armor shone weirdly, like oil, shifting colors depending on the angle. Sometimes it had a near-mirror finish, close to silver, but most often it shifted between purple and black. The Tremist were as tall and wide as men, with arms and legs like men, with helmets that covered their whole heads. The helmets were the worst part—the face was an oval, the shape a normal face would be, but it was a pristine mirror, so to look at a Tremist head-on, it was said, you saw yourself. The last thing you saw was the terror on your face. A perfect image of your head,