Torian Reclamation 2: Flash Move Read Online Free PDF

had been in the front passenger seat said. “I’m Captain Musin3. What are two Earthlings doing in these foothills?” He looked at their campfire remains. “You slept here?”
    “Yes,” Jumper said. “We hiked into the mountains yesterday, on a university project. We left our cruiser here, but when we came back it was gone. Did you take it?”
    Musin3 ignored his question. “You were aiding the fugitive?”
    “Fugitive? We don’t know anybody out here. What about our cruiser? We’re stranded now.”
    “Jumper,” Alan said, directing his attention up the hillside. The other four Amulites were now escorting Hol4 back down. One of them was leveling his rifle towards him. Hol4 looked dejected. Jumper turned back to Musin3.
    “Why is he a fugitive?”
    “He broke from the settlement and ran. Him and one other, still under work contracts. Aiding fugitives is a crime.”
    “We don’t know him,” Alan said. “He was here where we left our cruiser. It was stolen, and night was falling—so we shared our camp with him. That’s all.”
    Jumper scowled at Alan. Talk about being spineless.
    “How is it possible for a Torian to be a fugitive?” Jumper asked. “Work contract? If he wants to quit and go work somewhere else, why is that any of your concern? Hol4 is with us now. We’ll hook him up with new work—work he enjoys.”
    The driver of the vehicle stepped back inside and sat on top of the driver’s seat with his head above the roof frame.
    “Captain,” he said. “If the fugitive is now ‘with’ these Earthlings, perhaps the Earthlings should be with the fugitive.”
    “Good idea,” Musin3 said. He pointed to Jumper and Alan, then to the back of the cruiser.
    “You need transportation? Get in.”
    Alan stepped backwards and opened his mouth to say something, which caused Musin3 to step towards him and the driver to reach for something down on the seat.
    But Jumper immediately hopped on board and sat in the back row. These militia guys didn’t scare him, and he wanted to see where they were taking Hol4.
    “Come on Alan,” Jumper said. “We do need a ride.” That caused the captain and the driver to stop their movements.
    Alan reluctantly climbed inside the big hovercraft. “I hope we don’t end up seeing more of the planet than we want to,” he grumbled.
    The armed procession returned and came around the far side of the cruiser. Two of them pushed Hol4 into the back seat with Jumper and Alan. Hol4 placed his head in his hands. Jumper patted his shoulder and said, “Don’t worry.” It had no noticeable effect on him.
    The pungent smell of fuel filled the air as the cruiser started up again, lifted, turned, and came down from the slopes. When it was back on flat ground, it accelerated smoothly. They were soon speeding across the plain impressively.
    “Yeah,” Jumper said to Alan. “We do need to get one of these babies.”
    Alan leaned towards Jumper. In a low voice he said, “Maybe this one.”
    Jumper smiled broadly. Now that’s the Alan he liked so much; his best friend.
     



Chapter Two
     
    Jumper was excited to travel farther north than he had ever been. Alan, not so much. He became visibly more apprehensive the further they went. Hol4 was looking downright depressed sitting next to Jumper and wasn’t talking at all. The landscape gradually changed as they crossed a swamp, grassy fields, and finally a river before a compound came into view. Jumper immediately noticed it was laser-fenced. Behind the fence line, a vast complex of huge greenhouses stretched to the northern horizon. Those must be the agritents.
    “Wow,” Jumper said. “Look at this place. It’s like a military base.”
    “This is the southern boundary,” Hol4 said, finally looking up. “It’s fenced and patrolled. If they spent half the energy helping us in the tents as they do keeping us penned up, food production would probably double.”
    “You aren’t allowed to leave?” Jumper asked. “Because of a