Trapped - Mars Born Book One Read Online Free PDF Page A

shocked. Rumer was right, he was just a kid.
      “They are hoping we can find him,” she finished and looked at the sleeping Taavi.
      Things certainly made a lot more sense now, I admitted to myself. “What did you tell her?”
      “Nothing yet.”
      Was I missing something? Why hadn’t she reported that we found him? Our mission would be doubly successful then. Except for my whole almost getting us all killed bit...
       “Tell them the truth, Rumer. It’s my fault after all. Not yours. You told us not to.”
      She hugged me, and I could feel more of those damn happy tears from earlier threatening to escape, “No you dummy. There is no reason for anyone to know you are such an idiot who doesn’t listen to her ‘oh-so-wise’ sister,” she pulled away, “But on a serious note, if they know they might not let us back out here on our own for a long while.”
      And you don’t want them to know you didn’t have the situation under control, I added silently.
      “Plus,” she continued, “let’s not get the kid in more trouble than he already is. They’ll be happy to know he’s okay, but I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. I’ll contact Cradle and then we’ll get the plane. Apparently it’s pretty small. It’s a miracle he was able to make it this far without refueling.“

      When we finished hooking the tiny plane to the HabRov, we scrambled back through the airlock, and Rumer began to remove the suit she had borrowed from Taavi. He wasn’t thrilled to learn that we were taking him back to Cradle to be picked up by someone from Aurora, but he agreed not to tell anyone about our fiasco. Our story for the ripped suit and his broken ankle was that they happened while we were hitching the plane to the HabRov. We all agreed it was better for our ongoing freedom if people didn’t know we had gone running on the surface in the dark. Not that Taavi would be likely to have a lot of freedom in the near future. I actually felt pretty bad for him.
      It wasn’t even midday yet. All things considered we hadn’t lost more than a few hours. But, guilt pounded at me. I had risked my sister’s life and almost ruined her first mission in command. Maybe there was still time to make it up to her. “Do you want to drive?” I asked Rumer, “I could get to work on backing up that data. I’m sure we can square it away before getting home.”

About the Author

    A rwen Gwyneth Hubbard was raised on a desert mesa, where she would spend entire evenings gazing at the twinkling stars. As an adult, those long evenings have translated into an MS in Space Studies, a BS in Environmental Science, and an AS in Resource Management. Her longterm interest has always been Mars, which meant that her Masters Thesis focused on Martian Bioregenerative Life Support Systems. Branching into the realm of fiction, Arwen Gwyneth has discovered that the world she’s dreamt of is closer than ever, and pursues the goal of humanity’s colonization of Mars, both in fiction and in her work. In the meantime, however, she lives in the desert Southwest with her husband, and their fluffy orange cat named Moose.

Thank you

    T hank you for reading the first book in the Mars Born Series, Trapped! I hope you have enjoyed it. If you would like to learn more about the series, or get access to free additional content, such as character and location paintings, please visit MarsBornSeries.com and join the Readers’ List!

    Members of the Readers’ List receive a free copy (available only to list members) of an interview with Emory by the “Interplanetary Society for Cultural Understanding” and character painting.

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    I would like to extend a special thank you to the wonderful people who helped critique, beta-read and edit. Thank you Kevin, Leo, Mairi, Daniel, and Laurel!