Sidekick by Carl Stubblefield (10 best novels of all time .txt) 📗

left and Aurora was curious, having heard the entire surreptitious conversation. What were these guys so interested in on the island? If they were willing to torture her for as long as they had, it must be important. Feeling the impulse to sneeze arise again, she retreated back down the duct and down the ladder. By the time she got to where she’d napped, the sneezing sensation totally abated. Typical.

Whatever they were looking for must be important to Purple Faction, if the two were connected. They had been running focused scans for a while and Graviton had not really given her any rationale, just that they had noticed some ‘suspicious activity.’ It had sounded contrived to her at the time, but she was not one to question authority. Becoming a lieutenant was a big promotion for her and she didn’t want to come off as antagonistic on her first mission in that role.

The attack on the station was really surprising though. They had no warning and were caught totally flat-footed. That idiot Basileus had killed Graviton, and he was probably the only one who really knew what was going on. She shivered a bit, knowing he’d been about to kill her just a little while ago.

Something was wrong with that guy. Like, sociopath level wrong. If he was into something, it was something that she needed to stop. And since the enemy of her enemy was her friend, she made a plan to get to this mysterious island and befriend whoever was there. She would have to get in contact with Purple Faction before she left the ship though. Let them know she was alive and where to find her. Fortunately, she had everything she needed right here.

Popping open a panel, she slid out a tiny keypad connected with a rainbow-colored strip of wire. A tiny grayscale monitor came on and she sent out her message, timing it to go out with any other burst communications to mask its presence.

That done, she made her way back to the access hatch. She could tell when they were firing landing stabilizers and when the ship settled as it landed, bouncing slightly as the supports absorbed the ship’s weight, followed by a jarring thud as the engines powered down.

In short order, two underlings hit a large button and the hatch yawned open. She would simply follow these supers and figure out what the hell was going on at long last.

“Let’s get this crap unloaded, the boss says once we’re done, we can relax on the beach a bit,” one of the grunts suggested.

“Good, we deserve some downtime,” the other agreed. They efficiently pulled large rectangular crates out to the sandy ground below. Half an hour later, their voices dimmed as they headed off to the distance for their R&R.

Aurora peeked out of her hatchway and made it off the ship to hide in some nearby ground cover. As soon as the coast was clear, she put some distance between her and the landing site, maintaining a visual on the LZ. Soon after getting in position and settling down to wait, a small group of supers began filing out. They conversed among themselves, consulting a device and pointing off to the south. Two of the supers lifted off and began to fly in the same direction, while the remaining supers returned back into the ship.

She recognized them as Fade and Sideshift from the bridge. Perfect. Giving enough of a lead, Aurora followed. Her flight abilities were not nearly as developed as she would like, but she could hover fairly easily. She headed out after the supers, occasionally getting sprayed by an errant wave as she tried to stay as close to the water as she dared.

The supers were making a beeline to a nearby island, and when they came to two miles away from it, they disappeared. Trusting that they wouldn’t change trajectory, she made her way to the island.

Chapter Fourteen

Geek Out

Aurora waved at the tiny camera and waited by the door. She could tell by the way it panned left that she had been seen. Could it really be Gus on the island though? She had kept her distance as the two went into stealth mode and was surprised to see someone tracking them. She was even more shocked to see that it was Gus or someone who looked exactly like him. Apparently, he must have made it off the station in one of the escape pods. He’d been right in front of one when everything went down.

She followed him as he crept along the beach path, trying to stay out of sight. The sight of the huge resort-like building was a surprise, and definitely not what she was expecting from what she had heard about this island. Gus sat staring at something above the patio in front of the building for a long time, so she hid and watched the same spot but saw nothing.

Aurora maintained her position and kept looking to see what Gus apparently saw. They must be in stealth nearby. She didn’t hear anything, but he must have been spooked since he took off into the jungle for no apparent reason. Aurora almost followed, but not knowing where the others were could give away her position. So she waited.

Half an hour later it happened. The window above them opened and Gus snuck out onto the balcony. He jumped down to the patio, literally getting the drop on the two. They materialized immediately when he startled them and they crashed through the terracotta tiles that covered the patio. They all fell ass-over-teakettle and scuffled a bit until somehow Gus subdued the two. Something had changed with Gus, because he somehow levitated their unconscious bodies and went back inside the large building.

Curiosity got the better of her and she just had to get some answers. Gus could fill her in on what the big deal was and why so many people were interested in what was going on here.

She