Lost Planet 01 - The Lost Planet Read Online Free

are you doing?” Parker shouted. “Are you insane? Defense, lock sequence!”
    The siren cut off as the heavy thunk of a deadbolt falling into place sounded in the door behind Chase. His heart still hammered in his chest. “What was that?”
    â€œYou mean the Zinnjerha?” Parker ran a hand through his hair. “Good lords. If you don’t know what those are, there’s no way you’re from Trucon. If anything, anything , is burned into your memory, that would be it. The whole planet is full of those underground monsters. They could rip you to shreds.”
    â€œWhy did—it couldn’t get to me—”
    â€œThere’s an electrified dome protecting the house,” said Parker, waving his hand in a circular motion. “But you still can’t go walking around out there like bait. One or two or five can’t get through, but get two hundred of them riled up and I can’t promise we’ll be okay. Especially with the way they’ve been acting lately.”
    â€œEveryone here lives like this?” Why would anyone live on a planet where they couldn’t go outside?
    â€œNo, in the cities there’s a perimeter fence. But we’re pretty far from any city out here.”
    An image formed in Chase’s mind of where they were, in a solitary house out in the middle of nowhere. On a planet he wasn’t even from, apparently. “Where did you first find me yesterday?”
    â€œOut there in the yard, setting off all the perimeter breach alarms. And, yes, the Zinnjerha were trying to break through and tear you apart.”
    â€œHow did I get there?”
    Parker shook his head. “I don’t know. Nobody knows. That’s why Dr. Silvestri told me not to let you leave.”
    Chase looked back at the door. “Could I even go anywhere if I wanted to?”
    â€œNot really.” Parker shrugged. “Sorry. You’re stuck here for now.”
    Anxiety teased at Chase’s stomach. Dr. Silvestri had seemed so friendly when he told Chase it was safer for him at the compound. But that wasn’t the real reason he’d asked him to stay put. He was suspicious of how Chase had gotten inside.
    Nobody told the truth here, it seemed.

 
    CHAPTER THREE
    Sitting alone in his room, Chase felt like the walls were closing in on him. After locking him in the house, Parker had once again offered to play the same dumb piloting game with him, and then stalked away when Chase turned him down. It was starting to infuriate Chase that Parker treated him like a funny houseguest and not someone with a major problem.
    He reached back and tore the bandage from his head. Unable to see his wound, he pulled aside the hair that fell over it and gingerly touched the area at the base of his skull. The doctor’s healing gel had done its job—the wound was already covered in a layer of smooth, tender skin.
    Whatever had happened to Chase, whoever had given him this injury, the biggest question bothering him was how he had gotten to this place. Parker said nobody knew, but he could have been lying. Clearly he had no problem with dishonesty, since he’d lied to Chase about living alone.
    The house was a frosted prison, surrounded by a forest of monsters. The doctor had deceived him. Mina, whoever she was, was a weirdo who’d barely spoken to him. And Parker was, well, Parker. There had to be a way to contact the outside world from this house. Even if he couldn’t get out, he could try to look for help from someone.
    Chase slipped out of his room and down the hall. He returned to the foyer, where a second hallway branched off, but this hall only lead to an empty dining room. Hadn’t Parker said something about there being a downstairs?
    When Chase walked back from the dining room, he noticed a closed door that he hadn’t seen the first time. It opened onto a flight of stairs leading down.
    â€œHello?” He stood at the top of the