Lost Planet 01 - The Lost Planet Read Online Free Page A

stairs for a moment and descended, taking light steps. Would he be in trouble if someone caught him coming down here?
    Another long hallway stretched out before Chase at the bottom of the stairs. The first door he came to was locked, as was the one after that. He didn’t expect much from the third door he tried, but it swung open on a small room that held little more than a trio of video monitors and a keyboard. There were some other items in the room that he barely glanced at, wall panels and storage cabinets. He went straight to the monitors.
    Maybe Parker was on to something with his semantic memory talk, because Chase navigated easily enough through the video screens, and the keyboard felt natural under his hands. He found his way to a messaging console and started looking for emergency contacts. A notification blinking on the side of the screen caught his eye: Transmission pending.
    Chase clicked on the notification, and a message popped onto the screen.
    Code Maartens—immediate response required
    Unknown Earthan boy, approx. 13 years, appeared within compound yesterday with blaster wound to back of head and damaged ID marker. Bypassed all level 1 and 2 defenses by no explicable means (see attached video); destruction countermeasure initiated but deactivated by P. Current status: Silvestri examining marker, boy being held pending your instruction. Threat level: uncertain.
    Pending whose instruction? Who had written this message, and why were they calling him a threat? He had to scan the words destruction countermeasure several times before their meaning sank in. The compound’s defenses would have annihilated him if this P, undoubtedly Parker, hadn’t stepped in.
    With a growing sense of dread, Chase opened the attachment. A video window opened, playing a recording that must have come from a security camera outside the house. It showed the pale lawn outside the compound, with the grass forest waving gently in the background.
    A prone body suddenly appeared on the lawn. Was that him? How had he just shown up like that? He winced as he watched himself sit up and curl over in pain. There was a flash of black in the background, and then another: the Zinnjerha.
    Parker raced across the lawn, sliding to a stop beside him, throwing his arms in large gestures. The black shapes of the bounding Zinnjerha grew in number, darkening the back of the screen. Chase saw himself speaking and then collapsing in front of Parker. After a moment of looking around in a panic and shouting, Parker hooked his hands under Chase’s arms and dragged him back toward the house.
    When the video clip ended, the screen went gray. Chase leaned back in the chair. So Parker had saved him. For a moment he was impressed, but he reminded himself that in bringing Chase inside, Parker had merely been protecting himself and his home.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?”
    Chase jumped out of the chair, heart thumping. Mina stood in the doorway with a sober and somehow menacing expression. “Who are you trying to contact?” she asked.
    â€œWhat? No one, I was just—”
    She took a step toward him. “Who sent you? What are you doing here?”
    â€œNo one.” Chase’s voice shook as if he’d been caught stealing. “I wanted to see the video. I’m trying to figure out what happened to me.”
    She advanced another step, backing Chase into a corner. “I won’t hurt you if you come with me.” Her hand fell on his shoulder like an iron weight.
    â€œLet me go!” Chase twisted out from under her hand and tried to dart past, but she sidestepped, blocking him. His panic skyrocketed and his legs felt so shaky, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to run anyway.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Parker appeared in the doorway, looking confused.
    â€œGo back to your room, Parker,” said Mina. Still blocking Chase, she opened a cabinet on the wall, from which she pulled out two silver