Pirate: Space Gypsy Chronicles, #1 Read Online Free Page B

cargo itself didn’t interest her. She knew most of it by sight and knew nothing there would help her escape. None of the strapped pallets stood high enough either for her to use and reach that open hole.
    Whir.
    The mechanical sound had her peering upwards, and she noted the arm of the crane rising from the pallet it deposited, heading back for another load.
    There’s my ride. Emma ran across the room, weaving through the stacked cargo, still with no plan on how she could actually shimmy the crane thing but determined to try.
    Luckily, the doors overhead remained open, and even better, she could no longer hear the noise of guns firing. Then again, the rumble all around her didn’t make it easy to tell.
    Time ticked, and the crane had hooked the second pallet and was on its way down again. She needed to get on it before it returned for the third and last pallet.
    While she usually felt anything related to jogging was for the sadistic, this one time she made an exception as she ran and scrambled atop the pallet nearest the crane. Her feet slipped as she tried to use the pincher to give herself leverage to reach the upper part of the crane’s arm. Her muscles protested the exertion, but she ignored them. They also liked to stage protests every time she thought about signing up to go to the gym.
    It took some work reaching the top of the crane. It wasn’t pretty. She huffed and puffed, her cheeks flushed, her body coated in a sheen of sweat. She couldn’t stop a small yell of fright as the crane jerked and started moving upward.
    Feeling herself slip, Emma clenched her thighs tighter around the beam of metal and hugged it too.
    The crane didn’t seem bothered by her weight—unlike her last boyfriend. He’d totally deserved that call to the IRS. That would teach him to tell her to not order any meat when they went to dinner. He claimed it was to help her weight problem, but she knew it was because he was cheap.
    Although, right about now, she kind of wished she were a few pounds lighter because staying on the crane wasn’t easy, but she persevered. She could see freedom just out of reach, and as even more incentive, a hard landing awaited if she fell off.
    Gulp.
    Up, up the crane inched, slower than her trembling muscles liked. The gap to freedom lurked out of reach. Too far to jump.
    A shadow interrupted the sunlight, and she raised her gaze to see a head encased in a visored helmet peeking into the shrinking gap.
    “Help me!” she cried out, reaching for the person. Sure, he was probably one of the bounty hunters shooting at Mr. Crazy Pants, but crazy dude wasn’t here right now. Just her. Surely they wouldn’t hurt an innocent. She batted her lashes as she pled. “Can you please help me get out of here? I’m not with that guy. I was just delivering a package.”
    The request fell on deaf ears. Into the hole poked a gun, aimed at her!
    For a moment, she forgot where she was. Panic engulfed her and she reacted, throwing herself away from the line of fire. Of course, away meant off the crane she perched on, which meant falling. Down, down, down. Crunch .

Chapter Five
    F rom where he sat in the command center of his ship, Rafe’s fingers flew across the console in front of him. Despite the fact that his onboard AI would have done automated checks, mistakes could happen. Programming could go corrupt. It was always wise to give things a second glance, even a rapid one.
    So far things looked good. Lots of clear lights, indicating normal status. A pulsing blue one let him know the second engine core still powered up. It would take some time before it had charged his onboard engines enough to move his vessel from its grave under the surface. In the meantime, he double-checked that everything else was ready to go and strapped down. Especially his cargo, and that included the cargo just delivered that day.
    Sure, some would call his decision to snare it insane. But he had to think only of his cousin’s mockery if they