Space Hostages Read Online Free

and we like it that way. It helps that they can’t see it, because of the invisibility shield the Morrors built around the whole planet. But they can still see the moon, and that brings them a lot closer than you’d want. They breed so fast when they find anything to eat (and they eat anything) that if they ever chewed up the moon, first of all: the tides would get really messed up, second of all: there would be an enormous swarm of Vshomu against which the invisibility shield would be about as useful as a raincoat against piranhas.
    â€œStephanie—” Dad began.
    â€œYou have to go, don’t you,” I said. I felt a quiet thud of disappointment, but I knew it wasn’t fair to make a fuss about it. There’s no real way to get rid of Vshomu for good—all you can do is keep their numbers down, and blowing them up was what Mum did; she wasn’t allowed to back out.
    Mum put her hands on my shoulders. “I’ll catch up with you,” she said. “I promise.”
    â€œI don’t think a Flarehawk can catch up with a deep-space ferry,” I said.
    â€œ I can,” Mum insisted.
    I looked up at the Space Elevator’s tether; another capsule was rising away into the blue. I wondered if anyone I knew was on it.
    â€œBe careful, Mum,” I said.
    â€œOh, this isn’t real war,” she said. “This is pest control .”
    The smartwatch squawked again. Mum grabbed Dad with military conviction, said “Daniel, I do love you,” and kissed him. She let him go and hugged me. “I love you, Alice.” It was easier than she may have realized to read the Just in case I die! subtitles that came with this, but then her eyes fixed on the distant Flarehawks, her face broke into a grin, and she went sprinting off across the concrete, a cheerful cry of “Have fun!” echoing after her.
    Dad and I stood watching her Flarehawk soar across the sky, and Dad said heavily, “Right.”
    So we went to the hotel by ourselves.
    â€œThe Morrors are being so nice to us,” I said. Because it was a very posh hotel, Dad’s room alone was practically the size of our house. I wanted to make sure we were still going, because I was afraid Dad might have changed his mind now that Mum wasn’t around. But if he hadn’t thought of it, I didn’twant to put ideas in his head.
    â€œYes,” said Dad, and looked at the soft carpets and vases of flowers and little chocolates as if he thought something might be lurking under the sofa cushions waiting to spring out at us.
    I’m afraid I did not take in much of San Diego beyond the palm trees and sea and only minimal shock ray damage. Dad and I had supper in the restaurant, which I’m sure was very good but was wasted on me as I kept falling half asleep. Once I was in an enormous bed, I was also too excited to sleep, so I lay there, again wondering what it was like on the spaceport and if Vshomu would eat through the invisibility shield and if Mum was okay. And this turned into worrying about the very important exam on ferrets that I’d forgotten to review for, and eventually I realized I must have been asleep after all.
    I lay there for a moment checking in with myself that the ferret exam was definitely a dream, and went limp with relief before it struck me that today I was going to space. The thought kicked me out of bed like an electric shock. I threw open the curtains and beamed at the tether rising across the sunrise. I managed to shower like a sensible person—though my heart kept pounding and I trembled as I brushed my teeth. This wasn’t a very comfortable kind ofexcitement, but as soon as I was dressed, I went running to Dad’s suite as if I was seven again and it was Christmas morning.
    When I opened the door, I heard sounds. Bad ones.
    â€œDad?” I said.
    The bedroom was dark. The bed was empty, the covers thrown aside. I padded across approximately a mile of