Read Online Lost Planet 02 - The Stolen Moon by Rachel Searles - Free Book Online

nothing will go wrong tomorrow.”
    But somehow, the captain’s promise didn’t make Chase feel any better.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
    Chase sat alone in the canteen running his fork through a plate of greasy synth biryani, wracking his brain for ideas on how he could find his sister before the peace talks began. He hadn’t planned on eating alone, but Parker had come with him to get lunch and then left to take his plate back to the room and keep working. Chase scooped up a forkful of rice and stuck it in his mouth just as he realized that someone was standing across from him. Analora pushed her hair behind her ears and smiled at him as she sat down.
    â€œHey,” he said, gulping quickly. “I haven’t seen you around.”
    She shrugged. “I’ve been catching up with my dad. He always wants to hang out together all the time when I first come back here. Takes a while before things get back to normal.”
    â€œAh.” He stirred his rice awkwardly, and set his fork down. “We’re supposed to arrive at Storros tomorrow. Are you excited?”
    She shrugged. “I guess. I doubt we’ll be allowed to go visit Storros ourselves. The Storrians have a super strict immigration policy.”
    It hadn’t even occurred to Chase that they might ordinarily have been able to go visit a planet they were stationed near. “How many planets have you been to?” he asked.
    â€œOh, gosh, a lot.” She began counting off on her fingers. “Earth, Jypras, Banafiel, Namat, so about four origin planets, plus maybe half a dozen colony planets.”
    â€œDid you ever go to Trucon?”
    She grew quiet. “Yeah, my mom and I went there once for a conference in Rother City.” She looked cautiously at Chase. “It was a nice place. Very sunny.”
    Chase had only meant to find a planet in common that they had both visited, but he realized she thought he was from Trucon. Desperately he tried to change the topic. “So, what’s Jypras like?”
    â€œIt’s all water,” she said, shaking her head. “How do you like living on the Kuyddestor now?”
    Chase placed his napkin over his plate as he considered this. “It’s okay. I don’t have much to do, besides my appointments with your dad. The blackout last week was kind of exciting.”
    She grinned. “I slept through it. Time adjustment from Jypras.” She looked at the walls around them. “I guess the old girl needs to go in for a tune-up.”
    Without thinking, Chase said, “Parker thinks somebody hacked the power grid.”
    She frowned at him. “Who’s Parker?”
    Before she even asked the question, Chase regretted saying Parker’s name. He liked having his own secret friend, someone he could just pretend to be normal around without all the baggage of his past that Parker and everyone else knew about. “Uh, he’s a friend,” he muttered.
    â€œWhy does he think someone hacked the power grid?” She wasn’t going to let this go, Chase could tell.
    He sighed. “He’s pretty good at hacking and electronics and stuff like that, so he’s been trying to figure out what caused the blackout.”
    Analora leaned forward, her curiosity fully piqued. “Why didn’t you mention him before? Is he from Trucon as well? Can we go see what he’s doing?”
    â€œUm, Parker doesn’t like to interact when he’s working on something. He doesn’t really like people at all, actually.” Well, at least the first part was true.
    â€œOh.” Analora’s face fell.
    Chase’s mind raced for a way to grab her interest again. “Oh hey, I met the ambassador,” he said. “Corinthe. He was on the ship.”
    â€œReally? Did you hear they’re hosting the peace talks on the Kuyddestor ?”
    â€œYeah.” After thinking it over more, Chase had decided that this did make him feel slightly