Five Moons of Pluto Read Free Page A

Tyrant ships or by the guns of the huge battleship. The Tyrant shakes from the wave of an explosion.
                  “Where are we going?” Orin asks.
    “You’re welcom e.”
    Orin smirks. “I didn’t ask you for your help.”
    Vina jerks the throttle left to go down east 79th street. People are screaming and running down the streets below them.
    “You Ph antoms think you're so tough,” she explains. “You were one of the best—they even called you our savior—but you made a mistake.” Orin looks at her, waiting to hear her full explanation. “You fell in love with a Repla.” 
                  The Tyrant lands on top of what was once the American Museum of Natural History but is now called the Repla Revolutionary War Museum. Two other Tyrant ships and a Javelin are already on the roof beside them. The soldiers stand ready outside.
                  Vina lands smoothly, then steps out with Orin tailing behind her. The soldiers immediately surround Orin and point their guns at him, and Vina gracefully steps aside. Then Grand Commander Thal steps out.
                  His uniform is clean and well pressed. The seven medals on his jacket tell stories of courage and leadership. They prove his honor and his sacrifice. He looks the part, too, with a strong, square face, and a neatly groomed mustache. Looking toward him, everyone except Orin stands at attention.
                  “As you were,” Thal says. He walks up to Orin and salutes him, and then so does everyone else. “To bravery and courage!” he shouts, and everyone else’s shouts echo his. He ends his salute and says more seriously,” You did well… very well. Nothing less is expected from a Phantom.” He places his hand on Orin’s shoulder and removes his hat with the other. “My very best Phantom.”
                  Orin smiles widely, but it dissipates quickly as Thal continues.
                  “I’m sad to say I am disappointed in you. We spent three years on this plan and you turn up ghost on us, on your people. You knew how important this mission was. You had your orders and you disobeyed them. Tell me, where are the bodies of your comrades?”
                  Orin looks at him stoically. “I incinerated them.”
    His face stern, Thal looks back at Orin and says, “You didn’t even give them a proper burial?” He closes his eyes. “Those were your brothers. And you killed them so you could be with that… woman ? That Repla woman? She’s not even family!”
    “She is—“
    “She was manufactured in a laboratory in Washington! They nearly exterminated the entire human race!”
    Thal then turns to one of his soldiers and nods his head. Sahra is being escorted onto a Tyrant ship. When she spots Orin, he smiles at her. She is scared but tries hard not to show it. Her fear is there though, and Orin knows it. Thal nods again and is escorted back inside with Orin.
    “As promised,” he tells Orin, “I will spare her life.” The Tyrant ship that Sahra is on begins to take off. “But you know nothing of that word, do you? A man should be bound to his word.”
    The ship is now several hundred feet away. Thal nods to another soldier holding a circular device. Orin looks at him, his eyes filled with obvious intention, but the soldiers quickly rush toward him and hold him down.
    “No!” he screams. “You promised .”
    The soldier aims the device at the Tyrant. Down below is a Ground Hog patrol vehicle with a mounted missile launcher. The missile launches. Orin screams.
    “NO! PLEASE! YOU PROMISED .”
    Thal looks at Orin, untouched by his words. “I said i would spare them; I never said my soldiers would.”
    The missile makes contact with the Tyrant and explodes. Debris from the explosion fall s from the sky like dusty snowflakes. To Orin, time slows down—an unbearable, suffocating stillness. He can’t believe what he’s seeing. Is it even