Sacred Planet: Book One of the Dominion Series Read Free

do you have anything I can put on over this?”

Chapter Three
    Davin hoped he remembered to turn off his comm, because he laughed all the way back to the airlock. The safe was a thick sumbagun. And it was a last minute find, too. A sweep of the whole glitz-boat revealed no obvious gems, but the portrait of Old Man Falco in his crisp, lordly uniform looked just a little too perfect. Or maybe it was the diamond-studded chandelier, which he made sure Jabron bagged, that gave it away. Something about the room felt too rich to lack secrets. In any case, he found the safe. And already he felt like a million sharebucks.
    “You done, Cap?” Strange’s voice buzzed in his ear.
    Damn . He hadn’t turned off his comm.
    “You see what I found?” Davin asked.
    “I’ve got your helmet cam on the dash,” she said. “Listen, I’ve got an incoming message from one of the ships inbound, tagged for captain’s eyes only. You want me to save it or relay it?”
    “Huh.” Davin delved into serious thought. “Weird. Have we ever gotten a message from other scavengers?”
    “Not like this,” Strange replied. “Want me to relay it? I’m gonna relay it.”
    A small, square screen appeared in Davin’s visor. A seated bald guy with a salt-and-pepper mustache-soulpatch combo stared straight into the camera. A stiff, black, upraised collar circled his neck. Silver buttons formed a line down the center of his chest. No patches or pins or insignias, but the fellow still looked military.
    “This is a message to the captain of the HCC Fossa . You have encroached upon property belonging to the Republic of Carina. This is a violation of law in our star-space. Leave now, without taking any scavenged goods or we will be forced to fire upon you. We await your compliance.” The video blinked out.
    Davin looked down at the big safe in his arms. No way in hell was he tossing this thing back.
    “Uh, boss,” Jabron said, opening the outer airlock door ahead. “He didn’t sound like no scavenger.”
    “No, he did not,” Davin said. “Strange, how many moving targets inbound?”
    “Three, Cap. What do you want me to do?”
    Davin soared into the airlock and shoved the safe into a compartment behind a cargo net, staring at it as he thought. Jabron propelled himself to the locker beside him.
    “I say we ditch the girl, keep the loot,” Jabron said. “They after her. They won’t see this loot missin’ till we’re long gone.”
    Davin slapped the button to close the outer airlock. The ramp door slid up and clicked into place. Then came the slow-building hiss from the vents. A red light spun around on the ceiling until the hissing reached a climax. When it stopped, a green light flashed three times, and Davin popped his helmet. So did Jabron. Davin felt hot and moist and revved up.
    “Alright, everybody,” he said into his nexband. “Let’s make a show of dumping some junk, then hightail it. If they ask for the princess, we’ll dump her, too. If not, we keep her.”
    “Yeah, and let’s make it fast, boys,” Strange said. “Those incoming ships are Carinian frigates—fully loaded gunships.”
    Davin wiped his forehead with his dermasuit sleeve as Jabron opened the inner airlock door. Why did all the best loot have to be the hardest to get away with?

Chapter Four
    When the inner airlock door opened, Sierra tightened the drawstrings of the baggy sweatpants she’d borrowed and propelled herself forward. Two scavengers floated around, peeling off sections of their suits. She grabbed onto a handlebar at the edge of the airlock, feeling timid as they apparently didn’t notice her.
    “Do you know who I am?”
    The smaller of the two was an impish type with short, damp, disheveled hair. He reached into his locker, withdrew a rubbery water bottle, flipped it around in his hand, and squirted some into his mouth. “Sure do, Princess.”
    “Wha—” She didn’t expect such a flippant reply but resolved to respond graciously. “First of