Terra Dawning Read Free Page A

concentration of dioxin than what you are used to. So if you try to escape, there is a good chance you will suffocate,”” Gail explained.
    “What are you talking about? You're breathing this air the same as we are,” Jaric said.
    “The air in here has been modified so we can both breathe it. If I were to get up and walk around, I would quickly become light headed, and most likely faint. As you will notice, the rest of my people have chosen to remain in their suits.
    “If you exerted yourselves, you would begin to feel drunk and disoriented until you too collapsed. Once we get to where we are going, the atmosphere will be normal for us, but it will make you folks kinda sick.
    “We have these special breathers we will give to you, so you can breathe safely while we ask all of you questions. Do you each understand this?” Gail finished. She noticed that all four people nodded their heads. Jaric's lady had yet to say anything, but from the way they treated Elrond, they were subordinate to him.
    Gail was tempted to ask him if he was the leader of Rivendell, but didn't think anyone else would see the humor, so she kept quiet the rest of the trip. No one else spoke either, each of them thinking through their own decisions and questions.
    However, once the ship had sat down on the floor of the huge bay, the prisoners seemed to be more compliant. Four Marines left the craft first, while Gail guided the captives down the ramp and made sure they each had a respirator on.
    When she followed them down the ramp she saw Ben standing between two armed Marines, watching them disembark. Without preamble, Elrond, with a guard beside him, walked up to Ben and held out his hand.
    “Hello, I am Captain Elrond Coir; Captain and Master of the privateer Bittertree. I am the over-all leader of the group known as the Pirates. On behalf of my fellows, I claim sanctuary, Sir.”

Chapter Two
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    “ Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. ”
    Janis Joplin, “Me and Bobby McGee”
    T erran Marine Base Alpha
    23 Apr. 10266 CE (AD)
    Sector 34871 - Great Inland Sea
    Earth, Sol system
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    B en did have one of the translators with him, but when he heard what the man said, he had to check to see if it was working correctly. “Excuse me?”
    Elrond fought the urge to chuckle. From the way he was protected, it was obvious this was the person in charge, even though he looked really young. “I said, I claim Sanctuary, Sir. You are the leader here, aren't you?”
    Ben nodded. “Yes I am, but I'm a little confused. Are you not the group who shot down a young prospector, and later destroyed the Great Falls Aerie?”
    “Damn!” Elrond said. “I had hoped, since you are not part of the Duchy, you might not know about those, and we could get away.””
    Ben looked at the man. He wasn't being misleading, or trying to pull a fast one, he was scared; scared and desperate.
    “Why would you need to claim Sanctuary with us? No one's figured out where you are yet except for us, and as you said, we're not part of the Duchy. What are you afraid of?” Ben asked.
    Elrond waited for the translation. Who were these people? “The Rangers are here now. The Duke has put us in a position to take the fall for all the attacks he's ordered. I have over two hundred people under my command; women and children that had nothing to do with this, but who will be executed simply by association.”
    This was getting more complicated by the minute. “Follow me, let's find a place to sit. It sounds like this is going to be a very involved story.”
    Just then a disturbance by the doors to the cavernous bay got the small group's attention.
    “Let me through! I want to kill that son of a bitch! They're nothing but fucking murderers!” Ben saw a very pissed off Addson Dee fighting the marine guards to be let into the bay.
    Elrond blushed and looked at the floor. “She's right, we are murderers now.”
    Ben shut off the