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Could my bonding instinct be right after all?
I put my hand atop hers. "On to Racopia, then."
She smiled and reached for the box of fuel cartridges. "Let’s get out of here."
Chapter Eight
HARPER
After we fueled thepod, we took off from Racopia’s moon. Varus and I didn’t say much to each other. I assumed his thoughts were the same as mine.
I didn’t blame him one bit for being furious at Isath for abandoning the scientists and workers on the moon. I was mad, too, and I never set eyes on his enemy.
What kind of person ignored distress calls from his own people, especially when he was close enough to help? I would never understand his level of hatred and pettiness to let them starve all because they were completing an assignment Varus originally gave them. Isath was motivated by spite.
I continued to stew about it as I followed the pod’s coordinates to the closest land mass on Racopia. Isath got Varus off the planet so he could take his place as king. Some ruler he was. If it were up to me, I’d see about getting him tried for war crimes.
But it wasn’t up to me. This fight was between him and Varus. Still, as a soldier, I refused to sit by if there was something I could do to help. I glanced over at Racopia’s deposed yet true ruler. His expression was thoughtful and heavy. "If I can get another com link going, I’ll try to contact the Zol space hub and ask about the scientists and workers."
"When I am king, I'll send a ship to find them and bring them home." Varus gazed, intense, at the planet looming before us.
Racopia had one large concentrated land mass surrounded by blue water. Viewing it from the pod’s front window, I saw the topography. Mountain ridges started from the east and sloped all the way to the west. The deeper colors of brown and gold appeared to be canyons. Smaller curving lines of blue carried inward from the ocean, feeding into the land’s lake and river systems.
It looked so similar to Earth, and yet so different. "Keep your seat harness on," I cautioned. "We’re about to land."
Varus contained himself, but I could tell by the movements of his hands and the tapping of his feet that he was ready to get home. I scanned the atmosphere analysis and saw the air had the same makeup as Racopia’s moon. Thankfully, wherever we were landing, the temperature read about forty degrees warmer. I made a note to take off the white labcoat I was using as a jacket and store it for another time.
We entered Racopia’s atmosphere. The gravitational pull took hold of the pod. I eased up on the rocket thrusters once we were past the planet’s stratosphere.
Varus viewed the wisps of white clouds that streaked the blue sky. "How are the com links?"
I checked them. "The dash panel works, but I’m not getting signals from Racopia. I could try to radio for a landing station."
He shook his head. "You’re landing near the caverns, my former home before the Citadel. There’s no station for hundreds of miles."
Hundreds. Great. I pulled up on the open steering wheel to steady our descent. "Let’s see if I can keep us from falling off a cliff."
