She glanced to her right, where she saw the great fiery wreck of the airship some distance away, a black plume of smoke snaking up into the sky.
He followed her gaze. “We pulled you out.”
“How did you get rid of those airships?” she asked him.
He smiled. “We have a few tricks the PPC doesn’t know about.”
“Can’t believe . . .” she said, taking a deep, painful breath. “Can’t believe we found you . . .”
She gazed up at the gray vault of the sky. Storm clouds roiled, bringing down a fresh dusting of snow. It started to collect in her eyelashes. Above those clouds lay the blackness of space. And out there in that void, hurtling ever closer, was the planet killer, intent on wiping out all that she knew.
But now they had a chance.
Acknowledgments
Huge thanks to my editor James Abbate for all of his great work and for believing in this book, and to Martin Biro for making it part of the new Rebel Base imprint.
A lot of research went into this book, and Dr. Patrick Bartlein, climatologist extraordinaire and Professor of Geography at the University of Oregon, was incredibly helpful in this. Many thanks to Joe Jordan, Sr., a great friend and pilot who lent his flight knowledge to the aviation scenes.
My former writing instructors, Joe and Penny, are inspiring teachers who deepened my love of the craft and have remained wonderful friends.
Deep thanks to Jason for being such a stalwart friend, for believing in me and being supportive of my writing, and to the amazing Becky for being such a solid and delightful friend all these years.
Meet the Author
Alice Henderson is a writer of fiction, comics, and video game material. She was selected to attend Launchpad, a NASA-funded writing workshop aimed at bringing accurate science to fiction. Her love of wild places inspired her novel Voracious, which pits a lone hiker against a shapeshifting creature in the wilderness of Glacier National Park. Her novel Fresh Meat is set in the world of the hit TV series Supernatural. She also wrote the Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels Night Terrors and Portal Through Time. She has written short stories for numerous anthologies including Body Horror, Werewolves & Shapeshifters, and Mystery Date. While working at LucasArts, she wrote material for several Star Wars video games, including Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and Star Wars: Battle for Naboo. She holds an interdisciplinary master’s degree in folklore and geography, and is a wildlife researcher and rehabilitator. Her novel Portal Through Time won the Scribe Award for Best Novel. Visit her online at www.AliceHenderson.com.
