Molly of Mars and the Alien Nebula

By Wyatt Davenport

After uncovering a dark Martian secret in their previous adventure, Molly Lennox, Pirra Lennox, and Vicky Valentine whisk off to the outer solar system for rest, relaxation, and to visit a new wonder for a school project: a beautiful alien nebula. It’s the last remnant of the aliens that attacked Mars and a tether to her guilt about the death of a friend. It's Molly's wish to see it destroyed and the blackhole bomb will do it.

She just has one problem: her alien sister, Pirra. Molly can't destroy something her sister cherishes. Conflicts roil her, a betrayal by a friend churns wrath within her, and when a mystery object floating within the nebula piques her curiosity. Just when she can’t take it anymore, the action starts and she finds herself trapped in space without anything to breath.

For ages 10+, same reading level as Harry Potter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wyatt Davenport
• Release date: Aug 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310036972

Wyatt Davenport

Wyatt Davenport was born in 1977 in Kingston, Ontario, and grew up in London, Ontario, and Atlanta, Georgia. He currently lives in Seattle with his wife Colleen and their two Siberian Huskies. An avid fan of science fiction and fantasy, Wyatt is inspired by authors like Timothy Zahn, Michael Crichton, Robert Aspirin, and J. R. R. Tolkien.

Book preview

MOLLY OF MARS

AND THE ALIEN NEBULA

by Wyatt Davenport

Copyright © 2014 Wyatt Davenport

Smashwords Edition

Chapter 1

One Giant Leap for Girlkind

Molly! Hurry! We’ll miss the flight.

Go! I called to my teenage sister and alien, Pirra Lennox. She was one year older, and though an alien, looked exactly like a human. She had black hair, keen green eyes, and a very good fashion sense. She was also my best friend. I’m coming, I said.

We raced through the spaceport, Millennium One, orbiting the planet Mars. Mars is my home, and my mom had set up a wonderful school trip for my class. One problem, though, was that Pirra and I were late because we had to go back for Pirra’s new outfit. We thought we’d make it back in time, but one thing led to another with the transport ship. Now we were pressing against the departure time.

Stop right there, young ladies! a heavy voice yelled at us.

In front, a plasma shield, shimmering like a golden wall, dropped across the hallway, stopping Pirra and me in our tracks. I turned and said with venom in my voice, What’s the big idea?

ID forms, please. The man stuck his hand out at us.

Oh, yeah, I said, a bit embarrassed. We’d almost run through the security check, which would’ve caused total chaos at the spaceport. Mars was strict with security, and if the system detected gunfire or any deadly weapons, there was an instant laser zap. Sorry—here.

Pirra and I showed the man our papers.

He looked them over and eyed us. This cruiser is about to leave. Better hurry, ladies.

We’re trying. I tapped my feet on the floor, ready to fly again.

Don’t hurt yourself, the man said.

We won’t, Pirra said. Her green eyes were begging him. Please let us proceed.

The man smiled coyly. Don’t worry, you’ll make it. I need to run these through the system first.

Are you sure we can make it? Pirra asked, a bit of panic in her voice. She touched her pinned-up black hair. She’d done it up just for the welcoming party and would be angry if her vanity caused her to miss the party. If we miss the flight, our mom will put us in our rooms the whole time. I gotta see the nebula. She trusted us.

Only because she wanted to see Captain Viro again, I said, not caring much for my mom’s relationship with the captain. He’d worked for her before the alien war, and they had been dating on and off for the past six months. Apparently, my mom was missing the old times. She’s gone enough with her work. Now the captain and her old life are coming back. I’ve had enough of it.

Pirra looked disappointed in me. Captain Viro is kind of cute, though.

I looked away from Pirra to the officer again. I really didn’t want to argue with her about Captain Viro.

The officer stamped our papers on either side and directed us to the gates. We sprinted toward our gate.

If we’re late and miss out on the trip, Pirra, it will be because of your outfit, I complained. You just had to have it, didn’t you?

I bought it for the trip, and I promised Vicky I would show it to her. You know how important it is to me.

I grumbled my objection, but both of us sped up when we saw the signs for the starship Galactic in the distance. We were close now.

The Galactic was a large starship the size of an ocean liner on Earth. It contained all the services and comforts of a passenger ship, along with some military capabilities. It was one of humanity’s finest creations, in my opinion.

We jogged to the gate a few hundred feet away. It didn’t look good.

Are we late? Pirra asked, but the words were rhetorical as we both saw the Galactic moving away from the dock.

Sir, the ship is leaving. Can we still get on somehow? I asked the flight controller at the gate.

No, he said. The flight has dropped the gangways. Any missed flights will be rebooked on the next available transport.

We have to be on that one! Pirra whined. We were held up back there.

The man tapped a sign at his desk. Weapons warnings and security checks do not delay departures.

Pirra shook her head. I’ve never heard of such nonsense.

The man went on to explain the policies, and Pirra argued with him for another few minutes. I was paying more attention to the extending arms reaching away from the spaceport. It was close enough to the Galactic for the plan forming in my head.

Come on, Pirra, I said to her.

She objected, naturally. But I coaxed her. I led her down the long spaceway until we almost caught the Galactic. We were only a few hundred meters away. Only one problem—the deadly vacuum of space was between us and the ship.

Pirra grabbed my arm. What a view! We missed the flight, Molly. What good is watching it leave?

"Stop it. Don’t act like a baby when a punishment is coming. Mom is on the Galactic, and she’ll be upset if we’re not."

On cue, a chime came from my pocket. I pulled out my phone, and there was a text message from my mom.

Where r u?

I typed back the following:

On our way 2 the reception . . . touring.

What’re you doing? Pirra threw her arms in the air in defeat. We can’t possibly get to the reception now. She’ll know we lied, too. I can’t bear it anymore. She might send me to a new home.

I rolled my eyes at her. She was always so dramatic about punishments. She’d been a child warrior in her alien culture, and loyalty and pride were important to her. I, on the other hand, knew when it was best to stretch the truth for the sanity of everyone. Mom didn’t need to worry about us, and Pirra didn’t need anyone to know we missed the flight. She was so vain about her outfits. I would help both of them by hiding this small problem.

I undid my backpack and pulled out my spacesuit. I began to put it on, but Pirra grabbed me hard.

What are you doing? she asked.

Pirra, seriously, stop panicking. It’s not becoming of you.

So how can we—

She didn’t need to finish her statement after I dangled the kinetic amplifiers in her face. The amplifiers were gloves designed to allow a person to swim in the vacuum. I’d planned on taking a dip in the nebula when we arrived, so I thought now was a good time to get some practice.

Doubt remained on Pirra’s face. But we can’t in a spaceport. Can we?

Who’s going to notice? I replied. We’re a speck against the mighty Mars and huge space cruisers.

But if we’re caught.

If, I said. We’re already caught missing the flight. Maybe we can get uncaught. You see, sis, when it works, no one will be any the wiser. You won’t have disappointed Mom, and she can’t send you away. I know it’s on your mind.

Pirra’s face twisted with so much conflict that I found it both cute and sad at the same time. She really thought she’d be sent away. But there was no chance in the universe of that happening. Mom and I loved her too much. But she didn’t need to know that right now.

Fine! she said. Only because I can’t see anyone getting hurt.

Except us. I smiled at her. I was getting excited. This is going to be so much fun.

We put our suits on over our clothes in a few seconds. I stuffed my wild blondish-red hair into the skullcap. With a tap against my head, the shielding flowed up from the neck harness, creating an invisible skin to protect my face and neck from space’s harsh climate. I poked my tongue against my cheek. And the only evidence of the shield was the slight tingling over my face and the smell of tiny hairs on my neck burning as the shielding settled.

Test, test, can you hear me, Pirra? I said into the radio.

She tapped on her headset. Staticky, but I read ya.

Now for the departure.

I directed Pirra to stand against the decompression chamber. I stood beside her, reached my arm around the doorway, and activated the decompression sequence.

After three warning beeps, the rumbling of the doorways caused me to start, and Pirra reached over to reassure me. I was confident that once we were jettisoned into space, I would be able to control myself. We’d catch up to the Galactic quickly.

But the issue for me was the jettisoning part. It would be uncontrolled and violent. The air would rush out of the end of the skyway at shocking speeds, and us with it. I’d seen it occur many times at the spaceport with cargo runners. Never with someone in the chamber, though.

My feet began to float off the ground as the artificial gravity lowered. The chamber was converting for a space jump. The top and bottom of the chamber disappeared as they folded backward. The sides moved away, but the shielding box protected us from space.

Not for long!

Wham!

The air released, tossing us out. I flipped end over end toward the Galactic. Several times, I collided with Pirra as we tumbled. I grabbed her shoulder in an attempt to straighten us, but being in space was completely different from being in atmosphere or in water. Even if I grabbed her, we wouldn’t be able to create any friction to stop us. We continued to spin around.

Smartly, Pirra put her hand out. I felt a vibration across my body as she activated the kinetic amplifier in her hand. I did the same, and almost instantly