Molly of Mars in Pirra's World: Alien Cages

By Wyatt Davenport

Slowly, Molly, Vicky, and Pirra are adjusting to life on Sephia Prime. They are homeless, scared, and on the run. Molly's hate for the warriors is intensifying but her fears keep her from progressing. She wants to rescue the girls in the impenetrable prison in the Capitol. However, she reminds herself often that rescuing herself and her friends is the easier choice. She made the easy choice in the past.

For ages 10+.

All the books in the Molly of Mars series:

Molly of Mars and the Alien Syndicate
Molly of Mars and the Alien Nebula
Molly of Mars and her Alien Sister
Molly of Mars and the Alien Creatures
Molly of Mars in Pirra's World: Alien Spacegates
Molly of Mars in Pirra's World: Alien Cages
Molly of Mars in Pirra's World: Alien Revolt

Or try my other teen+ series, Lunara.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wyatt Davenport
• Release date: Aug 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311108296

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

IN PIRRA’S WORLD:

ALIEN CAGES

by Wyatt Davenport

Copyright © 2015 Wyatt Davenport

Smashwords Edition.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 – A Hard Knock Life

Chapter 2 – Rapid Escape

Chapter 3 – Once Leaders, Now Millileaders

Chapter 4 – Unexpected Warrior

Chapter 5 – Crushing Blow

Chapter 6 – Adult Supervision

Chapter 7 – Voices in my Head

Chapter 8 – Not a Prototypical Romance

Chapter 9 – Forbidden Love

Chapter 10 – Queen of the Jungle

Chapter 11 – Downward Dog

Chapter 12 – It's a Zoo in There

Chapter 13 – Planning my Demise

Chapter 14 – Poking and Prodding

Chapter 15 – Mingling with the Animals

Chapter 16 – Back to Square One

Chapter 17 – Poking Around

Chapter 18 – Descent among the Ranks

Chapter 19 – Power Struggle

Chapter 20 – Trolling

Chapter 21 – Fighting Through

Chapter 22 – Preying Praying Mantis

Chapter 23 – The Other Side

Chapter 24 – The Blind Love of Molly of Mars

Chapter 1

A Hard-Knock Life

Molly of Mars, your booty needs to move! my sister Pirra said as she pushed me through the purple-flowered park.

Just wow! I said the same thing I said every time I looked up at the miles-high tower in the middle of the Sephian Capitol. I can almost see the bird you said was etched into the top. I wish we could go up there.

The top is where the warrior centurions have their headquarters. The higher you go, the more security there is.

I know, I know. I’m just a Sephian worker living a simple life in the Capitol.

Yep.

We walked behind my best friend, Vicky Valentine; Vicky’s boyfriend, Hannu Janne; my new sister, Timi Keen; and my sort of boyfriend but not really, Castor Keen. We’d been renegades in the Capitol without a home for the past month. We’d slept under bridges, in crevasses along train terminals, and in several parks.

Our new lives were difficult. Homeless, we scavenged for food and cleaned up in public bathrooms. We did odd jobs to get money, but we couldn’t go to a hotel or get an apartment without ID. Vicky, Pirra, and I didn’t have one. Timi’s, Castor’s, and Hannu’s IDs had been marked to show them as fugitives back in Haven, and that held true in the Capitol, too.

We needed a friend, but there was no one we could trust . . . yet. I’d been thinking.

We’ve made no headway getting to the girls or finding the spacegate, I said. Pirra, we need to focus.

Surviving is a full-time job, she said. What more do you want?

I want progress. Molly of Mars is a wanted felon on Sephia Prime. I was on TV.

They only had a partial facial showing the eyes. No one has recognized you yet.

They know humans are here. I’m afraid.

Only a select few know you’re human. The centurions want to keep that under wraps, which is good for us. They won’t get local police involved.

So where do we start the plan?

We can’t do anything without a home base. We need help. Who would help us? You know the problem.

I’ve been thinking, sis, I said. The leaders might help us. The purple eyes. The warriors almost made them extinct.

Which leaders? They’d turn us in for a favor.

What if we could give them something? I said. Maybe tell them we know about the spacegate. Leaders want power back. The spacegates mean power.

It would be a lie. We don’t know anything about the spacegates.

They don’t know that.

And when they find out? Not only would they turn us in, but we’d be liars.

Pirra! I threw my arms up in frustration. Desperation calls for a desperate plan.

She gave me an odd look, her green eyes intensely observing me. I don’t know.

At least consider trying something desperate, I said. Sleeping with a rock in my back is getting old, and dyeing my blond hair black is hard to do in a river. Not to mention, I’m getting tired of my fried split ends.

Yeah, I like you better as a blond anyway.

We walked in silence for several minutes through the heart of the park. We had set up camp behind a rock formation down near the river running through the city. We’d been there for two weeks, the longest we’d stayed anywhere yet, and I liked it the best of anywhere we’d been. It was heated, so I didn’t have to snuggle with Vicky or Pirra at night.

Ahead, Vicky and Hannu held hands and giggled. Vicky was deeply in love with him. She’d need a reason the size of the sun to leave him. He said he would come to Mars with her. I believed he wanted to, but I was worried he wouldn’t come in the end. She’d be devastated if he turned his back at the last minute.

Timi, Pirra, and I were getting along great. We were sisters completely. When I first met Timi, she acted haughty and spiteful, but I’d since warmed up to her and she to me. I could see it in her eyes now. She cared for Pirra and me. Not like before, when I suspected she was unsure, and then she betrayed us. She’d never betray us again.

Molly, I can’t believe I found chickney soup, Castor said. It’s the best food in the universe. You’ll love it.

Not to mention it makes you a bit drunk, Pirra said. A short drunk . . . like five, ten minutes.

Really? I said. And kids can eat it?

It just gives you a funny feeling in your head, Castor said. That’s only a bonus. The taste is the best.

He’s right, Pirra said. It’s the best Sephia Prime has to offer.

I can’t wait, Castor.

I’ll start the heater. Castor hurried down the hill toward our campsite.

Castor was trying his best to break down the wall I put up against everyone who wanted to get close to me. Regrettably, I had driven away Jonny Knight on Mars, and saving Helen was paramount in my mind. I wanted to take her back to Mars and redeem myself.

Pirra stopped me at the top of the hill. Don’t miss something special in front of you. I’ve been away from Heidi for a month and a half. It’s killing me. I don’t want you to miss something special with Castor.

I get it, but Helen and the spacegate are more important.

Not to Vicky. She’d stay on Sephia Prime for Hannu. She told me she would. You might have to eventually, so don’t let this become an obsession.

Don’t tell me what to care about, I replied sternly. Maybe I’ve soured on Castor. Anyway, it’s too late. I’m already obsessed.

I hurried down the hillside before she could reply. The river was to my left, and Hannu had Vicky on his shoulders. They were getting our gear down from our hiding spot under a bridge.

Wait! I saw something within the bridge. It had a flashing light. Vicky, Hannu, don’t move. A bomb!

I have the bag in my hand, Vicky said. What should I do?

Don’t move! I snapped. I waved Pirra, Castor, and Timi back.

What is it? Hannu said. I can’t see.

Stay still, I said. It’s a concussion bomb.

Those bombs knock you out with a wave of air, Vicky said. And it’s right near my head.

Someone is trying to catch us. I pushed a nearby bench next to Vicky, stood on it, and inspected the light.

Hey, Vicky said to me, did I trip it?

I looked at it with a keen eye. Pirra and I had encountered one a week ago. I had to disarm it so Pirra wouldn’t trigger it. It took an hour, but we got free. I didn’t think we had an hour now.

Bad news, I said. It’s triggered. It just needs you to push or pull it an inch or two.

It’ll drop if I let go, Vicky said. Just get clear. I’ll take the hit.

I’m not carrying your knocked-out big butt through the Capitol.

"What about my butt? Hannu asked. I’d get hit, too. We’d look like a pair of drunks."

I grunted in agreement. I’ll think of something.

I studied the light for a long minute, and I didn’t see anything that would help. I thought Vicky’s plan might have to be the one we went with.

We found our pair of squatters, a stern voice announced.

Surprised, I jumped down from the bench. In front of us stood three centurions batting batons in their hands. It appeared we weren’t going to get away without a fight. Punishment was imminent.

Hi, boys . . . and gal, I said, sounding as innocent as possible. I glanced around, but Pirra, Timi, and Castor had hidden somewhere. What brings you here?

You, the girl said. So it’s been you three squatting down here. We set a trap. Too bad you didn’t trip it.

I tried a gambit first. Trap? Is it against the law to fish here?

You weren’t fishing, the older boy said. You slept here the past three nights. It wasn’t until today that we spotted your hiding place. Get down from there.

Vicky and Hannu didn’t move.

We spotted this stuff, I said. It wasn’t us sleeping here.

Don’t lie! The girl hit her baton against the pillar of the bridge. The shocks sparked and fizzled. That’s another three lashes for each of you and some jail time.

I narrowed my eyes at her. How about no lashes and you walk away before I get angry?

That’s it, the girl said. You’re under arrest!

She came at me. But I had another plan for our escape.

I yanked hard on Vicky. She and Hannu toppled over toward me.

Wham! The concussion explosion pushed everyone within ten feet backward. With jarring force, the explosion forced the breath out of my lungs and tossed me into the air toward the river. Vicky and Hannu flew past me in a spinning whirl.

Just before I hit the water, I saw the centurions sprawled along the ground. The chill of the water caused my mind to sputter into focus for a second or two. My plan had been successful. I’d escaped the warriors and rescued Vicky and Hannu from the concussion bomb. Or sort of rescued them.

My mind couldn’t hold onto consciousness. We had escaped, but maybe without our lives.

Chapter 2

Rapid Escape

I sputtered back to consciousness with a mouthful of water and the sensation of movement around me. I flipped over and found myself racing down the rapids, heading deeper into the Capitol. I pulled my arms against the water, but I was at the mercy of the powerful current.

Hannu bumped into me, and I grabbed his arm.

Are you there? I asked him.

What happened? he muttered, but he quickly regained his focus. You tripped the bomb!

I had to, I replied. Where’s Vicky?

Oh no! he said, righting himself to flow with the current. How could you do that? She was right near the bomb.

I’ll explain later. I looked frantically for Vicky, but her purple top was nowhere around. Do you see her?

No . . . There! He pointed several yards in front of us.

I tried to swim to her, but she was moving in a faster current. Her head was under the water, too. If she was dead, I’d . . .

Swim to her! I shouted to Hannu.

He was doing a better job of it than I was, but the current was faster on the other side. A set of rocks separated us from Vicky. We flipped off a waterfall and dropped six feet into a river pool. We got through the eddy and began racing down the river again in seconds. Vicky was bobbing all around.

I couldn’t tell if she was awake. Hannu!

I’m trying!