Dragon Bounty: The Leslie Kim Serials, #3

By Eliza Stopps

Leslie Kim is back in the third book in the serial. This time, Leslie must finish what he started on Kapaton. Grieving from the loss of a loved one, Leslie will do anything to get back to Earth to give them a proper burial in the family plot. The alien government of Kapaton has other plans.

Leslie and Verna work together to make Kapaton pay for their atrocious actions. They are living on a large communal ship bound for the planet of Elanthea. When a mysterious creature sets fire to the ship, they have to make an emergency landing.

It's a new planet with new monsters and Leslie must solve the case before Kapaton retaliates. Leslie might finally get the resolution he desires, if he can make it out alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eliza Stopps
• Release date: Aug 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201878450

Book preview

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Previously on The Leslie Kim Serials...

Our hero, Leslie, has finally escaped the dreaded clutches of the Kapatonians. He’s on board a ship headed for Elanthea, a moon of Kapaton. With him is ex-girlfriend, Elena, and stalker, Tai Reed. He managed to save the multi-species children that were being genetically engineered by the aliens, but Verna is still working to hold the Kapatonians accountable for their actions. Leslie’s ship was damaged in the escape from Kapaton, and repairs must take place before he can journey home to seek justice for his father.

Chapter One

It was early, and the lights in the halls were dimmed. Leslie stood at the airlock and anxiously awaited Verna’s return. The ship was freezing cold. Leslie tucked his stiff hands into his sweatshirt pocket and bounced a little to fight off the chill.

Outside the large window by the airlock, Leslie saw the lights of an approaching ship. It was a small five passenger. It slowly crept up to the larger ship and docked. The pressurized chambers opened and allowed the passengers to come aboard. It was Verna and a few others who had joined her to testify against Kapaton. The airlock opened, and they crowded into the hallway.

How did it go? Leslie asked. He looked up at Verna, who was over a foot taller than him. Verna’s face was downcast. She cleared her throat.

It didn’t go as well as expected, she said, even with the amount of evidence we have. Even with the children in our possession, they aren’t convinced that it was misconduct on behalf of the government. They’re charging the reproductive specialists who allowed the cross-species children to be created.

What? Leslie asked through clenched teeth. His hands balled into fists in his pocket. He seethed with anger as he looked at the other disappointed faces amongst them.

I’m not even sure they’re going to get Larny Aphagraph. It’s a mess, Verna said. She sighed and stepped around Leslie to continue on down the hall.

Leslie skipped after her. What’s the next step?

We’ll try to gather more evidence. We have to prove that this came from the top down, Verna said.

Leslie opened his mouth to reply, but the ship began to shake violently. It tossed them against the walls and windows of the hall. Leslie smacked his head hard into the ground. A red flashing light blinked in the hallway.

What was that? the Gnome, Turry, asked from behind them. She had managed to stay upright by grabbing on to a railing by the airlock.

I’m not sure, but we need to get to Control, Verna said. She stood up and wiped a bit of purple blood from her forehead with the back of her hand. Her spindly fingers shook with adrenaline.

Leslie forced himself to stand and limped after Verna toward the control room. Verna’s long muscular legs covered ground quickly, and Leslie’s equilibrium still felt off. He was several paces behind her when he rounded the corner. The door had already closed automatically behind Verna. He laid his palm against a button beside the door, and it opened for him. Leslie grabbed one leg that was aching from his collision with the floor and leaned in the doorway.

Inside, Verna was hunched over the control panel and looking at stats on a screen. He took a deep breath and waltzed into the room; he tried to forget the twinge of pain in his knee.

Do they know what happened? he asked.

Something malfunctioned, so we sent some guys to check it out. Well, low and behold, there’s this—just hanging out on the floor, a Kapatonian said. Leslie didn’t know his name. He was leaned back confidently in his chair, one leg crossed onto his knee, and holding out his hand. Orange and red wires hung over his palm, dancing as the alien wiggled them.

How did that happen? Leslie asked.

Someone had to have pulled them out, Verna said. We’re going to have to land sooner than we expected.

Is it possible it’s sabotage?

Anything is possible.

They had not yet arrived in Elanthea for fear of retaliation from Kapaton. They were orbiting the moon while Verna tried to work with the Universal Council. She hoped that if she could charge them with some kind of wrongdoing that it would protect them once they landed. Kapaton had already shown a serious lack of empathy for their group; they had little reason to believe their minds would change now.

If some of our wiring is messed up, won’t that make landing a bit challenging? Leslie asked.

We can send people down on their ships individually. Then once we feel confident, we can have the crew take her down, Verna explained.

The crew consisted of the people in the room with them. A few Kapatonian pilots, a navigator, and Verna, their trusty captain. Leslie eyed the Kapatonians, suddenly suspicious of their motives. Had they truly turned their back on their home planet?

I’ve been working on my ship, but I haven’t taken it for a test run yet, Leslie said.

You’ll need to carry some passengers with you. Elena and Tai, for a start, Verna said. "Load them up, and we’ll figure out how many others we’ll need to send down with you.

Leslie groaned, and Verna tilted her head at him curiously. "Well, would you really want to travel any distance hearing them complain about your driving?"

Verna chuckled. That’s why I’m sending them with you. Oh, and before you go down, will you go check in the wiring room? I’m going to need to know who did this.

Leslie had no idea where the wiring room was. It took asking two different guards and three trips around the outer layer of the ship before he located the door. A narrow hall took him to the very bottom of the ship. The room was aptly named as wires covered every wall and even parts of the floor. Some sort of alien computers were running in the corner. It took much less time to find the area that had been tampered with. A number of orange and red wires must have been wound into the system, but something had ripped through them.

He leaned in and observed the wires closely, trying not to touch anything. He didn’t want to mess with some system that might turn the ship into a firework show for the Kapatonians.

The ends of the wires looked as though they had been melted. Leslie used a light on his watch to look around the floor. There was no discoloration or signs of footprints. But there was something white peeking out from under a rack on the floor. He kneeled down and grabbed it.

It was a small feather that started out white and turned a brownish, orange color at the ends. There were clearly no chickens on the ship, but if Leslie didn’t know that then it would’ve been his first assumption. He slipped the feather into his pocket and looked around the floor some more. He had barely made it