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Back Off Planet Save as PDF
Chapters (54)
  1. Title Page
  2. Also by Aileen Erin
  3. Dedication
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. Chapter Forty-Two
  46. Chapter Forty-Three
  47. Chapter Forty-Four
  48. Chapter Forty-Five
  49. Chapter Forty-Six
  50. Chapter Forty-Seven
  51. Off Balance
  52. To My Readers
  53. Acknowledgments
  54. About the Author

I wondered if I could switch.

Mining should be dangerous enough if Ahiga pitched it the right way to the CO. Maybe not as flashy a death as burning on the surface of Abaddon, but blowing up on its moon had to be a draw for Jason.

It was a crazy plan and had a lot of ifs, but it was a start.

Was I really considering this?

No. Not yet. But maybe one day I’d be desperate enough to try.

The glow faded completely, and I slowed my pacing. There was nothing I could do now except follow Ahiga’s advice—shower and sleep.

Tomorrow, I’d figure out if I really was desperate enough to beg for mining duty. If there was one thing I knew, I would not be doing a stupid robot’s job for long. My stubbornness wouldn’t allow it.

Chapter Seventeen

I woke with a start. My head slammed into the bunk above me as I fought to get out from under the sheets. Even the paper thin cotton was enough to make me feel trapped.

It took me a few long seconds to realize where I was. I got up, looking up and down the row of bunks, but everyone was already gone.

I went back and sat heavily on my bunk. I hadn’t even stirred while my bunkmates were getting ready, and I wasn’t sure when it’d gotten so uncomfortably stuffy in the room. It felt like the AC had gone off sometime in the night, and I wasn’t sure how I managed to sleep through that. I didn’t think I’d been dreaming, but with how I woke up—with my heart racing and a panicked scream threatening to break free—I must’ve been dreaming something terrible.

I glanced down at my wrist unit and realized I had an hour and a half before my first day started. Not wanting to be late for work, I quickly headed to the showers.

The bathroom had a row of open shower stalls, and I gritted my teeth as I walked toward them. The water flow in my old apartment’s shower had been weak on a good day. It took five minutes just to get my hair wet, and the water had been lukewarm. From the shower I’d taken last night, I thought I might hate the showers here more. At least at the apartment, I’d had privacy. I didn’t like being naked in front of anyone. No one was here right now, but I wouldn’t always be that lucky.

I almost skipped a shower, but I’d sweated so much in my sleep, I could feel a layer of stickiness along my skin. That was no way to start the day.