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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 didn’t need a suit—the temperature was just over a hundred degrees—but there was too much nitrogen in the air and not enough oxygen. A mask would filter the air so that the mix was just right for my lungs. The transparent polymer dome fit over my whole face like a mask, giving me 180 degrees of viewing. I pressed the button at the top, and it suctioned onto my face almost painfully, but I’d rather have it too tight than too loose.

I closed my eyes and said a prayer. I wasn’t sure anyone was listening. After everything that’d happened, I was pretty sure that any gods I prayed to actively hated me, but I wasn’t beyond begging. I needed help if I was going to get through this. “Okay. Grabbing my first container and heading out there.”

“Godspeed,” Carl said.

I picked up one of the plates and shook it out, expanding it, before opening the door.

The ship had parked itself right on the topmost ridge of the surface mine. The grooves of the mine seemed to spiral so deep into the ground that I wasn’t quite sure where it ended, but I could see the glittering black ore jutting out from the walls. Drones flew all around the mine, monitoring it—and now me—from a million different angles.

“Don’t let the containers get too heavy before you carry them back to the ship.”

“Will do.” It’d give me time to breathe while playing this epic game of Russian roulette. I clipped the carrying strap around the handles of the container and hooked it around my waist.

My legs felt like gelatin as I stepped onto the surface and I felt like this couldn’t be real. But it was. This was my life, and I’d get through this. “Wish me luck.”

“Luck,” Declan said, echoed by Carl.

I said one more prayer then, with grim determination and a healthy dose of Aunare stubbornness, I headed to the mine.

Chapter Thirty-Five

I grabbed the rock in front of me, holding it with one hand, and tapped it softly with the tiny hammer end of my tool. The tone that came from it was loud and low enough to rattle my teeth.

Volatile. I didn’t need to hit it a second time to be sure.

I held my breath and gently let go, not wanting to disturb the crystal a second time. “Marking that one as explosive.” I grabbed the marker, writing a ‘1’ on it.