Dark Wolf

Book One: Chapter 12

Blasts echoed around the Undertaker as the drones were closing in on them. Some small asteroids blew into pieces and hit the ship. But they didn't do much damage.

"Have you found a big one yet?" Kara shouted.

Lena stared at the cockpit window until she pointed her finger forward. "There's one!"

Past two moon-sized asteroids, the ship approached a planet-size one. Brown and spherical with craters and millions of giant holes.

"Good eye, Lena," said John. "Take us straight in there."

The ship blasted forward toward the planetoid. It passed through a ring of tiny rocks, orbiting around the asteroid.

In a few moments, the ship flew over the surface. It looked like a barren desert without a sky. Millions of sharp rocks and craters decorated the entire surface.

"How far are the drones?" John asked.

"They stopped following us," said Lena. "I think they crashed into the asteroids."

"We still need to hide. The fleet will be waiting for us until they get tired."

Lena pointed down. "How about there?"

John looked down and spotted a giant crater with a hole at the center. It was as big as a city, and the hole was about as wide as a football field.

"Go for it," John ordered.

Lena raised the ship up into space and nose-dived the vessel down into the hole. The tunnel was dark with circular stone walls.

John wasn't sure how an asteroid could have a smooth tunnel. It was like something had dug through it, using water to smooth the walls. No water could last in space without air, and planetoids have no atmosphere to support oxygen. Perhaps the asteroid was a remnant from a broken world that had water. Or something else was lurking inside.

The ship approached a two-way path and Lena slowed the ship down. "Which way?"

"To the left I suppose," said John.

Lena turned the ship to the left, continuing through the dark tunnel.

"How far are we going to hide in here?" Alexis asked.

"Just deep enough so their radars can't track us," said John.

"I think we are far enough," said Kara.

John nodded. "Okay. Park us here, Lena."

"Roger that." Lena stopped the ship and hovered it down to the bottom of the tunnel.

The vessel shook after it landed, and then Lena switched the engines off.

"Now what?" Lena asked.

"Keep your eye on the radar," said John. "We should stay for a couple of hours, and then get the hell out of here."

Lena yawned. "Good. I can take a nap."

She stretched out her arms and leaned back in her chair, placing her boots on the panel. If something happens, an alarm will wake her up.

"I'm going to take a shower." Kara glanced at John with a grin. "Wanna join me?"

John beamed his eyes at her. "Since when do you ever ask me to take a shower with you?"

"Right now. Plus, you smelled like sweaty meat, covered in shit. Girls are very sensitive to body odor."

"That isn't a specific answer I wanted."