Free Worlds Complete Series Boxed Set – Kevin McLaughlin

The shockwave knocked the guards from their position on the ladder and sent Dane and Good tumbling down the ventilation shaft. They fell for about ten feet before they hit a diagonal surface that broke their fall and carried them along like kids on the world’s largest tunnel slide. For a moment, the chaos of the destruction outside was lost as they bounced off the metal sides of the chute like a couple of pinballs.

They crashed into a heap at the bottom of the long shaft. The first thing Dane noticed was how hot it was. Dane sat up, rubbing his head with his hands and wincing from the pain in both. “I have to say, I was half-expecting a giant fan at the bottom to slice us to pieces.” “Oh, there is a fan,” Carlos pointed out. There was, and they had already passed through. It wasn’t spinning because Carlos had removed the bandage from his head and thrown it into the works, effectively jamming the machine.

His wound had stopped bleeding, which was good…if not unusually quick. Dane would have to keep an eye on him and hope it didn’t open again soon. “Smart thinking there, Alvarez,” Good praised. “Looks like you have some engineering in you, after all.” Alvarez shrugged. “I thought it could work.” Dane wondered how Alvarez had shaken off his shock and emerged from the long fall with enough wherewithal to jam the fan when he’d been basically useless minutes ago.

But then, adrenaline could be a wonderful thing. He couldn’t start doubting his team. Even if they had been separated and held for hours in Augmented prison cells. Even if Alvarez’s head wound had closed faster than he’d thought possible. “We need a way out.” “I have one.” Lopez was standing by a door. “I think this place heats the entire city.

This is an access panel. Should take us where we need to go, which is…” “That way.” Anderson pointed at a wall. “How can you be sure?” Dane asked. Anderson shrugged. “Pilot’s sense of direction, I guess. You spent too long flying in space. I spent all my time looking at the surface of planets.” Dane didn’t have time to question Anderson any more than Alvarez.

“Lead the way.” Lopez opened the door, and Anderson leaned in and peeked both ways before choosing one. They followed a tunnel that was blessedly cooler than the hot room they had been in.

This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both. Copyright © 2023 LMBPN Publishing Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing A Michael Anderle Production LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright.

The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture. The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. LMBPN Publishing PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy Las Vegas, NV 89109 Version 1.00, November 2023 eBook ISBN: 979-8-88878-627-7 OceanofPDF.com For Kelly O’Donnell, whose love of coffee may have inspired certain bits of this tale…!

Thanks for all your work helping make this and so many other books possible! OceanofPDF.com CONTENTS Deadly Fathoms Fatal Depths Augmented Fatality Entrapped Worlds Savage Stars Freedom Dawns Other Books By Kevin McLaughlin Books By Michael Anderle Connect with the authors OceanofPDF.com DEADLY FATHOMS FREE WORLDS BOOK 1 OceanofPDF.com CHAPTER ONE Darkness stretched on for more than a lifetime. Then, light. George Dane didn’t want to go into that light. He feared what it meant. He still had work to do.

He had lost so many people in the war, and he didn’t want to join them. Not yet. He might be approaching sixty, but that didn’t mean what it used to with the rejuvenation treatments the Space Force had developed. The Alliance of Democratic Nations had defeated the Coalition, but considering the state of the world, there was no guarantee peace would last.

He shouldn’t have retired. He could still help… “Colonel Dane! Time to wake up…er, sir!” The light grew brighter. Dane had to face it. Funny, he thought the afterlife would be more chill. Knuckles rapped on glass, immediate and uncomfortably present. “I’m going to open the pod.” Memories swirled in Dane’s head. Alone in the cockpit of a tiny star fighter, dogfighting in microgravity and zero atmosphere. A medal being laid on his neck for the people he couldn’t save in those damned unnecessary skirmishes.

Standing on the bridge of what the grunts in the Space Force called a rock dropper, knuckles white as he stared down the captain of a Coalition ship built for the same distressing purpose. Another medal, this time for the millions of people who had lived, thanks to him. Still, there were craters where cities had been.

Ash choking out cropland. Both sides had suffered too many losses. Dust in the atmosphere blocking out the sun and making climate change go the other way. Wearing a jacket in July and complaining about the cold. His retirement announcement. The media wanting to talk to him.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 57cb8070d42f68ee
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 7,028,608 bytes (6.703 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9798888786277
• Pages: 1343
• Language: English (en)

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