Fractured Gem: A Star Runner Story

By Mark McDonough

“Sell the Gem and settle here on Kiantite Five.” It was the one sentence that Zheen never thought that her father would ever say. After nearly being destroyed by an ion storm and an encounter with an asteroid field, they’ve been grounded. Holas and Zheen are left with few options when they realise how long and how much money it will take to repair their beloved ship. Now the choice must be made.

Before Holas and Zheen joined the Star Runner, before they became part of the crew that would shape the rest of their lives, they were faced with the most terrible prospect that any space-farer could ever face – never being able to travel the stars again. This is the story of the choices that they had to make.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark McDonough
• Release date: Dec 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311967749

Mark McDonough

Mark McDonough has lived his whole life in Queensland, Australia. After growing up in Ipswich, he lived for a short time in Brisbane while attending University. Work then took him to Far North Queensland for a number of years before he moved to his current home of Toowoomba. For as long as Mark can remember, there have been characters clamouring to have their stories told – everything from the depths of time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth through to the vast reaches of space where only the bravest spaceships dare to fly and everywhere in between. Most were written in secret until, one day, those characters demanded that their tales be spread far and wide. Thus, was born Stargon Books. When he's not sitting with laptop or notebook in hand, he can be found at work, with his family or out on the football field where he not only plays but also referees and Coordinates an entire competition. Ultimately, Mark dreams of the day when he can write full time but until then, as he says, "I'm a wordsmith, it's who I am; if I didn't write, I wouldn't be me".

Book preview

FRACTURED GEM

A Story Set in the Star Runner Universe

By Mark McDonough

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Mark McDonough

Current Edition 2019

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to http://www.smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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FRACTURED GEM

A Story Set in the Star Runner Universe

I.

I can’t hold it! We need to get out of here!

Holas Lornicaan barely managed to spare his daughter a glance.

He knew the risks.

He knew what they were up against.

Screaming about it wasn’t going to help.

Do what you can, he replied loudly so that she could hear him over the groans of the space ship.

Sweeping his purple fingers across the controls of the helm, Holas fought his ship. His sensors were all but blind. Half of his engines were down. He was fairly certain that the communications antenna was completely gone. Not that there was anyone in range to hear them.

An explosion rocked the ship and Holas was thrown forward. Winded, gasping for air, he forced himself upright. Sparks flew from a ruptured pipe overhead creating blinding flashes around the room.

Squinting his grey eyes, he peered at the view screen. Nearly a third of the pixels were shorted out, but through the scratchy image, he made out the ion storm that had trapped them.

I’m losing cohesion in the magnetic locks, Zheen warned.

Then use the manual overrides, Holas snapped. You know what to do.

---

Across the tiny aisle from her father, Zheen irritably pushed her long blue-black hair out of her face. If she’d had time, she’d have retied the thong that usually held it back. But she didn’t have that time.

Around them, Lornicaan’s Gem was dying.

Spinning her chair, Zheen staggered towards the back of the control room. There, she activated a secondary panel and began tapping away madly. A shriek, a shudder and a groan from the battered ship sent her flying backwards. Her head collided painfully with the deck.

You alright? Holas asked anxiously.

Zheen looked up at him through blurred eyes. Rolling, she pushed herself to her hands and knees and nearly retched.

I’m fine, she panted.

Giving up on her legs, Zheen crawled back to the far wall. Gasping in pain, she slowly pulled her way up it. Forcing her eyes to focus, she tapped the last commands into the computer.

Manual locks engaged, she announced through gritted teeth.

Sagging, she let herself slump to the deck. She’d done her part. The