Page 3 of Eclipse Bound (Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides #7)

Chapter Two

One Earth Month Later…

"Have you tried hitting it again?" Bob suggested helpfully from the ship's communication screen.

Eclipse gripped the safety restraints as their vessel shuddered through Earth's atmosphere.

The ship's stabilizers had failed twenty minutes ago, shortly after Gary's voice had assured them that minor turbulence was perfectly normal.

Now the entire control panel flashed with warnings that Eclipse couldn't read because someone, probably their pilot Harris, had set the display to something other than the star language.

"I do not believe additional hitting will help," Eclipse said through gritted teeth. He sat next to Harris with Solar and Lunar locked in chairs on opposite sides of the small landing craft.

"Perhaps if you let me—" Solar tried to reach for the controls, trailing sparks of agitation.

"Touch nothing," Lunar snapped from his chair. "Your light energy has already fried half the systems."

"At least I'm trying to help instead of lurking in the shadows like a?—"

The ship dropped suddenly, and Eclipse’s stomach lurched toward his throat. The communication screen flickered. Bob's yellow face became distorted. Bits of metal rattled around them.

"Not to worry," Bob's chopped voice yelled. "This," the screen went black, "normal… worried," static, "first-time landings."

"Did he say crash landings?" Solar asked.

"First-time landings," Eclipse corrected, though he was beginning to wonder if there was a difference in Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides' vocabulary.

Harris’ communicator had only worked for about five minutes on the trip, not that the trainee seemed to know much about what was going on. He smacked the controller. Alarms started blaring in warning, and smoke curled from the console.

Through the flickering viewscreen, Earth's surface rushed up to meet them. A cluster of red rock formations loomed ahead, their jagged peaks less than welcoming. Eclipse could make out small structures below, gathered around what appeared to be a circular landing dock.

“Is the ship cloaked?” Eclipse demanded, pushing frantically at the controls. The cloaking indicator light didn't blink.

"That's the yoga retreat we were telling you about with the bendy females," Gary's voice crackled through the speakers. "Try not to destroy too much of it. Earth insurance paperwork is worse than actual murder."

The comms went dead.

"We're coming in too fast," Lunar observed calmly from his shadowed corner. “You should slow the ship.”

"Do you think?" Solar's golden skin flared with sarcasm. "I hadn't noticed with all the alarms."

Eclipse ignored them both, focusing on the rapidly approaching ground.

The ship's landing dampeners refused to deploy, and the steering controls felt like they were filled with comet dust. Harris kept hitting buttons that made everything worse, including one that triggered a screaming music track to play through the speakers.

"What are the odds we will survive this impact?" Solar yelled over the noise.

"Pudding," Harris declared, his translator still malfunctioning. "We die like brides!"

"We're not brides," Solar shouted.

Eclipse yanked the controls hard to avoid a particularly tall red spire. The ship responded by spinning, giving them all a nauseating view of ground-sky-ground-sky in rapid succession.

"If we survive," Lunar said calmly, "I really will kill Bob and Gary. Harris will die from his own ineptitude."

"Squish like pizza," Harris answered.

"Not if I get to them first," Solar swore.

Eclipse didn't try to mediate their argument. He was too busy watching a group of humans in strange spacesuits scatter from the docking area below. Most of them had thin, colorful mats rolled under their arms as they ran.

"Remember," Gary announced cheerfully, "the local culture welcomes unusual events. They will think this is entertainment."

“Pudding!” Harris cried out.

The ship clipped a rock formation, and something important-sounding tore away from the hull.

A new alarm joined the chorus. This one sounded distinctly like a countdown.

"Brace for impact!" Eclipse ordered, though it was unnecessary. They'd been braced since entering the atmosphere.

The ship overshot the docking lot like a meteor, bounced once, twice, three times before skidding sideways.

Solar's restraints snapped. He slammed into the ceiling, trailing sparks of indignation, before falling against the back of Eclipse’s head.

Eclipse tried to grab hold of him, but Solar was flung out of his reach.

"Stop glowing," Lunar growled. "You're making the systems worse."

The ship finally ground to a halt, tilted at an awkward angle. The viewing screen remained dark. Solar illuminated a soft light from his place on the floor, allowing him to see more easily. Green smoke filled the ship’s interior with a strange smell.

An automated voice announced, "Warning. Atmospheric seal compromised. Emergency protocols initiated."

"What emergency protocols?" Eclipse demanded.

“Beautiful stinkbug?” Harris responded.

The ship creaked, and then, suddenly, their restraints released and the floor dropped out from under them.

"Pudding!"