NoQS Agent Round: Autonomy

Title: AUTONOMY
Genre: YA Speculative
Word Count: 87,000

My MC and MA (main antagonist) are dressed as:

Rook and Richard both share a love for crowdfunded martial arts parody films that no one has heard of, and as a result dressed up as Hackerman from KUNG FURY.

Query:

When 18-year-old Rook uncovers a fallen satellite in the Yukon wilderness, a logo marks the debris as property of humanity’s first space colony. The station carries volunteers whom no one has heard from in years, and Rook sees the multi-million dollar crash site as his ticket into aerospace—an industry he’s dreamed of working for his entire life. But after cracking through the satellite’s software, Rook learns it’s been blocking the residents from contacting Earth, and from sharing the truth about the horrific experiments they’ve endured within the cosmos.

Now Rook finds himself beneath the eagle eye of the global telecommunications company funding the project. He will have to team up with the basement group of hackers who brought down the satellite if he has any chance at avoiding Biosoft’s crosshairs. And if the group fails to expose the horrors Biosoft committed in the name of space exploration, the company will do more than use them as scapegoats for their crimes. Biosoft will kill the residents of the Settlement Program, one by one, until there is no one left to save.

First 250:

Shards of wood bounced off my glasses as Erick's saw screeched and bit into the tree. A deep crack rattled my teeth, and the massive birch fell, smashing onto the ridge. Its tip dangled over the edge like an arm stretching into open air. After the valley swallowed the sound of crashing timber, Erick pressed two fingers to his temple; the signal to proceed. “Play it carefully. We don’t want another accident.”

The rest of us stood before our buzz saw attachments. My arm fit snugly inside the tube, and I waited until my bracer synced up with the unit. When the connection completed, it let out a low hum, like a twang of a wire, and white light pulsed from its crevices. I lifted the saw in front of me and joined the others as they sliced through sections of the tree now blocking the mountain trail.

Autumn hunched beside me, strands of hair swinging like tiny pendulums. She replaced the saw with an industrial claw, then struggled to lift the chunk of birch as sweat slid down her temple and cheek. Even with gravity assist, these pieces were a bitch to move. Once she reached the ridge, the log tumbled down the hill.

“Watch out,” a voice called from behind. I turned to find a branch flying my way and ducked. Twigs and leaves scraped the side of my face as it sailed past, and I rose, fists clenched to find Noah staring me down. His gaze flicked toward Autumn.