Collision Course - An Aeon 14 Space Opera Adventure

  COLLISION COURSE

  PERILOUS ALLIANCE – BOOK 3

  BY CHRIS J. PIKE

  & M. D. COOPER

  SPECIAL THANKS

  Just in Time (JIT) & Beta Reads

  Lisa Richman

  Timothy Van Oosterwyk Bruyn

  David Wilson

  Alastar Wilson

  Jim Dean

  Copyright © 2017 Chris J. Pike & M. D. Cooper

  Aeon 14 is Copyright © 2017 M. D. Cooper

  All rights reserved.

  Cover Art by Laércio Messias

  Editing by Tee Ayer

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  FOREWORD

  PREVIOUSLY IN THE PERILOUS ALLIANCE…

  CRASHED

  CAPTIVE

  VALLEYS OF JERICHO

  SOMETHINGASAURUS

  NO REST FOR THE WEARY

  ELSEWHERE

  BROTHER MINE

  RECUPERATION

  VENGEANCE

  GIRL INTERRUPTED

  NEGOTIATIONS

  KINGFISHER

  SILSTRAND SPACE FORCE

  FAMILY

  LIBERATOR

  FATHER

  THE QUEEN

  REPATRIATION

  RICKET

  FINAL MEAL

  LOOSE ENDS

  MOTHER

  S&H DEFENSIVE ARMAMENTS

  ASSASSINATION

  RETURN TO SILSTRAND

  ZEALOUS DEFENSE

  SHUTDOWN

  INGRATITUDE

  THE PRESIDENT AND THE FIELD MARSHAL

  REUNION

  CHIPS AND CARETAKERS

  THE NEW CREW

  EPILOGUE: A NEW MASTER

  THE BOOKS OF AEON 14

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  FOREWORD

  This book was a thrill to weave together. Chris and I worked long and hard to get the threads that we broke apart in Strike Vector drawn close once more, and we’re certain the adventure won’t disappoint.

  Connecting this book into the larger goings-on in the Orion War and Inner Stars was also a fun time, and we see some old favorites make an appearance and maybe some new folks joining Team Tanis and her mission to stop the Orion War before it spreads across all humanity.

  Bit-by-bit the alliances are forming, and the lines are being drawn. We’re getting a better look at the bigger picture; both you and the characters are starting to see what’s actually unfolding.

  I sincerely believe you’re going to love this story, and the openings it leaves for more great stories in the Silstrand Alliance, and the region of space known as the Fringe.

  Michael Cooper

  Danvers, 2017

  PREVIOUSLY IN THE PERILOUS ALLIANCE…

  When last we left our erstwhile heroes—well, not all of them are heroes, but we’ll call them that for the sake of argument—things were grim.

  Kylie had been betrayed by Nadine, a Hand Agent working for Petra and the Transcend. She’s been taken by her brother, David, to be brought before her father, Peter Rhoads, leader of the Revolution Fleet.

  Nadine, Winter, and Rogers have crashed on Jericho, deep in one of the equatorial valleys where there is still enough air for life to maintain a foothold. Only…its not the sort of life they want to find.

  Grayson has been captured aboard the Emperor’s Tears, where Lana lays in cryostasis. The Scipian spies who have him are not interested in a gentle interrogation, either.

  What’s more, Maverick (through the assistance of Kylie) has become the President of the Gedri Freedom Federation and has declared it an independent state, waging a civil war against Silstrand forces in the system.

  Things are heating up, and are on—you guessed it—a collision course.

  CRASHED

  STELLAR DATE: 09.24.8948 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Equatorial Valleys, Jericho

  REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance

  Nadine moaned and her eyes fluttered open. She stared up at the ceiling of the Dauntless. Lights flickered overhead and smoke drifted out of her comms console. When she tried to move, a sharp pain stabbed through her side and her fingers tingled as she stretched her arm.

  What happened? Where were the others?

  The ship lurched and the a-grav systems shut down. Then a terrible rending screech reverberated through the hull. The sound wasn’t like that of an explosion, or of stresses tearing a ship apart.

  It was slow, deliberate, like the way an animal might attach itself to its victim and begin tearing off meat, joint by joint, and the ship panel by panel.

  If it was what she thought it was, they’d be dead within minutes.

  “Port-side passage has lost pressure, but the cargo-bay door is sealed. Something’s breached the hull,” Winter said.

  Her voice tight with tension, Nadine called out, “Bridge door isn’t responding.”

  “Do it manually. Seal the bridge!” Rogers shouted. “I’m dumping us out.”

  Nadine unbuckled her harness and pushed off in the zero-g to the door at the back of the bridge. She pulled the manual lever, sliding it down, and an explosive charge fired and pushed the door shut.

  But before the door engaged, she saw a darkness flowing into the ship, seeping down the passageway. She kicked off the bulkhead, flying across the bridge, just barely grabbing the back of her seat as she raced past.

  “No!” Nadine hissed as she settled into her seat and threw her strap over her shoulder. “We can’t let it out of the dark layer!”

  “It?” Winter asked.

  The things that lived in the dark layer. By the stars, how had they been unlucky enough to attract one of those things’ attention? And how had they been lucky enough to survive? If they had let it out of the dark layer, they would be responsible for the destruction of the system, maybe all of Silstrand.

  She needed to find everyone. Rogers and Winter. Wait, where was Kylie?

  “Kylie,” Nadine whispered and felt a stabbing pain in her chest. It was being crushed by something heavy and immobile. Something was on her and Nadine did her best to push it off, but she couldn’t. Instead, whatever had punctured her side, had just been driven deeper inside. Nadine moaned and tilted her head back.

  Kylie was gone, she remembered now.

  Nadine swept Kylie’s hair away staring at the face of the woman she loved, knowing they would see one another soon. Very soon.

  Then everything would be explained.

  “She’ll wake up in a couple of days. Enough time for you to get to your ship and head home. It’s time she went home, David. Her family needs her. She needs them too.”

  Nadine took a deep breath and gazed away. “The AI…”

  “You see it too? You understand?” David whispered.

  Solemnly, Nadine nodded. “I understand everything, same as you do. Take her home and make her understand, but don’t hurt her. If you hurt her, I’ll come for you. I have means at my disposal to make you and your whole family pay. Understand me?”

  She had betrayed Kylie so she could complete her mission: assassinating Peter Rhoads. Now, the Dauntless had crashed somewhere…somewhere Nadine couldn’t remember, and Kylie was on a ship bound for her father.

  And Nadine couldn’t pursue her. She had failed her mission. Everything was falling apart….

  She tilted her head back and caught sight of the pilot’s seat. There Rogers’ body dangled unmoving, his head hanging forward; dead or unconscious. Neither of those were good things, but still Nadine held onto hope and stretched a hand out to him. “Rogers?” she whispered.

  There was no response and she felt despair well up within he
r, threatening to crush all hope.

  Nadine glanced down at the blood staining her jacket from her chest wound. Her nano was struggling to keep up with the blood loss—if someone didn’t help her soon, Nadine was going to die.

  CAPTIVE

  STELLAR DATE: 09.24.8948 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Emperor’s Tears

  REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance

  “Does this make me look fat?”

  Grayson turned from the bedroom mirror to view his wife of about ten hours. Warm sunlight shone through their wide bedroom window, lighting up her long brown hair as she stood silhouetted against its soft glare. His newlywedded wife, Kylie, stood in one of his dress shirts. The sleeves were too long and she spun around, the roundness of her ass peeking out—blue panties and all. Grayson laughed. “Nothing, darling, could ever make you fat.”

  Kylie smirked as she threw her arms around his neck and Grayson swept her long brown hair off her shoulder so he could kiss her neck. “I’m starting to think you really don’t want me to go.” He caressed her arm, smothering her lips with his. He reveled in the smell of her, pressing himself against her as only they could do at home. Outside these walls they were space force officers, and decorum was expected at all times. But at home, Grayson wanted nothing more than to lose himself in her.

  “I don’t want you to go.” Kylie pouted and grabbed his shirt with both hands. “We were promised an extended leave.”

  “Duty calls,” Grayson sighed and raised his eyebrows, “But I’ll make it up to you.” He kissed her again—slowly this time—and Kylie moaned, melting into his arms as though she had always been there. To Grayson, she always had. Always would.

  “Back to bed,” Kylie whispered and bit gently at his nose. She hooked her fingers into his belt and slowly drew him backward.

  With great reluctance, he stopped himself. “You know I can’t. You can’t either; we both have responsibilities. When the SSF calls…”

  “We answer. I know.” Kylie gazed at him with her big soulful eyes and Grayson almost couldn’t resist her silent siren call. He’d always sworn he’d never marry, certainly never have children. He was a career military man and happy to be one, but just one look from her threatened everything he had always believed. If she asked…he just might give it all up for her. Kylie might have been SSF as well, but she wasn’t as dedicated to it as he was. It had never been a problem between them—thank his lucky stars—and Grayson hoped it never would be.

  “I’ll make some coffee before you have to rush off.” Kylie turned to leave the bedroom, but Grayson caught her hand.

  “Please, stars no. I’ll make the coffee. You get dressed.”

  “My coffee isn’t that bad, is it?” She asked with tilt of her head, but the smirk she wore gave away what she knew all too well.

  “You have no idea.” Grayson laughed, his hands perched on her delicate hips. “You defy the laws of physics. Your coffee shouldn’t be possible.”

  Kylie pulled the shirt she wore down over her shoulders, then her arms, slowly letting it drop to the floor. “One more minute.”

  She was irresistible.

  “One more minute,” Grayson agreed as he kissed her and hoisted her up. He took a step toward the bed and pushed her backward. They rolled beneath the white down comforter, and for a short while, neither had a care in the world.

  Until a splash of cold water on his face startled him awake.

  * * * * *

  Inside cargo hold two, Grayson snorted awake, aware of how numb his arms were. And the happy images of Kylie vanished. The feelings of love and happiness left a desperate hole in him and it rotted away as he glanced up at the ceiling, the crimp in his neck complaining painfully.

  He was strung up in the center of a room.

  Memories flooded back, memories of more than just a little abuse at the hands of his torturer. There was a tight, wrong feeling in his chest, and his face burned from multiple lacerations, rivulets of blood mixing with tears caked onto his cheeks and chin.

  Grayson glanced down at the remains of his open shirt—ripped, or cut apart, he couldn’t remember. He saw the burns; four…strange…he only remembered three. The long welts from a whip crisscrossed his chest and he couldn’t tell which hurt worse…nor could he differentiate one pain from the other.

  His legs shook and he almost fell to his knees, only remaining upright through sheer force of will.

  His torturer was devious. Grayson was able to kneel, but doing so pulled his arms straight above his head, his weight half on them, half on his knees. It was excruciating, and after a just few minutes breathing became difficult.

  So, he struggled to stand against the odds. He struggled to stay awake, endure the pain, and not answer any of their questions.

  Grayson blinked at the bright lights above, black spots and dancing stars dominating his vision. He squinted and tried to pull his head up so he could look away, but the movement was torture on his shoulders.

  The suppression band around his head only worsened the fogginess in his mind. He couldn’t reach the Link, couldn’t control the nano within his body to facilitate any pain suppression or rapid healing.

  His strength was sapped, and he had little doubt that he would remain in this position for some time—maybe even until they reached Scipio. By then he’d either be dead, or they’d move him to a more efficient torture system.

  Neither option sounded very appealing.

  “You have enough yet?”

  Tayna. Of all the crew on the Emperor’s Tears she was the last he would have believed to be their vicious screw-turner. In retrospect, maybe he should have expected it. She was a predator. Oozed it from every pour.

  Grayson struggled to pull his head up straight; in the end he rested it against his shoulder and squinted at her while trying to steady his breathing enough to talk.

  “Yes please, you can stop at any time now. You know I’m not going to talk.”

  Especially not to the likes of her.

  When he focused on her face it was black, flecked with the stars that raced across his vision. He looked to the side, able to see out of the corner of his eyes and watched her stride away, her long braid flicking back and forth as she moved.

  She stopped at her table of implements and selected a scalpel. Her selection was swift, and a few moments later she was before him once more, shoving the sharp blade beneath his nose, nicking his skin with its tip.

  “You might want to reconsider your response. You never know, I might learn to forgive you, let you live. If you don’t give me any more trouble, maybe I’ll even let you return to my bed.”

  Grayson snorted. “I might have slept with you, I might have enjoyed it, but I was thinking of someone else the whole time.” Was still thinking of her now.

  Tayna gripped his hair and yanked his head back. Grayson gasped as his muscles tensed and the sharp breath made his lungs scream in agony.

  The scalpel played at his neck, cutting near his arteries, but not deep enough to hit them—yet. “You might want to think about the things you say, Grayson. Making me angry doesn’t end well for you.”

  “Believe me, making you angry is the last thing I want to do, but let’s be honest, there’s no good ending in this for me. Plus, you’re not as good between the sheets as you think you are—certainly not a patch on her.”

  Tayna’s jaw grated side to side. “Who were you speaking with? Who the hell are you?”

  “You would’ve seen that for yourself if you hadn’t destroyed my comm array. You’re rash. Now it’s costing you.”

  “Wise guy, huh? Who the hell are you working for?”

  “No one,” Grayson said. “I’m in it for myself. Aren’t I pathetic?” Finally, a word of truth in a sea of lies. “If you want to kill me, go ahead and do it. I’ve got nothing left to live for.” He had meant the words to be a simple retort, something he said to rile her up. Then it dawned on him. It was true.

  He really did have nothing left to l
ive for.

  Without the SSF, without even his treacherous AI, Jerrod, what was there for him? Kylie might never forgive him for walking away. She would never be back in his arms…

  No. There was still something he could do. One last mission: free Lana and get her off this ship before they reached Scipio. If he could do that, maybe he’d prove he did have some value after all.

  Tayna snorted. “You’re right about one thing. You are pathetic.” She slapped him across the face. “Weren’t man enough to take your own life, so here you are, huh? Now, you’re in my hands and if you beg me to kill you, I’m going to do worse.” Tayna punctuated her words by slicing open the skin along his shoulder.

  He sucked in his breath, and bit his lip. With his training, he could have borne it without making a sound, but he wasn’t above showing her a response. It might keep her from digging in deeper.

  “So much worse. I’m going to make you suffer, Tom Rudy. Or whatever your name is.”

  Grayson was wrong. It wasn’t enough. She drew the blade to his bicep, driving it deep and scraping the point along the bone before twisting it viciously.

  He counted to ten, then twenty, keeping his eyes trained on the ceiling and his mouth open, fighting against the urge to scream.

  “Who did you call? What did you tell them about us?”

  Tayna finally removed the scalpel and Grayson swallowed, tasting blood from biting his cheek.

  She turned back to her table and picked up a silver pad. He had a suspicion as to what it would be and braced himself for what was to come.

  “Looks like you recognize this,” Tayna said with a wicked smile as she stuck it onto his chest. “You’re nice and lean. I’m told that makes it hurt more, something to do with nerve density.”

  “Maybe you should try it and see for yourself,” Grayson said with a wan smile.

  Tayna grabbed his face and squeezed his lips together. Normally it wouldn’t hurt that much, but her grasp tore at the cuts on his face and he gritted his teeth against the pain.