by JN Chaney
J. N. Chaney
Copyrighted Material
Renegade Moon Copyright © 2017 by Variant Publications
Book design and layout copyright © 2017 by JN Chaney
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from JN Chaney.
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Books By J.N. Chaney
The Variant Saga:
The Amber Project
Transient Echoes
Hope Everlasting
The Vernal Memory
Renegade Star Series:
Renegade Star
Renegade Atlas
Renegade Moon
Renegade Lost (January 2018)
Renegade Fleet (February 2018)
Renegade Empire (March 2018)
Standalone Books:
Their Solitary Way
The Other Side of Nowhere
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Renegade Moon
J. N. Chaney
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Renegade Moon
Renegade Star Series #3
A Renegade never surrenders.
After evading both the Union and the Sarkonian Empire, Jace and the crew are off in search of Earth. With the help of Titan, their new base of operations, Jace believes they might just have a chance.
That is, if they can outrun the two armies at their backs, and somehow manage to survive a galaxy that wants them dead. Not exactly a walk in the park.
But no one ever said being a Renegade was easy.
Experience a sprawling galactic tale in this third entry to The Renegade Star series. If you’re a fan of Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, or Leviathan Wakes, you’ll love this epic, space opera thriller.
For Dustin,
Thank you for all
the late-night gaming sessions.
One
“You sure you can handle this?” I asked, holding a training stick in the middle of a large room.
Abigail gave me a strange look, like I must be crazy to think I could beat her in one-on-one combat. “I invited you down here,” she said, spinning the staff in her hand. “If you’ll remember.”
“I was just being polite, in case you wanted an out,” I said.
“Me? What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me, Sister,” I said with a slight smirk.
She cocked her brow. “You know I’m not a nun anymore, don’t you?”
“Once a nun, always a nun.” I said as she raised her staff, and a small spark lit up on the other end. We were using electrified weapons in order to test the strength of the shield. It was a safer, albeit still dangerous, alternative to actual gunfire.
Abigail bent her knees and took her fighting stance, giving me a slight nod.
I grinned. “Okay, then,” I said, tapping the switch on my own staff. Sparks emitted from the ends.
I immediately rushed forward, swinging the stick in a low sweep as I went for her legs.
She blocked it, pushing the staff aside with her own, then twisted around and managed to strike my shoulder.
“Shield at 98%,” said the voice in my ear. It was Athena’s, the cognitive program in charge of Titan, our present location.
“Shit,” I muttered, noticing the blue flicker of the shield as it appeared over my body.
“Looks like the shield works,” said Abigail, stepping toward me again, extending the stick towards my chest.
I deflected it, but only barely avoiding the electric sparks as they came within centimeters of my shield. With Abigail off balance, I went for another strike.
She dodged out of the way, but I wouldn’t give her time to come back. I swept low again, knowing she’d block it, holding her staff up with mine as she held it across her chest horizontally.
Then, I pushed my stick forward, sliding it beneath her staff, and tapped her directly in the chest.
Sparks collided with the shield as a soft blue layer appeared around her. “Dammit,” she snapped. “96% remaining.”
“2% more than your hit,” I said, winking. “Must be my man-strength.”
“You’re an idiot,” she said, giving me a look.
I ignored her obvious jealousy. “Makes me wonder how many bullets this thing could take.”
She nodded. “Should we continue until the shields drain? We can test ammunition later, if you’d like.”
I responded with a thrust, stabbing at her face with the stick. She blocked it, then tapped me in the leg for a quick hit.
“Shield at 96%,” I heard Athena say.
I pushed her stick away, going for a middle thrust, but she deflected.
She pressed forward on her leg, signaling her next move, so I got ready for it. When she lunged, I brushed her staff aside and grabbed hold of her arm, spinning her around so she fell across my leg.
She caught my wrist with her hand, yanking me to the floor with her, and I let go of the stick in the confusion. She managed to get on my waist, holding her stick above my neck, about to press down. I grabbed it, pushing the end. It lowered a few centimeters, causing the shield to flicker as the wood collided with the hard-light.
“Shield at 76%,” said the voice in my ear.
“Give up yet?” asked Abigail.
The staff continued to grind on the shield, creating sparks, so I stopped pushing up and started pushing sideways, letting the stick fall beside me and into the floor. It hit the floor next to my head with a loud POP!
Abigail fell forward with it, giving me the chance to grab her waist and turn her around. We rolled until she was under me, the staff beside us, and her body between my knees.
She tried to get up, but I grabbed both her hands and pinned them above her head. “Give up yet?” I asked, echoing her earlier question.
“Goddammit!” she shouted, squirming as she tried to get out of the armlock. “I had you!”
“That’s twice I’ve pinned you now,” I said, only a few centimeters from her face.
“If you’re referring to the time we first met, that one didn’t count. I was wearing my church garments, if you’ll remember,” she said.
“Fine, but that’s still one to zero.” I jumped to my feet, offering her my hand. “Best two out of three?”
“Deal,” she said, grasping my wrist. “But I won’t lose again.”
* * *
As I walked back from the training area, I couldn’t help but observe the sheer size of this megastructure I’d come to call ‘home’. I could probably have fit several thousand ships the size o
f The Renegade Star inside this station, although I couldn’t be sure.
I’d been here for nearly three days, but still hadn’t had the chance to explore much of this place. It was vast and empty, but still full of passages and secrets. Given enough time, I wondered how much loot I could salvage.
I snickered as I passed through an open archway, into another corridor. This one had a garden lining its sides. Varying kinds of flowers of all colors and shapes, herbs and plants. It gave the otherwise spartan layout a bit of life, something that, for the most part, seemed to be lacking in other areas of Titan.
“Captain,” came a voice from above. Athena instantly manifested in front of me, taking me by surprise.
“Holy shit,” I said, throwing my hand up at her. “Say something before you go leaping out in front of people like that.”
“I apologize,” she said, bowing her head, slightly. “Although, I did say ‘Captain.’”
I paused. Had the fancy computer program—no, the Cognitive—just given me a bit of sass? “Just tell me what you want, Athena.”
She smiled, pleasantly. “Yes, sir. I wanted to let you know that I have restored access to the bridge and would prefer to convene there.”
“Not now,” I said, fanning my hand. “I need a shower.”
“Understood. When you’re ready, Captain.” She disappeared, fading completely out of sight.
I continued on my way, hearing laughter from further down the hall as I drew closer to the next turn.
Lex, as usual, was playing in the garden dirt, while Freddie sat nearby, reading on his pad. “Mr. Hughes!” called the little girl when she saw me.
“Hey, kid,” I said, nodding.
Freddie looked up and smiled. “Back from sparring with Sister Abigail? How did the test go?”
“They’re good, but there’s a limit to them. We can only take so many hits before they drain.” I crossed my arms. “I kicked her ass, too, in case you were wondering.”
“Impressive! She’s quite the fighter,” he said, a genuine look of astonishment on his face.
Lex held up a clump of dirt. “Mr. Hughes, you wanna play with the flowers?”
“Not particularly,” I said, continuing my walk. “But you have fun in the dirt, kid.”
“Thanks, Mr. Hughes!” she said, far too excited about flowers and dirt than anyone ought to be.
After leaving them, I made my way to the landing dock where my ship, The Renegade Star, waited for me.
There was no one here, not since everybody moved into Titan. My entire crew had taken rooms that were more spacious and luxurious than the quarters they used on my ship. I couldn’t say I blamed them. Besides Abigail and Lex, none of them had to bunk together anymore. They all just wanted to stretch out and relax for a change, which was only natural, but I couldn’t do the same. I had to stay close to my ship, just in case.
“Welcome back, sir,” said Sigmond as I entered the lounge. His voice came through the speaker system.
“Glad to be back,” I muttered, heading straight to my room.
“Is there anything I can do for you, sir?”
I took my shirt off. “Start the shower, would you? I’m beat.”
I stood beneath the steaming water as it hit my scalp and ran along my neck and chest. I lathered up my chest with a dab of shampoo, then closed my eyes under the flowing, hot water. Over the last few weeks, I’d gone from being a lone Renegade smuggler and thief to a fugitive on an ancient megastructure searching for a mythical lost Earth, all the while being chased by two different, formerly opposed militaries that I’d somehow managed to unite against me.
If things got any more complicated, I might just have to get drunk.
Actually, now that I thought about it, that didn’t sound like a terrible idea.
I turned the valve on the shower and proceeded to use the air-dryer. When I was dressed, I took my happy ass to the lounge and poured a cup of whiskey, then sat on the sofa and propped my feet up on the nearby table.
After grabbing a drink and dropping down on the sofa, I let out a long sigh. “Ah,” I said. “That’s what I was missing.”
“Captain Hughes,” said Athena. Her voice came from all around me, like she was everywhere. That was because of the artifact we’d brought with us, an old communications device known as a turn-key. I’d kept meaning to move the damn thing off this ship, but somehow it kept slipping my mind. “Captain Hughes, please respond.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
“We’re coming out of slipspace in fifteen minutes. Your presence is requested on the bridge.”
“For what? Haven’t you been managing this giant ball for two thousand years on your own? What do you need me for?”
“I believe it would be best to show you, Captain. I’ll see you shortly.”
“You hear that, Siggy? I can’t catch a break,” I said, raising my hands in frustration.
“A pity, sir,” said the A.I.
“You know, Siggy,” I said, getting to my feet. “Sometimes I wish it was just you and me again, out for ourselves, living the good life. All this responsibility is killing me.”
“Shall I prime the engines and set a course, sir?” asked Sigmond.
I paused, thinking for a moment. “No, better not,” I finally said. “Let’s see where this whole thing takes us.”
“As you wish, sir. I shall follow your lead.”
I walked through the ship’s airlock, out into the landing platform. “I’d expect nothing less, Siggy.”
Two
“Welcome, Captain,” said Athena, who was already in her hard-light form, standing near a large monitor along the far wall.
Abigail was there, too, a new outfit on and with her hair up. “Impressive, isn’t it, Jace?”
“Hello to both of you,” I said, having a look around. The bridge was smaller than you might imagine for a ship as large as Titan, but still pretty damn big. The ceiling stood at about ten meters, and there was enough space here to hold what must have been three dozen workstations.
Not that anyone used them. This entire ship was empty, except for me and my crew. It was far too much space for just eight people.
Was my crew eight now? Actually, I hadn’t stopped to consider whether or not Camilla and her father, Bolin, qualified yet. I guessed they must, since they were here. Where else could they go? The Sarkonians and the Union would only hunt them down and try to use them as leverage against me, just like they did before.
No, I was stuck with those two, the same way I’d been stuck with Abigail, Lex, Freddie, Hitchens, and Octavia.
I smirked. Go figure. I tried going solo and it only brought me a crew.
“Not all systems are fully restored yet, I’m afraid,” said the Cognitive.
“Honestly, I’m surprised this ship is still standing after…how long did you say?” asked Abigail.
“Two thousand years, approximately,” answered the Cognitive.
I whistled. “Long time.”
“Were there many of these passengers?” asked Abigail.
“Oh, yes,” the Cognitive answered. “In fact, I carried a supply of over one million inhabitants.”
“A million?” I asked, dropping my jaw. “There’s no way.”
“Indeed, Captain. This vessel was once quite lively. Such a population could not last indefinitely, of course. Once our power core was depleted, we had no other option but to stop and begin the refueling process.”
“Where did all these people go?” asked Abigail.
“To colonize,” said the Cognitive. “They expanded to new worlds. Over the centuries, settlements and colonies spawned.”
“No one stayed here?” I asked.
“At the time, it was impossible. The ship had lost power. Attempts were made to bring our systems back online, but the only viable solution required long-term power transference from a raw source.” She waved her hand at the nearby wall, and suddenly a screen lit up, showing the surface of the planet where we had foun
d the moon, only a few days ago. I recognized the tower and the circular building around it, except here, in this image, it was fully intact. “You saw this before, did you not?”
“Yeah, it nearly killed us,” I said.
“This is but the peak of an otherwise underground structure known as a power enclave. Its purpose is to gather thermal and nuclear energy in order to resupply Titan’s emergency power. A group of scientists and workers remained behind during the colonization effort in order to revive our systems. They were the people who built those structures. Sadly, the activation process was never performed.” She smiled at me. “Until you arrived.”
“In other words, they left you here to rot,” I said.
“Jace, don’t be rude,” said Abigail, giving me a look that suggested I’d better watch myself.
I ignored her. “These people went through all the trouble of building this giant moon-sized monstrosity, only to leave it behind when it got too hard. Seems wasteful, don’t you think?”
Athena didn’t say anything, which told me I was right.
“Please, Captain, while I appreciate your words, I must assure you that I was not abandoned,” said Athena. “On the contrary, my mission was to deliver the colonists to their designated worlds where they could prosper and grow. I was not able to do this, although I am happy to know the mission was ultimately a success.”
The screen flickered behind her, showing the slip tunnel, and she froze for a brief moment. The tiles on the wall changed to screens, allowing us to see outside the ship. It was green and swirling, as slipspace tended to be, and lightning shattered along the distant tunnel sides.
“Exiting slipspace,” said Athena, finally moving again.
A split formed before us, cutting down along the passage, revealing the dark void of normal space. Titan moved through it, leaving the tunnel behind. I could already see the nearby star—a small white dwarf.
Athena looked at me. “Captain, this is why I asked you to join me here. We have a situation involving our fuel reserves.”