by J. N. Chaney
His words came out in an excited rush. “That’s the thing, Captain. I came in to work on the system, hoping to find anything that might help in the files. The whole thing lit up, just now. The data on the displays… it’s incredible.”
“Oscar. Why is this something I need to know now?”
“Oh, right. Sorry. The data, it shows a network. I can see other devices, including the one on Elysia. And that one just went active. Oh, gods. Hold on, something’s happening. It looks like someone is trying to open it from another location.”
As he talked, Abigail and I took a few healthy steps back. The device in the room was emitting a higher pitched sound now, and a ball glowed in the middle. I’d seen that before, when the Celestial escaped from Tartarus.
“Captain, your transporter just went into active status!” yelled Oscar.
“Yeah, I can see that. Gotta go.” I cut the transmission and hauled up my rifle, activating my personal shield in the process. Abigail did the same. “Athena and Sigmond, this is Hughes. I need backup! Get your asses in here!”
The glowing orb expanded, getting brighter with each second.
“Jace, back the hell up,” Abigail shouted. “We need to get out of here until we know—”
In an explosion of light, the orb disappeared and a mobile armor suit took its place, its hand cannon already primed.
It cocked its head at me, and something about it was familiar.
Before it could react, I fired on it using the hard-light ammunition that Dressler and Davon had created.
The Celestial jerked back in surprise as Abigail tore into it with another torrent of bullets that sent it stumbling. It seemed largely unbothered, however, and proceeded to respond with a blast from its arm cannon.
A purple beam lanced out and struck Abigail, knocking her through the air.
“No!” I shouted.
Her body flew back and slammed into the wall before she hit the ground. I couldn’t tell if the shield had protected her or if the blast had gone through it, and I didn’t have the luxury of time to check.
I ran at the Celestial, shooting in the process.
“Siggy, where the hell are you?!” I yelled.
A loud boom shook the room. “The door will not open, sir. Hold on, we’re coming.”
I didn’t answer, too busy rolling to avoid taking a hit like Abigail had. Another boom sounded, and I stumbled. The suit was on me in an instant, trying to overtake me, probably so it could grab and crush me. I kept my distance, knowing better than to fight something that big up close.
I activated the arm blades and dove below an oncoming swing. My trio of blades had gone right through its foot, shearing a chunk of metal free. I took the opportunity to get back on my feet.
The suit snapped to face me again and raised its arm. Three short blasts aimed right at me, but I was already running. I dove and slashed out at its legs. The appendages were thick enough that I had to come back in for a second attempt, but the Celestial began to fall, unable to support its own weight anymore. The top half was still intact as it tried to get off a few more shots.
I still had the rifle in my hands and fired, mutilating its hand cannon, then I pointed the barrel at its head. “Why can’t you just fucking die?!”
The Celestial’s head turned, as though surprised, and it said something I couldn’t understand. It was the first time I’d ever heard one of them actually use--well, if not words, then something resembling them--and the sound of it was almost mechanical, like metal beating against metal.
In one final attempt, the creature tried to lash out with the other hand, but it malfunctioned and dropped harmlessly to the ground. I cleared my visor so it could see my face, then finally sent a killing round straight into its head.
Epilogue
Abigail’s personal shield had protected her from the worst of the blast, but she still needed a turn in the healing pod to recover. I let her rest and made my way to Dressler’s lab, where I found the doc and Alphonse suspiciously close to one another.
I cleared my throat.
Dr. Dressler spun around quickly, stepping away from Alphonse in the process.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting,” I said.
Dressler glared at me. “Captain Hughes. As I’m sure you’re aware, Mr. Malloy and I are two adults. We are fully capable of pursuing whatever—”
“I don’t care what the two of you do in your own time,” I said, stepping into the lab. “That’s not why I’m here.”
For his part, Alphonse stayed quiet, though I noticed he didn’t flush pink like before.
I waited a long beat, then gave the woman a cheeky grin. “Besides, you’re the one who called me.”
She opened her mouth as if to argue, then quickly shut it. “I… yes. Over the last few days, I’ve been testing Lex’s physiology. The change seems to be more than my earlier estimates predicted.”
“In what way?” I asked.
Noting my face, she held up her hands in a calming gesture. “It’s nothing to be overly concerned about, I assure you. As you witnessed in the hydroponics bay, she seems to have developed certain attributes. I had her perform multiple tests and compared all of her results.”
“Compared them to what?” I asked.
Dressler paused to shoot Alphonse a look, then focused on me again. “Everyone, Eternals and Transients alike. Lex is incomparable to all of them. I’ve also found her abilities to exceed certain high performance athletes, if you can believe it.”
“What?” I asked, almost scoffing.
“It’s true,” said the doctor. “Her lung capacity, strength, agility. Every experiment has shown remarkable and unrivaled improvement. It is unprecedented.”
“The girl is basically superhuman at this point,” said Alphonse.
“I guess this is a good thing,” I replied. “I’m not going to complain that Lex is indestructible. As long as you’re not going to hit me with bad news. With Abigail in recovery, I could do without any more of that.”
Dr. Dressler shook her head. “No. Whatever degradation might have been in her genetic code, it is gone. Hygeia really did find a workable cure. More than that, she seems to have enhanced the child’s genes to…” She hesitated. “Well, to perfection, for lack of a better word.”
I stared at her for a moment. “Lex is perfect?” I asked, repeating her words.
Sigmond appeared next to the three of us. “Sir, Professor Hitchens is attempting to reach you about the glyphs we discovered.”
“Great, put him on the holo and let’s hear it.”
A moment later, Hitchens’ jolly red face filled the display. “Why hello there, Captain. I have some information you may want to hear.”
“So I was told,” I replied. “What do you got, Prof?”
“As you know, I’ve been working over the last several hours to decipher the data collected on the alien ring. While doing so, I believe I’ve found something that you may find interesting. There are names mentioned in the text that are identical to the old gods.”
“The gods?” I asked. “As in the stories they talk about in church, like Decias and Protias? Or are we talking about another group that I don’t know about?”
“Exactly the ones you mentioned, Captain. One set of glyphs tells a story that is very similar to one of the old myths, but in a new context. The names are the same but told with slight differences. The story mentions a place the gods were said to have ascended to—their version of the afterlife—but it doesn’t read like a fairy tale. Rather, it is written historically.”
I scoffed. “What, are you telling me these aliens or whatever they were believed in the same gods that humans do?”
Even Dressler and Alphonse were smiling at the idea, but Hitchens didn’t laugh. “The text doesn’t leave any doubt, Captain. Whoever created the glyphs wrote with a purpose. Like reading a report, or directions.”
“Directions to where?” I said, chuckling a little. “Heaven?”
Again, Hitchens
didn’t laugh, but he did smile. “Precisely, Captain. According to the data, the gods departed to the center of the galaxy. What’s more, it ends with the coordinates to another slip tunnel, one not otherwise referenced in any of the data listed in Carl’s system.” He looked down at the pad in his hand. “And if I’m reading this correctly, they seem to have even given this tunnel a specific name.”
“And what is that?” I asked.
Hitchens glanced back up. “The Gate of Eternity.”
JACE, ABIGAIL, and LEX will return in RENEGADE EVOLUTION, coming December, 2019.
For more updates on this series, be sure to join the Facebook Group, “J.N. Chaney’s Renegade Readers.”
Read on for a special note from the author.
Author Notes
Here we are again, friends. The road to this point has been intense. Athena and Lex are both undergoing transformations (Athena is becoming more sentient, while Lex is gaining new abilities). Time will tell what that actually means for either of them.
Meanwhile, Jace is busy trying to find an advantage against the Celestials, which has taken him to a ringworld. You can bet he wasn’t expecting to find one of those when he woke up this morning. And what’s all this about the gods building it? Did the Celestials really salvage their technology from them? There are so many questions to ask and so many answers to dig up in the next book that I can’t help but get excited.
We’re entering the final stretch of the story and things are about to kick off in a BIG way. With the reveal of the gods, the true history of the Renegade Universe is about to be told. I’ve been planning this for quite some time and can’t wait to finally share it with you.
Renegade Evolution will arrive sometime in December, so please be patient with me as I continue working on it. In the meantime, remember to check out the other Renegade spinoffs, including the prequels (to date: Nameless, The Constable, The Constable Returns, and Warrior Queen) as well as the various side series (The Last Reaper, The Fifth Column, Resonant Son, Orion Colony, and more).
Speaking of which, I’ve been working with different partners to bring you even more stories. Sol Arbiter has just released, along with The Messenger, and Ruins of the Galaxy, all of which I had a ton of fun with. I also wrote a short story called The Forever Family that you can check out if you want.
If you’re looking for more Renegade Universe content, rest assured that it is on the way. I’m in the middle of working on several new storylines in this universe that I think you’ll enjoy. I like to work on multiple projects simultaneously to keep my creative juices flowing, if you couldn’t already tell.
Outside of all of this, I recently did a full Q&A hangout in the Facebook group (link below). That community has really grown over the last six months and has become one of the most entertaining scifi groups I’ve ever seen (though, I might be a little biased). If you want to have discussions about the books, please join us and weigh in on what you think about them (or anything scifi related, for that matter), because we’d love to hear from you.
Finally, with all of that being said, I want to let you know that we recently redesigned the website with a full Renegade Universe timeline as well as links to every ebook, audiobook, and piece of art we’ve ever put together. You can even find free phone backgrounds. For all of that, just head over to www.jnchaney.com .
As always, Renegades, thank you for reading,
J.N. Chaney
PS. Amazon won’t tell you when the next Renegade book will come out, but there are several ways you can stay informed.
1) Fly on over to the Facebook group, JN Chaney’s Renegade Readers, and say hello. It’s a great place to hang with other sarcastic sci-fi readers who don’t mind a good laugh.
2) Follow me directly on Amazon. To do this, head to the store page for this book (or my Amazon author profile) and click the Follow button beneath my picture. That will prompt Amazon to notify you when I release a new book. You’ll just need to check your emails.
3) You can join my mailing list by clicking here. This will allow me to stay in touch with you directly, and you’ll also receive a free copy of The Amber Project.
Doing one of these or all three (for best results) will ensure you know every time a new entry in the Renegade Star series is published. Please take a moment to do one of these so you’ll be able to join Jace, Abigail, and Lex on their next galaxy-spanning adventure.
Important Characters and Terms
HUMANS – VERDUNIANS
Jace Hughes: Known as the Renegade, he is a former smuggler, gun-for-hire, currently the captain of the Renegade Star and the leader of Earth.
Abigail Pryar (Abby): Kidnapper, assassin, former nun, and Jace’s second-in-command. Abigail risked her life in order to rescue the albino child Lex from a Union laboratory, inciting a series of events that would lead her to encountering Jace on Taurus Station. She often helms the Galactic Dawn on various recruitment missions in the Deadlands, searching for new colonists to bring to Earth.
Frederick Tabernacle (Freddie): Former priest and scholar. Frederick is an expert on the writings of Dr. Darius Clare, the founder of the Church of the Homeworld. Despite his obvious fear and anxiety under pressure, Freddie is consistently reliable in the face of danger, willing to do anything for the sake of his friends and allies.
Octavia Brie: Assistant archaeologist, brilliant pilot, combat expert, and former Union medic, Octavia remains an invaluable asset in the mission to rebuild Earth. After being shot by Fratley Oxanos, Octavia lost the use of her legs and believed she would never be able to walk again. That is, until the crew discovered Titan and restored power to its medical bay. When not on the job, Octavia can be found with her colleague and close friend, Dr. Hitchens, though the true nature of their relationship remains somewhat ambiguous.
Dr. Thadius Hitchens (The Professor): Archaeologist with a focus on Ancient Earth Theory. After the discovery of a group of albino colonists, Hitchens has turned his focus to teaching. He remains optimistic and jolly, no matter the situation, and is always looking to the future.
Alphonse Malloy (Al): Former Union Constable and spy, expert military strategist, and stoic thinker. During his time at the Red Tower—the Constable intelligence center—Alphonse discovered detailed information on the experiments that were being performed on Lex. Appalled at what he had found, Alphonse disguised himself as a soldier on a ship that had been tasked with pursuing the Renegade Star, allowing him to ultimately encounter Jace Hughes. After saving Lex and proving his loyalty, Alphonse has become a valued member of the crew and a trusted ally in the fight to rebuild Earth.
Dr. MaryAnn Dressler: A former Union scientist on Priscilla, Dressler was kidnapped by Jace Hughes when they stole a Tritium Core for Titan. While she was initially highly critical of Jace, she has since reversed her stance, especially after witnessing his protective loyalty for Lex and the other colonists. Always analytical and logical in her approach, she remains distant from most of the crew, the only exception being Alphonse Malloy, whom she has grown quite fond of in recent weeks.
Lex: Discovered in a small pod when she was just an infant, Lex spent most of her early life in a Union lab, due to her unique physiology and strange tattoos. The Union correctly believed that Lex held the key to rediscovering the lost homeworld of humanity known as Earth. Due to her Eternal ancestry, Lex possesses advanced healing, a greatly extended lifespan, albino skin, white hair, and blue eyes. As far as she or anyone else knows, Lex is truly the last of her kind, being the only pureblood Eternal known to exist. Despite this, Lex remains cheerful, often shining a light in an otherwise dark or dire situation.
Bolin Abernathy: A former scrap dealer, he and his daughter were rescued by the crew after being kidnapped by the Sarkonians. Bolin is a skilled pilot and trusted friend to anyone who would have him. Since joining the team, he has been given his own command and remains a valued squadron leader in the battle to defend Earth.
Camilla Abernathy: Teenage daughter of Bolin Abernathy.<
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Angus: Jace first encountered Angus on Z-28K, a Union controlled mining moon. He bartered with Jace for his people’s safe passage to Earth. He is now a trusted part of the community and helps to keep things in line when Jace is busy offworld. Angus is a master computer technician. He also has four daughters, all of whom share the same red hair as their father.
McCabe: A former employee of the Vernise Trading Co. and current Alliance pilot, loyal to Jace.
HUMANS – UNION
Admiral-General Marcus Brigham (deceased): The former leader of the Union fleet tasked with hunting down the Renegade Star and capturing Lex. He was killed by Jace in one-on-one combat. Upon his death, he promised Jace that the Union would never stop hunting him, no matter how far he ran.
Vice Admiral Vick: The leader of the Union fleet in charge of the Union’s activity within the Alliance. He and Jace’s relationship started off strained due to Vick’s friendship with Marcus Brigham, though it has since become more amiable. Vick continues to largely distrust both the Sarkonians and Jace, but he has, thanks to the influence of those around him, begun to see the value in his former adversary.
Lieutenant Oberon Rackham: Vice Admiral Vick’s righthand man and go-to proxy for any missions involving Earth. Rackham has developed a strong respect for Jace and remains an advocate for the treaty between their two people. He is open minded and keeps a calm head in tense situations.
Patrick Shaw: The former Admiral-General was pushed into early retirement when he sided with Jace in the conflict against the Celestials. He is a former Constable leader and Alphonse’s mentor. Due to his experience, he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge during his time in the Constable training. This, coupled with his many contacts across the galaxy who funnel him information on current events, he stands ready to prove his value even to the most cynical of critics.