Book Read Free

The Galactic Sentinel: Ultimate Edition: 4 Books with 2000+ Pages of Highly Entertaining Sci-Fi Space Adventure

Page 1

by Killian Carter




  Ultimate Edition

  Galactic Sentinel Series

  Killian Carter

  Copyright © Killian Carter

  First published in the United States and Great Britain by Starcane Press, in 2020

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.

  Any person who makes any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable for criminal prosecution and civil claims and damages.

  The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

  Written by

  Patrick McLaughlin

  as

  Killian Carter

  www.starcanepress.com

  www.kccarter.com

  0.3

  Contents

  Newsletter

  The North Star

  GALACTIC SENTINEL - BOOK 1

  1. Space Rat

  2. No Enemies

  3. Unexpected Guests

  4. Low Roller

  5. Critical Alert

  6. Stork-V3

  7. Old Locker

  8. Stay Strong

  9. Eyes Closed

  10. The Artifact

  11. Barracuda-V3

  12. Dead Or Alive

  13. Rolling The Dice

  14. Gate Six

  15. A Puck So Rare

  16. BT-12-7HL99

  17. Much Anger

  18. Gut Feeling

  19. Unlucky Number

  20. Knives & Bullets

  21. The Bunker

  22. Hold The Gate

  23. Bones

  24. The Gray Tower

  25. Into Darkness

  26. Poker Face

  27. The Tank

  28. Belonging

  29. Stacking The Deck

  30. The Breach

  31. Count Your Ammo

  32. Double Or Nothing

  33. Xerocorp Labs

  34. The Way Up

  35. The Elite

  36. Fury

  37. Around The Table

  38. Starting Hand

  39. The Hangar

  40. Tools Of The Trade

  41. High Roller

  42. A Better Gun

  43. Experimental Implant

  44. En Prison

  45. Project Zero

  46. Straight Flush

  47. Flight

  48. Fight

  49. The Sentinel

  50. High Places

  51. El Natural

  52. The North Star

  Enter The Shroud

  Galactic Sentinel - Book 2

  1. Information Extraction

  2. Sentinel Tower

  3. Another String

  4. The Fist of Orinmore

  5. Nakamura’s Crystal

  6. Tight Spaces

  7. Playing the Game

  8. Raging Fire

  9. Death on the Wind

  10. The Thandrall

  11. New Aegis

  12. Out of the Dark

  13. Another Favor

  14. Dreamz

  15. The Signal

  16. Assault on Sentinel Square

  17. Eye in the Sky

  18. To the Tower

  19. Expeditious Plans

  20. Barricading the Doors

  21. An Old Friend

  22. The Data District

  23. A Fair Fight

  24. An Old Enemy

  25. Trouble at Terminal Thirteen

  26. Of Body and Mind

  27. Mission Report

  28. By Straiya’s Grace

  29. Foster’s Rage

  30. Beat Down

  31. Evacuation

  32. Ball Buster

  33. Bullet in The Head

  34. Death in the Hangar

  35. Renegades

  36. Enter The Shroud

  The Shadow Falls

  Galactic Sentinel - Book 3

  1. Rattled Cage

  2. Ember Rekindled

  3. Night Shadow

  4. Unbridled Tongue

  5. Dead Allies

  6. The Retrovirus

  7. They Got Him

  8. The Table

  9. Hope in Dark Places

  10. Sparring Bot

  11. Two Doors

  12. Lineage

  13. Departure

  14. The Distraction

  15. Kragak Blood

  16. The Clouds of Ushtar

  17. Bad Tidings

  18. The Refinery

  19. Mass Grave

  20. New Lead

  21. The Kragak

  22. Ushtaran Summoning

  23. The Void

  24. Web of Lies

  25. The Shaman and The Ring

  26. The Golden Krag

  27. Answers

  28. The Mark of Nahvoy

  29. The Aknar Queen

  30. Kragak Pit

  31. Revelations

  32. Arena Battle

  33. Freedom From Slavery

  34. Arena in Silence

  35. Public Execution

  36. Milling Giants

  37. Upon The Skyways

  38. Primelord’s Throne

  39. Tough Decisions

  40. Ushtaran Sky

  41. Together

  42. Starfall

  43. The Pod

  44. Superior Species

  45. The Final Countdown

  46. Incoming

  Battle of Gorthore

  A Galactic Sentinel Story

  1. Zeta Team

  2. Angel of Death

  3. Welcome To The Jungle

  4. Fight Fire With Fire

  5. Holy Wars

  6. Blood And Thunder

  7. Metal Daze

  8. Crazy Train

  The Lunar Express Preview

  Max Miller - Book 1

  1. Happy Birthday

  2. Unresolved

  3. Grayson Tower

  4. Wilder Building

  5. Penthouse

  6. Dark Alley

  7. The Coffin

  The Lunar Express - Max Miller

  Contact

  Newsletter

  Join my newsletter and receive a free copy of Paradigm. The signup form can be found at http://landing.kccarter.com/tnsb

  The North Star

  GALACTIC SENTINEL - BOOK 1

  1

  Space Rat

  On any other day, she would have taken the abuse in her stride. Having grown up on Morigan, Ensign Clio Evans was no stranger to ridicule. Hell, as a Confederation Fleet pilot, it came with the territory. But while eating lunch aboard the starship Bakura, en route to Colony 115, she snapped.

  Riley and his cronies dined at their usual table, across the floor from Clio’s solitary spot. They looked over their shoulders and laughed. Twice, they even muttered her name, as if she couldn’t hear from less than twenty feet away.

  Having lost her appetite, Clio forked a white protein cube indifferently, and it sprang off her plate, landing on the gray table with the sound of a wet sock.

  The cadets in the far corner joined the mockery, one boisterous girl in particular even having the nerve to point. Clio’s fork handle bit into her fingers. From her periphery, she committed the rowdy girl’s face to memory. In her experience, those with the loudest mouths benefited from lesson
s of the physical variety. She inhaled deeply and eased her iron grip, the tension in her arms and shoulders slowly melting away. Teaching a mere cadet such a lesson would hardly be worth the trouble.

  Clio checked the Fleet standard issue SIG strapped to her left arm and was relieved to find that breakfast was almost over. She pushed her unfinished meal aside, and played with the fork, waiting for the Bakura’s notification system to relieve her.

  “Someone should tell chef there’s a rat in the mess hall again,” Riley quipped. “Maybe she’ll send it back to that shit-hole of a planet it came from.”

  Unbridled amusement filled the room like noxious gas.

  Clio’s fork snapped.

  Childish insults didn’t bother her at the best of times, especially when uttered by lumbering fools like Riley. She preferred to fly under the radar when she could, but in Riley’s case, Clio knew that was part of the problem. Had she taken care of him when she first transferred to the Bakura, the idiot would have known better. Riley was right about one thing. Morigan was a shit-hole back-water colony; but it was Clio’s shit-hole, and no one was allowed to bad-mouth it but her.

  Like a calm before the storm, silence descended as she swept across the mess hall with the resolve of a heavy cruiser at speed. Clio poked Riley’s shoulder, and without turning, he rose from his seat like a mountain.

  “Tell me that dirty rat-bitch didn’t just touch me,” he spat before spinning on his heel to look down on her.

  Riley was of robust stock, with broad shoulders and roped muscles; somewhat handsome if a little rough around the edges. He wore an insufferable smirk that made one cheek dimple. His doltish eyes peered down at Clio from under a heavy-set brow.

  “If you’ve got something to say, ass-hole, say it to my face.” She poked Riley hard in the chest this time. He knocked into the table behind, the scraping plastic a roar in the otherwise deathly silence.

  Riley’s bewildered expression told Clio that he hadn’t expected such strength from someone so comparatively small. With all the grace of a landslide, he kicked his chair out of the way and shoved Clio’s shoulders, forcing her back several steps. “Don’t come anywhere near me, bitch. I’m allergic to rodents.”

  “I wish I could see things from your point of view, Riley.” She smiled nonchalantly. “But I can’t get my head that far up my own ass.”

  Laughter shattered the silence like glass, and Riley’s cheeks flared red. Embarrassment quickly turned to rage, and he stepped forward, fist drawn. “I’ll teach you to watch your mouth, smart-ass.”

  He aimed a punch at Clio’s face. She sidestepped it with ease. He moved fast for a man so big, but he was nowhere near fast enough to hit Clio. She ducked under another swipe and withdrew to a safe distance. A silver-chained medallion, bearing the O’Donovan family crest, swung free of Riley’s uniform collar. He’d often boasted about his family being among the most affluent powers on Mars.

  “Your family tree must be a cactus to have such a large prick on it.”

  A cocktail of giggles and curses rolled through the gathering crowd. Riley ground his teeth and launched for Clio, swinging another right hook.

  Clio wove around Riley’s arm and stepped inside his guard. She slammed a palm into his chin, snapping his head back. Momentum sent Riley into a table, and his legs got tangled in a chair. He landed in a comical position, his limbs sprawling at ridiculous angles. A cheer erupted, followed by another roar of bloodthirsty mirth. Clio’s palm-strike had knocked people out in previous fights, but Riley had augmentations of his own.

  He extricated himself from the furniture and tossed a chair at Clio. It went wide and almost took out another officer whose objections went ignored. Riley charged like a raging bull and unleashed a wild flurry of punches.

  The heavy weapons officer may as well have been swinging his arms through molasses, for Clio dodged each jab with barely so much as a thought.

  “Stand still, you slippery bitch!”

  Riley kept punching, and Clio kept evading, until he began to slow, his forehead gleaming with sweat. Realizing his strategy wasn’t getting him anywhere, Riley changed tack and kicked out with his right foot. Clio caught it with both hands, twisted her hips, and kneed him hard in the lateral femoral nerve. He crumbled against a table, clutching the crippled leg and gritting his teeth in agony.

  “What’ve you done to me?” He spat, and a thick blob struck Clio’s face.

  She wiped Riley’s saliva from her lips with the back of her sleeve. Being spit upon was something of a tradition when growing up on Morigan, and unfortunately for Riley, it brought back one unpleasant memory in particular. A heavy fog descended, obscuring her thoughts. Clio couldn’t recall how she had gotten there, but she suddenly found herself straddling Riley’s chest, her right fist smashing his nose, as though of its own accord. His face cracked under the force. A second blow knocked his head into the ground. Her arm lashed like a whip again and again. The room became a blur until someone dragged her off Riley’s still body, fractions of her mind suddenly snapping back into place.

  Clio inhaled the mess hall’s stale air deeply, and it occurred to her that she may have killed the man. Worry flickered on the edges of her consciousness, barely tangible, like an elusive shadow behind angry flames. It wouldn’t have been the first time she’d killed someone in a blind rage.

  Through the arms and legs milling around the fallen officer, Clio caught a glimpse of his chest rising and falling, and she sighed with relief.

  Those who pulled Clio across the cold floor scattered as she climbed to her feet. Her knees threatened to buckle, and she steadied herself against a table.

  “Let this be a lesson to you dumb shits!” The person shouting didn’t feel like the Clio Evans she knew. “Never pick a fight with a starship pilot. Or have you all forgotten that we’re fitted with neuroptical implants?” She took several uncertain steps toward the door and sneered at the cadets. They recoiled in fear, averting their eyes as if they had been innocent bystanders in the whole affair. Fucking kids!

  On wobbly legs, she exited the mess hall and headed in the direction of the gym. An innate urge to punch something still burned inside Clio’s chest. Pretending the punching bag was Riley would have to do.

  The altercation would no doubt cause trouble with her superiors, but it would also be the last time anyone on the Bakura called her a rat. The thought of being compared to the mammal made Clio cackle involuntarily and earned her a troubled look from a passerby. Why a rat?

  Perhaps it was because she was slight in stature. Or maybe it was just what people like Weapons Officer Riley O’Donovan thought of people from planets like Morigan. Either way, it was ironic that of all the insulting animals available, the crew choose a rat. It was a good thing they had no idea how close to the truth they’d come, for if that truth ever got out, Clio would have more than a fist-fight on her hands.

  2

  No Enemies

  Clio empathized with the Bakura as the ship groaned under her deceleration engines. She sat in an uncomfortable chair opposite Commander Grimshaw as he read the report, a deep crease furrowing his brow.

  The Bakura’s hum and the grim tick of the archaic clock above the Commander’s head contributed to the unsettling atmosphere. The clock’s swinging pendulum gloated as though it knew something Clio didn’t, as though it longed for her inevitable reprimand.

  She fought a shiver, and her breath escaped in warm puffs. The Commander gave no evidence that the cold bothered him in the slightest. Some claimed he chilled his office to keep unfortunate visitors on edge. Others said it had something to do with an old injury. Clio figured it was a show of power, but she’d been on the other side of the Commanders desk enough times to know what to expect, even to grow accustomed to it.

 

‹ Prev