Chapter 21
Jane
She didn’t wake up on a bed, she didn’t wake up on a ship. She woke up on an exposed launch pad, a fiendish wind whipping around her, flattening her hair against her face, chilling her skin. The sound of the ocean echoed up from far below, and she could hear the searing blast of a plasma rifle firing round after round at something, the sound of metal crunching and blistering under each impact. She tried to press herself up, tried to get to her knees at least, move her head about, find out what was going on. After a while, she realized she was on the top of a building, and she could see the dramatic and almost frightening view of the ocean a kilometer below. Worse than the view was the wind. It was horrendous; it roared at her, it whistled, and it plastered her clothes against her frigid skin.
Something wasn’t right. She kept on hearing that plasma rifle firing round after round at something, while something else hissed, even yelped, the sound quite metallic, quite artificial. In a snapped second, Jane saw a chunk of metal whistle all the way over her head and over the side of the building and down, down, down until it finally plunged into the ocean below. Despite the distance, Jane still heard the splash.
There was obviously no shielding in place up here; this entire exposed roof had no railing and no shielding, and Jane was lying so close to the edge, so close that she had an unimpeded view of the ocean and the drop below. Her body shaking from the fear of falling, carefully she shifted herself backward, her arms shuddering as she moved.
There was a searing blast of heat, and a plasma shot slammed onto the floor beside her. She screamed, threw her hands up and over her head, and huddled down.
It was instinct, and it was stupid; she was a sitting duck. Yet she couldn’t make herself move. With the Assister in her head momentarily off-line while it regenerated, there was nothing to make her move either. Then something twisted around her ankle and pulled her to the side, just as another series of blasts slammed into where she’d been sitting. Her hands scrambled against the smooth metal of the roof as she slid across it, the force of the thing wrapped around her leg far too strong to fight against. Eventually, it let go, whipping past her so fast it cracked like a whip. Jane followed the view, saw that the tail belonged to Element 52, and then she saw Element 52 was fighting a security officer in full black armor with two stripes down each of his shoulders, one white and one blue.
Jane liked to think that she knew quite a bit about Lucas Stone, even if most of it was built up from dodgy documentaries and even dodgier fan supplements. Of that knowledge, there was one fact Jane was sure of: Lucas Stone was about the only security officer in the Galactic Force that had one blue and one white stripe. In fact, the only officer to hold the same rank with the same clearance and abilities was at least a full five feet taller than Lucas. Which meant that the man that was now tussling with Element 52 was Lucas Stone. And Lucas… Lucas was shooting at her. Element 52 kept on getting in the way, kept on whipping its tail around and slamming it right into Lucas’ chest, trying to get him off the top of the roof, trying to trip him up, trying to stop him in any way it could. Yet Lucas would slam into Element 52 with the butt of his rifle, shoot several rounds right into it, and then twist out of its grip to attempt another shot Jane’s way.
She stared at him. She stared at Lucas. Because he was trying to kill her….
With her mouth open, her lips cold, her eyes fixed in place on him, she managed to croak out his name in a harsh, constricted, surprised whisper before he tried to shoot her again, this time one of the rounds from his plasma rifle getting so close to her that it singed and burnt the skin of her left arm. She let out a scream of pain, clutched a hand to it, and shifted to the left, scuttling to the side like a crab. He had no reaction to the fact she’d screamed, and he managed to get off another round. Just in time, Element 52’s tail whipped around and slammed into his wrist, shifting his aim, and protecting Jane at the last moment.
She shook, her whole body practically convulsing. He wasn’t far from her now – the two of them were grappling barely five meters from where she still sat, her body limp and motionless from fright. It felt like he was closer, it felt like she was right at his feet, looking up into his helmet, unable to do anything, unable to make him stop.
As she kept watching him, he tried to shoot her again. Element 52 got there first and whipped out with his tail and pulled her to the side. She cried out in pain as the arm that had been singed by the plasma shot grated roughly over the metal of the roof as she was dragged along it.
“Hold on, Jane,” it said. It wasn’t Lucas, it was Element 52. Lucas didn’t speak to her, didn’t say a word, just kept on trying to kill her.
Jane didn’t have anything to hold on to, as the roof was completely smooth and below was nothing but an incredibly long drop into a certain and watery death. She had nowhere to run either; she couldn’t see where the door was that would lead down from this roof, and she was hardly about to merrily skip over to the edge to see if she couldn’t find a convenient window on her way down.
“It’s coming, help is coming,” Element 52 repeated, its voice pitching up and down in a now familiar and almost comforting way. Yes, comforting, because right now as Lucas Stone was trying to kill her all she had to rely on was Element 52, an assassin robot.
Lucas broke away, slamming his fist around in a fiendish punch, making it connect right with the side of Element 52’s head. The assassin robot stumbled backward, even teetered close to the edge of the roof. Then Lucas raised his gun and slammed shot after shot right into the assassin robot. It fell off the edge of the building: Element 52 dropped right out of sight. He didn’t scream, he didn’t make a sound.
Lucas turned to her.
“No, Lucas, don’t do it, don’t do it. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not bad, Lucas. Don’t do it,” she tried to plead with him as he walked slowly toward her, raised his gun, and then clicked something on the side. He depressed his finger on the trigger. The muzzle of the gun began to glow. It was building up a charge. It was obvious he intended to make his next shot count, intended to make his next shot have the force and power of one hundred rounds. It would likely blow an incredible hole in the roof, let alone kill Jane. In fact, it would likely disintegrate her.
She just shook her head. “Don’t,” she said as the noise of the charging gun began to build up and she could tell that the rifle was about to fire.
She just closed her eyes, squeezed them shut, and directed her face to the ground.
Then it fired.
Jane snapped her eyes open; no, something else had fired. There was a ship behind her, coming into land, and it had fired right at Lucas using its powerful gun turrets. It blasted him off the roof. One second he was there, only a half meter from her as the charge picked up in his gun, the next he was nowhere to be seen. Jane screamed, and she finally forced herself to her feet and ran to the other side of the roof. She flung herself to her knees when she reached it, clutched her hands on the edge of the metal, pushed her body over, and tried to see as much as she could.
She saw a splash far down below.
“Lucas,” she screamed, but then someone started to pull her back.
“We must escape, we must leave, we must leave,” they said.
She fought against their grip as they pulled her backward. She tried to stare down at the ocean below, tried to get back to the edge of the roof. “Lucas,” she screamed again.
“Please hurry, Pala,” they finally slackened their grip on her wrist, but in another moment they wrapped their strong arms around her middle, lifting her off the ground and pulling her toward the spaceship that was now hovering just at the edge of the roof.
She screamed for Lucas, but Lucas didn’t answer; how could he? He’d just been shot off the roof by the plasma turrets of a spaceship.
Lucas was dead, he had to be.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks and over her chin, but she didn’t care. She just kept on saying his name over and ov
er again.
She was loaded onto the ship, and then the ship took off. In minutes it was out of the atmosphere. In barely an hour it had left the solar system. In days it had left the quadrant.
END OF BOOK ONE
This story is continued in Book Two, which is currently available.
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The Betwixt
(This series is complete and can be bought separately or as part of the Odette C. Bell Sci-fi Boxset.)
The Betwixt is a sci-fi soap opera with a dash of philosophy. It follows a space diner waitress as she sets out to discover her true origin, an adventure that sees her set against the most legendary of foes, takes her to the edges of the galaxy, and finally into the arms of one very handsome but stern Commander Cole.
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Mini is a diner waitress in a space bar. She has a flouncy skirt, a holopin, and a pretty little apron. She also, apparently, has a mysterious alien past; a past that comes knocking on her door in the form of a tiny red creature called Od. According to Od, Mini is all that stands between the galaxy and an invasion by terrible, soul-sucking creatures from the in-between dimensions. As Mini's galactic experience to-date revolves around serving drinks and picking up after customers, she finds that very unlikely.
The only problem is that Od is right. So Mini reaches for the closest thing at hand – which just so happens to be a frying pan – and gives saving the galaxy a go. She isn't alone, however; she's caught the eye of a rather handsome Galactic Military Commander, and he isn't going to take his eyes off her until he knows exactly what's going on.
Lucky Star
(This series is complete and can be bought separately or as part of the Odette C. Bell Sci-fi Boxset.)
A sci-fi soap opera with a romantic twist, Lucky Star tracks the adventures of Ariel De Winter as she wakes up in the future, 400 years from her own time, to the sight of one incredibly handsome space marine and a massive war that is about the engulf the entire galaxy.
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Soon it is up to Ariel to save the future she never wanted, and it's up to her hot space marine to show her that the future can't be all that bad, as long as you have someone to spend it with.
Ghost of Mind
Would you run? If you were the last of your kind, if you knew getting caught could thrust the universe into war, wouldn't you slip into the shadows and disappear too?
Hiding is Alice’s only option. It always has been.
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Alice cannot allow herself to slip into the hands of the Union, but John Doe will stop at nothing to find out who she is.
In Episode One of Ghost of Mind, the hunt begins.
Ouroboros Series (Miniseries #1 of the Galactic Coalition Academy Series)
(This four-episode series is complete and can be bought separately or as a complete boxset.)
Not all of us are born equal. Some exceed every expectation and excel in every task. Some of us can't even get out of bed in the morning.
Such is life for Cadet Nida Harper. She's universally known as the worst recruit in the Academy. It's not for want of trying; she's just cursed with universal bad luck. Every accident that could happen, does happen.
So it's no surprise when she winds up unconscious on a field mission. It is a surprise when the dreams start. Visions of stars falling from the heavens and civilizations crumbling to dust.
The only silver lining comes in golden boy Lucas Stone. The hero of the Academy, he takes an interest in her. But he'll have to act fast to stop what will happen next....
In Start, you are thrust into a sprawling sci-fi adventure that throws you across the galaxy and far through time. Lucas and Nida are pitted against brutal space pirates, mysterious powers, and the greatest enemy of all - the unknown.
All four instalments of the Ouroboros series are currently available, so start the journey today....
Broken (Miniseries #2 of the Galactic Coalition Academy Series)
(This four-episode series is complete and can be bought separately or as a complete boxset.)
Special Commander Joshua Cook has a secret, she’s sure of it. He’s the Coalition’s latest golden boy, but she knows he has a past that’s far from sparkling.
Ready to find out what his secret is, she isn’t ready for the man himself. Josh is the rudest, meanest, crudest Coalition officer she’s come across. She’s about to give up when the unthinkable occurs – they get stuck on a desert planet far from help.
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Broken is the continuation of the Galactic Coalition Academy universe. A four-episode space opera, it charts romance, action, and humour on an adventure through the galaxy. It is complete, and all four episodes are currently available.
Axira (Miniseries #3 of the Galactic Coalition Academy Series)
(This four-episode series is complete and can be bought separately or as a complete boxset.)
She is different. Powerful. A solider of centuries.
For 450 years she was enslaved to one of the masters of the Kore sects. She was forced to fight in endless battles. War, destruction, desolation – all wrought by her.
But then she escapes. Seeking revenge on her master, she turns to the only group powerful enough to help her – the Coalition.
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Axira is a four-episode miniseries. It is complete, and all four episodes are currently available. A space opera with plenty of action and adventure, and just a dash of romance, it is the third instalment in the Galactic Coalition Academy series.
The Lost Star (Miniseries #4 of the Galactic Coalition Academy Series)
(This four-episode series is complete and can be bought separately or as a complete boxset.)
Some are born into responsibility. Some seek it out.
And some turn from it.
Ava is a priestess of Avixa, a powerful being with a powerful destiny to keep her people on the true and righteous path.
Yet it is a destiny she does not want. To flee it, she joins the Coalition Academy. But her past cannot so easily be left behind. When she joins the newest ship in the fleet, a series of unfortunate accidents befall her.
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The Lost Star is a four-part serialization that plunges you into a sprawling sci-fi adventure that charts the galaxy. Ava and Hunter are pitted against a shadowy conspiracy, slave traders, and ultimately a legend that threatens everything and everyone….
Fractured Mind (Miniseries #4 of the Galactic Coalition Academy Series)
(This four-episode series is complete and can be bought separately or as a complete boxset.)
Sarah's been plagued with strange dreams her whole life. Except there's one problem - they aren't dreams. Everyone thinks she's mad - and none more so than the strapping Lieutenant Karax.
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Fractured Mind is a thrilling four-part serialization that takes you on a breakneck battle for planet Earth. Join Sarah and Karax as they struggle against bounty hunters, mercenaries, and, ultimately, time itself.
Betrothed
(This five-episode series is complete and can be bought separately or as a complete boxset.)
Sometimes destiny can no longer wait ….
Annie Carter is new to the future. Born 400 years in the past, she was cryogenically frozen after a serious illness, only to wake up to a new world.
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People will kill to get to her.
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Betrothed is a five-part sci fi series. It is complete, and all five episodes are currently available. A space opera packed with adventure, action, and romance, it is sure to please fans of Odette C. Bell’s A Plain Jane and The Betwixt.
Shattered Destiny: A Galactic Adventure
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A six-episode serialization, Shattered Destiny: A Galactic Adventure takes you on a break-neck journey through strange alien worlds, vast star systems, and a galaxy of secrets. Packed full of action, intrigue, and romance, it’s sure to please fans of the original Betrothed series.
The Crucible
(This six-episode series is complete and can be bought separately or as a complete boxset.)
She’s been on the run for two years now. Two years of pain and anguish. She’s the greatest weapon the Alliance Star Forces has ever produced. A telekinetic warrior with the power to win wars.
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The Crucible is a six-part thrilling sci-fi adventure. It is complete, and all six episodes are currently available. It is sure to please fans of Odette C. Bell’s Ghost of Mind and Axira.
A Plain Jane Book One Page 21