Stranded in Space

by Rinelle Grey

  Stranded in Space

  Rinelle Grey

  © 2016 by Rinelle Grey

  Previously published as Reckless Remedy

  www.rinellegrey.com

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by

  Table of Contents

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  About the Author

  Blurb

  An alien supersoldier on the run. A doctor who has no one else to rely on. Can they save the ship's occupants, or will they be the only two left alive?

  Alien supersoldier Kugah needs the human’s wormhole technology to find a new home, one far away from the alien race who created him and want him back. The only future he envisions is a life alone, far from anyone he could hurt. Then he meets the human doctor, Amelie. Her gentle, caring nature opens the possibility of a future with someone by his side.

  Dr Amelie Benton's interest is purely scientific of course. But when the ship's passengers begin to show signs of unnaturally rapid ageing after a desperate trip through a wormhole, and everyone around her starts falling ill, she has no one she can count on other than the strong, silent alien.

  If she can't find a cure for the ship's passengers, soon she and the alien might be the only two left alive on the ship. Will they risk their growing connection on a desperate rescue mission?

  Stranded in Space is the fourth and final book in the Worlds Apart series.

  Do you want some Exclusive Extras?

  Visit my webpage at http://www.rinellegrey.com to sign up to my mailing list and gain exclusive access to novel extras like character bio’s, FAQ and deleted scenes, including the original prologue on Semala before the meteor hit.

  Chapter 1

  There was complete silence on the Resolution’s observation deck. The three hundred and sixty degree windows gave a clear view of all of the surrounding space. But the entire crew was focused on one point. The point where the tiny, ramshackle ship, the Tahlia Mae, had disappeared into the wormhole a few seconds ago.

  Amelie couldn’t help craning her neck like the rest of the Resolution’s passengers, even though she wasn’t sure what anyone expected to see. Folly, pilot of the Tahlia Mae, had assured them that this test jump would take at least half an hour, and she should know better than anyone. She was the only person alive who had ever travelled through a wormhole.

  Amelie just hoped it worked. Folly had only been on board for a few days, but already she had worked her way into everyone’s hearts. The plucky little survivor from the desolate planet of Semala had pinned all her hopes on proving the wormhole generator her father had built worked. She’d be devastated if it failed.

  So would everyone else. They were out of other options, since the planet they’d planned to settle on, Semala, was already occupied, and the occupants wished to remain part of the Colonies. The idea that they could create stable wormholes and travel from one side of the galaxy to the other in under an hour seemed preposterous. Amelie hoped it worked anyway.

  As the sky in front of them remained blank, people began to shift impatiently. A baby began to fuss, and its mother, Amelie’s friend Marlee, jiggled her in her arms distractedly. Her eyes didn’t leave the window in front of them, despite the fact that it showed nothing but blank space with a smattering of stars. There was really no reason for everyone to stay, especially those in the later stages of pregnancy, or those with young families, but no one moved.

  Pregnant women leaned on their partners, all eyes full of hope. They were all looking forward to a new life together, as a family. A life they never would have been able to have if they hadn’t left the colonies.

  A life none of them would have a chance at if they didn’t find a new home.

  Even if the Colonies would allow them back in, the issue that had caused them to leave, the overpopulation of all the habitable planets within range of their ships, still existed. The Colonies weren’t going to change the ruling restricting anyone with a criminal record from having a baby. A ruling that made almost all the newborn and unborn children on this ship illegal.

  Amelie, of course, wasn’t at risk of having an illegal child, even if she hadn’t been single. But as a Space Force doctor, she’d been tasked with aborting one of these illegal babies. Little Isala, in fact, safe now in Marlee’s arms.

  A task she just couldn’t complete. So she’d joined the rebellion, headed by Marlee and her husband, Tyris. And here she was.

  Being on a ship full of pregnant women and babies was the last place she’d ever expected to end up. Constantly surrounded by the one thing she couldn’t have seemed like the ultimate torture, but though it certainly had bittersweet moments, mostly, the opposite was true. Helping these women, who would have been denied their babies because of the Colonies’ stupid laws, somehow felt right.

  Which was a good thing, because she’d certainly burned all her bridges when she left. Amelie couldn’t help a twinge of nerves at that. She never would have guessed she’d do something so rash, so defiant, as to get involved with rebels and leave the Colonies. It wasn’t like her at all.

  That’s what her parents and sister had thought when she’d called to tell them she was leaving. They’d just stared blankly at her. When she’d asked if they wanted to come with her, they’d asked why. Why would anyone want to leave the nice, safe, secure, Colonies?

  She tried to tell them that the Colonies weren’t as safe and secure as they thought. That if they didn’t find more anysogen, and what they were mining on Zerris would barely touch the edges of that need, that they would all starve.

  They just laughed, and refused to believe her.

  No one ever had. She was a little relieved they hadn’t elected to come. She was better off without them. Better off alone than with their disapproval.

  Amelie was used to being alone. She’d accepted it as her lot in life. She’d found other ways to be a productive member of society. Especially of this society, where they had welcomed her with open arms. These people here were more her family than her real family had ever been.

  Despite all that, despite the welcome, and even the friendship, of Marlee and Tyris, there was still a portion of Amelie that would always be alone. Her job as a doctor set her apart from all of them. Alone in a sea of people.

  She wasn’t the only one. Another woman stood alone near the edge of the group, rubbing her pregnant stomach, her brow furrowed. A single mum, she’d never mentioned her baby’s father. Amelie picked out a few more like her.

  They wouldn’t be alone for long though. Soon they would have an infant who depended on them for everything, and who they could lavish their love on.

  She turned away,
ignoring the sadness that threatened. As she turned, her eyes fell on the dark, silent alien standing in a space of his own at the window.

  No one wanted to be close to him. Another alone in a room full of strangers.

  Even more alone than she was.

  Her eyes lingered on his dark shape. The alien’s strangeness just as unlikely, and just as intriguing, as the possibility of wormhole travel. After a hundred years of exploring the galaxy, humans had come to believe there was no other intelligent life here.

  The alien had a humanoid shape, bipedal and upright, as scientists had theorised intelligent aliens would, but that was where any similarity to humans ended. He was far taller than even the tallest man in the room, and bulkier too. Though his black, armoured wings were folded behind his back and the large spurs that extended from behind his wrist were sheathed, his presence was still intimidating. The black armour and lifeless eyes just looked ominous.

  There was no telling what he was thinking behind all that.

  Was he waiting on the results of this space flight as eagerly as everyone else? He had to be. He wanted to get home as much as the rest of them did.

  Maybe more so. He, at least, had a home to go to.

  The question was, how far would he be prepared to go to get there? That was what everyone had been whispering for the last couple of days, ever since Kerit had made friends with him and brought him aboard the spaceship. Kugah, Kerit had said his name was. Or at least, that was as close to the alien’s guttural utterance as they could come.

  He didn’t even look at the people around him as they took seats on the lounges scattered in the middle of the room. He just stared out the window, his eyes locked on the space where Kerit and Folly had disappeared.

  Raised voices caught Amelie’s attention over the hum of regular conversation. A young couple sat near the doorway, their eyes on Kugah. The woman looked frightened, her hand on her distended stomach. Her partner’s face twisted in a scowl. Amelie’s forehead furrowed, trying to place them. She’d reviewed all of the Resolutions three hundred crew members in the last few weeks, but it was hard to keep their names and faces straight.

  Talah, that was the man’s name, and his wife was Elma. They’d seemed very quiet and unobtrusive when Amelie had examined them.

  Not so much now.

  Kugah’s head turned too.

  “What are you looking at?” Talah demanded, glaring at Kugah. He squeezed his wife’s hand.

  Kugah just stared. He knew only one or two words of their language, he probably had no idea what the man was saying.

  Amelie felt a little sorry for him, the feeling surprising her. It was hard to think that an armoured super soldier could be vulnerable. But emotional pain was different to physical pain. Far more agonising. She headed towards the couple, in case she needed to intervene.

  “Is there a problem?” Tyris stepped in before she got there, his voice placating.

  Amelie was relieved at his intervention. As the captain, he had more authority than she did. And as a man who had given up everything he’d ever had to save his wife and baby, he had the entire crew’s respect. Surely Talah would listen to him?

  “He doesn’t belong here,” Talah said flatly, stabbing his finger in Kugah’s direction. “You’re risking everyone’s life by letting him stay. What if he attacks us?”

  Amelie’s eyes were on Kugah. Did she detect a slight flexing of his muscles? He was certainly staring at Talah, so he couldn’t have missed the gesture. But did he understand it?

  She winced. Aggression was one of those things that seemed to translate well, even without words, but the poor alien wouldn’t even know what had drawn the man’s ire.

  She reviewed his armoured body again. Then again, maybe he did. He must realise how intimidating he looked to the weaker humans?

  Movement from Tyris drew her attention back. He glanced sideways at the alien, and Amelie didn’t miss the flicker of uncertainty on his face. It was gone by the time he turned back to Talah. “Kugah has shown no signs of attacking anyone since he came on board. He has been nothing but peaceful, so how about we do the same?” His voice was calm and controlled.

  Amelie heard the warning.

  Talah didn’t. Or his fear overcame common sense. “You weren’t there when he attacked us out there on Semala.” His voice shook. “When Kerit asked for help evacuating the people before they started the terraforming, of course I volunteered. I wanted to help everyone as much as the next man. I figured the sooner we got everyone off the planet, the sooner the terraforming process could kill that alien. We were only half way through when he showed up, and…” Talah swallowed.

  The abject fear in his voice sent a shiver down Amelie’s spine. She’d been inside at the time, helping Marlee give birth, but she could only imagine how the angry alien flying straight at those stuck outside would have felt.

  “We all ran for the Resolution,” Talah continued, his voice shaking. “But before we could get there, they started closing the doors. They were going to leave us out there with that alien.”

  Amelie winced. The feeling of being abandoned by those who he had trusted to help him, had obviously had a lasting impact on Talah. And she couldn’t blame him. Even though she knew that Kerit had had no choice in ordering the hatch closed to protect those already inside, and had, in fact, been stranded outside himself, she could imagine how awful it would feel. Everyone outside must have been certain they would die.

  But that wasn’t how it had ended.

  “And then Kerit talked to Kugah, and convinced him that he didn’t have to attack us to get help,” Amelie pointed out. “I know the experience was frightening, but we have an agreement now. Kugah isn’t going to hurt us.”

  “He didn’t stop because Kerit convinced him not to hurt us,” Talah shot back immediately. “He stopped because he could see a way into our ship. Why settle for the tiny Tahlia Mae when he could have the Resolution? He’s just waiting for a chance to kill us all and take it.” He waved his arms wide to include the whole room. “Everyone here is thinking it, I’m just the only one willing to say it.” His voice rose higher with each word until he was practically shouting. Impossible to ignore.

  The man’s fear had obviously overcome all reason. Kugah didn’t even speak their language, his chances of understanding how their ship worked by himself were remote. It made far more sense for him to cooperate with them.

  As long as he didn’t become convinced they weren’t going to help him, which this hostility just might do.

  She glanced back at Kugah. The alien’s fists clenched, the movement causing the tips of the sheathed spurs to slide out from behind his wrists.

  Amelie’s heart rate sped up. Was he about to attack?

  Was there anything they could do if he was? No one had any weapons, and even if they did, they might well be useless against the alien’s armour.

  The only person who’d had any luck communicating with the alien, Kerit, was on the spaceship that had disappeared into the wormhole.

  Why did Talah have to make an issue of this right now, in front of Kugah? Couldn’t he have raised it in private with Tyris later?

  Tyris was obviously thinking the same thing. “Why don’t we step outside…”

  He broke off mid-sentence, because Kugah was moving, far faster than his size would suggest was possible.

  He appeared to be heading straight for Talah, but Amelie could see his eyes were fixed past the man, on the doorway behind him. He just wanted to escape.

  Amelie could sympathise. That would be her reaction in the same situation.

  She stepped back out of his way.

  Tyris followed suit.

  Releasing his wife’s hand, Talah pushed Elma behind him and stepped towards Kugah, his fists automatically rising. “Leave us alone,” he said angrily.

  The alien swung at him wildly on his way past, his elbow catching the side of his head almost by chance. Talah screamed and fell to the ground as Kugah kept on moving out
the door.

  Amelie was torn. Her duty was clear. As the ship’s doctor, she needed to see to the injured man. Much as she wanted to know what was going on out in the corridor.

  Somehow, she felt that the alien outside was hurting more than Talah was.

  As soon as her path was clear, she rushed across and knelt down beside Talah. She tried to ignore his wife’s panicked questions as she examined the side of his head. There was no visible injury and his scream that had begun as soon as Kugah’s arm had connected with his head, and subsided into whimpers without a pause, meant he hadn’t lost consciousness. That was a good sign.

  A quick physical examination showed that his skull was intact. Amelie pulled a torch out of her pocket, and shone it in each of his eyes. Good response. “How do you feel,” she asked, helping him to sit up.

  “Like I just got hit in the head by a tree,” Talah said bluntly. He looked around the room. “Where did that thing go?”

  Ignoring the man’s question, Tyris asked, “Is he okay?”

  Amelie hesitated. “He seems to be, but I should run a scan to be sure.”

  “That can wait,” Tyris said firmly. “First, you can help me find the alien and calm him down.”

  Amelie swallowed. Her? Why did Tyris want her?

  Silly question. She was the only other person on this ship with military training. And none of them had any real idea what they were up against.

  She stood up and nodded, ignoring Talah’s protest. “Let’s go.”

  *****

  Kugah stared up and down the corridor, his own heavy breathing echoing inside his skull.

  He’d messed up again. Let his fear and anger control him and drive him to hurt someone. The human man had only been trying to protect his mate.

  He was right to fear Kugah.

  And Kugah had only proved it.

  He should never have come here. He should never have let Kerit convince him to come on board the ship full of small, fragile, angry humans. He didn’t belong here.

  He didn’t belong anywhere.