by Justin Sloan
Marick nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it. Maybe the energy field you created?”
That worked for her. The perfect combination, the two of them, she thought with a glance his way. She was impressed with the way his enhancements had made his muscles stand out more than ever, his jaw firm, and yet his eyes as kind and gentle as always.
When they were on the next floor down, moving toward the commercial shipping side of the station, Veles slowed his pace and said, “The space elevator is locked down, but not the ships yet. We have to get you out of here, now.”
“The sooner the better,” Marick said, taking Alice’s hand and squeezing it.
Veles gave them a smile, raised an eyebrow, and said, “We’ll see about getting you two a private room on the ship.”
Marick gulped, turning red, and Alice had to laugh. For him, it was like he was with a stranger, she imagined. At least, to a degree.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered into his ear. “I’ll be gentle.”
He laughed, squeezed her hand in return and just shook his head. “With my upgrades, I don’t know….”
“Oh, you didn’t hear?” She winked. “I got some upgrades myself. This could be… fun.”
His eyebrows arched, and clearly he was uncomfortable.
“Don’t worry,” she added with a nudge on his side. “We can take it slow, if you want. I know this must be weird.”
“What’s really weird,” Swinger’s voice came in over their earpieces, “is that we can hear this whole conversation. I mean, don’t stop, it’s hot as hell. Just wanted to let you know it’s also weird. Weird and hot.”
“Oh, come on,” Alice replied, rolling her eyes. “For the record, we’re… wait a minute. Where are you? Don’t tell me you’re still back there. You need to be on the ship!”
Veles glanced back with a worried look. “We have to keep moving.”
“He’s right,” Swinger said. “We have Scorpio, he made it. But we’re all going to stay here, put up the good fight. We’re counting on you, Alice.”
“No, you have to come—”
“There’s no time!” Yerbuna said. “We’ll keep them safe, don’t you worry.”
Veles led them down a stairway and to one of several ships on a runway. Intrepid, holding his weapon ready nearby, turned to Alice and said, “I’m going to watch over them.”
“Intrepid, no,” Alice protested. “You’re here, you’re coming with us.”
He gestured back at the command center, where several civilian flight controllers were listening in on a speaker.
“I imagine they’re getting orders to shut down as we speak, and any minute now this place will be crawling with PD soldiers. You need me to hold them off, to ensure those doors don’t close.”
Veles put his hand on Intrepid’s shoulder. “Welcome to the team.”
Intrepid nodded, then took Marick in an embrace. “It was good to see you again. When this is all over, I’m taking you to the best steak dinner place you’ve ever been. Well, you’ve been there many times, but you won’t know that.”
Marick laughed, and nodded. “Something tells me I look forward to being friends with you again.”
“We gotta go,” Veles said, eyes narrowing at the sight of the flight controllers, now starting to move out to them.
“On it.” Intrepid gave them one last smile and then turned, running off to deal with the flight controllers.
“Tell us what’s going on,” Scorpio’s voice came through this time, followed by Oliver, Swinger and Yerbuna all chiming in.
“Boarding now,” Alice said, then nodded to Veles. “Right?”
“You’ll be the last ship out,” he said. “Then they’ll shut down, so it at least looks like they tried.”
“I never thought I’d be saying this to you, but… thanks.”
Veles chuckled, then held his hand out. “I might be considered a criminal here, but you’ll see I do what I do for the right reasons, and make an excellent friend.”
“Friends then,” she said, and shook his hand.
Marick did the same. When they were done, they turned to the transport ship bound for Space Station New Hope. Marick held out his arm for her, and she took it. Together, the two of them walked up the ramp, to freedom.
Epilogue
Marco: Transport Ship Dynastic
Marick still couldn’t believe it as he stood at the round window in the cargo hold, watching the far-off image of Space Station Horus disappear into the distance. His wife, though he didn’t remember her in that way, yet, stood at his side, playing with his hair just behind his right ear. Her other hand was intertwined with his, and she stared out of the same window with him.
“You’re telling me…” He took a breath, still trying to process it all. “You’re saying you gave up your whole career, faked your own death, all so you could come find me?”
“Well, for answers. In all fairness, I didn’t know you were still alive. Hoped, but didn’t know.”
“That makes it even more remarkable,” he said, turning to her, arms around her waist. His mind told him this was moving too fast, that he didn’t know this woman long enough to be holding her so, but his heart said otherwise. “I mean, you came all that way, based on faith.”
“Or I’m a heartless bitch, and came for revenge.” She laughed. “But hey, gotta love hindsight. In the version we tell our kids, let’s say your version.”
He felt his stomach lurch. “We… have children?”
She laughed again, louder this time, but then covered her mouth before saying, “Not yet.”
“In your mind, is that soon?”
She turned back to the window, resting her head on his chest. “Soon in a relative sense, yes. But this is only the beginning, isn’t it? We have to expose this plot against the governments of Earth, but to do that, we have to escape with our lives. Will they believe us? Will they have co-conspirators down there who also try to have us killed?”
“No, what? Definitely not.”
“Marick, dear… You don’t think the corporations got to where they are without help? The governments would’ve moved in long ago, but I’m willing to bet the right amount of money in the right places, and nobody minds the supposedly more efficient private sector taking over operations.”
With a sigh, Marick nodded, getting it. “So… soon. After we’ve seen if we can stay alive, topple government-controlling evil corporations, and… anything I’m missing?”
She laughed, turning to face him with a devilish grin. “Well, there’s one other thing we have to do in order to have kids, but there’s no rush. When you’re ready.”
He smiled, kissed her again, this time with just as much passion as when they’d been at the edge of death’s gate, but with a hint of more intimacy. “Soon,” he said, kissing her again. “You know, relatively… soon.”
She hit him playfully, then collapsed into his arms again. Together they stood like that, staring out into space and wondering where their adventures would take them. It didn’t really matter though, Marick was certain. As long as he had her at his side, there was nothing that could stand in their way.
THE END
Author Notes
This is my first Science Fiction book without strong fantasy elements, in a way. Isn’t that crazy? You could say that Syndicate Wars fits the bill, but those books were written with two other authors, and the fantasy, magic, and dragons certainly come into play later. And don’t forget time travel!
My plan with Project Destiny was, from the start to have a series that feels much more SciFi than fantasy. But wait, there’s the teleportation stuff based on this alien energy… Yeah. SciFi I say! It’s funny how often the line is blurry between SciFi and fantasy.
What really matters in these stories, in my opinion, is the characters. What are they going through, and does it matter? A wife who has the love of her life stolen, a man who knows there’s something else out there, but can’t remember? For me, that resonates. I hope it does
for you too!
We have two more books in the series, and then there will be another series in the same universe, following a character that I’ve at least briefly mentioned in this book. You’ll have to stay tuned to find out more on that though.
And in the meantime, I hope you have the opportunity to check out the great work we’re doing in the Seppukarian and Kurtherian Gambit universes! Michael Anderle helped me quite a lot when he brought me into the Kurtherian Gambit universe, and at the time of writing this I have done fifteen books with him! That blows my mind. Having fun with those books but wanting to do something more focused on space marines, I brought two screenwriting buddies in to work on Syndicate Wars, the books that kicked off the Seppukarian books. Now we have my Shadow Corps spinoff, George Mahaffey’s Mech Command books, and Jonathan Yanez’s War Wolves series. Soon there will be more, including books from a new author L.O. Addison and Gentry Race.
The point being, if you liked this book, there is plenty more out there for you to read!
Thank you for checking out my work. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review.
Best,
Justin
About the Author
After serving five years in Marine Corps Signals Intelligence, Justin studied fiction at the Johns Hopkins MA in writing program and screenwriting at UCLA. He went on to work in games and screenwriting, where he has optioned several screenplays and written on such games as Game of Thrones and Tales from the Borderlands.
Justin has presented on writing at the Austin Film Festival, San Francisco Writers Conference, the San Diego State Writers Conference, Gen Con, and more. You can hear his interviews with authors on the Creative Writing Career podcast.
His books are available in audio and print editions, and he has sold Turkish and French rights to several of his series, with the Blade of the Sea series being published under Hachette Publishing Group (under the shared penname with PT Hylton of Jesse Nethermind).
Justin loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.JustinSloanAuthor and JOIN THE NEWSLETTER to receive a free book, receive free giveaways, get the latest exclusive news, connect on Facebook and Twitter, and stay in touch!
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Book 2 Sample
Transport Ship Dynastic
Transport Ship Dynastic had nearly cleared Space Station Horus’s outer limits when the ship started to slow at the sign of fighter ships approaching. An announcement rang out that all personnel were to remain in their rooms as Project Destiny soldiers came aboard and searched for stowaways.
Never one to jump to conclusions, Marick’s first hope was that this was a random check, performed on all transport ships traveling between space stations. They were transporting miners to a prison station, after all, and it seemed those in charge would want to be careful of just who was on board.
All of that was thrown from his mind when the speakers in the hall proclaimed, “We are being hailed in regards to a certain PD soldier, Stealth, A.K.A. Marick Carter, and a hacker known as Alice, leader of the Looking Glass terrorist team.”
“A.K.A., Alicia,” Marick said, turning to his wife. She was still in bed, and had been catching up on some well-deserved rest. Impersonating a PD recruit to challenge New Origins itself, all to save Marick, was a feat worth celebrating.
They had been quickly shown to their quarters and left there, with only a man named Antwon to check in on them from time to time and bring them food and water. Feeling like a prisoner while on their way to a prison station wasn’t great, but at the same time, this was their only way out of here. Station Horus had gone on lockdown and the space elevator would’ve been shut off. It wasn’t like they could hop a fence and run off to hide—out here, you ‘hop a fence’ and you’re left floating in space until you die.
Alicia, who had now begun referring to herself as such again, stirred, smiled… and rubbed her eyes as she sat up. When she opened her eyes again, a look of realization hit as the smile vanished.
“Damn, did they just say—”
“Yes,” Marick replied, handing her a glass of water and an energy bar. “We need a plan, fast.”
“You heard then?” a voice came from the door as it slid open. Alicia pulled back, covering herself with the sheets, even though she was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, given to them by the same man who stood in the doorway now. Antwon.
“Apologies for not knocking or announcing myself, but I’m sure you heard.”
Marick nodded, hesitantly, wondering which side of this the man fell.
Antwon grinned, then motioned for them to follow. “First things first,” he said, when he saw they weren’t moving. “You’ve been under our protection since Veles handed you over, and you’ll continue to be. He’s our man, through and through. Well, rather, we’re his men and women. So here’s what we need to do, figure out where to store you while they scan the place, without letting the captain of this ship in on your presence.”
“You’re with Veles?” Alicia asked. “Wouldn’t that make you one of the prison escapees?”
The man shrugged. “Overall, we benefit by having people on station and off. Enough of the prisoners of Ramiel are with us that we need a sort of emissary. That would be moi.”
A glance through the ship’s windows showed that the New Origins ships were already docking. Not much time.
“Too much worry on your faces,” Antwon said, gesturing in the other direction through the window. “See there?”
Marick looked first, then stepped back for Alicia to take a glance, relief flooding over him. “We’re not the only one being checked.”
“Which means,” Alicia added, turning back to them, “that they have no idea where we are.”
“And I’m going to keep it that way,” Antwon replied with a wink.
They darted along the main passage, but as clanking sounded ahead, Antwon cursed under his breath and moved to the left, going past a hold where already a soldier was within, questioning several miners who would be using the new space station as a jumping off port to asteroids farther out.
“You have somewhere in mind?” Marick asked in a whisper, and Antwon simply nodded, motioning them down a level.
They descended into a hole via a staircase, then moved along a line of cargo to what appeared to be a regular wall.
“In here,” Antwon said, placing his hand against the wall. Biometrics read his palm, then the wall opened into a door. “Smuggling. Sometimes the corporations can be stingy, and a bit of black market trading on the side is needed to make ends meet.”
Voices came from not far off, so Antwon quickly shooed them in and gave them a confident wave before closing them in darkness. Marick heard first his own breathing, then that of Alicia. Could he really be here with her, with the woman he had thought of as Alice the hacker, the target, not so long ago? How ironic if he made it to this point, only to be yanked away from her.
He wouldn’t let it happen. He couldn’t.
As they grew closer, he felt his blood boiling, his muscles tensing. He was overcome with the urge to bust through this door and smash their skulls in, destroy them in every way for ever thinking they could take him from Alicia, for causing her and him to be in this situation in the first place.
New Origins had almost taken everything from him that ever mattered, and they would pay. His senses became more intensified so that he could smell them out there, sense their movement, hear the sounds of their hearts beating. He wanted blood. By God, he would have it.
He took a step forward, prepared to do whatever it took to end this right here, even if it meant losing his life. He still wore the exo-skeleton with its teleporter, and Alicia had her force field. Perhaps there was a way they could survive this after all. Alicia’s hand touched his arm, gently, and it was like a floodgate had let out all the rage and hatred. He turned to her, blinking, and put a hand to his mouth at the realization that he had been ab
out to do something incredibly foolish. Acting out now would have put the whole ship at stake. And going against a group of PD soldiers who might be trained to a level equal to himself? Not smart.
“There,” she mouthed, pointing, and he saw that this space actually led into a narrow chamber, like a hidden passageway along the walls. They were able to pause at a bend, listing as the soldiers asked about that door.
Antwon was making excuses, but he didn’t really need to. They’d be gone by the time the soldiers opened it, and the passageway wasn’t readily noticeable.
From the exploring they’d done of the ship earlier, they knew that going this way could lead to the deck, and just before that must be the control room and comms. Alicia had seemed to have this exact thought, because she motioned him on in that direction.
“We just need to lay low,” Marick hissed.
“No.” She motioned him on, no room for debate, and he wondered if she had always bossed him around like this. He kind of liked it.
Together they went on, pausing briefly as they heard two more soldiers pass by on the other side of the wall.
“It’s over there,” Alicia said, motioning to metal rungs that stuck out from the wall. “I’m going over.
He considered arguing, but glanced back. The voices were closer, though he couldn’t tell if they were just in the room they’d been in, or if they’d discovered the passageway after all. If they did come this way, it would be better to not be here.
“I’ll be right behind you,” he said, seeing that she was already climbing. He prepared, then glanced up right into the view of his wife, her fake PD soldier uniform tight on her perfect ass. Damn, how had he lived a year without seeing that view? She paused, turned around, and blew him a kiss.