by M. D. Cooper
Kylie still wore her flow armor, and covered it up with an off-the-shoulder black mesh sweater, leather leggings, and ankle boots. She ran a comb through her hair, flipping the purple streak around the back.
Kylie reviewed the message she had received, the message that had led her to decide to venture out in the middle of the night.
[I need to see you. We need to talk. Please come alone. Love, Nadine.]
Getting that message had been like being sucker punched…repeatedly. There was still so much they had to say to one another.
Kylie shook her head in defiance.
Kylie didn’t answer as she walked out of the room and took the lift down to the ground floor. Neither spoke as she exited the hotel and crossed the street. A minute later, she turned around the corner and walked toward a stretch of road lined with multi-story restaurants.
Eventually, Marge spoke again.
Marge was being unsupportive, but Kylie knew the AI wasn’t wrong.
Marge gasped, and her avatar’s eyes turned into hearts.
After another block, she ran up a flight of stairs to a balcony that ran along one of the buildings, eventually coming to the darkened entrance of a small café. It wasn’t open, its windows only lit by the lights and sights from across the road.
Kylie walked to the edge and grasped the railing as she gazed out at the city, the cool breeze brushing past her hair. She thought about what she’d say.
Why would you hurt Grayson? Why would you hurt me?
Please forgive me for turning you away.
I’m sorry.
Kylie drew a deep breath as she heard footsteps behind her, but they didn’t sound like a woman’s.
“Nadine?” she asked and turned around.
A dark silhouette was in front of her. She activated her night vision and choked back a gasp.
It wasn’t Nadine, it wasn’t a woman at all, but rather a man dressed in a fine purple suit. Only the kind he’d wear.
The man smirked as he stepped into the light directly in front of her. “Did you get all dressed up for me?”
Kylie’s eyes narrowed and she swallowed the hard lump forming in her throat.
“Maverick.”
He chuckled and spread his arms. “Miss me?”
Kylie drew her sidearm and aimed it at his head. “Don’t move.”
“Oh, Kylie,” Maverick said, his voice filled with disappointment as several of his girls stepped out from the shadows, each with her own weapon aimed at Kylie. “Did you really think it would be that easy?
She had. She really had. Now she wasn’t so sure.
“What do you want, Mav?”
“A brand new cruiser. A new suit. You in a gleaming collar.”
“Never going to happen,” Kylie said and set her jaw.
She was interrupted by Maverick’s laugh.
“Then I’ll settle for just two things. Taking Lana into my custody and killing Grayson. My people are moving in on both of them now—unless you lower your weapon and come with me. If you do, no harm will come to you. I’d never hurt you, Kylie. I thought you knew that.”
Maverick had a look about him, like a wounded puppy or an expectant child, and Kylie started to piece it all together. The note Grayson had received about how Kylie didn’t belong to him. The note with the scarf that said ‘Miss me?’. Kylie assumed it had been Nadine.
But it had been Maverick, the man who had once owned her and refused to let her go. Not Nadine.
Kylie had never been so disappointed in her deductive reasoning skills.
“You know I can do both,” he continued. “Think of everything I’ve done here. I can get to anyone I want. I have the military’s codes I got from Smithers, and I control dozens of their people. Stars, I can manipulate traffic holos on a whim.”
Kylie let out a laugh as she shook her head at the man who had once controlled every aspect of her life. She saw through what he was doing. He’d apply lever after lever until he had her eating out of his hand.
It was never going to happen.
“Maverick?” Kylie asked with a sweet smile on her face.
“Yeah?” the man asked breathlessly.
“Let’s dance.”
The expectant look on Maverick’s face turned to shock, as she fired a round at one of his girls, blowing the woman’s brains out, before she aimed her weapon at the crime lord’s head.
“Time for you to die.”
THE END
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Pick up Terminal Velocity, the final book in the Perilous Alliance series (but not the last time we’ll see Kylie and her crew)
You can also read Decisive Action, the story of Grayson’s assault on Gedri in the wake of Maverick’s assumption of that system’s presidency. This novella takes place between Collision Course and Impact Imminent.
Sign up for the Aeon 14 mailing list to be alerted about these and other releases.
THE BOOKS OF AEON 14
Keep up to date with what is releasing in Aeon 14 with the free Aeon 14 Reading Guide.
The Sentience Wars: Origins (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/James S. Aaron)
- Books 1-3 Omnibus: Lyssa’s Rise
- Books 4-5 Omnibus (incl. Vesta Burning): Lyssa’s Fire
- Book 0 Prequel: The Proteus Bridge (Full length novel)
- Book 1: Lyssa’s Dream
- Book 2: Lyssa’s Run
- Book 3: Lyssa’s Flight
- Book 4: Lyssa’s Call
- Book 5: Lyssa’s Flame
The Sentience Wars: Solar War 1 (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/James S. Aaron)
- Book 0 Prequel: Vesta Burning (Full length novel)
- Book 1: Eve of Destruction
- Book 2: The Spreading Fire (Oct 2019)
Enfield Genesis (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/Lisa Richman)
- Book 1: Alpha Centauri
- Book 2: Proxima Centauri
- Book 3: Tau Ceti
- Book 4: Epsilon Eridani
- Book 5: Sirius
Origins of Destiny (The Age of Terra)
- Prequel: Storming the Norse Wind
- Prequel: Angel’s Rise: The Huntress (available on Patreon)
- Book 1: Tanis Richards: Shore Leave
- Book 2: Tanis Richards: Masquerade
- Book 3: Tanis Richards: Blackest Night
- Book 4: Tanis Richards: Kill Shot
The Intrepid Saga (The Age of Terra)
- Book 1: Outsystem
&n
bsp; - Book 2: A Path in the Darkness
- Book 3: Building Victoria
- The Intrepid Saga Omnibus – Also contains Destiny Lost, book 1 of the Orion War series
- Destiny Rising – Special Author’s Extended Edition comprised of both Outsystem and A Path in the Darkness with over 100 pages of new content.
The Sol Dissolution (The Age of Terra)
- Book 1: Venusian Uprising (2019)
- Book 2: Scattered Disk (2020)
- Book 3: Jovian Offensive (2020)
- Book 4: Fall of Terra (2020)
The Warlord (Before the Age of the Orion War)
- Books 1-3 Omnibus: The Warlord of Midditerra
- Book 1: The Woman Without a World
- Book 2: The Woman Who Seized an Empire
- Book 3: The Woman Who Lost Everything
The Orion War
- Books 1-3 Omnibus (includes Ignite the Stars anthology)
- Book 0 Prequel: To Fly Sabrina
- Book 1: Destiny Lost
- Book 2: New Canaan
- Book 3: Orion Rising
- Book 4: The Scipio Alliance
- Book 5: Attack on Thebes
- Book 6: War on a Thousand Fronts
- Book 7: Precipice of Darkness
- Book 8: Airtha Ascendancy
- Book 9: The Orion Front
- Book 10: Starfire
- Book 11: Race Across Spacetime (2019)
- Book 12: Return to Sol (2019)
Non-Aeon 14 Anthologies containing Rika stories
- Bob’s Bar Volume 1
Building New Canaan (Age of the Orion War – w/J.J. Green)
- Book 1: Carthage
- Book 2: Tyre
- Book 3: Troy
- Book 4: Athens
Tales of the Orion War
- Book 1: Set the Galaxy on Fire
- Book 2: Ignite the Stars
Multi-Author Collections
- Volume 1: Repercussions
Perilous Alliance (Age of the Orion War – w/Chris J. Pike)
- Book 1-3 Omnibus: Crisis in Silstrand
- Book 0 Prequel: Escape Velocity
- Book 1: Close Proximity
- Book 2: Strike Vector
- Book 3: Collision Course
- Book 3.5: Decisive Action
- Book 4: Impact Imminent
- Book 5: Critical Inertia
- Book 6: Impulse Shock
- Book 7: Terminal Velocity
The Delta Team (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: The Eden Job
- Book 2: The Disknee World (2019)
- Book 3: The Dark Twins (2020)
Rika’s Marauders (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1-3 Omnibus: Rika Activated
- Prequel: Rika Mechanized
- Book 1: Rika Outcast
- Book 2: Rika Redeemed
- Book 3: Rika Triumphant
- Book 4: Rika Commander
- Book 5: Rika Infiltrator
- Book 6: Rika Unleashed
- Book 7: Rika Conqueror
Non-Aeon 14 Anthologies containing Rika stories
- Bob’s Bar Volume 2
- Backblast Area Clear
The Genevian Queen (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: Rika Rising
- Book 2: Rika Coronated
- Book 3: Rika Reigns (2019)
Perseus Gate (Age of the Orion War)
Season 1: Orion Space
- Episode 1: The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star
- Episode 2: The World at the Edge of Space
- Episode 3: The Dance on the Moons of Serenity
- Episode 4: The Last Bastion of Star City
- Episode 5: The Toll Road Between the Stars
- Episode 6: The Final Stroll on Perseus’s Arm
- Eps 1-3 Omnibus: The Trail Through the Stars
- Eps 4-6 Omnibus: The Path Amongst the Clouds
Season 2: Inner Stars
- Episode 1: A Meeting of Bodies and Minds
- Episode 2: A Deception and a Promise Kept
- Episode 3: A Surreptitious Rescue of Friends and Foes
- Episode 3.5: Anomaly on Cerka (w/Andrew Dobell)
- Episode 4: A Victory and a Crushing Defeat
- Episode 5: A Trial and the Tribulations (2019)
- Episode 6: A Deal and a True Story Told (2019)
- Episode 7: A New Empire and An Old Ally (2019)
- Eps 1-3 Omnibus: A Siege and a Salvation from Enemies
Hand’s Assassin (Age of the Orion War – w/T.G. Ayer)
- Book 1: Death Dealer
- Book 2: Death Mark (2019)
Machete System Bounty Hunter (Age of the Orion War – w/Zen DiPietro)
- Book 1: Hired Gun
- Book 2: Gunning for Trouble
- Book 3: With Guns Blazing
Fennington Station Murder Mysteries (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: Whole Latte Death (w/Chris J. Pike)
- Book 2: Cocoa Crush (w/Chris J. Pike)
The Empire (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: The Empress and the Ambassador
- Book 2: Consort of the Scorpion Empress (2019)
- Book 3: By the Empress’s Command (2019)
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Malorie Cooper likes to think of herself as a dreamer and a wanderer, yet her feet are firmly grounded in reality.
A ‘maker’ from an early age, Malorie loves to craft things, from furniture, to cosplay costumes, to a well-spun tale, she can’t help but to create new things every day.
A rare extrovert writer, she loves to hang out with readers and people in general. If you meet her at a convention, she just might be rocking a catsuit, cosplaying one of her own characters, or maybe her latest favorite from Overwatch!
She shares her home with a brilliant young girl, her wonderful wife (who also writes), a cat that chirps at birds, a never-ending list of things she would like to build, and ideas…
Find out what’s coming next at www.aeon14.com.
Follow her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/m.d.cooper.
Hang out with the fans on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/aeon14fans.
* * * * *
Starship captains. Space battles. Dramatic relationships with big payoffs.
Chris J. Pike is an up and coming SF author, focused on writing in the Aeon14 universe. When not writing Science Fiction, he's watching the Expanse, the Killjoys, Firefly, and anything else that might go boom.
Follow along by liking his Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/ChrisJPikeAuthor
Or sign up for his mailing list for news and updates.