by T. M. Catron
Okay, maybe that was taking it a bit far.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Solaris?” she asked.
“What would you like to know?”
“Start at the beginning.”
“That would take ages. A longer time than we have before landing on Ares.”
“Then start with why you’re running from Unity. Or rather, why are they chasing you?”
“Because I ran away.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s the reason they’re chasing me, yes. They don’t know why I’m running though.”
Rance waited for him to continue. James looked like he was about to interrupt, but she silenced him with a look.
Solaris took a deep breath. “Three months ago—by the old Earth clock—I was meditating in my cell.”
“Your prison cell?”
“No. The cell at the temple. When the Galaxy Wizards aren’t on a mission, we—they—live at the temple. Our quarters are small. We call them cells.”
“What’s the temple look like?” Abel asked.
“Guys,” Rance said, holding up a hand. She nodded to Solaris to finish his story.
“So I was meditating in my cell. I entered a deep trance, one unlike any I’d ever been in before or since. And I saw something.”
“What?” Harper asked. She almost whispered the question, but her eyes were bright and inquisitive. Like everyone else, she had only heard stories of the Galaxy Wizards. Few people got a chance to question them.
Usually, the Wizards did all the questioning.
“Fire,” Solaris continued. “Lots of fire. It scared me. And when I woke from my trance, I knew I had to leave.”
Beside her, Tally let out something like a smirk. Rance glared at him, but he said, “I’d heard the Wizards were faithless sons of Triton, but I never heard of one being scared of anything.”
“And you wouldn’t. Fear isn’t something we’re encouraged to feel. And when I did, I knew it meant something.”
“What?” Rance asked, a little annoyed that he was so vague.
Solaris shrugged and said, “Death.”
“Who’s death? Yours or ours?”
“Everybody’s.”
James broke into a grin now. “Dramatic, isn’t he?”
“You’re one to talk,” Tally shot back at him.
Rance ignored them and asked Solaris another question: “I thought the Galaxy Wizards protected us. Why wouldn’t you just tell them what you’d seen?”
“Because it didn’t make sense. And in my vision, the Galaxy Wizards were tied to it somehow.”
“As in, they were going to cause everybody’s deaths?”
“I don’t know. But I couldn’t take the chance. Look, I know I’m giving you the simplified answer here, but it’s all true, and if I were to go into detail about it all tonight, we’d still be sitting here when we popped out of hyperspace on Ares.”
“You can’t just tell us the world’s going to end and then go to bed, sunshine.”
“In this case, it’s not just a world, I’m afraid, but the galaxy that’s in danger. And before you ask—I don’t know from what or whom.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“I haven’t been able to do anything about it because I’ve spent the last three months running for my life.”
“Why won’t the Galaxy Wizards let you go?”
“We’re too valuable.”
“You said you were running for your life.”
“Because I’m sure Orion would love to make an example of me.”
“Orion?”
“He heads up the Enforcers, a task force whose sole purpose is to clean up after the Wizards. They fly stealth ships that can’t be detected by anything. We could have one following us right now without knowing, even in hyperspace.”
Shocked, Rance half-stood. “Why didn’t you say so before?”
“Because you can’t do anything about it even if they are. You might as well sit down, Captain.”
“This is terrible, Solaris!”
He took a deep breath. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think they are. James did some pretty great flying, and they wouldn’t have been able to see our appearance change so quickly. By the time they figured it out, it would have been too late.”
Rance sat down again and glared at him. “Why didn’t you offer to do that before we landed?”
“You wouldn’t let me speak. Then I was going to just do it and explain later, but James . . .” Solaris nodded to him. “That was some pretty astounding flying.”
James grinned.
“Astounding, alright,” Tally said dryly.
“If they didn’t follow us, how did they find us on Doxor 5?” Rance asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“How’d you change the ship and your face?” James asked.
Solaris smiled. “That’s my favorite trick. I’m better at it than anyone, even Orion. It’s a simple interruption of the electrical impulses going through your optic nerves.”
“What does that mean?”
“It creates distortion in your brain.”
“So,” Rance said slowly, “it changes how you look to us, but not how you actually look.”
Solaris beamed at her. “Correct. And the simplest changes are the easiest. Which is why I don’t change my height. I’m too tall as it is, and changing my perceived height takes more energy than just changing my face and hair.”
“And what about the energy needed to change a ship?”
“I do feel a bit drained after that one.”
“So where are you planning on going if you get away from the Enforcers?”
Solaris ran a hand through his brown hair and sighed. “I don’t want to lie to you any more than I already have. So I’ll tell you that keeping me on board is bad. Punishable by death. After today, I know they’re ready to just kill me, rather than risk me escaping again. Orion will view the Star Streaker and her crew as cleanup.”
He paused to look at each crew member with a serious look. “I only ask that you wait to dump me out after we reach Ares, and not while we’re still in hyperspace.”
James snorted with laughter. Tally rolled his eyes, and Harper looked ready to cry at the suggestion.
“We gotta work on your jokes, man,” Abel said.
~~~
Later, Rance paced up and down her tiny, quiet quarters. The rest of the crew was sleeping. Three steps, turn. Three steps, turn. She didn’t know what to do about Solaris. Helping him meant endangering her crew.
They’d been in danger plenty of times before. But this time the risk was different. Sure, they’d had close calls with Unity, mostly because of Rance’s father. It was like a prolonged game of cat and mouse. Davos would get wind of her somewhere, send patrols to get her. She would disappear again.
But with the exception of Solaris, the current crew knew the consequences. They might get a slap on the wrist if Rance were ever caught, but no one took it seriously. The secrecy and low profile they kept as a result of Rance were something they’d all agreed to. Some, like Tally and James, would never leave her, consequences or not.
So where did that leave Solaris? The crew owed him nothing. He should go. But the Star Streaker’s crew was the only family Rance had. They wouldn’t abandon her, like her mother. And they wouldn’t force her into anything hideous, like her father.
We’re with you, James had said. Well, Rance was with them.
No one gets left behind, she thought. Even face-shifting ex-Galaxy Wizards.
Was he an ex? She needed to ask him, added the question to a growing mental list. In fact, why was she pacing up and down her quarters when she could be questioning him again? She was the Captain. Until they landed on Ares, Solaris was still her CO.
Rance stepped out her door and walked down the hall to Solaris' room. She tapped lightly on the metal, not wishing to wake anyone but him.
It slid open two seconds later. Solaris stood in
the doorway, fully clothed and not too surprised to see her. “Captain?”
“Thought you were drained,” she said a little too caustically.
Solaris stepped out of his room and pressed his hands to his eyes. “I had a feeling you weren’t going to let me sleep. More questions?”
“Yes.”
Now that she was here, though, she didn’t remember any of them except one.
“Why did you come find me on the street? You could have left me for the soldiers.”
Solaris dropped his hands and quirked an eyebrow. “You’re my ride.”
Apparently he could make a joke after all.
“Okay.” She motioned for him to follow her to the cockpit, where she sat in her chair and rested her feet on the console. Solaris sat in his own chair and spun it around to face her with his elbows resting on the armrest.
“Can I ask you a question, Captain Cooper?”
“Sure.”
“Why’d you think Unity would send UDFs after you? That’s unusual for someone skipping out on a Founders’ Marriage.”
Rance cringed. She’d spent more than five years hiding out, and now here she was, sitting across from a man who had spent many, many years upholding the laws of the Galaxy. For some reason, a twinge of guilt washed over her as she realized just how far from the law she’d run. Would Solaris approve?
Then she remembered why he was even sitting across from her having this conversation. He was on the run too. The thought made her more cheerful. Here was someone who would understand what it felt like to always look over his shoulder.
She considered how much to tell him. “My father, Davos, has been very persistent in looking for me. I’d thought he’d made some new acquaintances.”
“Seems very devoted to the Founders, your father.”
Rance rolled her eyes and swiveled back and forth in her seat. The rocking motion made her feel younger, more carefree. But her worries were real.
“You have no idea,” she said finally, staring out the window into the blue haze. She always wished the stars were visible while they were in hyperspace. On her first jump from Xanthes with her father, she’d been disappointed. She liked watching them.
“Are you going to let me stay?” Solaris asked.
Rance looked over at him.
“I’m sure you have other places you want to go.”
“Right now, just one—wherever we’re headed that keeps me out of Unity’s sights. For now, that’s Ares.”
“And after that?”
“Depends on whether you let me stick around or not.”
“I’m pretty puzzled as to why you’d want to. We’re a small operation. What I told you is correct: we’re basically interstellar couriers.”
Solaris stood and looked out the large window. “Nevertheless, I would like to stay if you’ll have me. I can’t think of a better way to hide, for one thing. And for another, I’d hate for you to have to look for another CO when this one was just getting settled in.”
He looked back at her, waiting for a reaction.
“Are you still a Galaxy Wizard?”
“Once a Galaxy Wizard, always one. Is that a problem?”
“I don’t know. Up until a few days ago I didn’t really believe they existed. What do they do?”
“Uphold the code.”
Rance snorted with laughter. “The code?”
“Live to fight. Die to live. In us will the universe be saved.”
“What does that mean?”
Solaris shrugged. “I’ve repeated those words every day for twenty-eight years. If I ever reach a level of enlightenment wherein I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
“Has anyone ever figured it out?”
“Sure, but they’re all dead.”
Rance frowned. “Where are you from, Solaris?”
The corner of his mouth played upward in mischief, and he sat down again. “I’m from the Star Streaker if you’ll keep me.” Then he leaned forward, all traces of amusement leaving his face. “Will you?”
On principle, Rance hesitated. In truth, she’d already decided to let him stay if he wanted to. He was more than capable, and despite his previous career, he fit in with the crew. And she really hated to look for another CO.
Rance stood. Solaris did too.
She stuck out a hand for him to shake.
“Welcome aboard, Solaris.”
The Deliverance Code
All they have to do is stay out of trouble…
Check out the next book in the Star Streaker Series!
Ready for the next episode?
Join the crew on a “normal” smuggling adventure in The Deliverance Code, the can’t-miss followup to Solaris.
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Extras
Note from the Author
Hi there! Thanks for reading! If you’re still here, I’m hoping that means you enjoyed this book. Before you read any further, will you take moment to review? Every review makes a difference and helps me get the word out. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
And now, more about this book: With each title, I learn something new about writing and storytelling. This one just sort of jumped out of my head and onto the page. Rance Cooper invented herself—I really didn’t have anything to do with her! She popped into my head, fully formed, background already in place. Solaris and the crew of the Star Streaker came right behind, following like the loyal friends they are. My biggest concern was being able to do them justice, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of writing down their story.
The crew is in for more adventures big and small! I hope you’ll step onto the ship and go with them. For direct news about the series, sign up for my (non-spammy) newsletter by going to http://tmcatron.com/star-streaker-news.
What to expect with my newsletter:
1. An email once or twice a month with the following:
2. New release announcements
3. Freebies
4. Book recommendations
About the Author
T.M. (Tiffany) Catron spent her childhood looking for hidden worlds in the back of her closet. When she didn’t find any, she decided to grow up already and write them into existence. If she’s not watching Doctor Who or putting together Star Wars Legos with her son, she’s imagining what trouble her characters can get into next. Tiffany is a coffee-fueled writer of science fiction who believes challenge and opportunity can be empowering. Her books are adventures in gaining strength from adversity, and wisdom from growth. She’s trying to make the world a better place, one book at a time.
Tiffany lives in Tennessee with her husband, son, and three spoiled dogs. She’s the author of the post-apocalyptic sci-fi Shadowmark Series and The Star Streaker Series, a galactic empire adventure (with wizards!).
To connect with her, visit:
tmcatron.com
Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/tmcatron
Facebook at facebook.com/authortmcatron
Twitter @tmcatron.
Email [email protected].
Acknowledgments
A big shout out to the Phoenix Prime crew for their support, advice, feedback, editing, and occasional kick in the pants. Without them, I would not have finished this book when I did. Or even started the series this year.
As always, a huge thank you to my hubby, Eric, who puts up with me disappearing for long hours to get my writing done. He’s been my biggest supporter throughout this journey. I love you, baby!
More Books!
The Shadowmark Series:
Shadowmark, Book 1
Aether, Book 2
Shadowmark Expansion Series:
The Mine
The Star Streaker Series:
Solaris
The Deliverance Code
Defiance (April 2017)
Prometheus Rescue (April 2017)
Standalones:
The Living with Lisa Manifold
Lost in Blue (as Wilhelmina Kirk) with Lisa Manif
old
About Phoenix Prime
Phoenix Prime is a Ph.D. level workshop that spans approximately four months. It uses applied industrial psychology to address components of writing, marketing, branding, business and contract issues, productivity, etc. that combine Creative Writing and business perspectives.
The participants are creating a portfolio to showcase their work alongside students in doctoral programs in several major universities. The objective, in addition to expanding the professional growth of all the participants, is to study the impact of the independent author-publisher on the commercial fiction industry.
I’m in this program and will be planting roots in my office chair. I’ll come up for air sometime in April, with 35 additional works under my belt. If you see me walking around in a daze, laptop glued to one hand, coffee to the other, this is why.
Table of Contents
Contents
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
The Deliverance Code
Extras
Note from the Author
About the Author
Acknowledgments
More Books!
About Phoenix Prime
Cover