Dark Rivals

by Amy DuBoff

  Ava was surprised Luke hadn’t been waiting for her at the concourse, but she found him standing outside her quarters in his usual fashion. “There you are.”

  “Ava!” He ran to her, arms outstretched, and held her close. “I’m so relieved you made it out of there,” he murmured into her hair.

  “Being entombed in an alien death-planet-ship-thing wasn’t high on my list of preferred ways to die.”

  Luke pulled back enough to look her in the eyes. “Are you okay?”

  “Better than okay—especially now that I’m back home.” She kissed him deeply, happy that he’d staged the reunion in a more private location.

  Ava unlocked her door and showed him inside. “Is it true that word is getting around the FDG about what happened?”

  “Not around around, but a fair number of people know. I think a few people started talking about it before it was made clear that it’s classified information.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me.”

  Luke sat down on the edge of her bed. “What happened after the ship was blown up? Your message was really cryptic.”

  She joined him on the bed. “There are more of the Dyons—or whatever they’re actually called. The others aren’t like the ones we met, though. They’re good, and kind, and they see what we’re doing in this galaxy, and wish us the best.”

  “Advanced, then?”

  “So advanced. Between us, I don’t think we have a proper frame of reference yet to understand a lifeform like theirs.”

  “After everything I’ve seen, that doesn’t surprise me.”

  She took his hand. “But it’s over. The bad ones are gone.”

  Luke cupped his free hand on the side of Ava’s face, and gave her a slow kiss. “What now?”

  “First up, I have a debrief in twelve minutes.”

  He dropped his hands to his sides. “Of course you do.”

  “But after that, I honestly don’t know. More missions and… whatever, I guess?”

  >>Tell him about the information you got from the other Dyons,<< Ruby prompted.

  “Oh, I have something science-y for you to work on,” Ava continued. “I, uh, sort of ‘communed’ with the good counterparts of the Dyons, and they passed some information on to me. Ruby thinks it’s a fix to my nanocyte problems.”

  “That’s… very interesting.”

  “Yeah, so you should probably check that out.”

  He nodded. “I’d definitely like to take a look.”

  “Okay, how about I swing by the lab after the debrief?”

  “Sounds good.”

  They parted ways with another kiss, and then Ava headed to the designated conference room.

  She settled into her place at the table, across from Colonel Kurtz and Major Widmore, with the three members of her team to her right.

  “To state the obvious, all of you have done amazing work over the past several days,” Kurtz began. “You have demonstrated time and again how dedicated you are to your positions. You truly rose to the occasion, and you have the FDG’s sincere gratitude.”

  “Of course, sir. Just doing our jobs,” Ava replied, and her team murmured their agreement.

  The colonel nodded. “Well, let’s go over exactly what happened.”

  The team members each recounted their version of the events. Ava was surprised to hear how close her team had come to losing control while stalling for time as she made her way back to the Raven. By the time they were finished, she was convinced that anyone else would have left her to die. She owed them her life many times over.

  Kurtz took it in silently, nodding and making occasional notes in shorthand on the touch-surface tabletop. When every member of the team had completed their report, he smiled.

  “These reports have confirmed my impressions of the events.” He looked to the three warriors on Ava’s team. “It’s long overdue, but effective immediately, you’re all promoted to the rank of corporal.”

  The three warriors exchanged glances.

  “Thank you, sir,” Nick said, “but doesn’t that mean we’re supposed to be squad leaders or something?”

  “Rank is based on the needs of the FDG and the leadership positions we fill. Because of your work in special operations, none of you was afforded the opportunity to lead a squad. We know you could, and much more. We haven’t held up our end with advancements the way we should have, and it’s time that was corrected.” He smiled. “We bumped you up a rank, but if you keep performing the way you always have, I imagine more advancements will be forthcoming until your ass is strapped to a desk, just like mine. Then, it takes a crisis like this to escape—not that it’s all bad. Keep that in mind as you move up.”

  Ava beamed at her team. “Congratulations, Corporals.”

  They wouldn’t say it out loud, but Ava could tell at least one of them was thinking something along the lines of ‘about damn time’.

  “As for you, Ava,” Kurtz continued, “it’s about time you were promoted to captain.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. “Thank you, sir.”

  >>Congratulations, Ava! Very well deserved,<< Ruby said in her mind.

  Widmore smiled. “How many times do you have to prove your courage, commitment, and can-do attitude before you get something for your continued sacrifices?”

  “I will fulfill my duty to the best of my ability.”

  “To that end, we’ll need to reevaluate the best use of all of your skills moving forward. We’ll figure out your assignments in the coming days,” Kurtz continued.

  Are they going to break us up? Ava asked Ruby.

  >>I don’t know any more than you, yet.<<

  “Yes, sir, we’ll be standing by,” she said aloud.

  “Now, go celebrate. You’ve earned it,” Kurtz said with a smile. “I heard there’s going to be cake.”

  * * *

  Karen settled into the chair across from President Connors’ desk. After more than a month away from Alucia, it was strange to be back in the place that had not long before been her home away from home.

  “Quite an exciting month!” Connors said, smiling behind his steepled fingers.

  “Drama I am very happy to now have behind me.” Karen sank into her chair.

  “Has Trisha called you in a panic yet?” He smirked.

  “Only twice, but I was able to talk her down both times.”

  “Good. I know you wouldn’t have recommended her for the Nezaran governorship if she couldn’t handle the position.”

  Karen nodded. “There’s no one else I’d feel more confident having in her role, especially with Fiona as her second-in-command. She’s dedicated and sharp.”

  “I agree, that’s a winning combination. Plus, she supports unity within the Alaxar Trinary.”

  “Another benefit, for sure.”

  Connors tapped his fingertips together. “There is someone who’s proven less than supportive on that front.”

  Karen tilted her head quizzically.

  “Mitchell Korwen.”

  “Right…” She let out a long breath, thinking back to her conversation with the mayor of Tribeca. It was unfortunate that she’d needed to resort to threats, but at least the matter had been resolved in time.

  “As we move forward with unification,” Connors continued, “having someone more agreeable would expedite matters considerably.”

  “Yes. Who do you have in mind?”

  “You, actually.”

  Karen laughed. “Yeah, right.”

  “Can you give me a good reason why not? We have always emphasized the need for local representation in the political arguments we’ve made with these recent events. You’re a Coraxan native of both human and Torcellan descent, and you’ve lived on all three worlds in this system. I can think of no better person to serve as a representative of Coraxan interests while understanding the larger context of the political landscape.”

  She worked her mouth. “I’m not sure what to say…”

  “You can start by accepting the role
. Play bashful if you like, but I know you want this. In all your changes of allegiance, your commitment to Coraxa has never wavered.”

  “I don’t know how you’ll get the other representatives on the world to go along with it.”

  Connors smiled. “Let’s just say I’ve already made a few calls to vet the idea, and I don’t think there will be any issues.”

  Karen thought for a moment. “Sir, I would be honored.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Then there’s also the matter of transitioning you to president of this system, once Coraxa and Nezar are officially brought into the Federation.”

  “Formalities. And maybe someone else will want to run for that position. I’m happy I was able to get us this far, no matter what the future holds.”

  She took a deep, satisfied breath. “A united system, finally.”

  “We have a bright future together.”

  * * *

  Ava drummed her fingers on her crossed arms. Luke and Jack had been absorbed in their computers for the past five minutes.

  “What do you—?” she started to ask, but Jack suddenly pushed back from his station.

  “This is everything we were missing before,” he stated. “All the biological interactions with the tech, the control mechanisms, it’s all here.”

  “What does that mean for me?” Ava asked.

  “It means my initial assessment was correct,” Ruby replied over the lab’s comms. “With this guide, I’ll be able to control your transformations as effectively as Weres can. But it requires an AI, so it’s unlikely that use of the tech will become widespread.”

  “The super-speed is a nice bonus beyond the traditional Were traits, though,” Ava said.

  Jack grinned. “Fuck yeah! You’re on the road to total badassery.”

  “Hmm.” Ava slumped in her chair.

  Luke’s brow knit. “Why don’t you seem happy about that?”

  “I am. Just…” She took a slow breath. “I guess I’m worried about what this means for my team.”

  “They’ll be a whole lot safer,” he replied.

  “Yes, and that’s great. But with their promotions, and now me having these new abilities, I’m concerned that the higher-ups are going to separate us.”

  “A fascinating conundrum.” Jack rose from his station. “And I’m sure you two will have a riveting discussion about it, but I’m gonna go ogle this data. I know how Luke hates it when I dissect your weird tech in his presence.”

  “Ava has expressed displeasure when I do that, as well,” Ruby chimed in over the comm.

  “Shocking that talking about me like a science experiment doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies,” Ava muttered.

  “Knock yourself out, Jack,” Luke said to his coworker as he departed the lab.

  “See ya.” Jack waved goodbye, then closed the door behind him.

  Ava rolled her eyes and sighed.

  “At least he’s useful.” Luke shrugged. “Now, I believe we were at the part where I was supposed to offer some insightful words of wisdom about life transitions and how friendships transcend current work assignments.”

  She smiled. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

  “I thought so.” Luke crossed his arms and frowned. “Damn, I’ve got nothing.”

  Ava raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

  He grinned. “Nah, I’m just messing with you.” He extended his arms toward her.

  She took his hands, and he drew her in for a kiss.

  “Look,” he said when they parted, “I know change can be scary and sad and all those other feelings we try to avoid, but sometimes that’s exactly what we need in order to grow and really come into our own. Even if your team structure changes, and the type of assignments you go on isn’t what it has been for the last ten years, it’s a chance for you to try something new. A decade is a long time to stick with one thing.”

  “Way to instill confidence in your girlfriend that this thing we’re doing is long-term,” Ava replied with a mock glare.

  “Poor phrasing. In some matters, a decade would only be the beginning.”

  She ran her fingers through his hair. “It’s hard to believe it’s been a fourteen-year path to get here. Would you ever have guessed we’d end up in the FDG, if someone had asked you when we were teenagers, living on Coraxa?”

  “Stars, no!” he laughed. “I think I was still planning to be a veterinarian back then.”

  “That’s right! You had that master plan of working at the petting zoo at the Tribeca Nature Preserve.”

  “It would have been fun.”

  “Yeah, it would have.” She shook her head. “And I would have been a Reader, entertaining tourists with mind-reading tricks. Ugh, but I would have hated every second of it.”

  “This life in the FDG suits you—helping people, going on adventures, making a real difference in others’ lives.”

  Ava gazed into his eyes. “As much as I enjoyed it before, something was always missing. Now, having you here, I have everything I ever wanted.”

  He brushed her hair back from her forehead. “No matter what happens with your team, I’ll always be waiting here to welcome you home.”

  She smiled. “When you put it like that, tackling those future unknowns doesn’t sound so bad.”

  FINIS

  Thank you for reading!

  We hope you enjoyed reading these four books in the Uprise Saga!

  Did you like what you read? Please write a short review on Amazon! Even one or two sentences goes a long way.

  Check out Amy DuBoff’s other books on Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/amyduboff

  Sign up for Amy’s newsletter to be notified about new releases: http://www.subscribepage.com/amyduboffnewsletter

  Author Notes - Amy DuBoff

  Written January 27, 2018

  Thank you for reading this fourth book in the Uprise Saga! I feel incredibly lucky to have such passionate, engaged readers.

  Working on this project has been a great learning experience for me. When I started on the Uprise Saga, I had seven novels in my backlist, along with a handful of short stories and a couple of novellas. Now, having another four-book series, I feel like I’m beginning to build an author brand.

  I talked in the Endless Advance author notes about my attraction to the metaphysical, and the more I write, the more I realize I’d like for such superhuman abilities to be an ongoing theme in my stories. I want to try on different flavors of those elements, ranging from hard sci-fi to more fantasy-magic interpretations. I love the idea of pushing the boundaries for what it means to be human.

  Now that I have four additional novels under my figurative belt, I hope to further develop this emerging brand. From a reader perspective, I want you to have confidence that you know what you’ll get in my books. I learned a ton about plotting and how to draw a reader in while writing Uprise Saga, and I look forward to bringing these new skills to future projects.

  Where does that leave things regarding an Uprise Book 5?

  Ava could go in many directions, and for now, I will let you envision the future you’d like her to have. As a new author, I want to push myself to try new things, and I have several new projects I am excited to work on in the coming months. For that reason, we will be pausing the Uprise Saga at these four books.

  If you have enjoyed my storytelling and writing style, I hope you’ll consider checking out my future series. First will be a trilogy that I’d classify as “space fantasy”, which will feature a female lead—fun space adventure, with a combination of high-tech and magic; this is tentatively titled the Reset Trilogy, and the first book is called Crystalline Space. After that, I will be working on some other collaborations, and then I’ll get back to a Cadicle 2.0 series (tentatively titled the Taran Empire Saga). All of these are things I’ve been wanting to write forever, and I’m super excited to be in a place where I can work on them. I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

  Sincere thanks to Michael and Craig for their co
aching, and for giving me the opportunity to write in this world and launch my author career. They both have amazing vision, and it’s been an incredible experience to see what’s possible to achieve when you build a great relationship with your readers. I hope to embody this in my own career, and to one day be able to pay their mentorship forward to other authors.

  Thank you also to Jen McDonnell for editing, Andrew Dobell (and Estrany) for the beautiful covers, the entire LMPBN team for their tireless support, and the incredible JIT team. Special thanks also to Ron, Curtis, and Kurt for beta reading. I am so fortunate to work with such a great team!

  And thank YOU for reading and being a part of this author journey with me! I hope we can go on many more adventures together.

  ***

  Want to learn more about my upcoming projects? Please join my mailing list, or you can connect with me in my Facebook group to find out what I’m working on and notified about upcoming books.

  If you have any questions or comments, shoot me a note at amy@amyduboff.com. I always love to hear from readers, and I try to respond to every email I receive.

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Written January 29, 2018

  First, thank you for not only reading this story, but reading the author notes here at the back as well!

  When Craig Martelle said that he had corralled the amazing Amy DuBoff for our little Universe he told me like this: “Mike, I have Amy DuBoff writing a series with us. We are talking Amy ‘Queen of Space Opera’ DuBoff!”

  And now, I know why.

  It’s ALWAYS a blessing to help other authors and to find out from Amy that Craig and I had even a small part to play in her career has, I assure you, surprised me. But, I’m ok with these types of surprises.

  Thank you Amy for being a part of ‘The Biggest Indie Universe!’