The Renegade Star Series: Books 1-3 (Renegade Star Box Set)

by JN Chaney

  I breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Abigail. “You’re up next.”

  “I can manage,” she assured me, squatting to the ground. She took a slow, deep breath, and jumped.

  I watched her confidently sail towards the ship, perfectly aimed. She reached it easily, grabbing the railing with her whole arm, attempting to swing herself around. As she did, she seemed to react, partially losing her grip.

  Freddie reached for her, taking Abigail’s hand and pulling her onto the deck. “I have you!”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  I could hear her breathing heavily. “Nothing, it’s just…” Her voice trailed off. “Sorry, my shoulder was hurting. It’s fine now.”

  “Must have been from the crash,” I said.

  “Are you ready, Captain?” asked Freddie.

  I crouched, placing both my hands on the rock beneath me, then pushed my feet down, extending my body and launching myself straight up towards The Star.

  I nearly passed the opening as I floated, but a hand grasped at me, yanking me back. “Got you!” said Abigail. She held me tight, squeezing my fingers.

  Fred took my wrist as well, and together the two of them pulled me inside. As I entered the cargo deck, the ship’s artificial gravity took hold and brought me straight down on my ass, knocking both Abigail and Fred on their sides.

  “Welcome back, sir,” Sigmond said inside my ear as the lift began to close shut. “Shall I chart a course to Taurus Station?”

  “I think that’d be a fine idea, Siggy,” I said, feeling a sudden ache in my lower back.

  Fred ran over and offered his hand. “Now what?”

  “Now nothing,” I said, then waited for the oxygen to fill the cargo bay. Once the doors were sealed, I removed my helmet and took a long breath. “The shuttle’s gone and we have our cargo. I think we’ve done enough for one day, don’t you?”

  FOURTEEN

  After a long, hard sleep and a cup of coffee, I went to check on Abigail. She needed more medical attention than I thought. The scanner I used had missed the concussion, which wasn’t a surprise. I found that thing in a pawn shop over a year ago, but never had to use it. Go figure it barely worked.

  I found her with Octavia, who had a decent bit of experience with patching wounds, as it turned out. “How’s she looking?” I asked when the door opened.

  Octavia motioned at the sleeping woman in her bed. “She’s resting, but she’ll be fine.”

  “How’d you learn how to handle that?”

  “I used to be in the Union Guard,” she explained.

  “You?” I asked.

  “I wasn’t always Dr. Hitchens’ assistant. In my other life, I was a patriot.”

  “Is that what they call dogs of the military where you come from?”

  My bluntness didn’t faze her, or if it did, she didn’t let it show. “The Union isn’t cruel to every world, Mr. Hughes,” she said. “I was born on Androsia.”

  Androsia was the capital of the Union, so I knew the name, despite never stepping foot on its soil. “Boy, talk about a silver spoon,” I said. “That must have been an easy life for you.”

  “It was,” she admitted. “I used to think the whole Empire was like that. I thought everyone was happy. It wasn’t until I saw the outer colonies with my own eyes that I began to understand.”

  “I’m not sure if I should be happy for you or not,” I said. “Seems like you gave up a lot just to be someone’s assistant.”

  She nodded. “I suppose I did. My father was a surgeon on the richest planet in the Union. We had enough money to last a lifetime. But living an easy life isn’t the same as being fulfilled. It doesn’t mean you’ll be happy. I gave it up because I felt a need for something more. I wanted to study history, to explore.”

  “You felt confined,” I said.

  “Living in the capitol, I had my entire life planned out. I was to do my duty and serve the Union, then go to medical school like my father. No one asked me what I wanted. It was like living in a really comfortable box where all your needs are met, except you can never leave. For most people, that’s enough. For me, it felt claustrophobic. You seem like you understand that.”

  “I might,” I said, refusing to elaborate. “How long before the nun recovers?”

  The sudden question didn’t throw her. She leaned back, looking at Abigail’s bed. “Miss Pryar needs to rest a while. Give her a day.”

  “Thanks for handling it. I’ve got enough to do as it is.”

  She gave me a slight smile. “I’m sure you do, Captain.”

  I started to ask what she meant, only to drop it and return to the lounge.

  I kept mulling over our haul from the asteroid. I had no idea if it was worth anything, but with some much-needed luck, Ollie might be able to find me a buyer. Probably a sucker on the prowl for antiques. I just hoped we’d get enough to cover the debt.

  In the lounge, Hitchens sat with Freddie and Lex, watching one of the old Foxy Stardust cartoons. I took a seat and didn’t say anything. Lex had a wide-eyed expression on her face, totally engrossed in the show. Hitchens was on his pad, reading an article, while Freddie just sat there, eating an apple.

  It would be strange, once this job was done, to return to such a quiet ship. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d carried so many passengers, but this mission had certainly lasted longer than most.

  I expected them all to leave once we arrived at the station. No doubt, they’d try to charter a new ship, one with a less dangerous captain at its helm. I was in over my head with Fratley, and after the shocking display back at Arcadia, I was sure they’d want to avoid the bastard at all costs.

  Whatever they ended up doing, I hoped they didn’t get themselves killed.

  “Excuse me, sir,” said Sigmond, speaking in my ear. “Please report to the cockpit. There’s something you need to see.”

  “What is it, Siggy?” I asked, surprised that he wasn’t speaking through the speaker.

  “We may have a problem.”

  I casually took my leave of the room and headed to the front of the ship, saying nothing. After closing the door to the hall, I took a seat.

  A few moments ago, The Star had come out of a slip tunnel, so the space outside the ship was still and quiet, glowing dots in the distance. No sign of trouble. “What’s the deal? You see something I don’t?”

  “I’m detecting a Union star cruiser near the other end of the next slip tunnel, sir. I believe they are entering soon.”

  I blinked. “A cruiser? And they’re heading here?”

  “Yes, I believe so.”

  A series of questions hit me all at once. Could they be looking for us? Had the Union discovered our location and found a way to track the girl or my ship? Was it some new directive, as part of their recent border expansion program? I’d heard rumors about them going into the Deadlands a handful of times, but that was so rare. They generally kept to their own space.

  Could Lex really be so important to them?

  I hoped I was overthinking it, and this was something unrelated. With any luck, we’d pass each other in the tunnel, off to our own destinations. Scans didn’t work in slipspace, so if the cruiser continued on its course, we’d have nothing to worry about. The only concern was whether they had a means of penetrating our cloak. We could see them from here with our long-range sensors, which normally would mean the same for them, but only if they had a means of detecting the cloak. If not, then we just might be able to make it through without any trouble.

  “They’re entering the tunnel,” said Sigmond.

  “How long?” I asked.

  “They will reach our present location in approximately three hours.”

  “Enter the tunnel as soon as they do. Wait until the cruiser is fully inside. We don’t want them to see us when we drop our cloak.”

  “Actually, sir, it may not be that simple.”

  “Why is that?”

  “If we enter at the same time as the cruiser, we’ll
most likely leave at the same time. If anything, they will emerge slightly before us. If that happens, we won’t be cloaked in time to shield ourselves.”

  I knew he was right and cursed myself for not realizing it sooner. If we entered the tunnel now, the cruiser would emerge before us. All they’d have to do is scan behind them to see us coming out the same point they entered. Even if we waited an hour or two, there was still a risk that they’d see us when we emerged.

  “We could remain cloaked in this position and wait,” suggested Sigmond.

  “No, there’s gotta be another way that doesn’t involve us waiting here for a cruiser to arrive. I don’t want to risk them detecting us through the cloak.” I flicked the side of my chair, weighing the options. There were other tunnels running through here, certainly, and we could take any of them we wanted, but the detour would prolong our arrival at Taurus, possibly by a day or more. “Siggy, what if we stay on this tunnel until we’re out of scanning range? Where would we come out?”

  “That would bring us inside Union-controlled space.”

  “Would we be near anything? Any planets or colonies? Space stations?”

  “None, according to the galactic map.”

  “How long to return to Taurus with only standard warp thrusters?” I asked.

  “Six hours,” Sigmond said.

  “And if we use one of the other tunnels nearby? How long would that take?”

  “There are three tunnels besides this one, but the detour would add another three days to our travel time.”

  I thought about Abigail in her bed, knowing she needed better treatment than what my ship could provide. If we waited too long, she might end up suffering. “Fuck it, let’s take this tunnel and bypass Taurus. Once we get there, cloak us and turn around.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  A beam from our ship split a tear in space, opening to reveal the jade-colored lights of slipspace. “In we go,” I said, leaning back in my chair.

  Our cloak dropped and The Renegade Star pushed into the rift.

  At the same time, the Union cruiser was on its way to our location, flying in the opposite direction through slipspace. We would pass each other soon, unaware of the other’s presence.

  Entering Union space wasn’t the most ideal scenario, I had to admit, but it was better than waiting three days to return to Taurus Station. Aside from Abigail’s health, there was also the matter of our cargo, which had to be sold so I could pay Fratley back before the end of the week.

  The deadline was fast approaching, and I couldn’t risk bringing Fratley’s wrath down on me. One way or the other, I had to get that bastard his money.

  FIFTEEN

  I made it a point to avoid Union space, whenever possible. I’d crossed the border when I had to, depending on the job, but there were always certain risks involved. Risks that generally outweighed the dangers of operating within the Deadlands.

  Sure, the Deadlands had ravagers, thieves, pirates, and Sarkonians, but at least I never had to deal with Union checkpoints or military envoys. While I could always handle a few small pirate ships, the Union controlled the largest and most powerful armada in the galaxy. That was the kind of trouble you just didn’t want.

  Union space also had several long-range buoys to monitor border activity. If one of them caught a glimpse of you, there was a chance you’d end up having a rough time. I even had to watch where and how I used my cloak, since the technology was illegal here.

  And now I was back, perhaps to my own detriment. Fratley needed his money, and I needed to live, which meant I didn’t have the luxury of being cautious.

  “We will arrive at Taurus Station in approximately six hours,” Sigmond told me as we raised the cloak and set out from the slip tunnel.

  “Keep your eyes out for any sign of Union activity,” I said. “I don’t want us anywhere near one of their ships.”

  “I will adjust our route, should the situation call for it.”

  “Good man,” I said, sitting in my bed.

  I hadn’t bothered telling the others about the cruiser we spotted near the tunnel. There was no need for them to know that the Union was inside the Deadlands. Maybe I’d inform them later, but with everything that had happened to the church, to Abigail, and to all of us, I knew they didn’t need to know. Not right now.

  My head swirled in a fog as I sat on the bed. I’d been increasingly exhausted these last few days, a testament to how overworked I was, most likely.

  I leaned back in my bunk and felt the soft embrace of my pillow, falling straight to sleep as soon as my eyes closed.

  When I opened my eyes, I felt a stiffness in my jaw, and sat up. Glancing at my pad, I saw we were nearly at our destination. Half an hour more. Five and a half hours had gone by in a blink.

  I yawned. “Siggy, put me through to our guests, would you?”

  “Right away, sir,” he confirmed. “Speak when you’re ready.”

  I cleared my throat, wiping the grime from my eyes. “Everyone, we’ll be at Taurus in a few,” I announced, and I heard my voice over the coms outside my room. “Pack your shit and standby.”

  Elegantly put,” remarked Sigmond.

  I threw a shirt on and cracked my back, then took a drink from my water jug. As I stood, I heard something against my door. It wasn’t quite a knock. More like a light tap.

  I opened it and looked down to see Lex standing alone in front of me.

  “Mr. Hughes, you sleep too much,” said the little albino.

  “What do you want, kid?”

  “I’m hungry and there’s no more food.”

  “We’re out already?”

  I went to the food dispenser and opened all the cabinets, finding most of it empty. There were a few pieces of jerky, but not much else to speak of. “Damn, you people cleaned me out.”

  “Can I have something, please?” asked Lex. “My stomach hurts.”

  I offered her a piece of jerky. “Eat up.”

  She smelled it and, twisting her nose, quickly shoved it back in my hand. “Gross!”

  I bit into it, munching on the processed meat. “What’s wrong? Not a fan of jerky?”

  “It smells like butt.”

  “What? You don’t like butts?” I asked, taking a whiff of the meat.

  She giggled at my joke. “Ew.”

  “Tell you what,” I said, taking a piece of candy from my side pocket. “Eat half a stick of jerky and you can have a sweet. What do you say, kid?”

  Her eyes widened at the sight of the treat. “I can have that?”

  “You just gotta eat the other thing first.”

  She looked at the meat, then back at the candy. “Um.”

  I stuck out my hand with the jerky. “Here.”

  She took it, a little reluctantly. With her eyes on the candy, she bit into the meat, chewing slowly.

  “Well?” I asked, watching her make what I was certain was the ultimate sacrifice.

  She seemed to relax as she continued to eat. “It’s okay,” she said, swallowing and taking another bite. She looked up at me. “Still not good, though.”

  I laughed. “Here you go, kid.” I tossed the candy and she caught it, the jerky hanging out of her mouth.

  “Wow!” she exclaimed.

  “Eat the jerky first, then you can have the candy. Got it?”

  She nodded. “Thanks, Mr. Hughes!”

  I left with the second piece of jerky, eating it while I made my way to the hangar bay. Lex followed after me, munching on her own food as fast as she could. By the time we reached the end of the hall, she was unwrapping the candy, a giddy expression on her face.

  Hitchens had been spending a fair amount of time in the cargo bay since we left the asteroid belt. I had, before now, left him to do his work in peace, but we were drawing close to the station now and I wanted to make sure our cargo was fully intact.

  “Ah, Captain Hughes,” said the doctor as I made my way down the steps. He had several of the relics we’d found in the min
e placed neatly around the floor. Each one had an piece of paper attached to it with an identification number written on it, most likely to help keep track of the inventory.

  “Looks like you’re staying busy,” I said, looking at one of the machines. Its tag read 021.

  “I’ve been organizing our collection,” he explained.

  “Which of these are you keeping and which are we selling?”

  “Items one through eight are to remain in my possession.”

  “How high does the list go?”

  “Forty-six,” he said. “Not quite the catalog we once had, though it remains a respectable collection.”

  I did the math in my head. “So, we’re selling…thirty-seven?”

  “Thirty-eight,” he corrected, an always-respectful tone in his voice.

  “I kept meaning to ask, why did you have all this shit stored in that mine in the first place?”

  “The Council saw the need to keep our findings hidden, should the Union or another party such as that Fratley fellow ever see fit to invade Arcadia. I was opposed to the notion originally, yet it seems the Council was correct to insist upon it. Loralin, specifically, if memory serves.” He wiped some sweat from his brow with a small, red handkerchief, then paused for several seconds, like he was lost in thought.