Evolution: Age of Expansion - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Ghost Squadron Book 3)

by Sarah Noffke

  “Remember before when you said that all I had left was my dignity?” asked Lytes.

  “I believe I do,” said Eddie, eying the Kezzin in front of him.

  “Well, you were right. Soldiers like you and me have only our dignity.” Commander Lytes lifted his chin with a new glint in eyes. “And we are truly nothing, and I mean nothing, without it!”

  Eddie watched as Lytes’ hands shot for something underneath the console, and he sprang forward when he saw the detonation box. It was clear, and inside was a large red button.

  A failsafe, thought Eddie, halting and then jumping backward. He aimed the tri-rifle at the commander, but the gun shook in his hands as he kept falling backward to distance himself from whatever would explode from the console—a last-ditch suicidal effort to take everything out, mainframe included.

  The commander pulled open the clear box and slammed his hand down on the button seconds before Eddie could steady the tri-rifle to fire.

  But it was too late.

  Too late to think, to stop the blast, to take cover, to breathe.

  The explosion engulfed the room and took everything with it.

  Omega-line Q-Ship, Nexus, Tangki System

  Julianna watched from the air as the ground forces froze almost as one. They turned, looking toward the base.

  Had they been called back? she mused.

  But then she didn’t have to wonder any longer. The Brotherhood soldiers turned and marched back, although their retreat formation was not as neat as the advance had been.

  Over the distant waters of the ocean, the Stingrays swerved upward before turning their noses down in unison and barreling toward the rampant waters.

  “Black Eagles, retreat to the shoreline. We know what’s coming next, so do not engage,” ordered Julianna over the comm.

  Her squadron of Black Eagles headed back in her direction, but before they’d made it to land the Stingrays halted in mid-dive and leveled out. They slowed their speed, still a good distance from the Black Eagles.

  “Woohoo!” yelled Julianna. “They’ve surrendered! The Captain did it! We’ve done it.”

  The land of Sunex was now covered with people whose faces were turned to the sky, but Julianna realized it had never come to that. The Black Eagles had lured the threat away, Lars had been successful in the ruse, and now Eddie had made the commander of the Brotherhood surrender. They’d defeated them with a fraction of the forces.

  She looked at the base before racing the Q-Ship in that direction. Soon Eddie would be escorting Commander Lytes out of the Command Center to board his ship.

  She was almost there when it happened. An explosion of orange and white and red rocketed into the sky and sent a wave of heat over Julianna’s ship, buffeting her backward. The blast hurled debris into the air, and it landed all over the base. Chaos ensued and the Brotherhood fled as the Black Eagles swooped in. Julianna’s head was muddled with confusion, but she flew straight into the smoke and realized exactly what had blown up. It had been the Command Center, and it was currently engulfed in flames.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The Unsurpassed, Nexus, Tangki System

  On the bridge of his ship, Felix Castile watched the footage over and over again. Commander Lytes had blown up his post, which meant only one thing—his position had been compromised and he had been forced to surrender. Commander Lytes was not a likable male, but he had been a person of his word. He’d promised Felix that he’d die rather than be taken prisoner, to die with his secrets rather than be forced to spill them during interrogation.

  A booming laugh erupted from Felix’s mouth. Yes, the Federation had stopped him from taking over the planet of Nexus. Yes, he’d lost the commander of the Brotherhood army, and the army itself. However, they’d all been played. It would have been too good for this all to go according to plan. Felix knew it wouldn’t, so he’d secretly been working on something else—something that would actually be the death of the Federation.

  The Brotherhood army had been large and easy to track, of course, and would have caught the eyes of the Federation. He even suspected that the crafty hackers the Federation somehow had access to would spot their invasion of Nexus. That had almost been the point. While Ghost Squadron was busy stopping the takeover of an innocent planet, Felix had been securing the one thing he needed to finish his plan.

  He knew that what General Lance Reynolds enjoyed most was his power. He flaunted it, telling the less powerful what they could or couldn’t do, where they could or couldn’t go. General Reynolds was the reason Felix was on this ship in space rather than on Earth where he belonged, but that was all going to change once the last part of the puzzle was in place.

  Felix narrowed his eyes at the burning Command Center on the screen. Forces were working to put out the fire, but Felix didn’t care. He put his back to the image.

  Not only was he in a better position to complete his mission now, he’d managed to take out the Captain of Ghost Squadron while doing it. General Lance Reynolds would be livid. He’d know that Felix was that much closer to finishing him. He could feel the terror building in the General, and it made him giddy. Soon he’d stand face to face with Reynolds and make him pay for his injustices.

  Felix hadn’t actually needed an army, and he didn’t need the armory of weapons, although they would come in handy, for sure. All he needed was what he was currently in possession of: the whereabouts of the most despicable man he’d ever met, and the means to bring him down.

  Felix ground his teeth, his jaw clicking. General Lance Reynolds’ time would soon be at an end, and Felix’s face would be the last thing the old man ever saw.

  EPILOGUE

  QBS ArchAngel, Nexus, Tangki System

  The light was too bright.

  Wait, it wasn’t bright enough.

  He could see nothing. Eddie tried to blink, but it didn’t do much to clear his vision. Blackness. There was glowing blackness everywhere. How could that be? How could black glow? How could he both see and not see?

  He pulled in a breath, but it didn’t feel like a breath. It felt like a grenade had gone off in his chest as the pressure erupted. He tried to grab at his heart, but his arms were locked in place.

  Was this death? It sure felt like purgatory.

  I thought I was going to hell, he thought, and tried to laugh. The sensation was weird. It felt like he was laughing while teetering on the edge of a cliff, or like he was smiling at his own funeral. What was happening? The blackness still blanketed his vision.

  Eddie’s tongue felt swollen as he tried to open his mouth, and a strange metallic scum which tasted like gunpowder and soot coated it. That was when he realized the soot was in his nose, as if he’d inhaled the ashes of a camp fire.

  Fire! The memory charged back into his mind like a dozen wild horses. The explosion. Commander Lytes. The Command Center. The bomb.

  He was dead, and this was hell. It was all over—just an eternity of glowing blackness.

  A creaking sound made him realize that his ears worked, or at least his hearing. He couldn’t tell which, not with the new and different sensations all over his body.

  “Is he ready?” asked a voice, one he recognized. It felt like it had been a hundred years since he had heard that voice, and it also felt like yesterday.

  “Yes, it appears so,” someone else said.

  “Then why does he still sleep?” asked the other familiar voice.

  “Don’t you remember? You had to wake up on your own. You had to break out of it, kind of like being reborn,” said the other person.

  “I don’t remember that, but it’s been a long time,” she said, her voice cool and calm and almost amused.

  Eddie longed to push away the glowing darkness and drink something that would wash away the metallic taste in his mouth. To move his body…which… WHICH… His body felt different, brand new. Better than new—enhanced.

  His eyes sprang open at once, and the light was so blinding he clapped his hands over hi
s eyes. He’d had no idea that all he had to do was open his eyes. He’d been trapped by his own eyelids.

  His hands now covered his eyes, which felt too tender to ever take in light again.

  “Well, lookee there. Our baby bird has hatched,” said Julianna with a laugh.

  “Each one is different. I never see the same rebirth from the Pod-doc,” the man beside her said in an amused voice.

  Eddie peeled his hands away, and the light became a bit easier to take with each passing second. “I-I-I…” he stuttered, trying to find his voice. “I’m alive?”

  Julianna peered down at him with a broad smile on her face, and her eyes twinkling. His vision felt brand new too, as if he were seeing her for the first time. “Well, you almost weren’t alive anymore, but now you are. It was touch and go there for a long time, but we brought you back.”

  Eddie tried to push up, but found the task a bit difficult. His body was new, and it felt different. Everything seemed to take more effort on his part. “I’m alive?” he repeated.

  “Yes, you definitely are,” said Julianna. She offered him a hand and a smile. “Welcome back, Captain. We did what we had to, so they made a few changes to you. Hope you don’t mind. It was that or death, and I wagered you weren’t ready to rest yet.”

  FINIS

  Author Notes - Sarah Noffke

  December 19, 2017

  One, two, three! I declare an Author’s Notes war (like thumb war lol)! MA always gets to write his notes last, after reviewing ours. Which means he gets the last quip, however, I’ll just keep writing books and see who is laughing last. Wait…never mind. That’s not how that works. (Btw, just read JN’s notes and he was not even close to flying out of his seat on the jet boat tour. He was wearing a permanent smile. Afterwards, I was like, aren’t jet boats cool? He then informed me that was his first jet boat ride. Oops. I do tend to bring the trouble. I only booked the trip so that I could get ideas for a jet boat scene in the series. Therefore, Michael, we can expense the ride, right?)

  So let’s discuss what’s on everyone’s mind. It’s not the tension simmering between the Captain and the Commander in this series. It’s not that amazing fight speech that Julianna gives. Man, that’s going to stay with you for hours, am I right? Great job to whoever crafted that Shakespearean gold. And it’s not even the fact that Eddie is now upgraded. It’s that Ricky Bobby scene. Am I right?

  Author insight: The three of us authors, sat down and hammered out that scene because it’s one of the few things that connects this series to the main one. We discussed the parting of ways between RB and Jules (that’s what I call her, because this two name business is just too much. I won’t even call Jeff, Jeffrey because it takes too long. And Michael, well I just call him And, which is hella confusing.) And I digress. Bringing RB back for a resolution was a really fun time to collaborate and tie things together between the series. I also loved the opportunity to show the layers in Jules. I’m all about character development. I’ll ponder on how a character ties their shoes because I think it’s important and then I gloss over fight scenes.

  I remember sending the Ricky Bobby scene to Jef (yes, that was on purpose). He cut it down, like a paper factory preparing for next year’s Christmas card production. Anyway, I cried. Stomped around. And then I remembered that we’re co-writers. Emphasis on co. We discussed and found a good balance. It was a growing moment because the perfect version wasn’t mine or Jeff’s. It was something in between. And then we sent it to And, and he made it even better. So that’s how this works. We color on each other’s work. And just when I think they’ve made my picture of a Care Bear all messed up, I realized they highlighted its features.

  I swear I don’t do drugs. This is just my mad ramblings when they let me talk unfiltered. And I haven’t even started cursing yet.

  For fuck sake! It’s time to thank some awesome readers who wrote our book for us. We often ask for input on names, drink ideas, or ideas in general. I’d like to thank the clever Natale Roberts for suggesting we use Douglas Adams as a drink. Oh and the Singapore Sling was all Barbara Twrawick Hasebe’s idea. The bar scene with the brick wall is because of Lisa Frett’s genius. And speaking of a genius, Micky Cocker is my new naming guru. She named Knox Gunnerson, Axel, Sabien and Alleira and many more. Randy Barber gets all the credit for the nipposes ouzo (great story, dude!). Great call there. And many of the ideas we included were due to the great input given to us by Ron Gailey, Tim Adams, Alastar Wilson, Lisa Frett and Charles Wood.

  Okay, I guess I’ve rambled on here for long enough. I know you need time to roll that Jule’s speech around in her head and reflect on your own purpose because of those words.

  It’s your turn, And!

  Drops mic and walks away.

  Check out Sarah Noffke’s Sci-fi Paranormal series:

  Olento Research

  Twelve Men Went Missing

  Six months later they awake from drug-induced stupors to find themselves locked in a lab. On the night of a new moon, eleven of those men - possessing new gifts of speed, strength and inhuman powers - break out of their prison and race through the streets of Los Angeles. They disappear one by one into the night.

  Werewolves Are On The Loose

  Mika Lenna - a powerful dream traveler and head of Olento Research - wants to control the world. To do that, he must create an army of assassins. Capturing the twelve men was easy, as was experimenting on them while keeping them in drug-induced stupors. But now all hell has broken loose - wolf-like men have been spotted across the nation, leaving fatal attacks in their midst. Mike must tear every city apart until his invaluable werewolves are back under his control.

  The Race Is On

  The Lucidite Institute's main mission is to save the world from injustices. Their best agent, Adelaide Lewis, needs to find these mutated men and protect them and society, and fast. Adelaide realizes that she has to find the Alpha Wolf. Only once she's located him can she stop whoever is behind this experiment to create wild beasts out of human beings.

  Alpha Wolf has a taut storyline combined with action-packed scenes. This spellbinding YA supernatural fantasy is a must read for the young and not so young alike.

  Author Notes - J.N. Chaney

  Written December 18, 2017

  Sarah and I just took a three-day trip to San Diego, a few short days before the release of this book. Can you believe we’re already at the end of book 3? I certainly can’t.

  But let’s talk about that San Diego trip. If you’re a member of the Kurtherian facebook group, you probably saw Sarah’s post about how we crashed a party. If you didn’t, well, it totally happened. We were staying at a hotel on the bay and noticed a union workers’ conference happening downstairs. They apparently decided on Saturday night that they’d have themselves a kick ass party with lots of dancing. Sarah, an expert party crasher, suggested we make our presence known. I was wearing a sweater and jeans, but I agreed and went along with it, as I tend to do with most of Sarah’s evil plans.

  If nothing else, it was worth it just to watch her do the electric slide. It’s not something I’m likely to forget, and not because she was bad at it. Quite the opposite, actually. That woman knows how to dance.

  But besides all that, we discussed more ideas for the series, had ourselves a few laughs, and explored the city. I’d call this a work trip, except I had more fun than I think a work trip deserves. I mean, we went on a jet boat ride around the San Diego bay! I thought I was going to fly out of my seat.

  In a very real sense, this was our celebration for having come so far with this series. We’re still learning how to cowrite. We’re still evolving as writers and storytellers. Most of all, we’re still adapting to having such a large and passionate audience. All of those are wonderful things, and sometimes it’s hard to believe we’ve had the opportunity to do this.

  We’re already working on book 4, which will conclude the first arc in this series, while setting up the second. We have a ton of ideas planned out f
or this series, but we’re always listening to the readers. If you want to discuss Ghost Squadron and speak directly to us, join the Facebook group, The Kurtherian Gambit Group for Fans and Authors.

  See you soon,

  JN Chaney

  Check out J.N. Chaney’s Space Opera series:

  Renegade Star

  Jace Hughes is a Renegade.

  That means taking almost any job that comes his way, no matter the situation. So long as he can keep his ship floating, he's free to live the life he wants.

  But that all changes when he meets Abigail Pryar, a nun looking for safe passage out of the system.

  Too bad there's something off about the cargo she's carrying.

  Jace knows he shouldn't ask too many questions, but when strange sounds start coming from inside the large, metal box, he can't help but check it out.

  Big mistake.

  To make matters worse, he's being pursued by unknown ships--people who want that cargo. Does Jace give up the goods and hand over the nun...or does he risk it all for an even bigger payout?

  Experience the beginning of a sprawling galactic tale in this first entry to The Renegade Starseries. If you're a fan of Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, or Leviathan Wakes, you'll love this epic, space opera thriller.

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Written December 20, 2017

  The Author walks on stage, watching the diminutive blond author walk off the stage in the other direction as he continues onstage, waving at the crowd. Stopping at the middle, he looks down and raises one eye-brow. Bending over, he picks up the mic Noffke dropped and turns it over, looking for a big dent.