Last Call (Stranded in the Stars Book 1) Read online

  Chapter One:

  ---

  Allie was cursed.

  Chilly, dark whispers urged her to succumb to her nightmares. She hugged her pathetic form and shivered as the dark quiet of the cave seeped deep into her mind.

  The sand storm had raged for days planetside and it had been one of the longest maelstroms she had seen. Allie knew what was going to happen next, if she could just dig the sand away from the small hole that dropped down into her cave.

  Every time a sand storm hit, a beautiful meteor shower followed soon after. Those showers were one of the only pleasures she had left in her lonely existence and it felt like a reward for surviving the storm, from not being buried alive, crushed to death by sand or from starving during the duration.

  Or being trapped in the dark.

  The meteor showers on "Hell-in-Space" which is what she liked to call the planet, were different from any other she had witnessed in her short life. The meteors were a cacophony of colors that dashed, collided, and expanded through the sky. The rocks reacted when entering the atmosphere and lit up the world with a rippling cascade of colors, like fireworks during an aural borealis.

  The showers would last for hours and their beauty was always equal to the strength of the storm that had caused them. She was desperate to dig out of her cave and see it.

  Allie sighed as she ducked back into her space and grabbed an elongated piece of metal that she had salvaged long ago, then went back to work breaking through the entrance.

  I'm buried in deep this time. If she had any hope left of rescue she would have been terrified of being buried alive but such primitive fears barely concerned her anymore. She had been in this exact situation numerous times before and had always come out in the end alive.

  Any day could be her last on ‘HIS’, pronouncing it like a curse word, hissing like a feral cat. The only things that scared her these days were the giant snake-like monsters that lurked deep beneath the ground and the thick, oppressive darkness.

  In a rush, she attacked the dirt-packed barrier in her way. Stabbing at it, she put all of her strength into destroying the wall in front of her as she pretended it was that nasty bitch, Fate, as a deluge of golden sand poured past her feet.

  Feeling angry, violent, and above all frustrated gave her the will-power to break through. Allie breathed in the small amount of satisfaction she got from exorcising her pain.

  She knew that if she was left alone with her thoughts for too long she would see every lifeless face from that day. When the transporter ship she had been on crash-landed on this rock many years ago.

  Those faces haunted her thoughts and consumed her nightmares with waves of guilt and terror. She pictured the other desperate women in her bunker, the ones searching the stars for a better future where they weren't controlled by the Warlord’s men or any men for that matter.

  She had been part of a group of women who were smuggled out of the radical Trentian-controlled territories. Territories that were on the fringes of every galaxy, so far away from any governing council that most weren't aware of their existence.

  Allie was a coveted outcast where she grew up; the aliens both needed her and hated her as she had been the only unmated Earthian female of breeding age at the colony. It made her precious to the men but equally hated by the Trentian women.

  When she turned fourteen cycles she was required to go through elaborate, probing tests to determine whether she could be bred.

  She wrapped her arms around her stomach as she remembered the hands and cold medical equipment exploring her genitalia. Groping her, making her feel like a piece of meat. Luckily for her she was deemed fruitful and was sent away to the female-only community to be protected until it was her time to be paired with a warrior of the colony.

  The impotent women had it the worst. They held no status in these fringe cultures and held even fewer rights. If they couldn't secure employment in service to breeders, they often ended up in pleasure domes. It was in this society that she had grown up. So technologically advanced and yet so primitive at the same time.

  It was because of her species, the Earthians, that had made countless Trentian women barren.

  When she had just turned seventeen cycles, after spending three years at the commune, the Trentian Warlord visited her and chose her for his wife. She remembered him clearly, a large male with black emotionless eyes and a shaved head.

  The females of age were all made to stand in a line with nothing on but simple, sheer white gowns. As the perverted male went to each woman he lifted her gown and checked her vaginal channel with his finger for herinnocence. Allie recalled his finger pressing against hers painfully while tears slid down her face.

  No male before had, had the right to touch them, but in such a primitive place the man with the black eyes had warred with the previous clan leader and won. He was accountable to no one on their small planet and was thought to be possessed with madness.

  It was rumored fertile women were in even shorter supply at their colony than was let on and Allie could only imagine the stressful burden the Warlord bore, knowing that his warriors would someday not be replenished.

  Shaking herself out of her reverie, Allie set forth out of the cave and into the barren desert that was her home. As she sat down to catch her breath, she opened her food pouch that was attached to her ragged rope belt and picked a critter out to eat, choosing to bring her thoughts to a lighter subject. The meteor shower was in full effect above her.

  Always in awe of its beauty, her mouth fell open as she watched the atmospheric gases in the sky move like it was an ocean amidst a gale. Blues and greens mixed with purples splashed with reds; the colors danced before her eyes. She had been the only survivor of the crash lucky enough to see this magical display.

  To the right, far in the distance, the remnants of the transporter ship remained. She couldn't see it– being several days journey away– but she knew it could see her. It was a constant reminder of all the horrors she had escaped.

  Only in very dire circumstances did she ever go back to the mausoleum. The wreckage was haunted by ghosts.

  Something sparkled out of the corner of her eye in the opposite direction of the ruins– it was a meteor unlike any she had ever seen before. It glinted a silvery grey with red strips of light coming off the side; it wasn't moving like any other meteor, either.

  She stood up and squinted at the foreign object as it became easier to discern. The silver arrow was coming closer to the planet surface and it hadn’t dissipated into dust.

  "It's a ship!" She gasped in awe. Another ship is about to crash land onto ‘HIS’. Allie got up suddenly, forgetting about the meteor storm raging above her head and started moving in the direction of the descending spaceship.

  Chapter Two:

  ---

  Two weeks.

  Jack had been pursuing this damned pirate captain for two fucking weeks and he was almost impressed with the man for evading him for so long. But being dragged out to deep space irked him. Larik should fight him like a man instead of running like a coward.

  He hadn’t had a challenging fight in what seemed like decades; not since the war.

  He was a Cyborg, he was created for war and when there was no war, what the hell does a Cyborg like Jack do? Hunt. But hunting wasn't the same as brutally ending a life, of sinking your dagger into the enemy's neck, or shooting off his leg and leaving him to bleed to death. War was as bloody as it was sublime.

  It had been decades since the galactic war over the homeland sector; the Earthian people and the Trentian aliens had fought ruthlessly for it. They originated from the same galaxy and
evolved at a similar rate. Jack would have likened it to home turf and all but he hadn’t been around for the beginning. Humanoids were irrational and fear could have played a big part.

  The war had been long and brutal and had spanned nearly a century. At the beginning, Earthians had just discovered a method for galactic space travel and it was at this crucial time of exploring, learning, and expanding that they encountered the Trentians. Both species had alpha tendencies and it was those tendencies that prevented either side from coming to an agreement.

  The problem with two intelligent species interacting was that one had to dominate the other and the best way to show dominance was through battle and bloodshed.

  The war only ended once the Earthians and Trentians began to run out of resources. They’d invested too much in controlling a single sector of the universe that when galactic space travel became intergalactic, the borders had blurred. The losses that both sides had incurred were monumental and at a pivotal point before their mutual destruction, they realized that they could interbreed and it was from those unions and the many generations after that a peace agreement was made.

  There wasn't much of a difference between the species. The Earthians were frailer but more level-headed, tactical, and calculating while the Trentians were quick to action and overwhelming in their speed, wiry strength, and endurance.

  The Trentians were often taller but were mainly distinguished by their hair and skin tones. They often had pale-white skin with equally light hair. But it was their eyes that often gave them away with colors that ranged from violet to turquoise; one could not reproduce them artificially.

  Their home world, Xntaeus Trent, was farther from their sun and because of that they could survive in extremely cold conditions. They could tolerate a warm climate but not a hot one. In spite of that, they were far more resilient to environmental variations than Earthians. They could also see better in the dark.

  Cyborgs like himself were walking, talking Earthian-made creation-abominations. Perfectly designed to resemble intimidating human males and females– closely enough for subterfuge but distinct in their domineering aura and mannerisms. They represented a harmonious union between bio-organics and advanced cybernetic technology. They were new-age Frankenstiens.

  The Earthians would have been obliterated if they hadn't created my brethren and me to level the playing field.

  One part human, one part machine, and bred in a vat that simulated a human female's womb. The Cyborgs had no parents as they were a mixture of the very best Earthian genes and they were programmed for war.

  Each Cyborg was unique with differing biomaterial makeups and mechanics. Some of them could move at light speed, some were given the mechanics to lift freight-trains, while others had such advanced processors that they could tactically predict the immediate future based on current events.

  There was even rumor of a Cyborg that could access different dimensions and manipulate time, if those abilities were even possible. Jack didn’t know. Theoretical studies remained theoretical and when it came to space, aliens, and time, those theories were often viewed with disbelief and skepticism until proven otherwise.

  Jack, on the other hand was designed to be a living computer virus, ever changing, ever evolving, and always one step ahead. He could connect to all manner of machines and take control. He could infect them with his nanobots and then track those bots all over the cosmos. Earthians and Trentians alike had tried to off him on numerous occasions and even his own brethren were wary of him because he could corrupt their systems.

  He had an ability that couldn’t be limited and so he couldn’t be controlled. It was deemed an act of treason if he even so much as tracked, spied or transmitted one of his bots into the government’s network, whether it was a single battleship or an encrypted computer. Because of this, he held no allegiance to anyone but himself.

  And he had no problem being neutral. Jack didn’t work with either side now that the war was over, and it never really mattered anyway, the species could breed together, muddying up any established race.

  His machine side was reasonable and understood the fear but his human side often wanted violence. And speaking of violence, he wanted to wrap his hands around Pirate Captain Larik's neck, break a few bones, then turn him in and collect his reward. He had never been one for patience.

  Jack could just see his target's small flyer far in the distance and what he couldn’t see he could sense with his systems. The target's ship was flying close to Argo, a barren rock of a planet that had no resources. No resources meant no profit and no profit meant no colonization. It was an uncared for, forgotten frontier planet.

  He connected back with his ship and pushed his impulse drives at optimum speed to close the distance to Larik's ship. Once he got close enough he could stunlock Larik's navigational system, infect it, take the ship over, and bring Larik in.

  Jack was the best bounty hunter for a reason: he didn't have to move a single muscle to accomplish any of this.

  If someone I was hunting would have run into the middle of a forest I may have had difficulty locating them but one would have to find a forest to run into first.

  He was aware of his set-backs. Luckily, few others were.

  His reputation was renowned over several Earthian controlled galaxies and even more Trentian controlled ones. He was a lone-wolf hunter for hire by anyone who had the money and the guts to contact him.

  Humans were afraid of him and his fellow Cyborgs. At one point, the council tried to wipe out all of the war-created Cyborgs due to their violent tendencies and uncontrollable natures; they changed their minds fast after he personally hacked their technology, turning it against them, and a fellow Cyborg, Breco, blew up a planet destroyer. Now, there was a stiff yet reasonable working relationship with each side that only occasionally resulted in death.

  Pirate Captain Larik, on the other hand, was not a Cyborg but a half-breed that happened to align with the Trentians.

  He was wanted by the Earthian council to answer for crimes that included but were not limited to, abducting Earthian females and trafficking them to Trent colonies for breeding, smuggling blacklisted items, for being an active member of the Impure Gang, for excessive use of hostile weaponry against the council, and leading an intergalactic syndicate. Larik had been a busy man.

  When he smuggled the daughter of a high chancellor along with a handful of other high ranking women, a crime that was considered so severe by Earthian purists, to Xnteaus Trent; was when the council sought Jack out specifically to apprehend Larik. They prefered him captured alive but would accept his corpse if it came to that.

  He was gaining on the pirate and in just a few more clicks he'd have Larik's system under his control. The pirate was uncannily intelligent, though, and Jack knew he had a trick up his sleeve. His prediction came to fruition soon after when he dipped closer toward Argo's innermost atmosphere.

  Larik was leading him straight into a meteor storm.

  The half-breed would rather face death than be captured by me. Going into the meteor storm would damage both ships and Larik was either going to get very lucky or very dead.

  Jack hailed Larik’s ship and after a moment a connection was made. He wondered if Larik knew that receiving his request through the network intercommunication channels would make it easier for him to overpower his ship’s system.

  I wonder if he even cares.

  “You’re going to get us killed.” Jack hailed through as a faint static noise filled his usually quiet cockpit.

  “It took you long enough to catch up to me, Cyborg, I expected more from the council’s... best.” A bored voice eventually answered back. “Turn back if you’re afraid of the falling rocks. No one's stopping you.”

  “Hmm, you’d like that wouldn’t you? To extend this damned cat and mouse chase a little longer?”

  They weaved in synchronicity through the meteors that began to resemble raining gunfire. Jack was impressed
with how the pirate evaded collision as if the man had a sixth sense.

  “How much are the bureaucrats paying you for my capture?”

  “Enough.”

  Fearlessly, Jack flew right into the storm, wanting this shit show to end. He personally didn't give a damn about the pirate nor that he delivered breeders to the Trentians. The Trentian men wanted to procreate and they needed viable Earthian females to do that.

  During a gruesome period of the war biochemical weapons were released that made many of the future generations of Trentian females impotent. It had been a sick thing for the Earthians to do but he understood the tactical logistics and advantages of that move.

  Besides, most Earthian females couldn't get to Trentian colonies fast enough; if they were virile, they were treated like queens. The halfbreed children were beautiful.

  “Oh come on, tell me, it’s a matter of pride.” Larik quipped through the intercom.

  “A single ton of Pyrizian Ore.”

  The pirate didn’t immediately respond and Jack thought it may be because of what the price of his head was worth.

  “Damn.” Jack laughed at the expected response. Pyrizian Ore was a very rare, very strong star ore that was often used to create powerful and advanced weaponry. It could only be found in fading white dwarfs, dead stars on their last stretch of life.

  The meteor shower increased in intensity the closer they got to the planet’s surface.

  The effort Jack took to dodge the meteors was causing him to lose any gain he had made on the pirate and Larik, the lucky bastard, was getting away. Right when he was about to make a final push to capture the flyer, a loud noise permeated the air and at the same time as all his systems went red.

  Cursing, he quickly diagnosed that a football sized meteor had crashed into his right drive. The colloid silver nanoparticles that his ship was using to manage any variations in temperature couldn't keep up with the shifts.

  He wasn't going to lose his ship and a repair could easily be made but he was going to drastically lose speed, a lot of speed.