A Hope for Ranek (Tallean Mercenaries #12)

Chapter 1

Maya

Maya pressed her back against the curved wall of the emergency escape pod, arms wrapped around the squirming dragus pup.

Commander Chaos gave a pitiful whimper, then tucked his snout under her chin.

His gray, brown, and white mottled fur was warm against her skin, a reminder that she wasn’t entirely alone in this metal coffin drifting through space.

Something hit the pod, making it shake violently, and the lights blinked on and off. The dragus pup in her arms started to freak out, pawing at her shoulder with his recently trimmed claws.

“Damn it! Ow!” she cursed. Even with its claws dulled, that still hurt like a bitch and was going to leave a mark.

“Hey, hey, stop it, Chaos. It’s okay,” she said in the calmest voice she could muster.

The last thing she needed was a panicking Commander Chaos trying to tear his way out of the pod and sacrificing them both to the dead of space.

He’d earned his name for a reason. “I know you’re scared, buddy,” she continued.

“I am too. But we can’t have you flailing around in zero G. ”

Maya’s voice calmed the little beast, or maybe it was her rubbing behind his ear, so she kept talking and petting.

As she did, she replayed the attack she’d just survived in fragments, remembering the flashing lights and the smell of burnt electronics.

Faith’s hand had been gripping hers when Maya was pulled away from her friend by the captain and stuffed into an escape pod.

Then the pod door was slamming shut and sealing her in.

Maya and Faith had been on their way to New Rhea to deliver Commander Chaos to the Tallean merchant who had invested heavily in their breeding venture when the delivery vessel they’d contracted to make the trip was attacked by pirates.

The assholes had torn through the ship with weapons that left no chance for negotiation, and the captain had shoved Maya and her four-legged charge into a pod and sent her off before she could even protest.

Now Maya was trapped in a pod that refused to obey her commands. They had drilled for this exact scenario. She was supposed to be able to set coordinates within range, to guide herself toward safety, and most importantly of all, send out communications. But the pod had ignored every input.

With Commander Chaos calm again, she jabbed at the console one more time for good luck. Still nothing. The pod simply refused to respond.

Feeling useless and a little crazy, she pounded on the screen. “Work, you useless piece of shit!”

The pod reacted by turning off all the lights, leaving her in the dark.

Fuck.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean it. You’re not a piece of shit,” Maya wailed like the pod could understand her.

After a long moment where Maya considered letting Commander Chaos rip the obstinate pod to shreds, Faith’s voice crackled through the speaker. “Maya? You there?” It was tinny and faint, but most definitely Faith. Relief swept through her.

“Faith? Oh, thank the Stars! I’m here. I’m here.”

“We’ve been trying to reach you! Why didn’t you pick up sooner? We thought maybe you were hurt.” Her usually calm friend sounded like she had been through the wringer. “I tried to look for Commander Chaos, but I couldn’t—”

Recognizing his name, Commander Chaos barked, the sound ear-piercingly sharp in the tiny space.

“Commander Chaos!” Faith’s relief was palpable through the speakers. “You have him.”

“I do. The captain shoved us in together.”

“Oh, he said he didn’t know where you were. But things were such a mess. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I’m not sure how long that will last,” Maya said. “I don’t think my pod’s working right. The screen is frozen, and none of the buttons do anything. I don’t have lights right now, and I’m not even sure if the life support is working.”

Another voice came through the speaker, much lower and masculine, and speaking the guttural Tallean language. One of the hired delivery crew had made it into a pod with Faith. It must be cramped in there with two. Maya’s in-ear translator kicked in immediately.

“We can track your pod through ours. The life support is still working, but it shows that no input has been made.”

“Oh, trust me, input has been made. I tried several times, but this piece of shit won’t respond.” She smashed her hand on the screen a few more times. “Does it show this? Or this?”

“No. It shows nothing. But do not worry, female. The pirates are still with the ship and not following, so you are safe. Your pod will locate the nearest habitable planet. We’re tracking you.

Stay in the pod if you can when you land.

If you can’t, stay calm and find shelter close by.

We’ll send help. There is emergency drinking water and food under the seat. ”

Maya registered the words, but they felt hollow, like they were generic instructions that couldn’t possibly pertain to her current precarious situation. Nothing about this was routine, and those words sounded routine. But what else was there to do?

She took a deep breath and centered herself. “Okay. Food and water under the seat. Stay in or find shelter close to the pod when it lands. Got it.” She blew out a breath.

“You’ll be fine, I know it,” Faith said.

“And suppose I’m not?”

“You will be,” she said stubbornly.

“When we get back to Reka 5, you owe me a drink for convincing me to come along.”

“Done. Drinks on me when we get back.”

The connection ended, and Maya focused on Commander Chaos again, trying her best not to panic as they drifted through the great unknown.

Ranek

Ranek gave the strap one last tug before stepping back to admire his handiwork.

This was the last crate he’d be able to bring with him on this run, but he’d made a note in his comm unit of all the items still up for grabs at this particular mining station. He’d be back for them in the near future, maybe when he got his hands on a larger ship.

He straightened, rolling his shoulders to ease the ache as a gust of cold wind blew in from between the mountains.

The air on this part of Fortuna II carried a metallic tang that clung to his throat, a reminder that the planet had once been a busy Dominion mining hub.

It had been abandoned decades ago and was now used mostly as a pirate hideout.

But that was only because most people didn’t know that when the Dominion had evacuated the planet, they’d left everything behind.

And he meant everything. This included technology that at the time had been new and state-of-the-art, though by now most of it was obsolete.

But certain things hadn’t changed much in the last few decades and could still fetch a good price on the market.

And others had changed so much now that the old tech was considered collectible.

It had been the crew of the New Horizon that had told him about the planet and its abandoned riches. Two of the members had been stuck on the planet a while ago, running from pirates through the underground mines. They’d even picked up a small but ferocious creature they’d named Nibbles.

Not much more than a round ball of fur with big ears and massive teeth, Nibbles, a tunnel verlak, guarded the crew loyally.

But the creature also tended to chew up the ship, with a special preference for wires.

It also ate more than a growing Tallean male, because its adult form was a huge, terrifying predator.

Ranek wasn’t here for the creatures; he was here for loot.

And he was even willing to visit an abandoned mining planet to get it, which was saying a lot for someone who’d just made it to the outer planets after escaping nearly ten years of Dominion lockup. He’d spent enough time inside mines to last his entire life.

But Fortuna II was a far cry from an inner Dominion mining planet. For one thing, nature had reclaimed much of the planet since the Dominion had left. And Ranek was motivated by the promise of credits, something he desperately needed to kick-start his new life.

Freedom still felt strange. The air tasted too fresh, and the lack of chains around his ankles was a constant reminder that he was no longer caged. After nearly a decade locked away in various Dominion prisons, every step of his booted feet on the ground felt surreal.

A few short months ago, he would’ve never imagined himself here in the outer planets, planning his own future. It felt like he’d stepped into someone else’s life.

He leaned against the shuttle that had taken him from a space station just outside of Tal, through the worst of Dominion patrol space, and out into the freedom of the outer planets.

He dug his comm unit out of his pocket, brought up the map the crew of the New Horizon had given him, and zoomed in on his location.

There was a large building just to the east. He wasn’t sure what type of building it was exactly, but the crew had labeled it as a possible research facility.

And that meant there may be medical supplies.

Medicines were light and took up little space; they also fetched a good price even when they were expired.

If he was lucky, the facility wouldn’t even be occupied by pirates.

He glanced up at the early evening sky. If he hurried, he’d make it there before sundown. This part of the planet became very dangerous at night. Tens of thousands of giant flying reptilians rose from their caves at night to feed. And each one had the natural weaponry to tear him limb from limb.

A bright streak in the sky caught his attention. At first, he thought it was a ship, but as it drew closer, he realized it was much too small. He squinted, cursing the fact that years of being in dark, close quarters had damaged his eyes.

It was already low to the ground when he realized it was an escape pod.

Who in the Stars could that be? Out here? Probably a pirate.

But Ckzarr and Roxy from the New Horizon had crash-landed on this planet in an escape pod because pirates had set a trap for them. What if this was another victim?

He looked at the sky again, just in time to see several large, winged forms shadowed against the setting sun. Fuck! The flying predators had come out early today. Well, in that case, he’d better get moving and get there before the pirates—or worse, the flying creatures—did.