The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #4, Retribution (27 page)

SPECIAL #2

Book 1 of the Defender of the Empire Series

By Catherine Beery

Welcome to the Spectral Empire: a galactic empire enfolding hundreds of colony worlds governed by the Twenty-Five Prime Worlds, which are in turn ruled by the Imperial Council and the Emperor. A society of great advancement… but broken and under threat…

My name is Rylynn Sinclair, of Colony Lenti. I have lived there with my Aunt Sylvia for as long as I can remember. We were by no means rich, but we were happy. We had a roof over our heads and food on the table. So what if the neighbor was a mean drunk and I was often bullied by the resident gang? I had a home.

My simple life had a hole blown into it when I was thirteen. My home was destroyed the day before the mercenary scourge of the Empire came. War began, in all but name, and because certain interests were left alone, no help was forthcoming from our noble Prime World. Survival became the only playable card. When I saw that my group of hopeful escapees were in danger of being killed by a pair of hunting Telmicks, I traded my life for their chance to escape…

That is when everything… well…went weird. I was saved and given a new life as a cadet in the illustrious Legion Fleet Academy—a position never before held by a mere colonist. Not only that, I became involved in the Admiral’s Competition. To add to the weirdness that my life had become, I started hearing voices…many voices. Some helpful. Others just cryptic. All of this on top of being the only witness to a serial killer…

Chapter 1- Of Sacrifice

Year 2852- Spectral Empire

Medrais System

Her death haunted him once again, just as it always did when he dared to close his eyes.

“Amber!”
He cried when she collapsed. He caught her, holding her close.

Green eyes full of pain and tears of regret looked up at him. “Joseph…I… I love you.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Anger burned in him. She was giving up. She couldn’t give up. “Don’t. We’ll get through this. You’ll see,” he said, in his most convincing voice, trying to get her to believe in the same hope that was driving him. Shouts came close. Joseph looked over his shoulder, his breath still. Waiting. The sounds of pursuit faded as their pursuers went too far. They hadn’t yet realized that he had dragged Amber into the tight alley. He turned back to see that Amber was still gazing up at him. There was a sad wonder in her appraisal that made him want to squirm. She could see through his hopeful façade. She knew her wounds were bad. Her body was losing blood too fast for him to stanch it, though he had tried. It bathed him and the floor of the alley in a crimson puddle.

“There is nothing Slyth can do,” she whispered to him, brokenly. A thread of her renowned courage strengthened her voice. “I am beyond… help. You are not. I will not be the cause of…of your death.
Go!
” Joseph’s heart spasmed. Here she was, bleeding out in his arms, and she was trying to save
him.

Joseph shook his head. “I’m not leaving you. We’re a team. Remember? And our third member will be here soon,” he said, lightly touching her pregnant form. “For her sake, for mine, don’t give up,” he admonished her. He couldn’t let her go.

His wife smiled weakly at him. It made his heart hurt. “You roguish, selfish man.” Her hand reached shakily for his cheek. He had to lean closer so she could reach it. His hand held hers in place. “I love you.” A shudder coursed through her body. Her gaze grew distant. “Love y…take her with you.” She breathed brokenly.

“Amber…” She trembled in his arms, and it took Joseph a moment to realize it was because he was shaking. Her hand went limp in his. Her eyes were empty. If he needed any more proof that his wife was dead, he got it when a glowing form slipped from her. It coalesced into a silvery-blue snake. Slyth, Amber’s Spectral. Ripples of light flowed over the Spectral’s body, making it look like it was made of water. Floating in the air above Amber’s shell, he bowed to Joseph in respect before slithering away into the distance. A spectral would only abandoned its partner if they were truly gone. “No…” Grief had thickened Joseph’s voice. With shaking fingers he closed his wife’s faded eyes. “I love you, too,” he whispered to her, as his arms cradled her body closer to his, and he sobbed brokenly for a stolen moment. Anger rose with his grief. He wanted to make the bastards who did this pay.

Not a good idea, friend. Not now. You barely made it out of there as it is,
Raj, his raven spectral, counseled softly in his mind. After a moment when he didn’t move, the raven continued
And if you don’t do something fast, the baby will die.

***

An incessant beeping dragged Joseph from sleep. He peered at the flashing light near his head. The beeping was coming from it. With a sleep-burdened hand, he tapped the flashing button, hoping it would make the noise stop.

“Attention. Coordinates will be reached in five minutes,” the ship’s computer informed Joseph, upon his tapping the button. The computer’s electronic voice banished the dregs of the nightmare that filled his sleeping moments constantly for the last few weeks. Sighing, he sat up and raked his fingers through his dark hair.
At least the infernal beeping has stopped
, he thought.

“Thanks, Computer,” he muttered. Standing, he made his way from the tiny sleeping room to the control room of the small spacecraft. He settled into the pilot’s chair. Looking through the view screen, he could see the roiling surface of the star up ahead. They were still far enough away that the radiation wasn’t a problem… Yet… “Do we have our expected audience?” he asked.

“Yes. Hails have been coming in sporadically from the Officers of Order for the last thirteen minuets and twenty seconds.”

“You have ignored them, yes?”

“As you ordered.”

Grunting in acknowledgment, Joseph turned to the controls. His mind kept wandering to that night not so long ago. He and Amber had been on a mission for the Order of Spectral Shades. Everything had been working well, when suddenly they were attacked. He still didn’t know how the enemy had learned of their true identities, nor did he know how the enemy had been able to find them. Not even the Shade Commander had known where they had been at the time of the attack, as it had been a spur-of-the-moment outing. It was as though the very shadows had spied on them. The thought had him narrowing his gray eyes at the star coming ever closer.

Soul Shadows
. They were the dark reflection of the Spectrals. Many who knew of them thought they were a myth—a bad dream the older races muttered about when intoxicated or senile. The Spectrals, however, knew the truth. After all, they were the ones who had imprisoned the dark entities long ago—but some must have been slipping out. They must have allies. Powerful allies. Something had to be done. Unfortunately, Joseph couldn’t do that something. Not now. He was a hunted man. It was why he had given his daughter to his wife’s sister, who lived on a colony world. Joseph had never understood why the woman had given up her comfortable life on Forestrium, but she had. He was glad for it at this moment.

It had nearly killed him to lose Amber, but a piece of Amber still lived in their daughter. That daughter was off limits to him; his presence was a threat to her. To keep her safe for a time, Joseph Raven of Prime World Bresol had to die.