Orion Awakened: An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure (Orion Colony Book 3) Read online

  J. N. Chaney

  Copyrighted Material

  Orion Awakened and Renegade Star Copyright © 2019 by Variant Publications

  Book design and layout copyright © 2019 by JN Chaney

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from JN Chaney and Jonathan Yanez.

  www.jnchaney.com

  www.jonathan-yanez.com

  1st Edition

  Books in the Renegade Star Universe

  Renegade Star Series:

  Renegade Star

  Renegade Atlas

  Renegade Moon

  Renegade Lost

  Renegade Fleet

  Renegade Earth

  Renegade Dawn

  Renegade Children

  Renegade Union (Out Now!))

  Renegade Empire (March 2019)

  Standalones:

  Nameless: A Renegade Star Story (Out Now!)

  The Orion Colony Series:

  Orion Colony

  Orion Uncharted

  Orion Awakened

  Stay Up To Date

  Chaney posts updates, official art, previews, and other awesome stuff on his website. You can also follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

  He also created a special Facebook group called “JN Chaney’s Renegade Readers” specifically for readers to come together and share their lives and interests, discuss the series, and speak directly to him. Please check it out and join whenever you get the chance!

  You can also join Jonathan Yanez’s fangroup, called Jonathan’s Reading Wolves. Check it out for more info about his upcoming releases.

  For updates about new releases, as well as exclusive promotions, visit the author’s website and sign up for the VIP mailing list. Head there now to receive a free copy of The Amber Project.

  CLICK HERE

  Enjoying the series? Help others discover The Orion Colony series by leaving a review on Amazon.

  Contents

  Book Description

  Orion Important Characters and Terms

  Orion Uncharted Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  Check Out the Renegade Star Series

  Get a Free Book

  Books in the Renegade Star Universe

  About the Authors

  Orion Awakened

  Book 3 in the Orion Colony Series

  J.N. Chaney

  Jonathan Yanez

  Book Description

  Orion Awakened: Orion Colony Series #3

  An alien awakens from a long sleep.

  An impossible prophecy that cannot be ignored.

  Dean and his friends are trapped on a world they can barely comprehend with enemies on all sides and a growing need to survive.

  There's more to this place than any of them could have dreamed.

  But what is the strange infection spreading across the forest, and where did it come from?

  Who or what is the Great Dawn?

  The world is full of secrets, and Dean Slade is at the center of it all.

  Time to discover the truth.

  For Jonathan,

  And the many adventures to come.

  -J.N. Chaney

  To everyone who’s gotten knocked down following their dreams.

  You get back up. You don’t give up. That’s not who we are.

  -Jonathan Yanez

  Orion Important Characters and Terms

  Humans

  Dean Slade : Former gladiator world champion fighting under the name Dean “Steel Hands” Slade, current mechanic on the Orion.

  Stacy Wilson : Civil Authority Officer Special Agent. Stacy infiltrated the mechanic ranks on Earth acting as an undercover agent for the Civil Authority. Her mission was to acquire information working in the yards where the seed ships were constructed. After the Orion’s crash she has taken a more active role as a Civil Authority Officer.

  Ricky Matthews (Rick) : Dean’s only friend going into the events of Orion Colony. Ricky is a mechanic and has a gambling issue. He also has a crush on Arun Drake one of the Eternals leading the Orion.

  Boss Creed : In charge of the mechanics on Earth as well as on the Orion. Boss Creed is a fare but stern foreman.

  Dr. Kelly Allbright (The Professor) : Gifted doctor well versed in caring for the injured and sick. Doctor Allbright has cared for Dean a handful of times already despite their short term of affiliation.

  Dr. James Wong (Al) : Head of technology on the Orion. Doctor Wong was responsible for treating the technology that allowed Dean and the rest of the team to find the second Disciple on board. His receptionist was in fact the second Disciple discovered on board the Orion and the one that brought the seed ship down.

  Maksim Aleksandre Kuznetsov Petrov: Disciple, AKA Jeffrey Hooke, AKA Trevor Bishop, AKA the Assassin. Discovered while trying to sabotage the Orion. Captured and imprisoned in the prisoner cell block aboard the Orion.

  Mutt : Genetically engineered to be larger, stronger and faster than normal canines. Mutt met Dean on the Orion when Dean stumbled on Maksim trying to infect the animals with a violent strain of rabies. Mutt found Dean again once the Orion crashed.

  Eternals

  Arun Drake : Arun is one half of the sister, brother team leading the Orion. Belonging to a wealthy Eternal family, Arun’s passion is to help those less fortunate than herself. She sees this trip on the Orion her chance to offer aid to Transients she sees as equals. She’s loyal to a fault and ferocious when it comes to protecting others.

  Elon Drake : Much like his sister he sees this trip as an opportunity to aid the Transients he sees as his fellow man. Pilot of the Orion, Elon sacrificed his own life to stay aboard the Orion and land the ship. In the process he lost his leg.

  Cognitives

  Iris : Cognative in charge of the Orion, Iris is one of the sentient Artificial Intelligences coupled with the twelve seed ships leaving Earth. After the Orion’s crash, Iris has been given limited power. The long range scanners, navigation, and communication sections of her ship are currently down.

  Other Terms

  Eternals : Advanced humans who have been genetically modified with advanced healing and extremely long lifespans. After a few centuries, an additional mutation caused the Eternals to develop albino features, giving them a distinct appearance. They are responsible for most of Earth’s advanced technology, including the seed colony ships, such as Orion, as well as Tritium Cores, slipspace dri
ves, and Cognitives.

  Transients : Normal humans who do not posses the Eternal gene. After Eternals arose on Earth, Transient humans were delegated to the lower class, unable to accumulate wealth or obtain high-level positions in either business or politics. This stagnation led to a rebellion in which the Transients demanded equal opportunity. To satisfy this need, the Eternals offered them a deal: venture out into the far-flung reaches of the galaxy and colonize distant worlds, taking their lives into their own hands. The Transients agreed, and so began the greatest mass exodus in Earth’s history.

  Slipspace : A dimension beneath our own in which faster-than-light travel is possible. While it is not fully understood, many theorize that slipspace tunnels are in a constant state of nuclear fusion and fission, destroying and creating atoms simultaneously at all times. It was believed that slip tunnels were a naturally occurring phenomenon, but this is incorrect. In truth, the slip tunnel network was created by ancient ships from Earth as they expanded across the galaxy. While some tunnels collapsed over time, many remained to this day, providing modern ships with a faster-than-light means of transportation. Since modern ships cannot create their own tunnels, they must continue to rely on the existing network to travel. The Orion is able to create these tunnels.

  Kronos Five : The original planet the Orion was headed to before it was sabotaged and taken off course.

  The Orion : One of the twelve original seed ships made to take Transients off Earth. It is shaped like a small moon. It is capable of carrying one hundred thousands passengers. With hundreds of levels including storage, housing and recreation the Orion is a small city in itself. When it crashed the Orion was broken in two. The front half of the ship was landed by Elon, the back half broke into multiple sections scattered around the planet.

  Civil Authority : The ruling power policing Earth at the time the Orion launched. Stacy Wilson is Civil Authority Officer, she acted as an undercover agent until the Orion crashed. The Orion was accompanied by a strong presence of Civil Authority Officers upon launch. Only a handful of Civil Authority officers survived the Orion crash.

  The Disciples : The first and oldest cult to oppose the Eternals. The Disciples believe that any genetic mutation or evolution of the human body is evil. They’re an underground terrorist group responsible for multiple attacks on Eternal businesses and Eternals themselves.

  1

  They never came back. The exploration team led by Captain Ezra Harold disappeared with zero radio communication. It had been a full week since we returned to find a three-fingered alien waiting for us. In that time, Iris communicated with the alien named Tong, learning his dialect and teaching him our own.

  Lucky for the survivors of the Orion, Tong was highly intelligent and a quick learner. This was one of the reasons he was selected by his own race of people to be the one woken if help should arrive.

  At the moment, I found myself, along with Stacy, inside the alien’s home base in the gut of a mountain just outside the landing area of the Orion. It was decided that introducing the alien to the rest of the survivors would be too much for the time being. Until a way to integrate Tong into our lives was found, he would remain a secret.

  The rest of the Orion crew and I took turns staying with him. They brought him food while Iris shared information and they learned about their new home planet.

  “No way,” I said, looking over at Stacy. “He looks more like a big gecko, not an alligator.”

  “You’re blind,” Stacy said, rolling her eyes. “Totally an alligator man.”

  We were staying with Tong in the large circular room where we first found him. He showed us a control panel along the side of the wall that allowed bright lights to shine overhead as well as change color. Right now, the lights were bright white.

  Tong looked at us with a wide grin, showing all of his stubby teeth. In the week Iris worked on teaching him English, the two had made incredible bounds, but there was still a steep learning curve.

  “What is gecko?” Tong asked, still smiling. When he talked, his words sounded guttural and harsh. “Tong am Remboshi.”

  “Right, right,” I said, nodding to the smiling alien. “You’re a Remboshi—that’s your race—but on Earth, you look like a creature we have called a gecko.”

  “No gecko.” Tong waved a hand dismissing the idea. “Tong am Remboshi.”

  “So, Tong, tell us,” Stacy said, leaning against the wide circular wall of the room. “What lies to the east in the mountains?”

  Tong cocked his head to the side as if he didn’t comprehend the words. This was the main problem we were having with him. He could understand some dialogue, but he kept getting caught up on physical locations and in depth questions. Still, it had been two days since I had seen him last and he could talk a lot more now than he could then.

  “Mountains? East?” Tong blinked his large yellow eyes at us, clearly confused.

  “Mountains,” I said as Stacy searched for an alternate way to ask her question. I made the design of large upside down V’s on the ground to try and simulate a mountain range. “You know, big mounds of earth.”

  Tong came closer to look at what I was doing. I tensed involuntarily as he approached, despite knowing he was a friend. He had never made any kind of aggressive act toward us at all. Still, with an alien only a few feet away, my fight or flight mode kicked in.

  Easy, Dean, easy, I coached myself. If he tries anything, you’re the one with the blaster. Plus, his anatomy is close enough to a human’s that you could beat him in a fight. Probably.

  Tong didn’t seem to notice me tense up. He stared down at the ground as I traced the mountain range, trying to make sense of it. Finally giving up, the alien shrugged his tiny shoulders, looked at me with an almost sorry expression, and shook his head.

  “Here, this might work,” Stacy said, rummaging through the pack at her feet. She came out with a large smart pad, then scrolled through the device before offering it to me. “You can draw on it with your finger.”

  “We’ll give it another shot. He understands more now than when we tried two days ago, so who knows, maybe it’ll work,” I said, accepting the pad.

  Drawing things for Tong to grasp was something we’d tried twice before with limited success, but he was learning quickly.

  I created a square with my finger in the center of the white screen. Tong peered down at my seated position, edging down for a better look. Uneasy again at his close proximity, I rethought my position and rose to my feet. Tong didn’t seem to notice or care. His eyes were on the smart pad.

  “This is us, here,” I said, pointing to the square again. I pointed to myself, then Stacy, and then to him. “Dean, Stacy, and Tong, here.”

  “Shtacy, Great Dawn, Tong,” Tong said, nodding along and using his names for us.

  Stacy laughed then lifted a hand to her mouth to stifle the giggle. “Sorry, but come on, the way he calls you Great Dawn is a little funny.”

  I ignored Stacy, going over to the left side of the pad and creating a mountain range with large upside down V’s. It was to the east of the square in the middle of the map, just like they would be in real life.

  “And these are mountains,” I said, pointing to the mountain range I’d drawn. I wasn’t proud of them, but I’d never be a world class artist. In truth, a little kid could have done a better job.

  “Ahhhhhh,” Tong said in a long exhale of breath. “Mountains.”

  “Yes,” I said, seeing a glimmer of recollection in those large yellow eyes.

  Tong searched the ceiling in thought. He bit his lower lip in a very human show of concentration. “In your words, Remboshi name Mountains of Death.”

  I looked over at Stacy with a deadpan expression on my face. “You hear that? Mountains of Death.”

  “Why can’t they be the Mountains of Eternal Peace or the Mountains of Hope?” Stacy wondered, shaking her head. “I guess this place has it out for us every time we stop to look around.”

  “Sleeping Rembos
hi,” Tong said, pointing to the southern portion of the map. “My people sleep here.”

  “He’s pointing to that mist swamp place to the south, isn’t he?” Stacy said, shaking her head. “Of course, he is.”

  I let a long exhale escape my lips. I’d never been to the mist swamp, but I remembered the story Doctor Allbright told of her escape ship landing there.

  “Well, how about over here?” I asked, pointing with my finger to the opposite side of the mountains we knew nothing about. “What’s over here?”

  Tong took a step back. If his face could have turned pale, I got the sense it would have. He shook his head from side to side. A mixture of fear and sadness in his eyes.