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  J. N. Chaney

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  Renegade Alliance Copyright © 2019 by Variant Publications

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  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.

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  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.

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  Renegade Alliance

  Book 13 in the Renegade Star Series

  J.N. Chaney

  Book Description

  An ancient world holds many secrets.

  With the Celestial ship Tartarus now under his command, the former Renegade known as Jace Hughes heads toward a lost colony in search of answers.

  What he finds may change the war forever.

  Meanwhile, the Celestials are drawing closer to locating Earth with every passing day. With an invasion looming, the Alliance has little time to prepare its forces.

  The Union, Sarkonians, and Earth must unite together or die alone.

  Experience this thirteenth entry in the bestselling Renegade Star series from USA Today bestselling author J.N. Chaney. If you're a fan of Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, and Indiana Jones, you'll love this scifi thrill ride.

  Contents

  Previously on Renegade Star

  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

  Epilogue

  Author Notes

  Important Characters and Terms

  Renegade Star Universe

  Preview: The Amber Project

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  About the Author

  For Jason, Scott, Josh, Jonathan, Molly, Christopher, and Terry

  Previously on Renegade Star

  Jace and the rest of his crew, including the Union and Sarkonian Empire, took over the Celestials’ metal planet and renamed it Tartarus. In the process, they discovered a Celestial Cognitive named Carl.

  Carl, having had many interactions with Athena during her imprisonment, realized that his masters had been far too cruel and unjust towards all other forms of humanity, which they deemed unworthy. Because of this, Carl began to secretly move against his masters in an attempt to join the humans. With his help, Jace finally managed to unlock Tartarus’ many secrets, including Athena’s whereabouts, a hangar filled with Celestial vessels known as the Boneyard, and the fact that a handful of the enemy were still in hiding.

  Dr. Dressler, unknown to the Union or Sarkonians, discovered the key to human phasing by utilizing the hard light cuffs from a dead Celestial Berserker.

  Jace and the others recovered Athena, though she was badly damaged, and a single Celestial escaped with a copy of her memories.

  Carl informed Jace that the Celestials are coming to reclaim Tartarus, which he has revealed to be a ship, not a planet. Now, the Renegade must devise a plan to restore Athena to her former self and still find an advantage over the enemy, all without allowing the Celestials to discover Earth.

  For a full glossary of terms, please check the back of the book or see “Important Characters and Terms” in the table of contents.

  1

  “No.”

  I forced my eyes away from the green maelstrom of the slip tunnel Carl had opened only moments ago. The Celestial Cognitive had just informed me that Tartarus was ready to travel if I wanted it, and he followed that up with the revelation that his former masters would be coming.

  “No?” echoed Carl. His bald head gleamed under the lights as he tilted it slightly in confusion.

  “We can’t leave just yet,” I explained. “Tell me about the star system on the other side of this tunnel. You said it’s benign, according to the Primus’ standards. What does that mean exactly?”

  The Primus were the elites at the top of the Celestial food chain. The way Carl told it, the Primus had seen no reason to revisit the system after wiping it clean of resources. At least, that was how I understood it.

  The rift closed on the display, swallowed up by the black void once again. The screen changed to show the so-called “Safe Zone” tha
t Carl had mentioned before, this time in far more detail.

  “Our point of interest is a planet with the designation Novo,” he told me.

  I’d never heard of it, but that didn’t mean much on its own. The universe was a big place and the existing systems humanity had charted were already too many to keep straight. Truth was, no one knew exactly how many habitable worlds there were in the galaxy, and slipspace was riddled with plenty of hidey-holes and livable planets waiting to be discovered and settled. Athena had told me once that humanity had long believed the galaxy to be a sterile place, lacking in not only sentient life but plants and animals as well. We’d disproved that theory over the millenia, and we’d since discovered hundreds of worlds with complex ecosystems full of life and agriculture. For all our many faults, we’d always been explorers, never happy to stay in one place for too long. It was a sentiment that I understood all too well.

  “It is a habitable class-G world.” Carl waved at the display and the system changed to a planet.

  “Is that right? Sounds like a worthwhile place to settle.” I stepped closer and studied the image. “I’m surprised the Celestials left it alone.”

  At first glance, one might have mistaken it for our home, though Earth had been little more than a dusty ball and blue ocean when we’d finally arrived. Only the metal cities in the sky had given any indication that the planet had ever been inhabited. Once Project Reclamation had begun to terraform it, its appearance had changed drastically. Now when seen from afar, it was a big blue and green marble with a few brown stretches of land.

  Similarly, Novo was a swirl of blue with smaller patches of green, but I didn’t see much in the way of darker areas that would have indicated deserts or mountain regions.

  “It was,” Carl said in agreement. “Thousands of years ago, the Eternals journeyed there in hopes of solving the gene degradation that once plagued their species.”

  That sounded all too familiar. I recalled the frozen planet Lucia and her people had inhabited before Brigham and the Union blew it all to hell. The Cognitive Janus spoke of the research conducted there. Research that nearly resulted in the destruction of all three facilities on the godsforsaken rock. “There were Eternals here?” I asked. “What happened to them?”

  “Extinct,” said Carl.

  “How?” I asked.

  “My records give no specific information,” he replied. “All I can say with any certainty is that this planet was settled with the intention of performing research and experimentation.”

  I paused, thinking back to the only other research station I’d seen from that time. “Do you have any record in the Archives about Boneclaws?” I asked. “Big hulking monsters with no eyes thick white hair and created by the Eternals. They were—”

  Carl’s eyes flickered, indicating he was analyzing data, so I paused. “It does appear that such a creature was cataloged,” he finally said. “However, ‘Boneclaw’ is not the listed identifier.”

  An image of a Boneclaw appeared on the display and I grimaced. “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “This file is from Athena. Like many of her memories, it has been archived for further analysis. I have no records of the animal before the acquisition of this data, however, and there appear to be no other instances of the Eternals creating them elsewhere.”

  “Does that mean Earth never bothered to check in on that colony?” I asked.

  “A great deal of information is missing from that era, but my records indicate that during this time, many research projects were abandoned, along with several colonies.”

  “Why the hell would they do that?”

  “The gene degradation had spread through a significant percentage of the population at that time, causing the Eternals to prioritize Earth. In the event of a disaster on one of the research colonies, no help could be sent.”

  It took a moment for that to sink it. When it did, I narrowed my eyes. “Are you telling me that the Eternals back on Earth knew there were survivors on that ice planet and chose to do nothing?”

  “That is correct,” said Carl. “The same was true of the world you see before you. Novo was abandoned when it became clear that the colony had succumbed to the disease.”

  I shook my head in amazement. That was cold, even by Ravager or Sarkonian standards, but there was nothing to be done about it now. The colony on Novo was lost to time, remembered now only by the Archives.

  “There is one more thing,” Carl confessed.

  “Uh huh,” I replied, settling back on my heels and fixing the Celestial with a quizzical look. “And what might that be?”

  He smiled and waved his hand. “Your facial cues tell me that you are suspicious, Captain Hughes. I assure you there is nothing to be concerned about. While Tartarus is indeed ready for the journey, it could do with some repairs.”

  “Oh?” I asked, unsure what he was talking about.

  “Yes. According to my records, the Celestials did not take anything from the planet. The facility remains untouched.”

  “I get it. You’re saying they have equipment we could use,” I said, pausing for a moment. “And most likely a core of some kind.”

  “That’s exactly right. It would help to bring all of Tartarus back to full strength.”

  That sealed the deal for me. “Let’s head to Novo.” I paused, studying the image on the screen. “Are those jungles?” I asked, pointing to a large expanse of green.

  “Some, yes. Not all. A portion of this is marshland, not suitable for building, though that could be addressed with terraforming.” He paused. “If you planned to stay.”

  “Whoa, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I told him, holding up my hands. “We aren’t making a home there. Just going long enough to fix Athena and put a plan together.” I tapped my belt with my thumb. “Do you know if there are any abominations like those Boneclaws running around down there? Do we need to bring a small army with us to the surface?”

  “The research on Novo was limited to repair, not creation,” explained Carl.

  “Good,” I said. “I’m assuming the Celestials wiped out the people there. Do you know anything about that?”

  “That would be a poor assumption, I’m afraid,” countered Carl.” The Eternals on that world continued to look for a cure until their numbers died out completely. The disease overtook the colony over a century ago.”

  “Tough break,” I muttered.

  “Yes.” The Celestial Cognitive flicked his wrist to turn off the display and glanced back to me, his expression polite but questioning. “Captain Hughes, you said we cannot leave yet. What must be done to facilitate this?”

  Despite the fact that Carl was an AI—albeit a Celestial one—his casual tone and responses gave him away as something different, even compared to the other Cognitives. He was more inquisitive than Sigmond or Athena, especially when it came to basic decisions and behaviors. While Sigmond might not have questioned my decision to wait before heading off into the wide unknown, Carl seemed puzzled by it.

  “We’re not ready, even if Tartarus is,” I explained to the bald construct. “We need a plan for resources and what we’re going to do with the Alliance fleet. Not to mention the people still on Earth.”

  The Cognitive still looked blank. “I’m afraid I don’t understand, Hughes. What about the people on Earth?”

  Not like Sigmond at all, I mused. He would have understood immediately. Then again, Carl was different in so many ways that I shouldn’t have been surprised. Even his physical appearance was drastically different from every other Cognitive I’d encountered. While Sigmond and Athena had gold and blue auras, respectively, Carl was barely distinguishable from a human. The only thing that gave him away was a slight white glow that made him look almost ethereal.

  “We can’t just leave them while we run off to safety,” I told him, a bit tersely. “They’re my people and they need protection. And we need a plan in place if the Celestials come knocking.”

  His eyes flickered.

&
nbsp; “My apologies, Hughes,” he finally said. “I appear to have offended you. Information from the Archives has helped to explain your concern. Please understand I meant no offense. The Celestials do not put the same stock in the lives of their own. I am still learning.”

  It made sense, I supposed. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Before I could leave, Carl spoke again. “I’ve run a probability test to determine the likelihood that the Celestials will manage to locate Earth. It should give you some peace of mind to know that the chances are rather low, all things considered.”

  I crossed my arms. “How can you be sure?”

  “They certainly want to acquire the planet, if only to exterminate the population, per their mandate,” he went on. “However, they will consider your acquisition of Tartarus the more immediate issue.”

  “All the same, I want to be prepared,” I told him, finally turning to leave. I was already making a list of what to do before we departed. “I’ll let you know when we’re ready to go,” I said over my shoulder.

  “Hughes,” he said, stopping me. “Do not take too long. I fear we don’t have much time.”