Renegade Peace: An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure (Renegade Star Book 16) Read online

  J. N. Chaney

  Copyrighted Material

  Renegade Peace Copyright © 2020 by Variant Publications

  Book design and layout copyright © 2020 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.

  www.jnchaney.com

  1st Edition

  Book Description

  The epic conclusion is here!

  As the Celestials make their way to Earth, humanity must make its final stand. The Union, Sarkonians, Eternals, and the free people of Earth must stand together or face extinction. But doing so will not be easy.

  Despite all their preparations, all their work and steadfast resolve, Jace and the crew of the Renegade Star must scramble to unite the galaxy before the enemy arrives. They will need help from every government, rebel group, and anyone with a ship to step up and fight. That means calling on both soldiers and criminals, allies and enemies, all in the hope that they will understand what is at stake and unite together for the greater good.

  Mankind's final test is about to begin. Will we rise to the challenge? Or will we allow our petty disputes and political vendettas get in the way of our own survival?

  Experience the conclusion to the international bestselling Renegade Star series. If you're a fan of Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, or Cowboy Bebop, you'll love this pulse pounding scifi thrill ride.

  Books By J.N. Chaney

  The Variant Saga:

  The Amber Project

  Transient Echoes

  Hope Everlasting

  The Vernal Memory

  Renegade Star Series:

  Renegade Star

  Renegade Atlas

  Renegade Moon

  Renegade Lost

  Renegade Fleet

  Renegade Earth

  Renegade Dawn

  Renegade Children

  Renegade Union

  Renegade Empire

  Renegade Descent

  Renegade Rising

  Renegade Alliance

  Renegade Evolution

  Renegade War

  Renegade Peace

  Renegade Star Universe:

  Nameless

  The Constable

  The Constable Returns

  The Warrior Queen

  Orion Colony (with Jonathan Yanez)

  Orion Uncharted (with Jonathan Yanez)

  Orion Awakened (with Jonathan Yanez)

  Orion Protected (with Jonathan Yanez)

  The Last Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  Fear the Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  Blade of the Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  Wings of the Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  Flight of the Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  Wrath of the Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  Will of the Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  Descent of the Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  Hunt of the Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  Bastion of the Reaper (with Scott Moon)

  The Fifth Column (with Molly Lerma)

  The Solaras Initiative (with Molly Lerma)

  The Forlorn Hope (with Molly Lerma)

  Resonant Son (with Christopher Hopper)

  Resonant Abyss (with Christopher Hopper)

  Galactic Law (with James S. Aaron)

  Galactic Judge (with James S. Aaron)

  Galactic Jury (with James S. Aaron)

  Galactic Executioner (with James S. Aaron)

  Deadland Drifter (with Ell Leigh Clarke)

  Deadland Wanderer (with Ell Leigh Clarke)

  Deadland Sentinel (with Ell Leigh Clarke)

  The Renegade

  The Deal (coming soon)

  Ruins of the Galaxy Series (with Christopher Hopper):

  Ruins of the Galaxy

  Galactic Breach

  Gateway to War

  Void Horizon

  Black Labyrinth

  Imminent Failure

  Terminal Fallout

  Quantum Assault

  Rise of the Gladias

  The Messenger Series (with Terry Maggert):

  The Messenger

  The Dark Between

  Star Forged

  The Silent Fleet

  Dawn of Empire

  Worlds Apart

  Rage of Night

  Heaven’s Door

  Radical Dreamer

  Cosmic Ride

  The Sol Arbiter Series (with Jia Shen):

  Sol Arbiter

  Intrinsic Immortality

  Digital Chimera

  Memetic Drift

  Standalones:

  Their Solitary Way

  The Other Side of Nowhere

  Forever Family

  Contents

  Join the Conversation

  Connect with J.N. Chaney

  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

  Epilogue

  Author Notes

  Renegade Star Universe

  Join the Conversation

  Connect with J.N. Chaney

  Preview: The Amber Project

  Books By J.N. Chaney

  About the Author

  Join the conversation and get updates on new and upcoming releases in the Facebook group called “JN Chaney’s Renegade Readers.” This is a hotspot where readers come together and share their lives and interests, discuss the series, and speak directly to J.N. Chaney and his co-authors.

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  He also post updates, official art, and other awesome stuff on his website and you can also follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

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  Enjoying the series? Help others discover the Renegade Star series by leaving a review on Amazon.

  "Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."

  -Antoine de Saint Exupéry, The Little Prince

  1

  The air in the city was cold, and I wanted to go home.

  “Jacey, you need to keep up. Come on, now. Don’t walk so slow.” My mother held my wrist with a firm grip as she tugged me along through the street. “Your daddy thinks he can just run off with Jasper like he ain’t got no responsibilities. Like he’s sixteen again! Gods have mercy, just wait til I see that no good son of a—”

  We passed by a corner with two women and a man, all three with barely any clothes on. One of them, the woman with pink hair, stared at me and smiled. I wanted to go up and ask them where all their clothes were and if they were cold, but there wasn’t any time for that.
r />   “I swear to gods, Jacey, if he’s not over here, we’re gone for good. We’re leaving his sorry ass.”

  Sorry ass, I thought to myself. I’d heard her say that so many times before. Always about my father. Always with the same angry voice. It never changed.

  “Momma, I wanna go home,” I muttered too low for her to hear. “Maybe Daddy went back already.”

  “—and I’m missing my games! You know how hard it is to get a spot at the table with Maeve? You have to book them a week out. I was gonna win this time! I had the feeling!”

  My mother tugged me along the sidewalk and up a small set of stairs toward a sliding glass door. I had no idea where we were or how we’d gotten here. Only that I didn’t like the look of any of it. I knew we were still in Rescue because we’d only been on the bus for ten minutes, but I’d never been to this part of the city before. It wasn’t like our street. There were no kids.

  “—and Otis and Jasper are probably up there with your daddy right now, the damned fools. Probably hatching some scheme like a couple of idiots with too much time on their hands. They’re nothin’ but a bunch of lazy, dog-headed—"

  The elevator was out of service, marked off with a sign I couldn’t read. I was five years old and I only knew some of the letters, thanks to Rosy, my friend from next door. She was older than me. Seven, maybe, but sometimes we’d meet in the hall and she’d talk to me and show me her book about the dog and his pet boy.

  I liked that book a lot. It had nice pictures.

  “—asshole doesn’t appreciate me or anything. Just wants to keep wasting my time. What about me and my life? My momma said I could have anyone and anything. I should’ve just listened to her. Damned fool ain’t worth a credit. Oh, I wish I’d just—”

  I counted the stairs as we climbed, using the song I learned in school. One, two, three, four. Pinky pinky, door door. One two three four. That’s the way you count to four.

  “—and I know I coulda just had Mable watch you, but she ain’t no good this time of night and everyone in the neighborhood knows it. Nothin’ but a love sick hussy, bless her soul—”

  We stopped at a brown door with a long scratch mark. The paint was chipped and it smelled like smoke. My mother banged her fist against the wood, each beat hurting my chest, it was so loud. When someone didn’t answer right away, she kicked it.

  I could hear movement on the other side, and a dog barked. Whoever we were going to see, I hoped their dog was friendly.

  Friendly like the one in Rosy’s book. His name was Oscar.

  The door swung open and a skinny man, taller than my mother, stood in front of us with a confused look on his face. He paused, staring at each of us before finally licking his lips. “Can I, uh, help you, lady?”

  “I’m here for my godsdamn husband,” my mother snapped.

  “Oh, you must be—” He cleared his throat and quickly turned around. “Hey man, I think your wife and kid are here.”

  “My kid?” The sound of my father’s voice felt good and I wanted to run inside and hug him, but my mother’s hand was tight around my wrist, so I knew I couldn’t.

  The skinny man stepped out of the way, quickly replaced by the face of someone I knew better than anyone else. “What the hell are you doing here?” asked my father.

  Even from the floor, I could smell the beer on his breath. It wasn’t very thick, but it was strong enough that it carried down to me. Was this where he went before coming home in the middle of the night and sleeping on the floor? What was he doing in this place? Were these his friends?

  My father’s eyes fell on me, and I gave him a cautious smile. “Hi Daddy.”

  He looked up at my mother. “You brought the kid with you? What for?”

  “I’m leaving you if you don’t get your stupid ass back to the apartment right now,” she whispered, although it was so loud I wondered what the point was.

  “What the hell for?!”

  “What for?” she asked. “What for?! You’re supposed to watch”—she yanked on my hand and I stumbled a little—“our son tonight! I’ve got my time at Maeve’s table and you’re out doing gods know what in this dank place you call a—”

  “An office,” he snapped. “Trebo’s got a new set of jobs in, and he’s asked me to help. What do you expect me to do? This was the only time he could fit me in. We both got shifts in the morning at the mine.”

  She scoffed. “I don’t give two damns about all that.”

  “Well, maybe you ought to! All I heard last night was why I ain’t bringing in more creds and the second I do, all I get is a bunch of grief because you’re gonna miss some gambling?”

  She shoved him, taking me along with her. I caught myself on the wall as the two of them stepped through the doorway.

  I could feel my chest pounding, and for some reason I couldn’t find the right words to say to get them to stop. All I wanted to do was go home.

  “You think it’s easy?!” my mother shouted. “I’m stuck at home all day while you go off to that godsdamn mine with your godsdamn friends, and then you don’t even come home to help! You just come here! All I ask is for one night a week to spend away and you can’t even give me that.”

  I eased down to the floor, my feet sticking as I shifted against the cold metal beneath my shoes. I wondered what Rosy was doing. Was she already asleep? It was late and I felt so tired.

  “Just…just calm down, baby, please,” my father begged. “I’m sorry, okay?”

  I thought about the book again. The Dog—Oscar—he met the little boy in the park one day, because the boy gave him some food when he was hungry. Oscar talked to him, said that he was the only talking dog in the whole wide world. That’s when they became friends.

  “Sorry doesn’t get me back my time. It sure as shit doesn’t get me back the last five years!”

  Oscar told the boy that he would look after him the same way the boy had tried to look after Oscar. He said he would always be with him, because dogs are loyal to their boys. That’s the way it works.

  I leaned down and put my hands around my head, covering my ears. I tried to imagine that I had a dog. A yellow one like Oscar with big eyes and lots of fur. But Rosy said it’s hard to get a dog because they are so rare, that they’re only in stories for kids like us.

  I felt my eyes burn as tears filled them, and I quickly covered my eyes with my sleeves. I had to wipe them, because momma would tell me I was bad if she saw, and then they would fight again.

  But I couldn’t stop it. My nose was running, and I hated myself for it. I hated this place. I hated this city. I hated this planet. And I hated my life.

  I just wanted to be the little boy in the book. I wanted to be with Oscar.

  I—

  The weight shifted in the floor beside me, and I heard familiar breathing from above my head.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, wiping my eyes before burying my face in my arms again. “I didn’t mean to…I didn’t mean to cry.”

  My father bent down beside me, and the scent of his cologne grew thick and comforting.

  He let out a long sigh and slid his feet down to stretch his legs, then banged his head against the wall. I felt the thud in my chest. “Ain’t your fault, son,” he told me. “Your parents are just a couple of fools is all.”

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what a fool was. All I knew was that I didn’t like it when they yelled, and I wanted to go home.

  “Your momma’s tired and she’s mad. Says I don’t spend enough time at the house.” He sighed again. “Maybe she’s right. I don’t know. I’m just trying to get paid so we can get out of this shithole. You know what I’m saying, Jacey?”

  I nodded. “Uh-huh.”

  He reached his arm across my shoulders, then pulled me closer. He was thick and strong, and bigger than anyone else I’d ever known. “You ain’t gotta worry about me and her splittin’. We’re fine. And she ain’t mad about nothing. Just a little upset right now because of me. I’m stupid, Jacey. Sometimes
real stupid. But she knows I mean well. End of the day, that’s all a woman wants. For you to mean well.”

  I looked up at him for the first time since he sat down. He was smiling at me, smiling so wide that I felt myself do the same. “I mean well, too,” I told him.

  He bobbed his head. “You sure do. We Hughes boys, we’re a sorry lot, but we always pull through. Any girl can see it if she’s smart. And your momma is smart.”

  I reached around and gave him a hug, laying my head against his stomach. He smelled good, and it made me feel like he must be right.

  “Come on now. Let’s get you back home. Your momma’s in there getting my bag, but if we don’t get up, she’s gonna let Trebo have it.”

  “Okay,” I agreed, quickly getting to my feet.

  My mother appeared from inside the door, carrying a bag. “Got it. Let’s get out of this awful building. It smells like a bathroom. And I talked to Trebo. You can take the work, but”—she pursed her lips, leaning in closer to my father as he neared, then stuck a finger against his chest—“if you pull this again, I swear it’ll be the last time.”

  He smiled at her, scratching the back of his head. “Don’t you worry about that, baby. I won’t let you down again.”

  They kissed, and I turned away. It was so embarrassing, and it always happened after the big fights.