Renegade Evolution: An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure (Renegade Star Book 14) Read online

  J. N. Chaney

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  Renegade Evolution Copyright © 2020 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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  Renegade Evolution

  Book 14 in the Renegade Star Series

  J.N. Chaney

  Book Description

  The truth about the gods will set you free.

  Jace Hughes and the people of Earth have joined with the Union and the Sarkonians to create the largest alliance in human history. They have amassed a wealth of weapons, shields, and the strongest military ever conceived.

  But it may not be enough.

  The Celestials have gone on the offensive, attacking Alliance colonies and key points of interest throughout the galaxy, destroying valuable resources that humanity needs to fight back.

  And no one can stop them.

  Except that somewhere, buried in the distant stars of the galaxy, hope remains alive.

  On a ringworld known as Elysia, Jace and his crew search desperately for answers. It was here that the Celestials first discovered alien technology and used it to transform themselves. If a weakness is to be found, then perhaps it exists somewhere in this lost, forgotten ring.

  But the enemy is already on their way… and time is running out.

  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

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  Author Notes

  Important Characters and Terms

  Renegade Star Universe

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  Previously on Renegade Star

  Jace, his crew, and the rest of the Alliance journeyed to Novo and found a way to fix Athena's corrupted system. In the process, they discovered a cure for the Eternal degradation epidemic that nearly killed off the entire Eternal race.

  This disorder would have taken Lex as well, but the antidote was successfully administered to the young girl. There was only one major side effect: her genes are now flawless...and she is changed.

  Meanwhile, the Celestials used Athena's stolen data drives to learn about the Alliance and its weaknesses. In a bold countermove, they waged a new campaign against Alliance worlds and colonies, eventually leading them to White Cross, among other key assets.

  Jace, in an attempt to find a weakness that could turn the tide of the war, discovered the Celestials’ lost history.

  They did not reach their evolutionary zenith all on their own.

  They had help.

  And Jace will do whatever it takes to find out who these aliens were...and what role they will play in mankind’s future.

  1

  I stared down at the twisted remains of the Celestial mobile armor on the table in Dressler’s lab. It was hard to believe that just the day prior it had been trying to kill me.

  The body was quiet now, like a corpse awaiting its autopsy.

  “You can still use it, right?” I asked, glancing up at Carl.

  After Oscar had shut down the transporter, I ordered the armor
to be brought in to see if Carl could operate it the same way Sigmond and Athena had done with their own suits.

  The Cognitive tipped his head sideways a bit, looking at me with a quizzical expression before glancing at the dead Celestial on the table. We were hoping the suit had valuable information stored inside.

  Carl watched me with an inscrutable expression. “Captain Hughes, I believe you are making what Dr. Dressler refers to as a joke. If not, then I must advise you that the specimen in question is unlikely to function again.”

  Most of the suit was intact, so long as you didn’t count the mangled hand cannon and disconnected legs. Oh, and the exploded head. I hadn’t exactly been thinking about preserving the thing since it nearly killed both Abigail and me. Certainly not when I blew a hole in its head.

  “Are you saying it’s completely useless?”

  He turned his eyes to the machine, pausing only a moment. “Not entirely, perhaps,” he replied. “But please stand by.”

  He went still, his eyes flickering that familiar way they did when he was in the middle of processing a large amount of data. I let him do his thing in silence, my mind wandering for longer than it should have. Maybe it was the exhaustion I felt after the last few days. So far, we’d discovered an ancient alien ring planet, explored some of the structure left behind there, and gotten into a skirmish with the now-dead Celestial on the slab in front of me. All of this after a battle and a chase across the galaxy.

  In other words, just another day.

  Even if we couldn’t use it now, I still didn’t regret shooting the Celestial—he had meant to kill us and might have succeeded if not for my upgraded hard light weapons. In fact, Abigail was still in recovery from the blast she’d taken in the fight. My chest tightened at the memory of her flying into the wall from the attack.

  No, I didn’t regret my actions for one godsdamned second.

  I was more interested in learning about these extra rings anyway. Carl had said that there were others out there and that they had been created by an unknown third party. Dr. Hitchens believed they were the gods of old, but the idea was just too hard to accept or believe.

  Before I could think about it more, Carl’s eyes stopped their flickering and focused on me.

  “I have something I believe you will find of interest.”

  “Well, out with it, Carl. Don’t hold out on me,” I said.

  The bald Cognitive gave me one of his now signature head tips. “The Celestial’s memories were not completely destroyed. There is data that is...” He paused. “Unexpected.”

  I perked up a bit at the news. “Show me.”

  Carl shook his head. “The source code cannot be translated to a visual feed. They are more remnants than actual memories. However, I can translate the data and relay my findings as they—”

  “Okay,” I said, motioning for him to move on with it. “What did you pull?”

  “Simply put,” Carl continued. “Elysia isn’t the birthplace of the Celestials, as I first thought.”

  Back when Carl first told me and the others about the ring planet on which we were currently residing, he explained that the Celestials were born there. It was the reason I decided to come here.

  “So, we came here for nothing?” I bit the words out. “We’re in the middle of a war. Making pointless stops isn’t going to help us win.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say it’s pointless, Jace,” a familiar voice chimed in.

  I turned around, ready with a question before I even saw her. “What are you doing out of the healing pod, Abby?”

  The former nun gave me a haughty look. “You know full well that I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions. I’m fine. Besides, this sounds important.”

  She didn’t look injured, but that hadn’t been the case yesterday. Still, I knew better than to argue with the woman when she had her mind set. “Carl here just told me that this ring world isn’t connected to the Celestials.”

  “I do hate to disagree, Captain Hughes, but that is not what I said, nor what I meant. Elysia is still part of Celestial history, just not in the way I understood the information. If you’ll recall, that data was incomplete.”

  I waved a hand for him to continue.

  “Elysia is a minor world, and one of many. The Celestials did visit at one point but wrote the location off. In truth, this corona ring is little more than a museum. One the Celestials have stripped of all its useful artifacts.”

  “And this is important how?”

  “He said museum, Jace.” Abigail was giving the look she used to tell me I was being rude. “That means history, which means we could learn something about how all of this got started, such as the story Hitchens told us and whether his origin theory might actually be true.”

  “You mean his fairy tales about the gods being real?” I asked with a quick scoff. “That’s impossible. Gods don’t exist.”

  Abigail smiled at me. “I seem to remember you saying that about a certain planet you now call home,” she teased.

  I grumbled in response, annoyed at myself for walking right into that. I’d never really believed in Earth, not even after seeing holo images. It wasn’t until the day I looked upon the land with my own eyes that it fully registered.

  Now, here we were after all this time, fighting to keep it safe.

  “Fair enough,” I conceded. “Carl, will this help you decipher the text on the walls? I’m not entirely confident in Hitchens’s translation.”

  It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the professor. Far from it, in fact. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that the gods in those old stories had built this place. There was little doubt that if we came face to face with them, they’d be flesh and bone, just like the rest of us. Powerful, maybe, but not divine.

  The Cognitive nodded. “I believe so. It will take time.”

  “Something we don’t have the luxury of right this second. How long do you need?”

  Carl went still again, then came back a second later. “A few hours at most.”

  “That should be perfect.” A familiar voice sounded from the door again. Dr. MaryAnn Dressler, resident mad scientist and occasional pain in my ass.

  “By all means, come on in,” I said, motioning with my head for her to join us. Once she was next to me, I nudged her to continue. “Should be perfect for what, Doc?”

  She blinked at me. “To explore the ring, of course. I want to get a look at the damaged area we observed on the way in. I came to talk to you about it because I believe it could be helpful for bolstering our shields.”

  My interest piqued. “How so?”

  “There is significant damage to a large section of the ring. You saw it on our arrival. The technology required to keep this world from tearing itself apart will be extraordinary. If I can find a way to harness that power and apply it to our shields, our ships could withstand a great deal of what the Celestials hit us with.”

  “MaryAnn, I’m not so sure that’s a great idea. Seems dangerous when the Celestials could show up at any time,” Abigail cut in.

  I had to agree with that point.

  Dressler shrugged. “No great discovery was ever made by staying home.”

  Abigail frowned but didn’t argue.

  “Are you sure the trip is necessary for what you need?” I asked.

  She sighed. “Necessary? Maybe, maybe not. But it could give us an edge, save lives.”

  “All right,” I said. “We can go take a look if you really think it’s going to help. In the meantime, I want everyone to start packing up and prepping to leave.”

  “Leave?” Dressler looked from me to Abigail, who shrugged her shoulders.

  “After the survey is done, which should only take a few hours. We’ve got other rings to visit, and they might be in better shape than the one we’re standing on,” I explained, to which the doctor lit up with excitement.

  “That’s great news. Elysia is severely damaged, its landscape in disarray. I would be most interested to se
e if these other rings are fully operational and intact or similarly decayed. If they remain untouched, then further discovery remains even more of a possibility.”

  Abigail crossed her arms and looked at Carl. “What do you think we’ll find on the other rings?”

  “I am not certain,” said the Cognitive. “The data will take some time to go through. Besides this ring, three others exist. I will attempt to extrapolate useful information that will tell us which should be our next destination.”

  “Fascinating,” mused Dressler.

  I started for the door. “You do that, Carl. I’m going to get a team together so we can have a look at the damaged section of the ring.”

  The Cognitive bowed and winked out of sight.

  “I’ll get Lex sorted and meet up with you later,” Abigail said.

  “Let’s hope she stays out of trouble for a few hours,” I told her.

  Abigail smiled. “Let’s hope.”

  Even though the air wasn’t toxic, I ordered everyone to wear their full suits and helmets with a backup of air supply. There was still an unidentified element present and I hoped to avoid an outbreak of flesh eating alien toxins today if I could help it.