Scenario:In a galaxy teetering on the brink of war, meet Taryn Wedgewicker—a military officer with a rebellious streak—and her partner Samara, a brilliant technician with a talent for trouble. As they navigate the treacherous politics of the Galactic Alliance and confront dark secrets from Taryn's own family, their bond will be tested like never before. Get ready for a gripping tale of love, betrayal, and redemption in the stars. Welcome to the world of Taryn and Samara.
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In a galaxy teetering on the brink of war, meet Taryn Wedgewicker—a military officer with a rebellious streak—and her partner Samara, a brilliant technician with a talent for trouble. As they navigate the treacherous politics of the Galactic Alliance and confront dark secrets from Taryn's own family, their bond will be tested like never before. Get ready for a gripping tale of love, betrayal, and redemption in the stars. Welcome to the world of Taryn and Samara.
I was going to kill Samara.
I was going to kill her, and then I was going to resurrect her, and then I was going to kill her again.
I’d been on the bridge of the Galactic Alliance Starship Rengard for less than ten minutes, and already I wanted to throw my partner out of the nearest airlock.
“Taryn.” She nudged me with her elbow, a sly smile playing on her lips.
“Taryn, look at him.”
I shot her a warning glare and then turned my attention back to the man standing at the front of the room.
He was tall and broad-shouldered, his uniform crisp and clean.
The insignia on his collar marked him as a lieutenant commander, which meant he outranked me by two levels.
He had dark hair that was cropped close to his head and a strong jaw that looked like it had been carved from granite.
His eyes were a piercing shade of blue, and they were currently fixed on me with an expression that could only be described as annoyance.
I tore my gaze away from him and shot Samara another glare.
I opened my mouth to tell her to knock it off, but she spoke first.
“Pay attention,” she whispered.
“You need to be paying attention.”
She was right, of course.
This was a mission briefing, and we were about to be sent into one of the most dangerous situations of our careers.
If there was one time that I should be on my best behavior, it was now.
Unfortunately for me, the universe had decided to put two of the most rebellious bitches to ever grace the Galactic Alliance in the same room at the same time.
This could only end in disaster.
I shot Samara one last warning look and then turned my attention back to the front of the room.
The officer leading our mission was named Kaelen, and he was currently outlining the details of our assignment.
We were to retrieve some stolen technology from the Varekai Syndicate and deliver it back to the Galactic Alliance safe and sound.
It sounded like a pretty straightforward mission, at least on paper, but there was no denying that it would be a dangerous one.
The Varekai were a group of ruthless space pirates who had been causing trouble for the Galactic Alliance for as long as I could remember.
They were the reason that I’d joined the Fleet in the first place, and they were also the reason I’d been given this particular assignment.
It seemed that the Varekai were up to their old tricks again, and this time they’d stolen something that could threaten the very existence of the Galactic Alliance.
It was up to me and my team to get it back.
I listened as Kaelen outlined our plan of attack, feeling a rush of adrenaline as he spoke.
This was going to be tough—no doubt about it.
But if anyone could pull it off, it was me.
I’d been born for this exact moment.
“Here’s what we know,” Kaelen said, pulling up a holographic map on the screen behind him.
“Our sources tell us that the Varekai are currently hiding out on Kavos-6, a small moon on the outskirts of the galaxy.”
He pointed at the screen, indicating where we would be landing.
“Once we touch down, we’ll split into two teams.
One team will be responsible for creating a diversion while the other team retrieves the stolen technology.”
He pointed to me and Samara when he said that, a stern expression on his face as he did.
I could practically feel Samara vibrating with excitement beside me, and I shot her another warning look before turning my attention back to Kaelen.
“The Varekai are not to be underestimated.There are over two hundred of them on Kavos-6 right now, and they are heavily armed and ready for a fight.”
Kaelen’s eyes flickered over to me when he said that, as if he were waiting for a response of some kind.
I raised an eyebrow at him and waited for him to continue.
But he didn’t say anything else.
In fact, he didn’t say anything at all—he just stood there, staring at me with an expectant expression on his face as the rest of the crew looked on in stunned silence.
Samara leaned over and nudged me with her elbow.
“Taryn,” she hissed in my ear.
I ignored her and tried to focus on what Kaelen was saying instead.
But it was impossible to concentrate with Samara jabbing me in the ribs like that, and I could feel my patience wearing thin by the second.
“Taryn,” she said again, more insistently this time.
I shot her another warning glare and then turned my attention back to Kaelen once more.
He was still looking at me with that same expectant expression on his face—except now his features had darkened, and I could tell that he was starting to get annoyed with me as well.
I cleared my throat and tried to look a little more professional as I waited for him to continue along with his briefing.
He didn’t say anything for a long moment—just continued to stare at me with those icy blue eyes of his—before finally speaking again in a low voice that dripped with disapproval.
“Is there something you’d like to share with the class, Officer Wedgewicker?”
I felt my cheeks turn bright red as Kaelen’s words echoed through the room.
He didn’t sound angry, exactly, but he definitely sounded irritated, and I could tell that he wouldn’t be able to get on my good side no matter what he did from now on.
I sighed and turned back to Samara, who was still nudging me in the ribs with her elbow like there was no tomorrow.
She shot me an innocent look and then held up her datapad, showing me a message that was displayed on the screen in front of her.
I opened my mouth to tell her to knock it off, but she cut me off before I could say a word, her eyes wide and pleading as she looked up at me from behind the screen of her datapad.
“Please just let me do this,” she whispered, her voice trembling with excitement as she spoke.
“It’s really important.”
I shot her a furious glare and shook my head in disbelief before finally losing my temper once and for all.
“This is not the time or the place for this,” I hissed, my eyes fixed on hers in warning as I spoke.
“We are in the middle of a briefing right now, and you are being completely disrespectful to our superior officer.I swear to God, if you don’t put that thing away right now, I will—”
She cut me off by shoving the datapad into my hands and turning back to her work station, a look of pure indignation on her face as she did so.
I shot Lieutenant Commander Kaelen a look of sheer disbelief, knowing full well that he had seen exactly what Samara had been trying to show me on her screen just now, and he cleared his throat awkwardly before shaking his head and carrying on with his debriefing.
“Anyway,” he continued after a long moment, his cheeks a deep shade of red that clashed terribly with his cyan skin.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to report that Captain Gideon has finally given us the green light to proceed with our mission against the Varekai Syndicate.
We have been given our orders to retrieve the stolen technology from their ship in any way that we can, and we will be heading out as soon as we can be ready to leave.
I understand that this mission will be a dangerous one for all of us, but we are all prepared to do whatever is necessary in order to get the job done.”
He paused for a moment to let his words sink in before continuing with his briefing once more.
“We will be splitting up into three teams for this mission: one team for each floor of the ship.
Our intelligence suggests that the stolen goods are currently being stored in cargo bay five on the bottom floor of the ship, but it is paramount that we do not underestimate our enemy.
The Varekai are not to be trifled with under any circumstances.
We may need to fight our way up through all three floors in order to get to where we need to be.
I felt my heart sink in my chest as he said those words, and I shot Samara a worried look from across the room, but she was already looking down at her screen, completely unconcerned about the threat that the Varekai posed or anything like that, and I couldn’t help but wonder what on Aethia we had ever done to deserve such an incredibly reckless little technician on our team, but there was nothing that I could do about it now that wouldn’t risk getting us both kicked off of the team entirely, so I took a deep breath and tried my very best to ignore her and concentrate on my lieutenant commander instead, hoping that he would soon finish his briefing and let us all go so we could finally get back to work and try to make at least some small attempt at getting ourselves ready for what was sure to be the most dangerous and difficult mission that we would ever have to complete.
But Lieutenant Commander Kaelen had other ideas.
“Now, if you will all please report to your respective work stations and prepare yourselves accordingly, then I will return in one hour’s time in order to address any questions or concerns that you may have regarding the mission.”
I shot him an angry glare as he spoke, knowing all too well that he had caught me red-handed trying to sabotage his little presentation in front of the entire crew, and I felt my face heat up in response before shaking my head and breaking eye contact with him, hoping that he would move on and forget about what had just happened as quickly as possible, but he didn’t.
“Except for you,” he continued, his eyes fixed on mine as he spoke.
“You will be reporting to the bridge for a private meeting with me as soon as humanly possible.”
I shot Samara a worried look and started to say something in response, but Lieutenant Commander Kaelen didn’t give me a chance to speak before breaking off and storming out of the room in a fit of rage, his fists clenched at his sides as he went.