Celestial Beauty

Evernight Publishing ®

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright©
2015 Angela Castle

 
ISBN: 978-1-77233-529-3

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor: Karyn White

ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
copyrighted work is illegal.
 
No part of
this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written
permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are
fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

CELESTIAL
BEAUTY

Quads of Galafrax, 4

Angela
Castle

Copyright ©
2015

Chapter One

“
Damn, fucking Ice Demons, not again!” Loc gripped the
railing, vaulting over the edge, dropping four feet and landing with a thump on
the engine room floor.

Despite the wail of the engine warning siren, the
pounding of his brother’s heavy footfalls added to the vibrations of their old
shaking ship.

Snatching the grappling spanner he kept near the main
engine core, he winced as the engine chugged and sputtered. The tremors grew
worse by the second, threatening to break the ship apart.

“
Loc!” The bellow of Zeb, his older brother, did
nothing to calm the pounding of Loc’s heart as he dropped down onto the floor,
using his boots to slide himself between the panels of the main power core. He
attached the spanner to the manual inlet valve and pulled, using all his
strength. His muscles burned as he slowly closed the valve, just enough to make
the shuddering stop.

“
What is it this time?” Zeb demanded. That was the
problem. Time and time again something went wrong, and it was starting to cost
more in repairs than the damn ship was worth.

A frustrated growl vibrated from Loc’s chest at the
same time the warning sirens stopped, leaving a ringing in his ears.

A kick at his boot alerted him to Zeb still standing
over him, waiting for Loc’s answer, he huffed a temporary relieved breath.

“
Apart from needing a whole new damn ship?” Loc’s voice
was half muffled by the still humming engines.

“
What in the Ice Plains is going on down there?” Kue’s
voice sounded hollow through the ships speaker system. “Every panel on the
bridge has lit up like a
Barrinan
fire
storm.”

“
Tell him to give the main panel a thump with his
fist.” Loc wormed himself out from between the old worn metal. He glanced up at
Zeb, his face downturned in one of his typical scowls. Raz shrugged and offered
his hand, helping Loc to his feet. “But not too hard, the vibrations of the
Reisin
coupling are worn and has no
doubt shaken every damn circuit out of calibration. I’m going to have to reline
everything.”

“
I heard you.” A thump followed by Kue’s curse filled
the speakers. Clearly he’d hit the panel harder than Loc’s instructions.

“
It’s not the only thing the ship shook up.” Raz
pointed to the wet mess down his shirt. “This ship, which is older than our
planet, made me spill my drink.”

Loc rolled his eyes, turning back to Zeb, focusing on
what he needed to do. “We need to set down somewhere and shut the whole ship
down to repair this. And we need a new
Reisin
coupling or we’ll just be impulse drifting.”

Zeb rubbed his creased brow. “We’re right on the edge
of the
Hellious Galaxy
, the nearest
space port is several Galafraxian days from our location. And we’ve only filled
a third of our hold.”

“
And if we don’t get that coupling, it’ll take three
Galafraxian years to get home, not the usual few weeks at high speed,” Loc
pointed out.

If possible, Zeb’s scowl grew worse. Salvaging was a
highly competitive business, and they’d ventured all the way out here on more
rumour than fact. There were quite a few old wrecked ships others deemed too
dangerous to salvage.

Since retirement, it seemed they ran more towards
danger than they had during their soldier day
s.

The Nova brothers laughed in the face of danger.
Highly trained and deadly, they’d served in the Demos military for a long time
as specialists, doing the harder, more dangerous and often secret jobs of the
High Lords of Galafrax and the Galafraxian government.

They were tired of taking orders, not only from the
military, but from family trying to push them back into another home unit. In
defiance, they had purchased an old cargo ship and retired to go into the ship
salvaging business.

 
“
You have
any of the sensors working, Kue? We need to know if there is there any place
nearby we can set down to do repairs.” Zeb lifted his head as he talked to the
com system, bringing Loc out of his reprieve.

“
Yup, already searching for the nearest … hmm … got
something. It’s one parsec from our current location and is un-classified on
our systems, as it’s officially just out of the
Hellious
Galaxy
. From the readings it has a breathable atmosphere,
gravity only slightly denser. Water, vegetation, and some scattered life signs,
but they’re spread, so no doubt wildlife. Oh, one moment, I’m picking up a
small ping.”

“
Party planet then,” said Raz. He’d found one of Loc’s
rags and was attempting to clean the mess from his top. “Does that mean we also
get a holiday?”

Loc chuckled. “Hardly, brother, there’s at least a
week’s worth of repairs here. All hands on deck for this.”

Zeb sighed, ignoring Raz. “It’ll have to do. Set
course, Kue.”

Loc hid his smile as Kue snorted into the com.

“
Right, navigation is offline, I’m going to have to fly
her in manually.”

“
Just get us there,” Zeb growled.

A second snort was heard over the com. The ship
creaked as thrusters fired and it started to turn. “I could land this heap of
junk on top of the Qui-Palace if I wanted to.”

No one really doubted Kue’s piloting skills. There was
no one better, and he’d flown nearly every type of ship, from even
non-Galafraxian ones. He had gotten them out of some deadly, life threatening
situations.

Loc set the spanner back on its wall mount. “We better
go secure the cargo and everything. Without the
Reisin
working at full capacity, it’s going to be a rough landing,
even with Kue at the helm.”

****

A short time later, they’d just finished compressing
down what scraps they’d salvaged and done a walk through the old freighter. Zeb
stretched his back noticing the slight creaking along his spine, making his
brow dip in a frown. Damn, he needed to get back into some serious training.
Two years away from the Demos military working as a ship salvager had softened
him.

“
You’re getting old, brother. You need a nap?” Raz
needled him as Zeb took his place in the command chair and glared at Raz.

From the corner of his vision Zeb saw Kue shake his
head, but his fingers remained on the controls, working them with grace and
ease.

Annoyance rubbed Zeb, and he stamped down the urge to
pound his smug face.

“
And you need to go for a spacewalk without a suit. I
can still best you in a fight any day.”

In their fifteen year career, not only did they fight
their enemies but they had been battling each other. Their skill levels
matched, both equal in precision and deadly accuracy.
 
Ever since they first entered the Demos
military academy, they’d been trying to gain the upper hand on the other. No
one really won their small battles, but no one lost either, each only coming
out winded, sore, and more determined.

“
I think the Ice Plains of Galafrax just melted. The
mighty commander made an attempt at humour.”

“
Don’t push it, Raz,” Zeb growled.

“
Hardly an attempt,” Kue spoke up.

Raz grinned, lifting his identical eyebrow
challengingly at Zeb, but he wasn’t biting this time. The bridge door slid
open, admitting Loc. Their youngest brother’s face was smudged with sweat and
engine filth, and he wiped his face and hands before stopping in front of Zeb’s
command chair. He shoved the rag back into his pocket with a shake of his head.
“How far are we from landing? I can’t close the valve down any further or we’ll
completely lose engine power.”

“
Ten minutes, entering atmosphere of this planet in
sixty seconds.
 
From what I’ve been able
to decipher with the scanners still not functioning at full capacity, I’ve
determined the best landing spot, based on water, flat land, and current
vegetation.” Kue’s eyes remained on the screen in front of him. “I’ve also been
getting faint readings of an
Isocore
,
which could mean…”

“
A ship wreckage,” Zeb and Raz said in unison.
Isocore
was the refined mineral that
powered more than eighty-nine percent of the ships across the
Hellious
Galaxy
, easily
detectable.

“
This is good news. Can you land near those readings?
It would be good to head back home with a full hold, this time.”

Loc nodded. “And make the repair time worthwhile.”

“
Crashed ship factored in, it’s not too far from my
original planned landing site.”

The big green-white swirling planet grew closer on the
screen. “Strap down, brothers. We’re about to hit the atmosphere.”

Each brother took their seats on the bridge, pulling the
straps tight, just as the heat of the atmosphere entry began to shake their
ship. Zeb pulled on his own straps and waited, confident in his brother’s skill
to land them safely.

****

Smoke filled Celeste’s lungs, making them burn and her
cough violently. Heat, such terrible heat all around her. She screamed, but no
sound came but the terrible roaring, her throat painfully raw. Lifeless
bloodied bodies were strewn around her feet.

 
No, no, no!
What have I done? I’ve murdered
them all!

Celeste screamed, bolting upright, her body shaking as
sheen of sweat covered her skin. She blinked several times, trying to draw in
much needed air. Her limbs were sluggish, and her chest heaved as awareness
filtered back into her mind, to where she was.

Another nightmare, ever since crawling from the
wreckage, of her
captors
ship, discovering only she
had survived.

The crash.

My fault
.

A renewed wave of guilt swamped her, making her
stomach churn.

Why me?

Her mind wandered again back over the moment she’d
blinked awake, nestled against the engine. She vaguely remembered being thrown
against the humming, luminous, part of the ship, before blacking out. The area
around the engine must have been the strongest part to cradle her and stand
against the impact of the crash. She’d soon discovered the results of her anger
and despair as she crawled out over the broken bodies of her captors and fellow
captives, finding herself stranded on this bleak, green alien planet.

She sucked in a lungful of muggy alien air, bringing
her back to the present. It was time to start another day, of fighting just to
survive. She was so tired, tired of fighting, tired of being strong. How much
longer could she go on like this before surrendering to the inevitable? Opening
her eyes she glanced around her little cave, the one refuge she’d found out of
the itchy swamp. Neat piles of things she’d dragged from the wreckage day by
day lined the walls.

Slowly, her heart calmed. She swallowed and reached
for the water container taking a drink to soothe her parched throat.

Boom!
Celeste jerked, spilling the water down her front at
the thunderous sound. The fright flooded her body making her heart pound and
her limbs shake once again as if reliving the nightmare. She pushed off her
makeshift bedding and scrambled forward on her hands and knees to the entrance
of her cave.

What is it? What
is going on?
She rubbed the sleep from her
eyes, peering out over the greenish-orangey swamp land from her perch, higher
up, in a slight mountain range. It was early dusk, the early alien sunlight
still casting shadows over the lower lands.

She peered up, as the unmistakable roar grew of an
engine pierced the peaceful chatters of the early morning residence, of native
creatures.
Whoa.
It was hard to miss
the ship, bigger than a twenty story building, even if it was sideways, more
rounded and glowing orange yellow as it clashed with the planet’s atmosphere.

Slithers of fear ran through Celeste’s body. This new
fear outweighed the one of living out the rest of her life on this alien planet.
Since finding the cave, each day she had placed marks on the walls, showing the
passage of time thus far. She had survive
d
t
hree weeks of marshy swamps, rocky mountain ranges,
and odd plants. The mud from the swamp made her itch. Insects buzzed around her
without fear.
 
Other things on this
planet included mammal type creatures, some the size of a small dog, others, as
tall as a giraffe, but blue with long dangly tentacles, moving like a slow
tripod, using little suckers to take off leaves from the tops of the alien
tress. Then there were the deadly dinosaur-like creatures, who had tried to
have her for an exotic snack when she’d gone on a long wonder around the area.