Rise the Renegade (Rork Sollix Book 1) (30 page)
“That said,” Eldridge continued, “we happen to have your MORF-9 stored safely in the landing bay. It is operational.” He put the document reader in his back pocket and pulled a set of keys from somewhere else.
Lala stood up and ran to the door. “Wait. You’re the ship’s captain, right? Can you marry us?”
“I
DO
!”
“And do you, Rork—”
“Captain.”
Captain Eldridge grimaced. “And do you, Captain Rork Sollix, take Lala to be your lawfully wedded wife, to esteem her, to honor, hold, and protect her, healthy and sick, and to forsake all other women, and to cling to her so long as your life and hers will endure?”
For as long as my life will endure? That could be awhile.
A sudden heat flushed his face. Chilled sweat rolled down his back and he shivered. He looked left. Lala’s smile fell and she made big eyes at him.
He looked right. Zero arched an eyebrow. On the mystic’s shoulder, Buff geeped impatiently.
Rork cleared his throat.
What if she starts to hate me? What if she gets fat? What if she thinks I’m—
Lala and Zero cleared their throats simultaneously.
He looked at his bride again. So thin, so delicate. Her taut eyes smiled up at him, her head dancing. A nervous vulnerability dwelled behind those eyes, one he refused to ever trigger again. She punched him in the shoulder.
Rork laughed. “I do!”
“Then,” Eldridge intoned, “by the power vested in me as Captain of the ESS
Moskva
, I pronounce you husband and wife.” Eldridge nodded at Rork, a reproving smile struggling to escape from behind his official demeanor.
Lala grabbed her husband, threw herself into his arms and plugged her lips into his.
Cheers rose all around them from the seven-hundred and eighty-six members of the crew. The men clapped. The women screamed and cried.
Lala released his mouth. “I want to have a baby.”
“Oh Jupiter, help me now!”
QUICK END TO WAR IMPOSSIBLE NOW: PATEL. SOLLIX ESCAPES AGAIN
By LeVar Johannson
BRUSSELS (FP) — The hot war between the Commercial Cartel and the Earth Government will continue indefinitely, Speaker Patel announced at a last-minute press conference late this evening.
“Calm vigilance from the citizenry and preparedness on the part of the military is what’s required right now,” Patel added at a ceremony honoring the survivors of the Europa Encounter.
“I will prosecute this war to the best of my abilities with all of the resources Speaker Patel and the Global Congress make available to me,” said Platinum Lemniscate recipient Admiral Maddox Eldridge. Eldridge was promoted to Supreme Commander of the now hobbled EDF after the ceremony.
Although Earth forces under Eldridge’s command ultimately prevailed against the Cartel in the brutal Europa Encounter, the EDF was decimated by the loss of 7,437 sailors and soldiers and the bulk of its fleet.
Highly-placed sources inside the Patel administration say the Cartel has superior weaponry but many fewer ships than the EDF. The ability of the Earth Government to prevail will ultimately depend on the cash-strapped Congress’ willingness to allocate funds to replace the ships lost in the Europa Encounter.
As war looms across the Solar System, authorities still can't agree on why exactly it’s happening.
There is widespread consensus that the independently owned trainship
Achilles
crashed into Luna City last week, a fusion bomb onboard.
Twenty million Lunans are confirmed dead or missing. The city itself lays in ruins, its magnetic shield compromised. The evacuation of Luna City continues, with atmospheric production unable to keep pace with losses to space.
Cartel leader Gamil Barbary remains at-large, promising vengeance on the Earth.
“We will defend our interests through large encounters, targeted attacks on civilian populations and assassinations of Earth leaders. Whatever it takes!” a spokesman for Barbary told NBX News in a recent interview.
The settlements are split, with most mining colonies taking this chance to rebel against the Cartel, while others, primarily llama farming settlements, reportedly volunteering in great numbers for the Cartel Legion.
But with rumors of the Cartel building a robot army, those enlistees may be superfluous.
The great wildcard is the surprise alliance of independent trader Hercules Haddad and legendary lawman Elfego Zapata. The pair have combined their considerable resources and connections to restore “order and freedom” throughout the system, they say.
Observers are carefully cautious that this pairing of two unique and well-respected indie leaders could provide a boost for the EDF. But Haddad and Zapata insist they are unaligned and seek only to defend civilian settlements, both in space and on the oceans.
In other news, the controversial pirate Rork Sollix reportedly escaped from EDF custody. Authorities have no leads on his current whereabouts but Sollix remains number two on the EDF’s Most Wanted List, after Gamil Barbary but one spot ahead of Guru Dr. Zero Malik.
Sollix’s position on WomynFeed’s Most Eligible Bachelor’s list is also falling with reports of his marriage to former bound servant Lala Fevari, a development that has led to protests across the planet.
The protestors — mostly women and gay men — are asking for the annulment of the marriage on the grounds that Fevari is underage and acting under duress. But counter-protestors have alleged that the protestors are only jealous and that Sollix and Fevari should be left alone to enjoy their lives.
That prospect seems increasingly unlikely as the Cartel, EDF and Haddad-Zapata Indie Alliance are all offering record bounties for Sollix’s capture — dead or alive.
Pulse here
for further breaking news on the Rork Sollix situation.
WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
GET THE SECOND BOOK IN THE RORK SOLLIX SERIES FOR FREE!
If you liked
Rise the Renegade
, you’ll LOVE
Rage the Renegade
, the second book in the Rork Sollix series.
CLICK THE LINK AND CLAIM YOUR BOOK, FREE.
Thank you for reading!
George Donnelly
DID YOU LIKE THIS BOOK?
I NEED YOU…
Without reviews, indie books like this can’t find their audience.
Leaving a review will only take a minute — it doesn’t have to be long or involved, just a sentence or two that tells people what you liked about
Rise the Renegade
, to help other readers know why they might like it, too, and to help me write more of what you love.
The truth is, VERY FEW readers leave reviews.
Be the exception. Help me find my audience.
Thanks in advance, George
About the Author
Former altar boy turned truancy fugitive,
George Donnelly
is an expat vagabond who prefers zombies to aliens but is primed for any meatspace apocalypse minus grey goo.
George discovered science fiction on July 4, 1980 at the Free Library of Philadelphia, Welsh Road Branch, when his dad got him an adult library card. Now a single dad with one son and two rescued cats, he's currently working on the next books in the Rork Sollix series.
EMAIL:
[email protected]
WEBSITE:
GeorgeDonnelly.com
FACEBOOK:
AuthorGeorgeDonnelly
TWITTER:
@GeorgeDonnelly
Also by George Donnelly
The forthcoming sequel to
Rise the Renegade.
Claim your free copy. Out in stores April 4.
A post-apocalyptic global warming novel free on WattPad.
Robot cyberpunk with a sense of humor.
The dystopian story of a voluntary republic gone wrong.