The Lost Star Episode One (3 page)

In like manner, she dispatched all 20
pirates without picking up a sweat.

Then the true test manifested.

In a spike of blue light that illuminated
the room like a flare, a chief priestess appeared in the center of
the room, her blue tunic lit up by spikes of power.

The priestess considered Ava for a single
moment, then attacked, pushing forward so quickly she crossed the
room in half a second.

While Ava had used kniv
es and hand-to-hand combat to take down
her other tests, this was different.

She couldn’t win this fight.

The entire point was to see how long she
lasted.

It was less of a test, too. If she was
defeated too easily or – heaven forbid – gave up, she would be
injured.

So she backed off as the priestess rammed
towards her.

The priestess had no weapons. Instead she
brought her hand around and a pulse of energy formed right into a
vibrant blue shaft of light.

It had taken Ava years of training until
she’d been able to form her own sacred sword, but now, as she
staggered back, she formed one with ease. With nothing but a
thought, a purple shaft of light formed right out of her palm.

Just in time.

The priestess flipped, somehow changed
direction in midair, and sliced towards Ava’s face.

Ava grunted as she brought up her sword
and parried the blow. She skidded back a full meter as the
priestess pushed forward with all her might.

Ava looked up into the
priestes
s’ emotionless
gaze.

Then the priestess let go of her sacred
sword and dropped to the side, creating another sword in her other
hand and swiping towards Ava’s head.

Ava had just enough time to shove backwards,
the blade sizzling so close to the side of her face she could see
the arcing hot tip of light.

The priestess thrust forward again, but
this time Ava was ready. She deliberately fell to one knee, rolled,
and kicked out with both her feet, collecting the priestess on the
kneecap.

The woman jolted backwards, and Ava
responded by rolling to the side, vaulting to her feet, and aiming
a kick at the priestess’ back.

The kick landed, but didn’t do much. The
priestess twisted, jerked around an arm, and grabbed Ava’s
ankle.

Ava screamed as the priestess viciously
jerked her leg to the side. Pain exploded up Ava’s leg, eating deep
into her hip.

She tried to jerk out of the priestess’
grip, but couldn’t.

In a split second, the priestess formed
another sword.

Ava formed one of her own and tried to
defend. Just when it looked as if she’d be split in half by the
blistering beam of light, she managed to wriggle her ankle free
from the priestess’ claw-like grip.

She fell to her back just as the
priestess’ sword sliced into the black stone beside her wide open
eyes.

Ava shoved up and retreated.

“You must learn to fight while you are
injured,” the priestess suddenly said.

In the blink of an eye, Ava’s leg broke. It
snapped out from underneath her as if it were nothing more than a
toothpick.

She screamed as she slammed into the ground,
sweaty fingers scrabbling for purchase as she tried to pull her
crippled body up.

The priestess paused. “You must learn to
fight in all conditions.” With that, she thrust forward again.

It felt like every bone in Ava’s leg had
shattered. So much pain filled her awareness it was like the rest
of the world had ceased to exist.

Yet a scrap of awareness remained.

As sweat soaked her brow and her now-messy
hair stuck to her face and neck, she pushed backwards with her good
leg and rolled over her back. She stumbled to her feet, incapable
of putting any weight on her broken leg.

She formed another sword as the priestess
flew towards her.

The priestess brought her blade up high and
struck toward Ava’s face.

Again Ava just managed to parry the blow
in time
. As she did, she
looked right into the priestess’ emotionless stare once
more.

It was cold, direct, uncaring. It was the
kind of stare that belonged to someone who knew exactly what they
had to do and had no qualms about it.

And that there was the part Ava had never
been able to accept.

Though she’d been one of the most
promising priestesses of her time, her skills couldn’t make up for
her emotional deficiencies.

She couldn’t be used as a tool.

Maybe the priestess could somehow tell what
Ava was really thinking, because with a vicious burst of speed, she
cut right through Ava’s sword and sliced her through the chest.

Ava screamed and the test ended.

Her eyes slammed open and she returned to
the real world.

For a few seconds she did nothing as she
pushed away the memories of the test. Finally she rose, shook out
her arms and legs, smoothed an even expression over her face, and
got back to her real life.

Over the past five years she’d learnt to
masterfully compartmentalize her training and responsibility. Daily
training was the one concession she made to her past – the one
price she had to pay for her new freedom.

She let out a deep sigh and walked from
her room. Glancing at the time displayed on her personal wrist
device, she realized she had to hurry.

Soon she would graduate, and then she
would begin work as an ensign aboard the Mandalay.

While most of the other eager graduates
joining that ship and countless others were thrilled at the
prospect of serving their people and exploring the galaxy, all Ava
wanted to do was keep her head down.

She w
ouldn’t get that opportunity.

…

Captain Harvey
McClane

Captain
McClane sat in his private office aboard the newly
commissioned Mandalay. She was a beautiful ship, top of the line,
with every bell and whistle the Coalition had come up with in the
past few tumultuous years.

She was armed to the teeth, massive, and as
fast as they came.

And she was all his.

For now, at least. His commission wouldn’t
last. He knew he was here just to put the Mandalay through its
paces in its first mission out of space dock. He was here to iron
out the inevitable creases, shape the crew up, and get this ship
running at optimum before she was handed to another
commander.

Captain
McClane had a habit of finding problems on ships,
and in crew too. He had a well-deserved reputation for making
things work.

He liked to handpick every member of his
team and obsess over every detail.

And that’s why he now frowned as he stared
at the hologram hovering an inch above his desk.

Ensign Ava
.

She wasn’t top of her class. Her academic
grades were fine, but her physical grades were abysmal.

She was definitely not the kind of ensign
he’d pick for this ship’s first mission out of space dock.

And yet she’d be coming aboard anyway. He
wouldn’t get a say in this.

Ava had been assigned by the higher ups.

For what reason? Why would the Academy’s
top brass possibly want a middling ensign on the
Mandalay?

Diplomatic concession.

The government of her world had
specifically asked for her to
be assigned. And by asked, they’d probably demanded.

She was Avixan, and the Avixans were about
as subtle as a blow upside your head.

Captain
McClane pushed his crooked fingers into his
creased brow as he tried to make sense of this.

Why the hell would the Avixans want Ensign
Ava on board? She was low-powered, pretty ordinary even by human
standards. Even though Avixan society was a mystery to most in the
Coalition, he’d learnt enough to know most Avixans had incredible
powers of strength and speed. Some didn’t.

Ava was one of those – she’d barely scraped
past minimal combat training. She was slow, physically weak, and
became easily tired.

If he’d been in charge of the Academy, he
would have cut her from the draft in her first year.

And, heck, knowing Commander Sharpe, maybe
he’d tried. But maybe he’d come up with the same problem Harvey now
had. Diplomatic Concessions.

The Avixans were an extremely important
new asset for the Coalition. For most of the Coalition’s existence,
the Avixans had largely kept to themselves. Now, with the ever
growing tensions in the Milky Way, the Coalition had convinced the
Avixans to join forces. Not only did the Avixans have a wealth of
resources, but some of their people were the greatest warriors in
the Milky Way.

So when the Avixans wanted something, the
Coalition gave it. Making the odd diplomatic concession here and
there was worth it if the Avixans stayed with the
Coalition.

As such, Harvey knew there was no way he was
going to fight this.

That didn’t stop the burning curiosity.

A curiosity he knew would never be
satiated. The higher ups weren’t going to tell him why Ensign Ava
of all people had been assigned, essentially by her own government,
to the Mandalay.

Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t keep
an eye on her. All diplomatic concessions aside, if she proved to
be a spanner in his finely tuned machine, she’d be out on her
ear.

...

Lieutenant Hunter
McClane

He stood in the middle of the room trying
not to look too ecstatic. "Are you serious? You've been stationed
aboard the Mandalay?"

Meva sashayed across the carpet, a seductive
smile pressed over her perfect lips. She didn't come to a stop
until she stood in front of him. She looked right up into his eyes
as she hooked her arms around his neck. "Yes," she finally
said.

He let out a whoop of a laugh as he wrapped
his arms around her middle. "I can't believe our luck."

"Luck?" she smiled around her words, and
goddamn if it didn't send the same tingles racing through his gut
that he'd experienced when he'd first met her. "This doesn't have
anything to do with luck," she purred.

When Meva had first joined the academy two
years his junior, she'd been an instant sensation. A member of the
Avixan race, she looked humanoid, save for her vibrant, luminescent
eyes and hair, and paler skin.

She was startling from head to toe.

She also had power that rivaled even most
sets of sophisticated armor. She was an incredible security
officer, and though she’d only been out of the Academy two years
now, she’d already climbed the ranks to
lieutenant.

She kept her arms locked around his neck
as she stared up at him, her lips parting gently and curling
into
a hands-down
fantastic smile.

It made him giddy just to see
it
.

“How did you get assigned?” He unhooked an
arm from around her back and brushed away a few strands of her
luminescent hair.

She looked as if she’d keep playing with
him – possibly for his whole life – then she caved with a seriously
pleasant laugh. “Shera.”

For a second confusion crumpled his brow.
“Ha?”

“
She requested my presence aboard the
Mandalay, and you know she has the ear of your big
brother.”

Hunter
let out an uncomfortable laugh. “Technically a captain’s
decision on recruiting shouldn’t be influenced by junior
officers.”

“
Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell anyone
but you,” she purred. “Plus, it doesn’t matter how it happened. All
that matters is that you, Lieutenant Hunter McClane, and me,” she
said in a soft sultry voice as she pressed her forehead against
his, “Are going to be on the same ship.”

He didn’t need any more encouragement to
kiss her.

Hunter
’s life hadn’t always been easy. He’d always fallen into
his brother’s shadow.

Harvey McClane was an exception leader, a
renowned soldier, and had climbed the ranks to captain quicker than
anyone in years.

Hunter
was a good leader, a good soldier, and a competent career
man.

But he wasn’t as good as his brother. He
wasn’t as smart, as strong, or as capable. Maybe Hunter beat his
brother in the looks department, but that was it.

In every other way Harvey would always
outshine him.

So when Harvey had requested Hunter be
assigned to the Mandalay, Hunter had tried to get out of it. He’d
joined the Academy to forge a life away from Harvey, not to come
under the direct command of his brother.

If Hunter did have to endure his brother’s
command, at least having Meva by his side would soften the blow and
distract him.

So he locked a hand on the small of her back
and leaned in as she ran her lips along his jaw.

Her distraction – though intense – wouldn’t
last.

Ava

She stood in line as
Captain McClane surveyed his new
crewmembers.

Everyone stood in the main promenade of Dry
Dock Alpha – the primary ship yard around Earth.

Behind
Captain McClane ran a massive bank of windows that showed
an unrivaled view of the ship docks. They were megalithic, large
enough to house a city on Earth. As she stared past the pacing
captain, she caught sight of the various Coalition ships being
built. Everything from light cruisers to the new super-heavy
cruiser class.