The Mercenary's Dawn Read online

  The Mercenary’s Dawn

  ______________________________

  RENEGADES: BOOK ONE

  L.P. Peace

  © 2020 L.P. Peace

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  [email protected]

  www.lucypeace.com

  Cover by Sam Muraski

  Editing by Ly Publishing

  A Mercenary looking for a future. An ex-slave fleeing from the past. From enemies to lovers, their passion will reshape worlds.

  When Alethia is kidnapped while trying to free slaves, it seems her deepest nightmares are coming true. Her ‘rescue’ by Thanesh, the leader of the Protectorate, a group of hardened mercenaries, is short-lived when the past catches up to the mysterious alien leader, revealing things about both of them which will change their future forever.

  Thanesh and Alethia must now fight side-by-side or face the horrifying consequences.

  Contents

  Glossary of terms

  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

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Chapter 26

  Author Note

  Also by L.P. Peace

  About the Author

  Glossary of terms

  Hour – Hacri

  Minutes – Metri

  Seconds – Scira

  Miles – Madith

  Foot/feet – Fenth

  Inch/inches – Inith/iniths

  Day – Rote

  Month – Cycle

  Year - Solar

  Dammit – Vassek

  Fuck – Vrok

  Fucking – Vrokking

  Shit – Durv

  Shithead – Durev

  Idiot – Vashni

  Scum – Keth

  The platform of Alethia’s ship, Invictus, lowered, allowing her to look out at the terrain of the planet she and her younger brother Dairon were visiting. The midday sun beat down from the clear, pale lemon sky, baking the floor of the spaceport. As far as the eye could see, heat rose from the ground, causing a ripple effect.

  The planet, like the native Tinar, was a harsh, unforgiving place. The air here was arid and acrid with the smell of tarmac and the exhaust of a hundred different ships. The aroma was typical to every spaceport Alethia had visited. Mixed in with that were the unique smells of the planet Esra: sand, earth and clay and beneath that, the pungent fragrance of spices which came from the city. She leaned forward; looking at the mountains that loomed over the city, over the domed houses and shops. The city of Keyal stood over the wall of the spaceport and surrounded them for madith across the basin and extended up the foothills of the red mountains which stood stark against the white sand.

  It was a slave auction day. Esra relied on them to bring aliens to the planet to trade for other goods. As a result, the port was crowded with ships. But because Alethia and Dairon had arrived late, it was almost empty of people.

  Alethia got a sense of excitement but quickly tempered it with caution. The city was a hub for the slave trade. This was the reason they were here today.

  Makios Desares, her oldest and closest friend, stepped into view on the landing pad beneath the shade of her ship with a big grin on his face. It had been a few months since Alethia last saw him. Stepping down from the platform of the ship, she walked over to the hulking Kathen. As soon as she was within range, he pulled her into a rib-crushing hug.

  ‘Hey, little human,’ he whispered close to her ear as he set her down on the ground. Alethia took a step back, looked around and relaxed when she saw they were alone.

  ‘Hey, asshole.’ She smiled up at Makios’s seven feet frame, though the massive black horns that wrapped about his skull like a helmet made him appear much taller.

  Makios’s body shook with laughter. He was huge, not just broad. As an ex-pit fighter, he kept up a rigorous daily routine to maintain his form.

  ‘Is that even a real insult?’

  Alethia shook her head at him and grinned.

  ‘How’ve you been?’ she asked, casting a critical eye over his appearance.

  Makios’s people, Kathen, were a pale-skinned race; however, his skin was tattooed red tribal patterns, one for each side of his family. The only spot on his body spared was a blank patch over his heart, which would be filled when he found his mate. His silver hair shone in the sun. He wore it long, usually in a topknot. However, today it fell loose, flowing behind his horns and ears, tumbling over his shoulder and falling halfway down his chest in waves. His irises were like molten silver with an oval pupil standing out sharply against them. Except for the tattoos and his horns, Makios was, like Alethia, pale on pale.

  Not for the first time, Alethia wondered why it was that there were so few races that were similar to humans, while so many were as big as Makios or even bigger. The universe seemed to favour the big; human-sized races were the outliers.

  The two of them had been comparable in size as children, even though Makios was from a larger race and was four years her senior. Kathen young remained smaller in size until they hit a growth spurt in their mid-teens. Over several months Makios had become enormous, leaving Alethia behind in size if not in maturity.

  ‘You ready to go?’ Makios asked. His eyes were on the entrance of the ship, no doubt waiting for Alethia’s younger brother to show up.

  As though summoned, Dairon appeared in the cargo bay door. He held up Alethia’s hat and smiled down at Makios.

  Alethia and her brother were a study in contrasts. Alethia was born albino; her skin had barely any hint of colour, her hair was pure white. Only her dark blue eyes were spared the curse of her unfortunate genetics. She was scarcely five foot four and on the thin side.

  Dairon, on the other hand, was half-Kuyon. His skin was violet-blue thanks to the mix of his blue Kuyon fathers, hers by adoption and their human mother. His hair was electric blue, which Dairon wore in long dreadlocks. His eyes were black, from his sclera to his pupil. His six-and-a-half-foot, well-built frame strolled down the platform. She could barely believe he was nineteen; he was still growing.

  ‘Can’t have you getting sunburnt.’ He dropped the hat on her head, then turned and embraced Makios. After the death of their parents eleven years ago, Makios had been like an older brother to Dairon.

  ‘Would you guys stop? I’ve got to pretend to be a Protectorate representative today,’ she scoffed, securing the hat on her head. ‘I’m supposed to be all dignified, you know.’ She smiled at the two males. They were her family
.

  ‘I know,’ Dairon grinned at her. ‘We’ll be convincing. Don’t worry.’ Dairon looked out over the docks when his eye caught on something; he quickly looked away.

  Alethia turned. A native of the planet stood by his ship watching them.

  Tinar were even larger than Kathen. Seven and a half feet of barrel-chested muscle was covered in red skin striated in darker red lines. Tinar didn’t wear much, but then they didn’t need to. Their skin was thick enough to be armour. The Tinar had handsome, almost noble features with high cheekbones, long, slender noses and full lips. They believed themselves to be a profoundly honour-bound race. Alethia had a lot of theories about ‘honour bound’ races, the first being, the more they crowed about honour, the less likely they were to be honourable.

  The Tinar walked towards them.

  ‘Incoming,’ Alethia said quietly.

  Dairon closed the ship up, turning to the Tinar as he approached.

  ‘Can we help you?’ Alethia said, not allowing her fear taint her voice.

  The Tinar frowned and looked at Makios, the largest and therefore to him, the leader of the group.

  ‘The human, how much?’

  ‘Tinar, how stupid are you that you think I’m human?’ Alethia was surprised at how arrogant she sounded. He turned towards her, eyes wide, his colour deepening with anger.

  ‘Can you not see I’m a female of the Protectorate? I realise we’re not common, but surely you can tell the difference.’

  The Tinar’s colour drained almost as fast as it had appeared. He took a step back, nodding his head to her in respect.

  ‘My apologies,’ he said, his voice unsure as he looked at her. His mind was seeing both an unusually coloured human and a usually coloured, though small, Protectorate.

  Without another word, the Tinar left. They watched him disappear into his ship.

  ‘And that won’t be the last time that happens today,’ Dairon said, his lips thinned into a grim line. ‘Alethia, are you sure you want to be on this planet? There are others we can go to.’

  Alethia watched the ship as it powered up.

  ‘Yes, but none of them had humans.’ She watched the ship rise into the air. ‘I hope it means Earth’s defences have had an upgrade, but Dairon, human slaves here need us more than most places. If there are any we can save, we should.’ Dairon nodded in reluctant agreement.

  ‘Okay, Representative Alethia, let’s go to the slave market.’

  Alethia led the way across the port.

  ‘How’s the new quick-start Kenian installed on Invictus?’

  ‘It works so well.’ Alethia heard Dairon gush. ‘Used it when we left Tessa.’ From there, chat turned to the engine and the new parts Dairon was looking for to upgrade the speed.

  Tuning them out, Alethia turned her thoughts to the Tinar and her guise. She didn’t often leave Tessa, the planet where she ran a small, secret colony of ex-slaves. It was dangerous out here for shorter races. The Protectorate had pale skin, white hair and pale eyes and horns atop their heads. Over the years, Alethia often used her similarity to them as protection to walk around in the open, free of the usual threat that came with being human.

  The Protectorate was somewhat of a mystery. No one knew what species they were, or had ever seen a female as far as she, or anyone she knew, was aware. No one had any idea where their home planet was, or if they even had one. For Alethia, this secrecy was a godsend because once she claimed to be Protectorate, whether people believed her or not, the possibility was too much of a risk. The Protectorate was known for going to great lengths when one of their own was in danger.

  What little she did know was that they were an independent military force who hired out their services to protect the borders of space for over thirty races. They did this in exchange for payment and a ‘buffer zone’ of space which became theirs under contract. The Protectorate were also mercenaries and were linked to several high profile cases, such as rescuing the sister of the Ilan of Amara when she was kidnapped.

  They were one of the larger races, hovering around the seven-foot mark. There were races for whom size disparity between genders was typical. Sehn males were much larger than their human-sized females. Potuun females towered over their males. Most were familiar enough with the more common races that few questioned Alethia on her size. Still, humans were rare on the slave market and there were often aliens making offers on her when she was out in public on alien worlds. It made her grateful that Makios and Dairon, her best friend and brother, were as committed to her cause as she was.

  ‘Do you see the Aavani?’ Dairon whispered.

  Alethia looked up to the platform and searched for their tell-tale gold skin. They had arrived at the auction late and were struggling to fight the crush of buyers around them. Usually, Alethia liked to enter before the actual bidding had begun and use her fortunate resemblance to the Protectorate to buy slaves before they ever came to the block.

  She pulled her hat down her face. The sun was intolerable for her, burning through the thick-weave homespun fabric of her clothes. She wouldn’t be able to be out here for much longer.

  The slave market stood on one corner of a vast market space which was placed in the consumer district. They had to walk through the entire shopping district before reaching the bazaar. Makios and Dairon were standing either side of her, shielding her from view. Makios was leaning against a post which made up part of a stall selling homemade pots which were mostly decorated in reds and oranges. They were beautifully made and Alethia made a note to come back before they left Esra; she had no idea when they might return. They were standing back from the stage by a good thirty feet and surrounded by a press of aliens. She was the smallest person in the crowd and struggled to see past the massive aliens surrounding her. Behind them, the rest of the market went on uninterrupted as hundreds of aliens pushed past each other to view the exotic foods, jewellery and clothes being sold.

  ‘Where?’ she shouted over the calls of market holders and haggling of customers. She couldn’t see the Aavani through the crowd.

  Something knocked against her feet. Alethia looked down to find a red, wooden crate standing bottom up. She looked at Makios who winked at her. Grinning, she got onto the crate, which thankfully could bear her weight and took another look at the stage.

  ‘Where?’ she yelled again.

  ‘There.’ A violet-blue hand appeared and drew her gaze down the line of slaves until a golden-skinned Aavani female came into view. She had the long golden-blond hair and, from what Alethia could make out at this distance, the golden eyes that were preferred of her species. She was standing in the queue waiting for her turn on the slaver's block. Chains connected her to the slaves at either side of her. Like the others, she had little clothing to protect her against the sun and her skin was turning burnt gold.

  ‘Do you see any humans at all?’ she asked, swatting at an insect that buzzed around her face.

  ‘No, Alethia,’ his voice was full of regret. ‘There are no humans here today.’

  ‘Okay.’ Ignoring the hope that the Earth was safe, Alethia looked along the line of slaves. ‘So, Aavani, anyone else?’

  Despite wanting to buy every slave, they had only so much money. They had a small Amot mine that allowed them enough of an income to make a steady purchase of slaves, buy supplies and take care of the colony. But credits were tight and they needed credits for other supplies, so Alethia concentrated on the five slave races: Human, Aavani, Mvari, Zavi and Ualha.

  ‘I see an Mvari female over there.’ Makios pointed farther down the line of slaves, towards the edge of the stage. Alethia tried to find a space to see through the packed yard, but it wasn’t until the queue of slaves moved that the green and purple-skinned Mvari female stepped into view. Alethia hissed. The skin on her chest was branded with the slave markings of the Ledaan. Dairon placed his hand on her mid-back briefly then quickly removed it before anyone could see.

  ‘Come on. Let’s get them,’ she said. Makios st
epped in front of her, and Dairon took the rear. Together, they pushed their way through the assembled crowd, towards the auctioneer.

  Though many of the stalls around them had large awnings to protect against the glaring sun, no one cared if the races with the soft, vulnerable skin were damaged or hurt.

  They broke through the crowd and walked towards the cages where yet more slaves waited to be sold. Alethia scanned them, seeing if there were any other individuals they could buy. They all seemed huge, muscled and frightening. If she brought a slave like them back to her colony, they would be a threat to her people. Alethia didn’t agree with anyone being a slave, but she had to protect her settlement.

  A light purple-skinned Teyas male with short dark brown hair turned to face them as they approached. His grey lips grimaced, his cold-black eyes looked from Makios and Dairon flanking Alethia, to Alethia herself.

  Alethia smoothed a hand over the diagonal seam of her Protectorate inspired dress, noting the green sheen she’d recently managed to fix into the fabric, emulating the shine of the Protectorate’s uniform. She set a formal smile to her face as she approached and the Teyas acknowledged her with a nod.

  ‘What can I do for the Protectorate this rote?’ He twisted his lips into a smile which reached nowhere near his eyes.

  ‘The Aavani and the Mvari.’ Alethia pointed.

  ‘They’re half of my profit margin,’ he said, his smile disappearing.