The Prisoner's Deception (Renegades Book 4) Read online

  The Prisoner’s Deception

  RENEGADES: BOOK FOUR

  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

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Blurb

  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

  Epilogue

  Universal Menagerie

  Author note

  Also by L. P. Peace

  Reading order

  About the Author

  A criminal looking for a quick payday. An officer trying to survive her cruel master. They must work together to change their fates.

  When Tara is sent to the prison moon of Vadan and abandoned on the surface with no supplies and no plan, all she can think about is putting distance between her and the moons criminal inhabitants. When she stumbles into the irrepressibly flirtatious Danithor, he promises her a way off the planet; all she has to do is trust an alien, one she can see is keeping things from her.

  When Danithor finds an attractive human female days before he's rescued from Vadan, he sees an opportunity for a payday that could make up for terrible wrongs he committed against his family six solars ago. But Tara evokes things in him he's never felt, and awakened ancient instincts he didn't know existed.

  Can Danithor admit the truth before he makes a terrible mistake?

  And can he save Tara from the cruel Hinari tracking her every step?

  Glossary of terms

  STANDARD IGC MEASUREMENTS

  Hacri - Hour

  Metri - Minutes

  Scira - Seconds

  Madith - Miles

  Fenth - Foot/feet

  Inith/iniths - Inch/inches

  Rote - Day

  Cycle – month

  Solar - Year

  COMMON AMARAN INSULTS

  Vrok - Fuck

  Vrokking - Fucking

  Durv - Shit

  Durev - Shithead

  Vashni - Idiot

  Keth - Scum

  HUAN WORDS

  Vassek – Dammit

  Colri – father

  Ama – mother

  Za’colri – grandfather

  Za’ama – grandmother

  Dishye – A sombre and thoughtful event that takes place in the days surrounding the new year.

  Itzerious – equivalent to the Christian ‘Amen’

  SURILAN INSULTS

  Govrash dukat - Stuck up, egotisical idiot

  Tashi – bullshit

  Voudok tak - No exact translation. Contextual insult. Can be a familiar term between friends, or an egregious insult against someone you don’t like.

  Shoutout to all my Renegades. Thank you for being there, for joining the group, for being the absolute best!

  Captain Rebekah Durrani stood with her back to the room. She was facing the viewscreen, which was inset in the walls of Endurance to give the impression of windows. Outside, in the vacuum of space, the stars sheared by, creating a kaleidoscope of light that seemed to brush the side of the ship as it rushed to its destination. It was a stunning sight, one Tara had thought she’d never see in her lifetime, but here she was, amidst the stars, recruited by the same woman who currently faced away from her, her body radiating command, disappointment and anger in equal parts.

  Rebekah was highly thought of in the Intersystem Armed Forces, and Tara had known her forever. They grew up on Sentinel 4 together, and as such, there was very little they didn’t know about one another. Rebekah used to be Tara’s babysitter, which said a lot about her character as far as Tara was concerned. Her father, as the station's head, would never leave his only child with just anyone.

  Across the table, Commander Marcus Davenport gave Tara an encouraging smile. Marcus was a genuinely nice guy, they were few and far between when a guy was as attractive as Marcus, at least in Tara’s experience. She swallowed; Davenport was gorgeous; chiselled features, warm eyes, kind and intelligent. He was precisely the kind of guy she’d like to settle down with someday; he was also the kind of guy who never looked at her twice. Tara smiled back, though it must have come off more as a grimace.

  Lieutenant Commander Danielle Abrami leaned against a wall on the other side of the room. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and her face was contorted in anger as she glared at Tara.

  First Officer Abrami was a conundrum to Tara. She was a damn good officer, a good leader when she wanted to be, but she hated other women. Tara couldn’t figure out what her deal was, and she was usually pretty good at figuring people out.

  Tara met Danielle’s glare. Nothing. She couldn’t pin her. Usually, she could look at a person and figure them out after a few sentences, a conversation. She’d been serving with Danielle for almost two years, and she still couldn’t figure her out.

  There was damage there, she reckoned. If she could classify her, maybe she wouldn’t be in this mess at the moment. Not that it was too bad. Rebekah got the issue; it was just that Tara had so blatantly gone about this the wrong way. Still, she couldn’t regret it. She maintained that giving the Halidan access to their navigation was a mistake, and she’d found evidence to back it up. There was something in the nav computer eating away at data; she just couldn’t figure out what data it was attacking.

  The head of navigation, Lieutenant Kessler, championed the Halidan and their access. He argued that as the Halidan knew the space better than the crew of Endurance, that getting updates on the regular from them would be beneficial. They claimed they got several years’ worth of extra use out of the radiant energy source owing to the minute changes they made to their course, dozens per day. But manually updating to Endurance would be too complicated. Abrami took up Kessler’s cause, and when Tara found the issues, she brought it to Abrami’s attention. Abrami insisted she write a report, then when Tara handed it in, she rejected it and insisted she rewrite it. By the third time, Tara had enough and so she submitted it again, this time to the entire chain of command.

  To say Abrami was pissed was an understatement.

  Rebekah took in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Let’s review.’ Rebekah turned around and walked to the conference table, which was situated in a room directly below the bridge. ‘The Halidan are changing our c
ourse in tiny increments, something we expected because of the updates. But you say they’re also…’ Rebekah sat down next to Marcus. She raised her eyes at Abrami. Abrami clenched her jaw and took the seat next to Rebekah. ‘The updates are also eating data?’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Tara said, knowing she had only been asked to confirm her findings. She may have known Rebekah her entire life, but that didn’t mean she got special treatment. If anything, Rebekah expected more from Tara than some of the other officers. Growing up on a sentinel station, one of the defensive stations in the Sol system, meant a life of regimentation, even for the children. The schools were military, the breaks were regular. Meals were always served in the many messes housing the thousands of crew and their families. Tara was an armed forces brat. More, she’d been in the armed forces since the moment she was born. To her mind, the academy was a formality.

  Rebekah sat back, a thoughtful look on her face.

  ‘It’s only to be expected,’ Abrami said. ‘They’re sending unfathomable amounts of data every time. If they didn’t delete it from our systems, it would clog the damn thing up.’

  ‘That makes a certain amount of sense,’ Rebekah said. ‘But did they inform us this was happening, or are you speculating?’

  ‘Educated speculation, sir.’

  Rebekah let out another breath. Tara tensed. There was a rhythm to the things Rebekah did. She may look indecisive to some at this moment, but each breath was a decision she had come to. She was nearing the end, and Tara would find out how much trouble she was in.

  ‘Okay. Danielle, Marcus, if you would leave me with Lieutenant Hannigan.’

  Marcus stood almost immediately, giving Tara a wink that caused her stomach to turn. She hated pretty men, they always did this to her. Around anyone else, she was a competent, sensible officer, but pretty men always circumvented something in her. It was enraging! Still, she smiled back. It wasn’t Marcus’s fault her ovaries were morons.

  Danielle took a few moments. ‘Rebekah—’

  ‘I’ll talk to you shortly, Danielle.’ Rebekah looked at her. ‘I want to know how the first report didn’t make it to my desk,’ she said.

  Tara almost breathed a sigh of relief. She was still in trouble, the hard glint in the captain’s eyes told her that, but so was Danielle, which meant Rebekah’s ire towards Tara would be tempered.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Danielle said, before standing up. Marcus waited for her, an empathetic look on his face. The doors swished, and both of them were gone.

  Tara turned back to face Rebekah.

  There were over 8,000 sentinel stations. Most of them were unstaffed, automated. But the main ones, the control ones, like the one Tara grew up on, were essentially cities in space. Tara’s father, Captain Justin Hannigan, was the commander of Sentinel 4, and Rebekah was the daughter of one of his executive officers. They’d grown up in the same area of the station, attending all the same functions. Eating in the same mess. Rebekah had been responsible, competent and inclusive for as long as Tara could remember. Her rise to captain had been a steep trajectory. She’d passed every exam the first time. Had the highest recommendations from some of the top officers in ISAF, including Tara’s own father. As soon as Earth announced the alliance with the Tessans, as soon as they told the system about the plan, there had been no doubt in Tara’s mind who would captain this ship. Rebekah was simply the best person for the job.

  Rebekah leaned across the table and smiled. ‘Do you remember that time I was babysitting for you and I took you to the rec room and the pool was closed and you were so upset, I broke in?’

  Tara laughed. ‘Do I remember being responsible for your one and only transgression in the history of your life?’ Tara nodded. ‘Of course I do.’

  Rebekah’s smile widened. ‘We were there, how long, before we were caught?’

  ‘Erm, a while. I remember I didn’t want to get in the water because it was so cold, because it wasn’t being heated, and it took you ages to convince me to jump in. When I finally did, I broke the water and three guards were standing there.’

  Rebekah laughed. ‘I forgot about that.’ She let out another sigh.

  This wasn’t reminiscing between friends. Rebekah had a point. She usually did.

  ‘I remember when your dad came down and the way he looked at me. Angry and disappointed.’ Rebekah grimaced. ‘That killed me. I love your dad. Disappointment is the worst. Disappointing someone you love, the absolute worst.’

  Tara swallowed. ‘I know,’ she said, meaning it. She had felt it radiating from Rebekah since the start of the meeting, she knew.

  Rebekah’s hazel eyes searched Tara’s. When she was satisfied, she nodded. ‘Speak freely.’

  ‘I don’t understand why Abrami’s here, sir.’ Tara launched straight into it. ‘I get that she’s a good officer in many ways, but she doesn’t belong here. She takes everything personally and acts like everyone’s out to get her. I don’t understand why you brought her on as your second officer.’

  ‘You think you should have gotten the role?’

  ‘No, sir. That’s not what I mean. Though I wouldn’t have turned it down, and yes, I believe I could do a better job. I think most people of my rank or hers could.’

  Rebekah sat back. ‘Freely. I’ve known Danielle since the academy. I’ve never known a person as driven or as knowledgeable as she is. She has wanted nothing more than interstellar travel as long as I’ve known her. This is her dream mission.’

  ‘Well, she’s fucking it up, sir.’

  Rebekah grimaced and nodded, though Tara didn’t believe she agreed with her necessarily. ‘In the academy, we were sent on a training exercise around Umbriel.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’ Tara was familiar with the moon of Uranus and the training exercise.

  ‘Our shuttle crashed,’ Rebekah said. ‘The third day into the exercise. When I woke up, we were stranded on Umbriel with no one closer than four days. I broke my leg. One of our teammates died, and two more were seriously injured. Danielle was the only one of us with nothing more than a few scratches. She got us through it. Tended our wounds. Took care of Keith, the one who died.’ Rebekah’s eyes were haunted. ‘One of our oxygen filters was damaged and she patched it. She got the signal out, after fixing the comm. She was the right person to have there in a crisis and I believe she can be that person again. I believe she can be as exemplary an officer as you are, given the opportunity for growth.’

  ‘She hates women.’ Tara shook her head. ‘She hates half of the crew based on nothing more than their sex. It’s wrong.’

  ‘I know. She has issues. I won’t talk about them, so don’t ask.’

  ‘She likes you,’ Tara said.

  ‘And Sophia.’ Rebekah smiled. ‘I swear, Sophia could disarm a bomb with her smile alone.’

  Tara laughed.

  ‘Your dad.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘That day, at the pool. He told me I get one. He said I had been the best babysitter and while he was disappointed, I had never disappointed him before. He said I get this one and this one only.’ The look Rebekah gave Tara was pointed. ‘You get one.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘You ever do anything like that again, I’ll put you on report.’

  ‘What if she doesn’t pass another report up?’

  ‘She,’ Rebekah’s tone emphasised the word, ‘is your superior officer, Hannigan, understand?’

  ‘Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir.’

  ‘I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again,’ Durrani said.

  ‘Yes, sir.’ Tara was pleased she’d managed to keep her voice neutral despite her scepticism.

  ‘Captain Durrani, you have a call from the Halidan captain.’ A voice came over the comm.

  ‘Put it through to here. Stay there,’ Durrani said to Tara. ‘Let’s see what he has to say for himself.’

  The space being projected to the viewscreen switched to an alien. Captain Ivorro was a serious, humourless male. His skin was almost a dark human ta
n shade, but there were patches of brown on his bare shoulders and down his arms. His eyes were grey and glowed with a dull intensity. There was an almost sorrowful expression on his features as he walked on digitigrade legs towards the screen.

  ‘Cadiv, I was about to call you. We seem to be having a nav problem with the updates.’

  ‘That should no longer be a problem,’ Ivorro said. ‘I’m afraid I must leave you. A civilian ship is in trouble nearby, and we’re the closest to help. If we don’t leave now, many will die.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Can we help in any way?’ Durrani asked.

  The Halidan captain shook his head. ‘No. We must leave now. I am sorry, Rebekah, that we cannot see you to your intended destination.’

  Rebekah bowed slightly in acknowledgement, the Halidan following suit.

  ‘I hope to see you again someday,’ he whispered. ‘I am sorry.’

  Rebekah and Tara exchanged a look. Tara could see the fine lines of a frown that Rebekah was barely keeping from creasing her brow.

  ‘It’s fine, Cadiv,’ Rebekah smiled. ‘and I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon. Perhaps when we’re on our way back to Earth, we can finally arrange that dinner with your officers.’

  ‘I would like that,’ the captain said. ‘Goodbye.’