The Torgoran Revolt (Plundering the Stars Book 3) Read online

  The Torgoran Revolt

  Plundering the Stars, Book 3

  James David Victor

  Copyright © 2020 James David Victor

  All Rights Reserved

  Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. All people, places, names, and events are products of the author’s imagination and / or used fictitiously. Any similarities to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design by J Caleb Design

  Contents

  Prologue

  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

  Thank You

  Prologue

  Yan

  It was surreal. A dream come true. As our ship touched down in the small spaceport of Veritas City, I saw them there waiting for me: my family. My father looking bright and hopeful, unshackled from his debt. My sister, free of the brothel that had her paying off his debt. And standing next to the massive orange stature of my friend Rago was my mother, leaning into him for support, but she looked healthier than I’d seen her in years. The fact that she was able to stand brought tears to my eyes.

  The Sanara came to a halt with a hiss as air escaped. The ramp dropped. I ran through the ship, past my crewmates and friends, new and old, all smiling, knowing how much this meant to me. All I’d ever done, everything we’d been through, the highs and lows, the hell of tragedies and pain, was all to keep my family safe. All the heists, all the money I’d stolen—from bad people—was all for them.

  The cargo ramp groaned to a halt. I raced by Pivek, our large insectoid mechanic and intrepid inventor. He gave me a big mandible-d smile.

  Then I was down the ramp and standing before them. My eyes watered, as did theirs.

  I came to a halt in front of them. We stared at each other, none of us finding the words. I hadn’t seen them in a few years, but they knew more or less what I’d done for them. They didn’t know the events of the past couple of months, the death and anguish, but they didn’t need to. They knew I’d do anything for them.

  “Hi,” I choked out.

  My sister was the first to react. With tears in her eyes, she let out a strangled sob and lunged at me. Before I knew it, she had her arms around me, holding me in a tight embrace that was stronger than any rational person would give her credit for.

  “I’m so happy to see you,” she gasped. I held her close, my fingers curling through her long hair.

  “Me too, Lyra.”

  She cried in earnest then, her sobs racking her hard. We grasped each other tightly. We used to be so close as children, but as our lives fell apart, we in turn drifted apart, but it was never because of something we did. She was a couple of years older than me, but she was one of my closest friends.

  All her emotions poured out. All the struggles and heartache, all that she went through to protect our parents and what happened in the brothel. I couldn’t imagine what she went through, just like she couldn’t imagine what I’d been through. But we didn’t need to say those things. Some things were better left unsaid. All that mattered was that we were alive and safe, together again.

  Lyra finally pulled back, though we gripped each other’s arms and smiled at each other. I wiped her tears from her eyes and put my forehead against hers.

  “I’m glad you’re safe. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  She pulled away then and stepped aside for our parents. First there was my mother, who until recently had been so sick she’d been bedridden. She had an incurable disease that left her with chronic pain all day and a weakened immune system. It was something that could be lived with, but it was a hard life. Medicine helped, but it was expensive.

  Mother’s eyes were moist with tears. Lyra and my mom looked so alike. As Goons like me, we shared pale skin and dark hair, but my father and I had the same stormy eyes, whereas Lyra and mom had deep brown eyes that were both so beautiful, especially in the sunlight.

  Dad looked healthy, not sickly like the last time I’d seen him, which meant he’d kicked his secehunra addiction, as Rago had told me he was attempting to do. I couldn’t help but smile as wide as my mouth would allow. This was getting better and better. So much so that I worried it was too good to be true, that this was all just a beautiful dream, and any minute now I’d wake up in a cold sweat and find myself back in Xarren’s dungeons, my friends dead, and my future hopeless.

  But no, this was real, which made it all the sweeter.

  Mom hugged me and cried, as Lyra and I had. Dad came behind her and hugged us both. We cried and laughed and then Lyra was there again, and we were all embracing and basking in the glow of this miraculous moment that I sometimes honestly thought would never happen. Sometimes things had been so hard I thought I’d never see them again, that I would fail or die or Mom would die and Xarren would kill Lyra and Dad. But no. That didn’t happen. This was real. We were alive and together.

  When they pulled away, our eyes all watery, I went up to Rago—my large, orange-skinned friend—and wrapped my arms around his bulbous waist.

  “Thank you,” I wheezed. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll always have your family’s back, Yan,” he said, returning my hug.

  And I believed him. We’d run together since I was a kid. He’d never let me down, and I didn’t think he ever would. I would have him be part of my crew, but he had his own goals, his own crew to manage and things to deal with. But we’d always be brothers.

  Once the teary reunions were through the introductions were made, which took some time, but it was amazing seeing my family and my friends and crew interact, smiling and laughing and crying.

  We all stayed together for a month. Rago found us a nice homestead out in the savannahs for us all to stay at for the time being. It was cramped with over a dozen people trying to squeeze in comfortably, but I was too happy to care about that. I had it all—my friends, my family, Jinx, and my health. What more could I ask for? It was one of the best times of my entire life. There were no worries. No looking over my shoulder or worrying about my family and providing for them. No, we were all safe, all fed and healthy—more or less.

  Things had to change, but that wasn’t always bad.

  We couldn’t stay, we knew. My parents had lives, as bleak as they may have been, as did my sister. Of course, they really couldn’t go back to them. Sure, my father’s debts had been paid to the Elexaes, but Xarren knew who they were. He’d have them taken just to hurt me, debt or no debt. They had to start anew.

  This planet was nice for a while, but the climate wasn’t great for my mother’s illness. And besides, my father was not a country bumpkin. He craved the city life, the hustle and bustle of a busy spaceport, ships coming in and out of orbit all day and night. I disagreed with a lot of the things he’d done, the decisions he’d made, but I could agree with him on that. A quiet life was not for me.

  My mother needed to be somewhere they could get medicine too. Though Rago and I could always ship them some, it was best to be near a place with readily available medical care. We could wipe my dad’s debts away and free my sister from a brothel, but unfortunately, my mother’s illness wasn’t something to be cured. It could be managed and lived with, but there was no getting rid of
it.

  So they were leaving.

  Everyone gathered around Rago’s ship, a golden runner shaped like an arrow. She was a fast one, as most runners were. There was no ship she couldn’t outrun, which was ideal when you did smuggling work like Rago did.

  I gave my family a hug and kiss good-bye. I tried not to cry again, but I failed. At least I knew that this time, I wouldn’t have to worry about not seeing them again.

  Rago shook my hand.

  “I’ll send you a message when I have them settled and safe. I’ll send you their coordinates so you can come visit as much as you want.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You kid, but I will visit them so much you have no idea.”

  He laughed. “Oh, I have no doubt.”

  “Thank you, my friend, for everything.”

  Rago smiled. “No need to thank me. I know you’d do the same for me.”

  “Of course.”

  And then, with a wave from me and my friends, we said good-bye to my family as they boarded his ship and lifted into the heavens, where they would find a new home. Maybe one day we could have a regular life as a regular family. Something to strive for perhaps.

  As they flew away, Jinx took my hand and smiled at me. I smiled right back, my heart overwhelmed by warmth. I knew that everything would be okay.

  For the first time in my life, I truly believed that.

  1

  Yan

  One month later

  It was a beautiful day on the remote planet of Caelum 3, a lush world filled with continents of long savannahs, lush vegetation, picturesque mountains, and animals of all shapes and sizes. It was a backwater, a perfect place to hide when you didn’t want to be found by the greater galactic powers at large. The only reason such a great world wasn’t more booming was because there were very little minerals beneath the soil. No minerals, no riches, no big corporate and government interference.

  And that worked just fine for me.

  The sun peaked out over the eastern horizon, coming up over the far distant peaks. It was nothing but grassy savannahs with the occasional dark tree dotting the landscape for miles at a time.

  I was in one such tree at the moment, hanging upside-down by my legs, and my grip was slipping. That would be an embarrassing way to go.

  “This better work, Amara,” I said into my wrist communicator. “I don’t see why I have to be so high up.”

  “I explained this to you, idiot,” she said with a sigh. I could practically feel her eye-roll. “These sensors need to be as high as possible to pick up incoming craft. We don’t exactly have the most state-of-the-art equipment to work with here.”

  I groaned as I fastened a small silver ball to the trunk of this tree. I would have gone all the way to the top of the tree, but the branches there were too brittle to hold my weight, and from that height, I would certainly die.

  From this height, I’ll die. My legs shook above from where they tried to hold me aloft. I didn’t have much longer before they gave out on me.

  The straps on the sensor did not want to reach around, so I really had to strain, my brows furrowing, and my lips set in a grimace as I struggled.

  “I don’t know why I had to do this.”

  “Because,” Jinx’s voice broke in over the comms. “I put up the sensors on the western ridge. It’s only fair.”

  “And you two are the only ones that are light and nimble enough to actually scamper up there,” Amara added.

  I paused what I was doing, which probably wasn’t bright, but I wasn’t always the smartest. “Uh, and you’re not the smallest among us?”

  She was a mile away, but I knew she was grinning cheekily. “I’m the one who calibrated these. It’s only fair.”

  It’s only fair, I mouthed. I’d get her back later.

  The strap still didn’t want to go around the trunk. I cursed and tried inching it up a bit, though the width of the tree didn’t really decrease. Amara was adamant that branches moved too much for this, so it had to be secured to the trunk, but that left me little in ways of flexibility. I strained to get it around. It was almost there, the latch on the other side almost connecting.

  My legs ached. Not much longer.

  “I’m gonna fall, guys,” I lamented. “I’m gonna fall on my head and die and that’ll be it for ole’ Yan Slim Hands.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic,” Amara shot back, not concerned in the slightest.

  “If you fall, Beleak will catch you. Won’t you, Beleak?” Jinx added cheerfully.

  I looked down. One of our newest friends, the Javray Beleak, stood below, arms crossed. He nodded up at me.

  “I’ve got you, Yan.”

  Somehow, that didn’t reassure me.

  Beleak and his Elarri friend Rayvan had saved Jinx’s life when she was left for dead after our former crewmate and former friend Rowan shot her. I was forever in their debt. They were both very nice, though vastly different. Beleak was more like Ketellin—our intrepid, near-silent Batoric pilot. Soft-spoken and stern. But he had a confidence about him, a quiet calm that told me everything would be okay.

  I knew he would catch me if I fell, but I was always one for being overly dramatic. It was one of my lesser qualities, as few as they may be.

  So, I gritted my teeth and went at it again. This time, as my legs screamed for relief, the latch of the sensor snapped together, and it was secure. I sighed. Thank the stars. I flipped the switch, and a blue light turned on.

  “Sensor is activated and secure,” I said.

  “Good,” Amara replied, not at all impressed.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and hauled myself up onto the branch and sat there for a minute, catching my breath and allowing my legs a breather.

  Once I felt comfortable, I climbed down to the ground where Beleak waited, his feathered arms folded. He gave me a bird-beaked smile.

  “Good work, you didn’t die.”

  “Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

  He chuckled as he leaned against the speeder, twisted around and grabbed more sensors from the back seat. “Now only three more to go.”

  I groaned.

  It took the rest of the day to drive from point to point and put the sensors up. Thankfully, the other trees proved to be less difficult, so I didn’t feel like I was going to die. Still, by the time Beleak and I returned to the homestead, I was drenched in sweat, stunk terribly, and my limbs shook with exertion that wouldn’t go away. I needed a warm bath. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a luxury we had available.

  The homestead we stayed at was a small hovel made from clay and stucco, a very low tech place, but it was cozy and had modern amenities. From the outside, it looked like a small domed structure, but it had a larger underground section, including several cold dirt rooms filled with old crates and barrels of wine and other assorted goods. A safehouse of sorts, long abandoned. Good for us.

  There was a kitchen, some restrooms, several bedrooms, and a common area, so sleeping space wasn’t an issue. Of course, Ketellin elected to sleep in the cockpit of the Sanara. Pivek mostly stayed in the cargo hold to working on his little gadgets, but he managed to break away and sleep in the common room most nights.

  How long we’d stay there, I didn’t know, but it was comfortable, and a nice relaxing vacation. We needed time to heal up and catch our collective breath.

  I entered the common room behind Beleak. Amara was in the adjoining kitchen, chopping some vegetables. K and Pivek were absent, no surprise. El was outside when we arrived, doing some light exercises, as she did every day at dusk and dawn. Jax was sprawled out on one fiber couch, arms behind his head, eyes closed, while Jinx sat cross-legged on the other couch and read from a data-pad. Rayvan was laid out in the middle of the room, arms out, eyes on the ceiling, seemingly deep in thought. When we arrived, her attention snapped to us.

  “Ah, finally. Hello, gentlemen.”

  I walked right past her and laid on the couch next to Jinx, my head in her lap. “I’m too tired for niceties.”
>
  Jinx put her data-pad aside and looked down at me, her face upside-down in my view. Her violet-red hair cascaded around her and tickled my cheeks.

  She smiled wide. “No niceties for me?”

  I grinned, my cheeks flushing. “I always have some for you.”

  She leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine. Her hair enveloped me like a thick curtain. I couldn’t see a thing, but I didn’t need to. All I needed was her, her lips, her taste, her smell, her smile.

  It was just as good as the first time. And the other dozens of times we’d kissed since that frantic desperate kiss we first shared a month ago when they broke me free from Xarren’s manor.

  We’d been best friends for years, and I’d always loved her. But I thought it was a friendly love. It wasn’t until recently that I realized it was more than that. And she felt the same way. Thank the stars we were alive to enjoy it.

  Amara gagged from the kitchen. “Get a room, you two!”

  Without looking up or leaving Jinx’s lap, I made a rude hand gesture her way. “We have a room. You keep cooking.”

  “Keep that finger up and I’ll chop it off.”

  My hand dropped.

  Jinx smiled and put her forehead against mine for a second. She took a deep breath, as if she was breathing in my presence, then lifted her head.

  “You stink.”

  “Well, why did you smell me?”

  She rolled her eyes and pushed me off her, but she was smiling the whole time.

  Dinner was ready shortly thereafter. Everyone gathered to share another meal. As we’d found out, it was a little cramped fitting everyone in there to sit comfortably, but we made it work. We ate and smiled and laughed and all around had a good time, just as we had over the last five weeks.