Untitled

A massive interstellar war is raging, led by a vicious alien race known as the Maedrom. Humanity has become allied with many other alien races, all of which are trying to survive in the middle of this battle. Gabriel Nagra is a human engineer, assigned to develop a defense for the Maedrom's deadliest weapon. Assisting him is Jhuun, a male Eunnoian to whom Gabriel grows close…perhaps even a little too close.

   The war has already led to heartbreak and the tragic loss of a lover for Gabriel. In addition, he worries about embracing physical intimacy with an alien. In the middle of destruction and uncertainty, will Gabriel let go of his doubts and fears for a chance at happiness with Jhuun, or will he risk facing the future alone yet again?

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Gabriel stepped out the airlock door, breathing in the warm, humid air of Section 27. Tired and drained from the journey, he paused against a bulkhead, staying out of the way as a medical team rushed past to assist one of the survivors, a man who had suffered a head wound during the evacuation and whose condition had become critical during transport. Gabriel did not know the man, even though they had lived and worked on the same station up until the attack.

   The medical team placed the man on a gurney and rushed away again. The other survivors were exhausted, bloodied, unsteady on their feet, but healthy enough to file out in a slow procession now that the medical emergency was being handled.

   Gabriel was already beginning to sweat. The air on this station was a drastic change from the dry and cold artificial atmosphere that once permeated Section 14, where the temperature had been adjusted for the comfort levels of both Humans and Wreeth. He swallowed thickly, willing to trade anything to touch the cold walls of his old station once again.

   Around him, other evacuated survivors filed out of the airlock, looking as grim and bedraggled as Gabriel felt. All of them were Human, the Wreeth survivors had been taken to a different station, as they were unable to stand the hot temperature of Section 27. For reasons of safety, Gabriel and the others had had no idea to where they would be evacuated, until their ship docked and the survivors were quickly handed information on where to report once they entered the station.

   The journey had been long, and the smell of acrid smoke still clung to Gabriel's clothes, much like the sound of alarm klaxons still clung to his memory. He had forced himself to watch, through the escaping shuttle's viewport, as the six Maedrom ships mercilessly battered the station, sucking in a breath of shock as he saw one of the ships deploying the brutal weapon that had become the bane of their existence, destroying the station in a shower of prickling amber energy.

   It was quickly becoming a brutally familiar sight.

   "
Gabe!
Holy shit!"

   Gabriel raised his head, startled out of his dark reverie as a voice rose above the din of the crowd. Despite the weight of pain and exhaustion, he couldn't help but smile as he spotted a familiar form, one he had not seen in nearly three years, pushing and shoving his way through the crowd. He was soon trapped in a hug that jarred his aching body.

   "I missed you, too, Kurt," he said against his friend's shoulder. When they pulled apart, Kurt took Gabriel's satchel, containing the meager belongings he had managed to save before evacuating, and hoisted it over his own shoulder.

   "I can't believe you made it," Kurt said, looking relieved and happy, though somehow much older than Gabriel remembered, with a bit more gray in that floppy blond hair and a few more lines in the corner of his smile. Three years suddenly seemed like an eternity.

   "I don't see you for ages," Kurt said. He cocked his head toward the corridor and Gabriel followed, glad to be away from the noisy, stifling airlock. "And then I hear about Section 14 being attacked and…I can't tell you what I imagined."

   "Imagine actually being there," Gabriel said grimly.

   "Yeah," Kurt said. He clasped Gabriel on the shoulder, making him wince—he'd wrenched it a bit while helping an injured Wreeth to its own escape ship. "It's awful. Really awful, Gabe. I'm really sorry about the station. I can't imagine…" He shook his head. "Anyway, you'll be fine here. You'll be safe. We're far from the front lines. The Maedrom never attack here."

   "Yeah, that's what we thought about Section 14." Gabriel sighed and slid a finger in the collar of his ragged shirt; he was surprised at how warm it was. He noticed, for the first time, that Kurt was dressed rather informally in lightweight shorts and a tank top, also wearing the green belt that identified him as a member of the medical staff. Kurt had been a surgeon back on Earth.

   "Is it always so hot here?"

   "Yeah, welcome to Section 27," Kurt said. "You'll get used to it. It's for the comfort of the Eunnoians, they like it hot and humid."

   Gabriel was used to such arrangements, having worked on more than one station where the environment was tempered to suit two or more alien races. Back on Section 14, the air had been cold and dry, to suit the Wreeth who came from a harsh, cold climate. The sudden heat and humidity was a stark contrast, stealing his breath away.

   "You might want to consider dressing more lightly. Most of us do."

   "I'll consider it," Gabriel said, wiping sweat away from his brow. "You mentioned Eunnoians?"

   He realized he knew next to nothing about the aliens that shared the station. The name was familiar, as he knew most of the alien races that were allied against the Maedrom, though he tried and failed to picture a Eunnoian. The airlock and the corridors were filled with Humans, but he hadn't yet had a glimpse of the aliens.

   "You'll meet some soon enough," Kurt said. He led them around a bend in the corridor, toward a lift. "I think your new boss is a Eunnoian. Are you staying in the engineering wing?"

   "I am," Gabriel said. He tiredly fished around in his pocket for the personal reader he'd been given on the evacuation ship, containing the location of his quarters and his next orders. "I have to report to the engineering office first thing tomorrow morning."

   "The engineering department here sure doesn't waste time," Kurt said as they boarded the lift. Kurt punched a few buttons and Gabriel wavered on his feet a bit as the lift began to ascend. "Listen…I know this isn't the best time, but I heard the broadcast six months ago, about the
Northumbrian
, and…"

   Gabriel winced. It was the last thing he wanted to talk about right now.

   "And I'm really sorry about Marcus. I wish I could have made it to the memorial."

   "It's fine," Gabriel said listlessly. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling hot and parched.

   "It's hardly
fine.
We've all lost people in this war, and nobody is
fine
with it. Especially not when you lose—"

   "Can we talk about it later?"

   The remainder of the lift ride was spent in silence until the lift stopped with a clang of hydraulics. The doors slid open into the engineering wing, a long empty corridor bisected by purple stripes. Kurt stepped out and Gabriel followed, reading the numbers on the quarter doors to find his.

   "So," Kurt began, as though eager to break the silence. "Any idea why they're asking you to report to the office so soon?"

   To his own surprise, Gabriel felt slightly elated, his lips quirking as he thought of the reason behind his quick summoning. "That's classified."

   Kurt was no simpleton; he turned to face his friend with a slight smile on his pale face. "Come on. Classified, my ass. I've heard the rumors. Everyone has. You got one, didn't you? And it's here on the station?"

   "I've no clue what you're talking about."

   "So it
is
true." Kurt grinned. They stopped in front of a door marked ENG-074, Gabriel's assigned quarters. "We
do
have one of their energy weapons. It's the one that's been killing us, isn't it? They aired a broadcast about finding a wrecked Maedrom ship three weeks ago and then all of a sudden it's all hushed up. They wouldn't have stopped broadcasting about it unless there was something big involved, like finding one of their weapons!" Kurt pumped a fist. "And you've going to work on figuring it out, aren't you? Find us a defense against it."

   "Honestly?" Gabriel said as he stepped inside his quarters. They were quite bare, with a bed and a desk and a broadcast screen, but looked good enough to call home. "I'm not sure myself what's going to happen next. But I do suspect I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks."

   "I'll bet," Kurt said. He swung the satchel from his shoulder, depositing it on the tightly-made bed. "Then I'll wish you a very classified good luck."

   "Thank you," Gabriel said, managing a weak smile as Kurt swung his arm to wrap around Gabriel's shoulders.

   "It's great to see you again, Gabe. You have no idea."

   It had taken a meal, a shower and several hours of solid sleep for Gabriel to begin feeling a bit more like himself. Eleven days on the evacuation ship had left him exhausted, reeking of smoke and oil from the collapsing station, and in desperate need of some peace and quiet.

   Gabriel sighed as he got dressed, taking Kurt's suggestion and donning light pants and a shortsleeved shirt. Now that he was alone, it was hard not to think back to the attack, to the klaxon startling him away from his quarters, followed by the loudspeaker announcement calmly but urgently ordering the station crew to evacuate.

   The attack and subsequent evacuation were nothing like Gabriel had imagined. Twice he'd fallen over, terrified and disoriented, as the station was rocked by blasts from the Maedrom ships. As he filed through the collapsing corridors, thick with smoke and other screaming evacuees, Gabriel felt something he could not have predicted—the sheer, hysterical panic that the next blast would be the death blow, that his life would soon be snuffed out in a shower of amber energy.

   He'd seen plenty of broadcasts of Maedrom attacks, but not the attack on the
Northumbrian
, he thought darkly. There had been no footage to accompany the announcement of its destruction, and Gabriel wasn't sure if he was thankful for it or not, but it was the first time he'd ever been directly caught in one, and eleven days later, it still left him shaken. For a war that had lasted five years so far, he counted himself fortunate that he had only suffered one brush with death. Countless others had not been so fortunate.