Beyond the Shadows

Table of Contents

 

 

 

BEYOND THE RAIN

BEYOND THE SHADOWS

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

 

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Copyright © 2010 by Kristin Welker.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. BERKLEY
^®
SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley Sensation trade paperback edition / May 2010

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

Granger, Jess.

Beyond the shadows / Jess Granger.—Berkley sensation trade paperback ed.

p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-18755-5

I. Title.

PS3607.R36285B495 2010

813’.6—dc22 2009053187

 

 

 

First of all, I’d like to thank my critique partner Angie Fox, my agent, Laura Bradford, and my editor, Leis Pederson, for their hard work and dedication. I feel very blessed that I have such talented people working with me to bring my words to life. I’d also like to thank the staff at The Berkley Publishing Group for all their efforts on my behalf. Your work is greatly appreciated and never taken for granted.

I’d also like to thank fellow author Linnea Sinclair for tying a much-needed knot in my tail. I wrote a book I was proud of, but your guidance took it to the next level. I’m very grateful for your support.

I give thanks every day for my wonderful family and friends, whose enthusiasm and praise for the first book warmed my heart. That includes you, Uncle Jim.

Finally, I’d like to thank all those deployed, who served with my husband while this book was written. Stay safe and come home soon.

CYN ALWAYS LIKED WATCHING WOMEN MOVE, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING SEXIER than an angry woman moving with a purpose. Commander Yara cut across the dingy pub with the swift efficiency and cold grace of a falcon.

He tapped his fingers on the crooked table. The staccato rhythm punctuated his thoughts as he watched his adversary from the corner of the Freedock bar. On the far side of the base from the military platforms, the Freedock, or Scum, as the base personnel liked to call it, was the dock for traders without supply contracts looking for surplus or to fill trade gaps with the Union base.

Perched high over the platforms, the pub had a nice view of the desolate oceans of rock beyond the atmosphere shields. The sharp, metallic smell of cooling starships mingled with the scent of hot gear grease. It wafted into the pub in spite of the wheezing filtration system from where the automatic haulers shuffled empty freight containers like square-backed beetles. This was his world, and she had just stepped into it.

From the look on Commander Yara’s face, she seemed keenly aware she’d just stepped in something. Cyn chuckled. She had a commanding enough presence in her uniform, but he couldn’t forget his very first impression of her. She reminded him of a lovely pixie with short, flyaway green hair. Now that pixie was pissed.

This was going to be fun.

“What do you mean there’s only one ship?” Her voice carried through the bar as she leaned toward the bartender, giving Cyn a healthy look at her ass.

He eased deeper into the shadows, kicked his boots up on the table, and enjoyed the show. He knew who he was messing with. He’d been studying her for months. She was a Union commander, next in line to the throne of his home planet, and the only thing standing in the way of the revolution brewing on Azra.

But right now, for all her power and prestige, she was nothing more than a traveler searching for stage passage in the Scum. Lucky for her, he was the only one around with a ship. He’d made damn sure of that.

The encrypted nano-link he’d injected into his ear buzzed.

Through the low hum of interference, he heard Quad Sergeant Nalora’s voice as if she spoke directly into his head. He scratched his neck below his ear to try to adjust the damn thing. “You got her yet?” she asked. Even though she was somewhere on the base, the link sounded weak. The temporary transmitter would probably cut out soon.

“I’m on her,” he answered under his breath. His fellow revolutionary had risked much to help facilitate this meeting.

“Good, don’t crack this out, or we’re all dead.”

“It’s war, Sergeant,” he warned. It wouldn’t be pretty. It wouldn’t be nice, and there would be blood.

Azra was at the brink. The lower classes were about to rise against the high cities, but so far, the upper classes knew nothing. He intended to keep it that way. Yara was the linchpin. She was the clear popular choice for heir to the throne. If the Grand Sister chose to step down, Yara would ascend peacefully as the new Grand Sister of Azra in a seamless transition that left no chinks in their security system, no opportunities for his people to strike.

He couldn’t let that happen. He needed chaos. He needed a blood duel for the throne to crack open the Elite’s defenses and hopefully their unforgiving control over the planet.

“Any news on Palar?” he whispered. Yara’s rival had a solid following and a bloodthirsty nature, but a weak mind. She was just the sort of person who could start a war without knowing it, and he wasn’t going to miss his opportunity to take advantage.

“She’s edgy,” Nalora admitted. “She’s ready to take down the Grand Sister, but she doesn’t have the guts to face Yara for the throne. Yara would thrash her without blinking. You may have to hold on to her for a while before Palar has the confidence to strike. You think you can handle her?” Cyn waited half a beat. “Don’t answer that,” Nalora added.

Cyn hadn’t stopped watching the lovely commander. It was a shame that his plans couldn’t include anything more than kidnapping. He didn’t need complications, yet her wild green hair made his palms itch to touch it, smooth it. He wouldn’t mind letting his hands smooth a couple of other things, too. It was impossible. He knew what it meant to be Elite. For as much as she looked like a pixie, the women that ruled his home planet were hard, brutal, power hungry, and cold. This one would be no different.

According to his information, Yara was a talented fighter, driven, focused, absolutely dedicated to her bloodline, loyal to the Elite, but untested in true war. He’d use that weakness to his advantage.

“Can’t we just kill her?” Nalora grumbled. What was it about future Enforcers that made them so cavalier about handing out death?

“You elected me leader, so shut up and follow orders. If Palar strikes before I can deliver the goods and hack the com array, we’re screwed. The timing of this has to be perfect.” They only had one shot to breach the Elite security systems. Everything had to go according to plan.

“So you’re going to use her like a piece in your game of chest?”

“It’s
chess
, Nalora, and yes. We need to keep Yara talking with her allies on Azra. Palar won’t strike while Yara’s still a viable leader. She’ll have to eliminate Yara from the picture. That gives us time to deliver the weapons and hack the array. As soon as we let it leak that Yara’s been taken hostage, Palar will immediately challenge the Grand Sister. If we control Yara, we can start this war when we have the perfect advantage, like pushing a button.” The static deepened. The nanos wouldn’t last much longer.

“You play too many games.” Nalora’s voice turned icy.

“I’m good at games.”

“You’d better be.” He listened to the annoying buzz as the nanos in his ear fizzled out, cutting off his communication. It was one thing to lead trained soldiers used to orders. It was another to try to band together thousands of individuals burning with pain and rage and little discipline in their lives. Still, they all looked to him as their one hope for freedom. Kidnapping the commander would be comparatively easy.

Yara scowled with the cold expression of a future queen, but the Icanlen bartender’s face remained as hard as her bald head. He listened carefully to their conversation.

“I am not going to pay some rankock-licking Earthlen scum for passage on a junked-together freight hauler that doesn’t even look capable of flying through the atmosphere shield. When will another ship arrive?”