Pirate Nemesis (Telepathic Space Pirates Book 1) (31 page)

BOOK: Pirate Nemesis (Telepathic Space Pirates Book 1)
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Epilogue

T
he resort world
Ghalos was known for its five star cuisine, offering a selection of dishes that were delicacies on a hundred other worlds. One meal cost more credits than most people saw in a Galactic Standard year, yet Thirteen’s breakfast sat congealing on the resort’s fancy china. She had no stomach for it.

Since being woken this morning by the shockwave of Talent, she’d been restless. Unable to go back to sleep. Unable to eat. Dread filled the pit of her stomach. She stood by the observation window that filled an entire wall, and stared out at the red giant star framed perfectly by the station’s careful rotation.

It was why she came here whenever she could scrape together the time. Whenever she could escape. Ghanos had long been abandoned as a viable planet for life, but the resort station orbiting it still drew huge crowds of wealthy citizens wanting to observe the last days of this system’s sun. Even if those last days took another thousand years. No one knew for sure. It could expand and engulf the station tomorrow, ending all of those lives in a moment.

Sometimes, Thirteen hoped it would. But her fascination with the red giant wasn’t just the vain half-hope that it might end her life. She felt a kinship whenever she stared at the deep, flaring swirl of red and orange. The closer it came to death, the more brilliant the star became. Eventually, it would explode. Become something new. It was a fate she shared with the star. And, like it, her days were numbered. It might happen tomorrow. Or ten years from now.

But it would happen.

When the contact finally came, it was a relief to get it over with, even as the powerful mind connecting with hers overwhelmed her thoughts and took control. It brought her to her knees.

You felt the claiming.
It wasn’t a question. The voice sounded like her own, but it wasn’t. The power that reverberated through it made Thirteen’s bones ache.

Yes, Mother.
The Alpha must always be addressed as Mother.

This queen is more powerful than the others. She could have taken those who belong to us if we had not been vigilant. She is an inconvenience.

An inconvenience, never a threat. The Alpha didn’t admit to being threatened.

What do you want to do?
Thirteen felt her body begin to tremble. The weight of the Alpha’s presence was too great. It might take her days to recover after this conversation.

She will be ours.

Shock coursed through Thirteen. Never before had the Alpha taken a queen not of her own line. Never had she found one she wanted in that way. A traitorous seed of hope sprang up within her at the same time.

Yes, Mother. What can I do?

You will be my eyes. I want to see this queen for myself. Then I will decide.

Thirteen hesitated. Questioning the Alpha was never wise. She kept her thoughts careful, respectful.
Won’t that expose us, Mother?

It is necessary. I trust you are skilled enough to avoid detection. My Chosen could do no less.

The threat was clear, unsaid, but implied. Only the Chosen lived as long as Thirteen. The rest were discarded, empty husks. Thirteen bowed her head.

Of course, Mother. I will not fail.

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Acknowledgments

M
ercy and Reaper
. Where do I begin with these two?

For those of who read the prequel novella,
Pirate Bound
, you should know that Sanah and Dem came after. I wrote the first draft of Pirate Nemesis – then just Nemesis – over eight years ago. It has seen many versions since then. This was the first book I wrote where I truly understood authors who would do multiple complete rewrites to get the book
right
. I had the character, I had the bare bones of world building from the roleplay universe my co-author had created for them. But that firs draft still wasn’t right. I wasn’t the writer then that I am today. The world wasn’t fleshed out enough. We needed more detail, and Mercy and Reaper needed a lot of work to translate from roleplay to a book.

I started and stopped many drafts of the rewrite. Diana Fox, an agent who read the original version of this book, gave me lots of great feedback to make it better, but I struggled with implementing it. I think I needed those intervening years to grow as both a person and a writer before it finally clicked and made sense. And
Pirate Nemesis
wouldn’t be the book it is today without her invaluable advice.

Mercy and Reaper are who they are because of input from many, many people. In the old fandom days, I was on Livejournal writing fanfic. My friends there (you Harem girls know who you are!) were my first beta readers. They saw the beginning of this journey, and many of them are still around to see the culmination now. To my beta readers, then and now, this book would not exist without you. Thank you Heather, Janice, Tamatha, Chaz, Rebecca, Paula, Lea, Veronica, Jade, Eliza, Brooke and Amy. If I have missed anyone, give me a little leeway for the years that have passed.

I must also thank my critique group, Scott Hungerford and Elisabeth Knottingham. You turn a writer’s and editor’s eye to my work, and you make it better with every bit of feedback you give.

Thank you to my friend Jason, who provided the Japanese words for everything Doc says. He wouldn’t be the same character without you.

And, of course thank you to my co-author. She is always there when I need to talk through some bit of world building or future plot line, or just when I need to get away from the writing and talk things through. These books would not exist without the worlds and characters she creates in our roleplay games. Mercy is mine, but Reaper was hers before I ever wrote him onto the page. I always hope when I am putting words onto the keyboard that I do her complex characters justice.

My husband deserves a huge amount of thanks for his patience, especially during these last weeks when every day went something like “Honey, I don’t have time to go to a movie or cook dinner – I have to make my word count!” He is everything supportive, and I promise to make it up to him now that the book is finished.

And last but certainly not least, my eternal thanks to my mother, who always believed I could do this and never lost faith that I would.

If you’ve finished
Pirate Nemesis
, you know that Mercy and Reaper’s story is far from over. There are three books planned that directly feature them. This one, and two more. From there, the series will move on to another character as the central focus, but that doesn’t mean we won’t ever see them again. Mercy is essential to the overarching plot, and I expect to write more about her in the future of the series. This is a long game. I hope everyone will enjoy the ride.

Finally, I want to thank you, the readers. Thank you for taking a chance on a new author. Thank you for taking the time to read about characters I love and the universe Malea and I have created. In the end, if we wanted to keep it to ourselves, we could just roleplay in it forever. But we wanted to share it with you, and I can only hope you will fall in love with it as much as I have.

About the Author

C
arysa Locke is
the pseudonym for writing team Carysa Locke and MaLea Holt, two best friends who have been creating imaginary worlds together for more than twenty years. Carysa is a high school English teacher, and MaLea helps support families with special needs children. You might say, they work as super heroes in their day jobs!

T
heir obsession
with pirates and adventure goes back many years, when they started another hobby together - costuming. They regularly attend Ren-faires and Pirate Festivals. They currently reside in the Pacific Northwest with their families, where they still routinely roleplay and costume together, when they aren't too busy working on the next novel.

BOOK: Pirate Nemesis (Telepathic Space Pirates Book 1)
13.67Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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