Souls of Fate

By J. Kirsch

Kuan is a Specter, an assassin who isn't supposed to feel. But when the solo killer and a team of marines are thrust into a mission which goes horribly wrong, he learns that the line between alien and human, good and evil, is not so clear. Ultimately he must ask himself whether he's willing to risk everything to save a girl marked for death by the same government who created him.

First he has to survive, though, and to do that he needs allies. In a universe where Specters are demonized as vicious killers, he can't afford to trust humans, let alone aliens from faraway galaxies. Kuan finds himself at the mercy of a creature both inhuman and calculating, but a new type of alien reveals itself, blowing away Kuan's notions of what it means to be intelligent. With a telepathic four-legged creature at his side, Kuan begins to learn that sacrifice and discipline aren't just for hardened killers. And the friendship T'kyl teaches him might be just the impetus he needs to rescue a girl whom everyone else has written off for dead...

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Kirsch
• Release date: Feb 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310520990

J. Kirsch

I'm an avid writer, traveler, and dog lover. I grew up in Chicago, IL raised by two librarians with a sincere love for storytelling, and the rest has been one long and mostly memorable adventure. I have published 3 novels, 7 novellas and more than 65 short stories. My stories have been featured on The Book Cave, received praise from award-winning authors, and become bestsellers on Amazon and Smashwords. I currently live in Spartanburg, SC, where I have the privilege of working with amazing people who love books and storytelling as much as I do.

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Souls of Fate

By J. Kirsch

Copyright 2014 J. Kirsch

Smashwords Edition

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Acclaim for the novels and stories of J. Kirsch:

Excellent, powerful, vivid writing! Scifi just doesn't get any better than this!

-K.G. McAbee, distinguished Honorable Mention author for Writers of the Future

Good writing. Good characters.

-Barnes&Noble Nook Book, User Reviews

Well-written.

-Barnes&Noble Nook Book, User Reviews

Loved the characters.

-Barnes&Noble Nook Book, User Reviews

OTHER TITLES BY J. KIRSCH

The Human Insurgency

Tales from Omega Station: Abduction

Tales from Omega Station: Betrayal

Chapter 1

A Human transport hurtled through space, a metallic beast in the midst of nothingness. The soft cycle of the ship’s engines whispered in the background. Figures sat unmoving in the small but well lit hull. They were warriors of humanity, their mission deadly. One man stood alone, his stoic features betraying neither anxiety nor fear. But that was to be expected, of course. That was what he was conditioned for. Specters weren’t supposed to have emotions. They weren’t supposed to feel. Kuan Shano had realized that since the day his parents had enrolled him in the Specter program at the age of three. He was one of the few Umoqan recruits, and spent the precious first few years of his life in the magnificent city of Yinn. The Shano family was the most powerful family in the city. Their wealth was unmatched and their honorable reputation always preceded them. They had had many successful sons and daughters, but hearing of the distant war they decided to make a contribution to their people, to the Human race. And so it was decided that Kuan Shano, youngest son of the Shano family, was to be that contribution. His parents agreed to the terms of his enrollment, and just like that everything that little Kuan had known suddenly vanished. It was hard at first, but the scientists of the Colonial Confederacy did what they could to make him forget. Years of conditioning had made him a perfect warrior.

Being a Specter meant many things. Specters were the best humanity had to offer. Their conditioning and array of cybernetic weaponry made them a vital tool in the war effort. And as a tool, he'd switched hands only recently. With the Colonial Confederacy on the decline, the planet-state of Umoqa had switched sides and joined the cause of the Federal Dominion.

Did Kuan care who ruled? Did it matter, when both sides were willing to go to the same lengths to silence their opposition? Kuan was at the epicenter of it all though because he was the best of the best. All of the officers in the Dominion right up to President Murdurec Xanth believed that he was the most powerful Specter since Zurricroi, a legendary assassin who'd offed more Dominion leaders than fingers and toes could count. But to Kuan Shano such grisly reverence didn’t mean shit.

His world was a living hell. No one knew it, but it was true. It was his job to kill, and if there were any innocent people in the way, tough shit. He was conditioned to kill without thought, without remorse. Killing wasn’t supposed to bother Specters. But it did bother Kuan Shano. Despite the many years of hardened training, a shred of humanity, of feeling and emotion, held fast in his tormented soul. The horrible memories would never leave him. Nightmares haunted him by night. He would never forget that day. They had dropped him on the surface of the planet Tranquility. The human settlement that had flourished there had lived in peace for as long as anyone knew. Then came the Zelkar, an alien race which could spread like a virus. Reports came in that a portion of the colony on Tranquility had been infested. The Confederacy had decided to take action, and who else better to carry out the plans but one of the Confederacy’s little toys? They had dropped Kuan about a kilometer from the town. His orders were simple. Set off the nuke and get the hell out of there. He had followed those orders. And millions of innocent people had died.

Kuan’s sweat-soaked body shuddered as he came back to reality. The marines gave