The Admiral Episode One: The Admiral, #1

By Odette C. Bell

The battle for the galaxy starts now.
Lara Forest is a simple cadet – or so she thinks. When she decides to quit, circumstances force her to reconsider. A hand from her future reaches through the past, and it brings a war.
Soon Lara's thrust head-first into a battle for the Milky Way, not just in this time, but forever. She's not alone. The meddlesome golden-boy Cadet Nok comes with her. She might not appreciate his help now – one day, she will. But that depends on one thing – time. From now on, everything and everyone will depend on it and the admiral in the making, Forest.

…

The Admiral follows two legendary leaders' origin stories as they fight the final battle against the Force. If you love your space operas with action, heart, and a splash of romance, grab The Admiral Episode One today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.

The Admiral is the 9th Galactic Coalition Academy series. A sprawling, epic, and exciting sci-fi world where cadets become heroes and hearts are always won, each series can be read separately, so plunge in today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odette C. Bell
• Release date: Apr 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386724698

Book preview

PROLOGUE

An explosion ripped through half of the ship, tearing it apart in under two seconds. Unprotected bodies tumbled into space, their circulatory systems popping under the impossible force of the vacuum.

Lara Forest clamped a hand over her mouth as tears streaked down her cheeks. She couldn’t wrench her gaze off the viewscreen as it showed the damage to the ship. A red alert shook through the room, pounding up her feet like hammers.

She stood in the remnants of the bridge. The captain’s seat behind her was torn to shreds. The navigation panel just to her left was cracking as sparks splattered over it like blood from a fresh wound.

You don’t have time for this, someone said from behind her. You have to get out there – you have to save those people. You have to stop this from ever happening.

Lara forced herself to turn over her shoulder. There stood something that should not exist. A version of her older self. The woman was dressed in a Coalition uniform – one Lara had never seen. The fabric was more sophisticated, though in chunks, it’d been ripped right off from the strain of running through a broken bridge.

You need to get out of here, now. They’ll come for you, the woman repeated in a snarl.

Lara shook her head. Tears still tumbled down her cheeks.

The older woman took a strong step forward. It should have been impossible – she had a broken leg. A chunk of bone protruded out of her thigh, and blood soaked down the front of her trousers. You will get out of here. And you will save the Coalition.

I don’t know who you are, Lara stammered.

I’ve already told you – I am your future self. I am Admiral Forest. And I will not let the Coalition fall.

Lara went to shake her head again. This couldn’t be happening. The ship was breaking apart, half the crew were dead, and she was hallucinating about her future self.

Lara would never be an admiral. She didn’t have it in her.

Whoever this woman was – whether she was some hallucination, a hologram, or an enemy trick – she acted like an admiral. Before Lara could duck away again, the so-called Admiral Forest closed the gap between them and grabbed Lara’s shoulders.

As the older woman’s hands settled on Lara’s skin, a jolt of energy passed through her body. It felt as if she’d just swallowed lightning.

You will save the Coalition. You must shut down the time gates. That’s how I got here – through a time gate. You will find them, you will close them, and you will save the galaxy.

Lara couldn’t shudder back – Admiral Forest wouldn’t let her. All she could do was stare into the eyes of the woman she would one day become as she muttered, I’ll do it.

Lara would have no choice.

The fight for the galaxy was about to begin.

1

Two weeks ago

I hope you will reconsider, Captain Chanda said as he steepled his fingers and leaned forward against his desk.

Lara did him the dignity of staring into his eyes, even though all she wanted to do was cut her gaze up and lock it on the windows behind him. They showed a view that led out over Academy grounds. She could see the bay glimmering beyond. Up above, the sky stretched out forever. Dusk was starting to set. Blues and yellows and golds tracked across the horizon, and they drew her gaze up until she saw the first glittering stars.

He cleared his throat. Chanda might be getting on a bit at the tender age of 90, but his senses were still sharp. I hope you’ll reconsider, Lara, he repeated.

Lara clasped her hands firmly behind her back. She ran her teeth over her lip. It was the only way she could stop herself from telling him exactly what she thought. There was no way she was going to reconsider. Her mind was made up.

Your letter of resignation says you will stay until the end of your scheduled training trip. All that I ask is on this trip, you keep an open mind. If you look, you will see that the Coalition can offer you exactly what you want, Cadet Forest.

Lara smiled. I’ll keep an open mind, she promised. But that was it.

Her mind was made up. She’d decided weeks ago – maybe months ago. The Coalition wasn’t for her. It didn’t fit right. She wanted adventure, but not at the helm of some starship surrounded by obsequious crew.

There was something inside Lara that wanted to get out, and it was time to let it free.

She snapped a salute.

The captain let out a sigh, then snapped his own salute. It was perfect, right down to his stiff wrist, flat fingers, and neutral expression. It’s natural to have questions about your future career in the Coalition.

I don’t have questions. I know what I want to do, sir. And it’s not this. She let her salute fall, and she walked away.

It was time for Lara to do what she’d always wanted to.

See the galaxy on her terms.

She would not get the chance.

…

Training simulation aboard the Zeus, two weeks later

This will be the hardest combat training scenario you have ever encountered, Commander A’qua said as he walked around the cadets, his hands clamped behind his massive back. He was half human, half something else – and whatever that other half was, it was huge. Most of the cadets were dead scared of him.

That should have included Lara. Several weeks ago, it had. Then she’d made up her mind to leave the Coalition, and now nothing seemed that real anymore.

Though all the cadets stood to attention, Lara made the mistake of unhooking one of her hands from behind herself, bringing it up, and pulling a few strands of her hair out of her tight bun. They were bothering her scalp.

Immediately, A’qua’s eyes locked on her. One of his lips ticked up, and he bared his sharp, black, pointed teeth. Is there a reason you’ve broken protocol, Cadet Forest?

No, sir, she said automatically as she let her hands drop. She clasped them behind her back, but her stance was weak. A passing breeze could have unshaken her posture as easily as someone pushing over a doll. As for her hands, if A’qua bothered to walk around her, he would see she was impatiently tapping her thumb against the base of her wrist.

A’qua would know she intended to quit. Most people did.

It wasn’t like Lara had that many friends – she had an acerbic personality that drove people away. That wasn’t the point – even the few friends she’d once called her own now kept their distance.

It was drilled into you from the first day you entered the Academy that you didn’t quit. Maybe if you had family circumstances or something massive happened in your life, but you didn’t just suddenly change your mind midway through your final year. That was a waste of all the resources the Coalition had invested into you. More than anything – it was a waste of the friendship and loyalty you’d gained.

A’qua looked like he wanted to say something, but Lara stared right past him at the view through one of the massive windows that lined this corridor.

She was on the observation deck of the Zeus. Their group was contained while the real crew rushed about, actually running the ship.

The Zeus hadn’t left Earth yet. Behind A’qua was a backdrop of that beautiful, glittering planet.

Beyond that? Reaching out into the depths of space, spread the galaxy.

Lara’s back itched with nerves. They weren’t unpleasant – just the opposite. She wanted to get out there and make a name for herself away from the Coalition. She didn’t want to live tucked under a stiff collar anymore as she snapped salutes and stammered, Yes, sir.

Lara might’ve joined the Coalition because of her late father, but it’d taken until her final year to appreciate there was no point in doing something she didn’t want to do just to honor his memory.

Just don’t disappoint the rest of us, A’qua settled for snarling as he walked past Lara. He did a loop around the group. He would’ve looked like a cattle dog rounding up livestock were it not for his massive size.

Brilliant light filtered in through the window – not just from Earth below, but from the hovering robots making the final touches to the Zeus’ hull. They would ensure efficient transport through one of the high priority routes.

Lara let herself be distracted by every glittering light.

She kept watching them until finally the briefing was over.

She waited until all the other cadets had dispersed until she bothered to turn.

There was a problem – not everyone had left.

You know, you could probably do them the dignity of pretending to pay attention.

Standing in front of her was none other than Nok. Once upon a time, she’d had a thing for him, but the stoic humanlike alien had never returned her affections. As far as she was aware, they currently had exactly no relationship whatsoever. But you would need at least something for Nok to think he could get away with a comment like that.

Lara pressed her lips over her teeth. I listened to the briefing. I will follow my orders, she said automatically.

Nok got an unreadable look on his face. To be fair, most of his looks were unreadable. He belonged to a race who knew precisely how to move every single one of their features at will. They were the best spies. Even a full empath would have trouble getting past their defenses.

Now, for whatever reason, he wasn’t hiding what he was thinking. And what he was thinking was that she disappointed him.

It almost stirred something in Lara, but she pushed it away as she offered him a polite, noncommittal smile. Is there something else you want, Nok?

He seemed to look right through her. You’re making a mistake, you know.

She’d been about to walk away, but she stopped. She cast her gaze past him, over to the window, then over to him again. And what’s that?

You’re wasting the resources the Coalition has put into you.

She chuckled. That’s no way to think of cadets. We’re not resources. We are not like stocks waiting to mature.

Then what are we?

Lara ran her tongue over her teeth. People.

You’re missing an important detail.

And what’s that?

We are people who serve. I would’ve thought that by now you would have figured that out. Without another word, he turned and walked away.

Lara locked her gaze on the back of his neck. It easily slipped down to his broad shoulders under his always ill-fitting uniform. Like any other Harvonian, Nok had the ability to put on muscle at will. Most of the time, he was lean and wiry, but when he needed to, he could bulk up. It was usually a sign of some threat. For whatever reason, he had to feel threatened now, because she watched as muscles pushed against the fabric of his standard recruit uniform.

The only thing I figured out, Nok, she muttered under her breath, keeping her voice as quiet as she could so it wouldn’t carry, is the Coalition just isn’t worth it anymore.

She turned away. She wanted to get back to her room, jump into bed, and sleep until the training scenario began. The rest of the cadets would be hungrily rushing around the Zeus, enjoying every single second of their first official spaceflight.

Lara went to turn away, but just at the last moment, she saw something.

Something flickered across the glass in front of her. It moved so quickly, it couldn’t be one of the reflected lights from the robots outside.

She jerked her head over to it just in time to see a reflection.

Tilting her head to the side and taking a quick step up, she caught the reflection again.

It was of her – and yet it wasn’t. Somehow, it looked like an older version of herself. Her young skin was wizened, with deep worry lines embedded in her cheeks and brow. That determined look she was renowned for burned 100 times more brilliantly.

What the hell? Her voice shook, but before she could catch sight of that reflection again, it disappeared.

It took her several seconds to pull her hand off the glass and walk away. Even then, she warily stared back several times. When that strange reflection didn’t reappear, she pried herself away from the observation deck. The thought crossed her mind that she should head to the infirmary, in case something was wrong with her, but she couldn’t be bothered. It was just stress. Maybe she was more bothered by Nok’s comments than she’d like to believe.

She didn’t care about him. She was over him in the same way she was over the Coalition. Lara could do that, see. When she decided she didn’t need something anymore, she could cut it from her existence like a lizard dropping its tail.

There was an uneasy quality to her gait as she walked back to the accommodation deck.

By the time she finally reached her quarters, she’d put it out of her mind. But the second the door opened, she swore she caught a reflection in the shiny silver panel beside it.

Again she saw just a glimpse of an older woman standing exactly where she was.

She shook her head. She squeezed her eyes closed and opened them, and the reflection was gone.

She brought a hand up, cupped her chin, and drove her fingers hard into her temple. As her short nails left half-moon cuts in the flesh, she mentally tried to push that image away.

Once upon a time, Lara had seen things. Horrible things. For a long time, she’d had intrusive thoughts, too.

That came hand-in-hand with watching your father die a violent death as he was sucked out into space and torn apart.

She thought she’d gotten over that image, but something brought it back, and as she strode into her tiny quarters, she stopped halfway in as an image of her father’s purple face spirited across her mind.

She came to a complete stop. All her muscles refused to work, and her chest froze halfway through a breath.

There, right in front of her mind’s eye, she could see a perfect recreation of what had happened to her father less than eight years ago.

Captain Ventura Forest had been one of the most decorated captains in the fleet. Brave, loyal, and with an unflappable sense of duty, he was everything a good Coalition soldier should be. He’d lived as the model soldier all his life, and critically, he’d died that way, too.

Lara had been visiting him on his ship, the Prometheus. It had been attacked by a Kore raiding party. Rather than let his crew fall into their hands, he’d single-handedly fought them

Reviews for The Admiral Episode One

[Susiati · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gripping!!! Though the lead female character is really annoying and disappointing, and almost sounds dumb, hysterical... Hopefully in the next episode she would be tougher, smarter and just not annoying anymore...