Kragyn

By Clarissa Lake

The war was over, yet the Sargans came and bombed his world to ruin...

They stole his life by making him a slave, but Kragyn Vermaktu was no slave!
He was a Farseek Warrior. His rebellion landed him on Julconi Prison Planet...
No guards, no rules...

A place where strength meant survival...

Stolen from Earth, sold as a slave Reanne Winter is forced to kill or be killed...
Earning her a one-way trip to Julconi...
Terrified by a mob of males outside the gate, she was sure she would be raped and killed before the day ended...

Enter Kragyn...

He calls her solmatu and offers to get her to safety.
A shock of attraction flashes between them as soon as they touch...

She knows she won’t get a better offer.

Can the passion that burns between them grow into the legendary solmatu bond?

Or is it just a symbiotic relationship born of the need to survive?

Based on the Farseek Mercenary Series

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clarissa Lake
• Release date: May 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005216122

Clarissa Lake

Clarissa Lake grew up watching Star Trek and reading Marvel Comics. She attended science fiction and fantasy conventions where she met many well-known science fiction authors and attended their readings and discussion panels. They included SciFi greats Anne McCaffery, CJ Cherry, George RR Martin, Ben Bova, Timothy Zahn, Frederik Pohl, Orson Scot Card.After years of fruitless efforts to get her books published traditionally, she discovered Kindle Direct Publishing and became an Indie author-publisher.While she loves science fiction, she always thought there should be more romance, so she started writing it hot and steamy.

Book preview

Preface:

Kragyn is a spinoff of the Farseek Mercenary series. It covers some of the same events through the eyes of different characters. While it is not necessary to have read the previous series, some background information might be helpful.

Farseek is a backwater agricultural planet in the Sovereign Transtellar Consortium, settled by a race of humans who called themselves Uatu. They supply the worlds of the Consortium with agricultural products in exchange for technology that automates the massive farms on Farseek. In addition to their agricultural products, they also provide a brigade of ten Dreadnaught warships for the combined defense of the Consortium worlds.

When the long war with the Sargus Empire was over, the Farseek Brigade returned to find their world bombed to ruin. Most of the survivors were taken as slaves to be sold on various worlds. Warrior Kragyn Vermaktu was home on leave when Farseek was attacked. Knocked unconscious by one of the blasts, he was scooped up with the rest of the survivors.

But Kragyn was no slave. After multiple escapes and killing an overseer, he was sent to the Sargus Empire Correctional Colony on Julconi. There were no correctional programs, no guards, and no rules. The worst offenders landed on the Dezron continent, a semi-arid land mass surrounded by oceans with three seasons: warm, hot, and hotter.

It was one of five continents on the world that was a dumping ground for Sargan dissidents and incorrigibles, along with regular criminals, thieves, and murderers. Each continent was ruled by mobocracy where only the strongest survived, which is how Kragyn had stayed alive for the last two years---one as a slave and one as an inmate.

He became a fighter in the pit in the village of Dezron #2. It had been a mining colony settlement before the Sargans turned it into a prison.

In the early days, Julconi had been a mining colony. When it was first turned into a penal colony, there had been corrections officers in residence on the planet. The continual influx of inmates overwhelmed the staff’s control, and they fled.

Glossary of terms and pronunciations:

Kragyn Vermaktu (Krāʹ gĭn Ver măkʹ too)

Uatu (Ū ăʹ too) – Farseekan race of origin

Solmatu (sōl măʹ too) – soul mate, spiritual connection

Julconi (Jool kōʹ nee)

Fehiatu (fĕ hē ăʹ too) Uatu martial arts

Chapter One

The sun had set, and night was falling over the Dezron continent on Julconi Prison Planet. Kragyn was on his way to the fight pit at the largest building in the village.

As the sun sank on the horizon, Kragyn made the half-hour trek from his secret cave to the old village where the nightly fights took place. His first match was the second of the night, so he paused outside the back entrance of the building to run through his pre-fight stretching routine before he went inside.

Fighting in the pit served two purposes for the Farseek warrior. He got to vent his rage and frustration at seeing his world destroyed and being sent to this hell planet because he was not slave material.

The second reason he competed in the pit was that his prowess as a fighter kept the gangs from harassing him. While he won more than he lost, sometimes he took a good beating. Usually, he gave as good as he got. He wouldn’t know who he would fight until he went inside.

Kragyn strode in through the back door. The stench of unwashed bodies and smoke assaulted his nostrils as soon as he stepped into the building. It mixed with the stale odor of spilled ale and the fresh ale that most of the audience was drinking. So far, no blood had been shed, but sooner or later, that smell would enter the mix.

The first fight was just starting. Some kind of reptilian humanoid named Dajuk was facing a horned alien from a race Kragyn hadn’t seen before. Both were bigger than he but not as quick and agile. He would be fighting the winner, so he made sure to arrive in time to see them compete.

The reptilian seemed to anticipate the moves of the horned brute, striking him with a barrage of punches and then dancing away. As the match went on, Kragyn learned that the horned alien was a Fegandan named Oxiraz from a world he had never heard of at the far end of the Sargan Empire. He was big and tough but not much of a fighter.

The Fegandan seemed to rely on brute force rather than skill to stay in the fight. The reptilian’s punches and kicks seemed hardly to faze him, but Oxiraz wasn’t fast enough to land many on the reptilian, Dajuk. Kragyn was pretty sure if Oxiraz connected, Dajuk would have been laid out.

Otherwise, it was like fighting a punching bag. Kragyn thought Dajuk would be challenging, but he felt he could take him. He could probably pound on Oxiraz all night, and the Fegandan might hardly notice. Even a beast like him must have a weak spot somewhere.

The only rule was the last man standing won. Even kicking a male in the genitals was not prohibited. That’s why Kragyn had found material to make a shield for him to use when he fought. But not all humanoid males had them in the same vulnerable position as homo sapiens.

As he watched the fight progress, Oxiraz continually turned as Dajuk danced around him, landing blow after blow, all in the front. The hulking Fegandan seemed to be protecting his backside. He charged Dajuk a couple of times, landing only glancing blows as the reptilian leaped out of his reach.

The mixed species audience was mostly male, and the stench in the room reeked of unwashed bodies and smoke. The crowd seemed impatient for the fight to be over as they were getting bored with the inequitable one-sided action, yelling their displeasure. Oxiraz seemed oblivious, but Dajuk decided to make his move. He managed to move behind the Fegandan and kicked him hard in the middle of his ass.

Oxiraz howled in pain and turned so fast to slam his fist into Dajuk’s head that the reptilian couldn’t avoid the blow. He was knocked off his feet and slammed to the padded floor, where he lay unmoving. It didn’t look like he was breathing, and Kragyn wondered if he was dead.

Oxiraz raised his fists in the air and roared in victory. Then Dajuk drew in a gasping breath but remained unconscious. The Farseek warrior was relieved to see the reptilian was still alive, and he had an idea of how he might win the fight.

About fifteen minutes later, he was in the pit facing the Fegandan. Kragyn used some of the same techniques as Dajuk, but he pounded Oxiraz even harder. All he had to do was tap into his rage at what happened to his world and the course his life had taken.

Punch, punch, punch, punch, dodge, kick, dodge, kick. The Fegundan was solid muscle; it was like punching a side of meat. Kragyn kept at it until he started to get tired. He wasn’t really making much headway, but the activity seemed to be cooling his frustration with what his life had become. Most of the beings surrounding him had fared no better.

He hit Oxiraz with a new barrage of punches, then leaped into an acrobatic tumble that brought him to his feet behind his opponent. Kragyn delivered three sharp kicks to his ass and spun out of the Fegundan’s reach before he could land a massive fist on his body.

Oxiraz roared his pain and anger at Kragyn as he jumped out of his reach. The Farseek warrior pounded his front, alternating with rear assaults until his opponent sank to his knees, howling. Kragyn took that opportunity to launch himself feet first to the back of his head. The momentum pushed Oxiraz face first into the mat, with Kragyn landing on top of his back.

He quickly rolled off and stood looking down at the behemoth he had just bested. The beast-man was still breathing. Kragyn grinned and raised his fists over his head in victory. The crowd cheered at his improbable feat as he turned a slow circle to acknowledge their pleasure at his performance.

With no more takers that night, it was time for a drink of the swill they called ale at the bar. It might take Bardo, the most powerful gang leader on the island continent, a few days or more before he found new opponents to face Kragyn. The next wave of newbies was due any time now. Maybe that would deliver a worthy opponent or two.

Bardo always found someone eventually, but Kragyn didn’t care about that. He kept hoping that one of the newbies would be someone with news of Farseek to tell him what happened to his world and his family.

Chapter Two

The walk to the docking bay of the Sargan Prison shuttle was surreal as Reanne Winter measured her steps to synchronize her stride with the men and women behind and in front of her. They were all strung together with their hands bound in front of them. It was just another indignity inflicted on her since she was abducted from Earth by aliens and sold to an alien pervert.

She had been working late in the garage she had taken over from her father when he retired. The car belonged to one of their best customers, and they needed it for their daughter’s wedding. So, Reanne stayed late to finish the brake job. She often worked after hours to keep up with the work. Then, she would walk home alone even after dark.

It was something she did with regularity without a second thought. Crime was nearly non-existent in their western Maryland hamlet. Her parents’ home was just three blocks from the garage. Reanne was house-sitting while they were wintering in Florida with her Uncle on her father’s side.

One minute, she was walking toward home, and she heard a car coming down the road behind her. Then it was lights out. In her next memory, she was strapped to a bunk in her underwear in a dingy room with metal walls and ceilings. Looking from side to side, she could see four rows of beds stacked four high and anchored to the floor.

At that point, she believed she had been kidnapped by human traffickers. However, she soon discovered that not all the other females in the bunks around her were human.

They were all young and attractive. Reanne, with her beautiful figure and dark honey-colored hair that she kept short, was prettier than average. An auto mechanic would not be most people’s first guess at her occupation. She wasn’t thin enough to be a regular model, but maybe in a plus size catalog. But she might not be large enough. Not many of them actually looked obese. They looked like normal women.

They were on that ship for months; it was almost like being in jail without the yard time. Day after day, with nothing to do in a barracks with inadequate toilet facilities for eighty women. There was almost always a line. Reanne didn’t think things could get much worse until they did.

There were nine other Earth women elsewhere on the ship. She hadn’t seen any of them until they were waiting in line to be sold naked. That came after they were examined in the nude by potential buyers, pinched, and poked in private places.

More than once, she’d felt like she was sexually molested. Afterward, the Pican fitted all the women with choker chain collars and strung them together like livestock. She had seethed in silence through the whole process.

Reanne’s situation just got worse from there. She was purchased by the fat green alien who had shoved his fingers into her vagina because he could. Had she resisted, the Pican would have been quick to apply the pain stick he had used on her that first day. She would have rather taken that excruciating pain if only they wouldn’t make her go with that green alien.

As soon as she realized who had bought her, she knew she was in danger. Just the way he looked at her made her skin crawl. She somehow knew his plans for her included pain. But she had killed him before he got the chance with the very rope he meant to tie her with to torture her.

Now, she was on her way to prison for life. She had heard people talking that life wouldn’t be very long on Julconi for a female with her looks. Those who knew why she was going to prison, even the humanoid guards on the shuttle, didn’t blame her for killing the green Alcranian. They were known for their penchant for abusing females of other species.

The only way she might stay alive is to find a powerful male and fuck him for protection. Alone, she could end up getting gang-raped on her first day out. Reanne didn’t want to think about it. If these were the last hours of her life, she wouldn’t spend them in fear.

She closed her eyes and thought about home and her parents, who by now believed she was dead. She thought about Jake Martin, who had finally asked her out, and the summer parties in the country. She had taken it all for granted, and now it was gone forever.

In less than half an hour later, her fate would be sealed one way or another.

Kragyn quickened his pace as he heard the whine of shuttle engines growing louder as it approached the landing pad. People were streaming toward the fenced-off area, curious about the new crop of prisoners but mostly anxious to get their share of the supply drop that came with them. He reached a spot along the fence near the gate that would give him a good view of the exit ramp. While he didn’t wish his existence on fellow Farseekans, he longed to find at least one other person he knew who survived.

Outwardly, he schooled his features into an indifferent mask, watching and waiting.

The