The Admiral: The Complete Series

By Odette C. Bell

The complete The Admiral series follows Lara and Nok fighting the final war against the Force in this four-book boxset.
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: The Complete Series 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: Sep 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005785239

Book preview

The Admiral: The Complete Series

#9 From the Galactic Coalition Academy series

Odette C. Bell

Odette C Bell

www.odettecbell.com

Copyright

All characters in this publication are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The Admiral: The Complete Series

Copyright © 2020 Odette C Bell

Cover art stock photos licensed from Depositphotos.

Odette C Bell

www.odettecbell.com

The Admiral: The Complete Series Blurb

This is an AI-narrated audiobook.

The complete The Admiral series follows Lara and Nok fighting the final war against the Force in this four-book boxset.

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: The Complete Series today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell boxset.

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.

The Admiral: The Complete Series

Title Page

Copyright

Blurb

Table of Contents

The Admiral Episode One

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

The Admiral Episode Two

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

The Admiral Episode Three

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

The Admiral Episode Four

Author’s Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Epilogue

Sample

Newsletter

About The Author

Reading Order

Guide

Front Matter

Start of Content

Back Matter

The Admiral Episode One

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.

Chapter 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 off. He would have managed the impossible, saving everyone and the ship, had one of the airlocks not malfunctioned. It would have sucked Lara out, but at the last moment, her father had sacrificed himself to save her.

Lara brought up a slightly trembling hand and pushed it over her eyes. When that didn’t help, and she couldn’t block out the image of him tumbling helplessly through the void, his eyes opening wide one last time as he stared at her, she pushed against her eyes until she saw stars. She didn’t let her hand drop until it felt as if she’d squeezed her eyes out of the back of her skull.

Even then, that didn’t stop the images. They kept flooding through her consciousness with sickening speed.

Quitting is the right thing to do, she said through clenched teeth. I don’t want to be part of the Coalition anymore. It doesn’t seem to know what it is, she concluded.

With a sigh, she walked over to her tiny gel mattress, turned, and flopped down on it.

She slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. It was plain, smooth, silver metal. She let her gaze trace down the almost invisible rivets.

When that didn’t help, she turned onto her side and stared at the wall. A mistake. The second her eyes locked on the shimmering metal, she saw that fleeting glimpse again. Except this time, it lasted longer. She swore she could see right into her own eyes. They were filled with a determination, wisdom, and power Lara could never have imagined.

She gasped, jerked back, locked a hand on her mouth, and tried to breathe through her fingers. What the hell is happening here?

She closed her eyes and opened them again experimentally. At first she saw nothing, but then she saw that fleeting glimpse.

She jerked up off her bed.

She stood in the middle of her small room and shook her hands up and down. With nowhere else to go, she walked into her tiny bathroom. She splashed water on her face and stared into the mirror above the sink.

She gazed at her eyes as she started to question if she was slipping.

Leaving the Coalition is the right thing to do… Dad, she found herself talking to him – or at least his ghost. She hadn’t done that for years. In the months after the accident, the only way she’d been able to soothe herself to sleep was by talking to her memories of him. Once his body had been repatriated, she’d kept his Coalition insignia. She’d slept with it under her pillow, and whenever her nightmares had gotten too bad, she’d always pulled it out and started chatting to it.

Her dad had always known what to do.

He’d wanted her to join the Coalition. But he’d also wanted her to follow her dreams.

The Coalition isn’t for me, she said as tears streamed down her cheeks. Lara rarely cried. There had to be a reason. That was her motto – why show emotion unless you had to? Yeah, maybe that was one of the reasons she had so few friends, but it had gotten her through her life, and it was a rule she relied on now as she clenched her teeth hard. I’ve made my decision, dad, she kept staring at herself as she let her gaze trace the path of her tears down her cheeks, over her chin, and under her collar. The Coalition has lost direction. I don’t know who they stand for anymore.

There was no one to answer – except the memory of her father. So why did she suddenly see her reflection in the mirror move? Her lips twitched and opened. The Coalition hasn’t lost its way. You have.

Lara gasped. She jerked back and locked a hand on her mouth. She hadn’t said that. Yet she’d clearly seen the reflection in the mirror—

Someone hit the call button from outside, and a buzz echoed through the room.

She backed away from the mirror. She didn’t look where she was going, and her shoulder hit the doorframe. She tumbled to the side and fell harshly onto her ass.

There was another buzz. Forest? You okay?

It was Nok.

Rather than race to her feet, dry her tears, fix her uniform, answer the door, and tell him to rack off, she remained there on the floor, her hand clasped over her mouth. Her fingers sank in as hard as they could go until it felt as if she would lose her lips from blood loss.

Forest? Answer the door. I’m concerned, Nok said. He wasn’t one to beat around the bush. Just like her, he said what he meant.

It took too long for Lara to let her hand drop from her mouth. I’m fine, she said in a trite tone. There was a slight waver, but she tried to hide it with anger. You don’t need to check up on me.

There was a pause. You’re crying in there, aren’t you? he said, his tone unreadable.

Lara clenched her teeth together. Even through the door and over the intercom, Nok could sense her true emotional state.

She brought up her thumbs, wiped them hard over her eyes, shook her hands out, and stood. You don’t need to check up on me, she repeated, her voice hard.

What makes you think I am? Nok asked flatly.

It felt like a slap. Lara shifted her jaw from side to side before settling on clenching her teeth hard. Then what do you want?

We’ve been asked to assemble on the bridge. The captain wishes to speak to us. You have five minutes. Without a goodbye, he walked away.

Lara stood there, and she shook. It wasn’t a full-body quiver – just the slightest shake of her shoulders. That was enough to tell her she was unraveling.

She took her five minutes. Every single one of them. She hadn’t felt this broken in years.

Only when she’d dried her tears and checked her reflection did she finally walk out of her quarters.

She didn’t rush. She couldn’t. Her muscles felt dead. Either it was her emotion, or it was what? She was cracking up under the strain of leaving the Coalition?

This was the right thing to do. She knew that from the bottom of her heart. The last couple of years of training had confirmed her worst suspicions. The Coalition had grown far from its roots. Back when it had been created, it had been founded on principles of peace and exploration. But these last years had been so violent, with new incursions from the Barbarians and the Kore Empire, that the Coalition had flown far from its coop. It was no longer interested in protection. Warships were being built every day to take on the looming threat of the Kore.

When she’d walked into the recruiting office all those years ago, she hadn’t intended to join an army. She’d wanted to see the galaxy – not trample over it with guns.

So why was she shaking even now as she tried to tell herself that? She balled up a hand into a fist, pressed it close to the door button, squeezed her eyes closed, then finally jammed her thumb to the side. The door opened. By the time it did, she had precisely 30 seconds to get to the bridge. She smoothed what she hoped was a calm expression over her face, and she walked out.

She heard footfall behind her. She didn’t even bother to turn. It would be Nok. Maybe, despite his protestations that he wasn’t checking up on her, somewhere under his always-calm exterior was someone who actually cared for Lara.

Or maybe she was reading too much into him. An unflappable man like Nok would never ditch the Coalition – especially in his last year. The second he graduated, he would be on the fast track for lieutenant. Heck, she could easily see him becoming a commander in a few years, then a captain, then an admiral.

Lara stopped. Her muscles froze. It felt like something reached in and grabbed hold of her heart – all on one word. Admiral.

Before she could stop herself, she found her lips parting, and she stammered that word aloud, Admiral.

She took another step. Something grabbed her elbow.

She turned her head over her shoulder.

… There was nothing there.

She felt the sensation of fingers hooking around her elbow and pressing hard until her flesh puckered. Out of the corner of her eye, she swore she could see her uniform rumpling.

But there was nothing there.

Her heart skipped a beat and started to thunder in her chest. A quick sweat slicked down the sides of her temples and prickled along her hairline.

But the sensation disappeared. Just as quickly as it had appeared, it went.

Lara’s elbow dropped to her side. It was as limp as a rag doll’s.

Her eyes were wide with terror. She was so out of it, she didn’t hear someone walking up behind her until it was too late.

A hand descended on her shoulder. She freaked out and screamed.

I don’t mean to alarm you, Nok said from behind her. He left his fingers pushing against the tip of her shoulder. His grip wasn’t hard, yet. That was the thing about Nok and his unique physiology – every movement was accompanied by the promise that it could get harder and stronger at any moment.

Lara pulled herself together, turned, and faced him. In doing so, she shrugged off his grip. I’m…. She went to say fine, but how could she do that? She’d graduated from seeing things to feeling things. Though all she wanted to do was bring up her offending elbow and run her fingers over it to try to chase away the lingering heat of that ghostly touch, she settled for trying to control her expression.

You are late. We should have arrived at the bridge approximately 10 seconds ago.

I’m not going. The words were out before she could stop them. Though she’d tried to shrug off seeing things earlier, maybe it was time to go get some help.

Though the very last thing Lara wanted to do was admit that she had an emotional problem, she was pragmatic. That was the one thing her father had taught her more than anything else. When it came to it, you pushed away your emotions and you acted. Others couldn’t do that. That was okay. But if you could, you used that ability. It was one of the rarest skills in the galaxy. Maybe it meant you wouldn’t make many friends – but at least you’d keep people alive.

It is a requirement. Though you have made your mind up to quit, you cannot quit until after this training session.

I’m going… I’m going to the med bay, she said. Though Nok was the last person she wanted to admit this to, like she’d already said – it was time to be pragmatic.

Nok looked her up and down. You do not appear to be unwell. If, on the other hand, your symptoms are emotional, there is little that the medical team will be able to do for you. It is natural to have second thoughts about quitting the Coalition—

I’m not having second thoughts, she stammered. And I’m going to the med bay.

You are required on the bridge.

God, why had she had feelings for this guy? Nok was popular at the Academy, but you had to look past his persistent, blocklike personality to see what shone beneath.

Yeah, I don’t need you to repeat that. Go to the bridge, Cadet. She turned hard on her foot. It took until she walked a few meters away to appreciate the tone she’d just used didn’t belong to her. She’d spat the order for him to go to the bridge like she was a seasoned admiral.

She took another step, but she froze. It was all on that word. Just repeating it in her head felt like a ghostly hand was reaching out and grabbing hold of her arm.

She stiffened. Again she swore she felt something tracing along her elbow. It wasn’t gripping her hard like it had last time – it was just shifting past as if whatever it was was having trouble re-aligning with this realm.

You do not have the authority to order me around, Cadet Forest.

She tuned him out. This dense ringing started to pick up in her head. It was like she’d swallowed the pure form of static. She brought up a hand and pressed it into her brow.

Get to the bridge, she said. Except she swore she didn’t say anything at all. Just as had happened in front of her mirror, the voice seemingly came from nowhere.

She froze. She waited for Nok to react to that disembodied tone. When he didn’t, she appreciated what she’d already suspected – it was all in her head.

Cadet Forest— Nok began.

Get to the bridge, Lara. You’re needed. Get to the bridge now. Before people start dying. The voice came from nowhere. It echoed up from the floor, boomed down from the ceiling, and rang around her head as if someone had thrown her into a tolling bell.

Move. Their lives will be in your hands, that voice blared in her mind one last time.

She didn’t want to move. She needed to stay still until she stopped hallucinating. She couldn’t. This sense of overwhelming urgency rushed through her. It hit her bloodstream and pumped into her muscles like liquid fuel. Before she knew what she was doing, she turned hard on her foot. She pushed down the corridor. At first, it was an unsteady, quick walk, but she soon pushed into a jog.

Nok kept up beside her. I’m glad that you have chosen to do the right thing. Perhaps you are redeemable after all.

If Lara had been in her right mind, she would’ve snarled at him for that comment. Choosing to follow orders did not make one redeemable. Not following them did not make them irredeemable. There was a dangerous association between playing the Coalition game and moral righteousness. Maybe it had always been there and Lara just hadn’t seen it when she’d followed her dad around. Or maybe it hadn’t, and the Coalition was twisting before her very eyes as it became an army, not an exploration force.

None of that mattered – only her pounding heart did as they reached a set of lifts and she threw herself inside.

Two lieutenants shot her and Nok surprised looks, but they didn’t comment as they left the lift.

Lara hesitated as she brought a hand up to stab the button that would lead to the bridge. She crunched her fingers in at the last moment as she caught up with what she was doing.

She was going mad. This was stress talking. Quitting the Coalition was digging up uncomfortable memories, and for whatever reason… they were making her see things.

That was the only rational conclusion.

Nok was staring at her. When she didn’t press the bridge button, he leaned over, close enough that his arm brushed past hers. He stared at her as he pressed the button.

He’d given her lingering looks like that over the years, but nothing recently. Stares like that had been one of the reasons she’d fallen for him back in their first year.

Why are you looking at me like that? she stammered. It wasn’t a question she should be asking. She should be making a beeline for the infirmary. Heck, she should just contact the Chief Medical Officer from here and admit that she was hearing things.

Instead, she let Nok distract her.

He straightened up. Without facing her, he shrugged. You’re intriguing.

This line of questioning was the only thing stopping her from crumbling. With a shuddering breath, she swallowed. Why?

You have the greatest capacity of any of our class, yet you choose to turn your back on that.

She should have known that this would just turn into another reprimand from Nok.

Nok didn’t jump on his high horse and keep whipping her. With a thoughtful look, he shrugged again.

Why are you still looking at me like that?

I’m attracted to intriguing things.

Just before she could spiral down into fear again, her stomach clenched. Was that an innocent use of the word attract? Or was Nok trying to tell her something?

Or was he just trying to distract her, because a second later, they arrived. The bridge doors opened, and standing right there was Commander A’qua. The captain was behind him. The 10 cadets who were part of this training simulation were arranged around him.

As soon as A’qua locked eyes on her, his lips stiffened until they looked like set concrete. I’m assuming there is a reason that you were late and that that reason is not disrespect.

She’d never been that much of a target for A’qua before. Now she’d quit, apparently the commander saw it as a reason to go after her like a predator to a wounded animal.

The captain cleared his throat. Either he didn’t want A’qua disciplining Lara in front of his crew and disrupting their operations, or he was a more forgiving man.

No. It was neither of those. Lara might be crumbling under whatever was happening to her mind, but she could still register the captain’s expression. There was a saddened quality to it.

He would have known her father. Or maybe he’d just known of him. The first year at the Academy had been almost impossible for Lara. Every single teacher she’d run into had all shared their condolences and gone out of their way to affirm that her father had been the model Coalition soldier.

Lara got the urge to turn right back around, in front of all the senior members of crew and her fellow cadets, and walk back into the lifts.

Maybe Nok had become a mind reader in the last few seconds, because he strategically placed himself between her and retreat.

She took a hard breath. Though she didn’t want to believe the intrusive voice she’d heard back down on the accommodation deck, she couldn’t stop her attention from shifting around the bridge.

Suffice to say, people weren’t dying. The view screen did not show armies shooting toward the Zeus, ready to blow it up.

Not a single person had a bloody nose or even a scratch.

… This wasn’t the first time Lara had dealt with intrusive thoughts. She’d had them after her father’s death. They’d been damn dark things. They’d whispered to her about the destruction of the galaxy. They’d blamed his death on her inaction. And they’d promised her that no matter what she did, she would never outgrow his greatness.

It’s good of you to join us, Captain Marshall said. Now, I’m sure, for some of you at least, this is the first time you’ve been on the bridge of a Coalition starship.

That caveated statement was for her. This certainly wasn’t the first time she’d been on the bridge of a Coalition heavy cruiser.

And it wouldn’t be the last time, a voice promised her.

She frowned. It wasn’t an intrusive thought this time. It was just certainty that bubbled up from some unknown place. It promised her that no matter what she thought she would do, she would spend her life on bridges just like this in front of people just like these.

And that life would not be wasted.

This is the heart of the Coalition. Bridges like this – ships like these – run the day-to-day activities of the Coalition Peace Force. The captain stood in front of his command seat, his hands clasped behind his back as he spoke proudly.

Lara tuned out.

She brought her left elbow up and gently cupped it with her other hand. She pushed her fingers in, tracing them up and down the stretchy but strong fabric of her uniform.

That ghostly touch was gone.

Because it’d just been a figment of her imagination.

As soon as she thought that, her teeth clenched for some reason. Tension gripped her jaw, transferred down her neck, and tightened every muscle of her chest until it felt like someone had cast her in steel.

This wasn’t her imagination. Something was happening to her. Unless she caught up with it soon, she’d be too late to do anything.

Fortunately Captain Marshall wasn’t paying attention to her. He gestured toward the view screen. His hand was held out to it, his stance strong. It was as if he was ushering these cadets through a gate into the future.

Gate.

Future.

Those two words echoed through her mind, and they struck her with the force of a heavy cruiser.

Before she knew what she was doing, her knees wobbled, and she staggered backward.

There was a console to her side. Instead of tumbling right into it and cracking her skull, Nok shoved in hard and grabbed her by the shoulder.

He did so smoothly and quickly, and barely anyone bothered to look up.

It took him a few seconds until he released his grip on her arm.

Perhaps you should go to the medical bay, he conceded so quietly, his voice couldn’t travel.

Yeah. She needed—

She couldn’t finish that thought.

At the intention of turning away from the bridge, waves of muscular convulsions shifted through her body. They started in her feet, ran up her knees, plunged into her pelvis, arced up her spine, and pulsed into her hands. The next thing she knew, she clenched them. It felt like she was simultaneously running and fighting for her life while standing still and doing nothing.

Her heart rate doubled, then tripled, then became unreadable as her chest felt ready to pop.

Nok hadn’t moved far from her side. He shifted in even closer until she felt his heat.

His race had high metabolisms, and that resulted in high body heat. You could be sitting next to one in class, and it would be like snuggling up to a heater.

As a strange, cold sensation descended through her as if someone had forced her to swallow an iceberg, she was wholly thankful for his warmth.

I can take you to the med bay, Nok said privately. He had the ability to ensure his voice didn’t carry. It all came down to his race’s capacity to finely manipulate their physical body and any movements it made.

He was close behind her, and his breath cut across the side of her cheek. It was the only thing that reminded her that she wasn’t actually freezing on the spot.

Though all she wanted to do was let him lead her away, she couldn’t be led. That sense she’d felt back on the accommodation deck – that something was building, that something was almost here – hit a fever pitch.

Lara. Nok uncharacteristically used her first name as he settled his hand on her elbow. It wasn’t the elbow that was troubling her – which was great. If he’d grabbed that one, she would have screamed, freaked out, and tried to throw him off.

She couldn’t… god, she couldn’t breathe. Pressure built in her chest. It wasn’t just like she’d swallowed a balloon – it was like a black hole was forming inside her. It was sucking out every last inhalation, stealing the heat of her body with it.

Nok’s fingers tightened around her elbow. Sometimes he might act like a blockhead, but like all members of his race, he was exquisitely attentive. While no one else noticed she was losing it, his grip on her elbow told her he knew exactly what she was going through.

He pulled her back.

Except she couldn’t be moved.

Like she’d said so many times, Nok was a strong man. Critically, he was the kind of man who could get stronger if he needed to. As she resisted, maybe unconsciously – maybe on purpose – he pulled her a little harder.

She still wouldn’t move. She felt cemented to the spot.

She checked in with her body, but it wasn’t her that was holding her there. She started to feel that ghostly hand wrapping around her left elbow. Its grip was indescribable. It felt like her own hand, but not one that was currently attached to her body. Though this was the most insane thing she would ever think, it felt like a hand from the future reaching back and grabbing her past self.

Lara, come on, Nok insisted.

He didn’t control his tone this time.

The officers closest to him looked around, and it got Marshall’s attention.

The captain frowned. Is something wrong? His gaze ticked down to Nok’s hold of Lara’s elbow.

Lara assumed, given Nok’s unrelenting attention to detail and protocol, that he would quickly take a step back from her. He didn’t. Forest isn’t feeling well. I will—

He couldn’t get the words out.

Something grabbed hold of Lara’s left elbow. It wasn’t just a ghostly touch this time. It closed around her skin with such force, she crumpled as it pulled her to the side.

She was wrenched free from Nok’s grip.

If she’d only had a few people’s attention earlier, that changed. Every single set of eyes on the bridge locked on her – none more so than Nok’s. Fear and surprise opened his golden eyes wide. He would’ve felt what no one else would know. Lara hadn’t just randomly lurched to the side – she’d been pulled.

He had a chance to open his lips and stammer, What—

Duck, Lara heard that disembodied voice again. It echoed right out from behind her ear. This time there was no mistaking it – it was there. Breath rushed past her hair. She could feel it shifting around her face.

So Lara did as she was told. She crumpled onto the deck and latched her hands behind her head.

Nothing happened. The bridge didn’t break apart. Enemies didn’t transport around her.

Nope. There was just complete silence as, in front of all the crew and her fellow cadets, Lara lost it.

For several seconds, she didn’t move. That sensation that told her something was about to happen started to ebb. It fluttered away, and in its place, all she felt was embarrassment. It climbed her stomach, choked her throat, and left a cloying sweat picking up between her shoulders.

Cadet, what’s wrong with you? the captain asked.

She locked her fingers around her head. She stared at the floor plating. She took one pressured breath, and she pushed to her feet.

She couldn’t look at the accusatory gazes of her fellow cadets. They’d already written her off for quitting. Now they had a fresh new reason to hate her for acting like a complete loon on the bridge of one of the most important ships of the fleet.

She was almost too scared to look at Nok. He didn’t share that compunction. He took a quick step up to her side. Compassion and fear opened his features wide. What was that?

I guess I’m just— she began, about to stammer at him that she was losing it.

Something grabbed the back of her head and forced it down. It used so much strength, she heard something clicking in her neck, and her hair flared around her face.

Nok moved as fast as light. He wrapped an arm around her middle before she could smash her face against the unyielding plating of the floor.

She could tell he turned his muscles onto full, but despite that, his boots skidded as he was thrust back.

What are you doing, Cadet Forest? Marshall’s tone changed. Gone was the saddened quality she’d heard earlier. Now it stiffened with anger. The bridge is not a place for games. I would have trusted that you of all people would know that.

She didn’t respond. Shaking, she pushed up.

She stared right into Nok’s eyes. Something quickly distracted her from his memorable golden irises. Blood bloomed from a cut in his shoulder. It was deep enough that it looked as if someone had just sliced a knife down his arm.

She stared at him agape. Slowly, he turned his stiff head down and looked at it.

Command A’qua was not the kind to stand around and let his cadets make a mockery of one of the Coalition’s flagships. He marched right up to her. He went to grab her by the elbow, no doubt to escort her personally off the bridge.

Nok reacted. Faster than before, he snapped over to A’qua and shoved the man back. Nok used half his strength, and despite the fact A’qua was a big man, there was nothing the commander could do. He was thrust back. He hit the floor, rolled, and punched to his feet.

Everything happened so fast, but Lara didn’t need time to know what would happen next. Nok would go straight to the brig. You know that stellar career she’d described earlier? Yeah, Nok had just thrown it away. He’d assaulted a commander.

There was no time to think about that. Lara heard something whistling past her face. Maybe Nok heard it too, because he snapped in close, grabbed her wrist, and tried to pull her out of the way.

He wasn’t in time. Something snagged her arm. It felt like an electro blade. It instantly sliced through the threadbare protection of her uniform. It reached the bone as it cut down with all the unstoppable force of a samurai sword to melting butter.

Blood splattered up the side of her uniform, across her face, and over the floor.

Marshall could ignore a lot, but any captain worth his mettle would not turn a blind eye at suddenly bleeding cadets. What the hell was that? Fear and confusion arced high through his voice.

Lara didn’t have a chance to answer. She heard that same high-pitched noise. Before she could react, Nok did. He didn’t just have strong muscles – his race made the perfect spies for another very good reason. Their senses were three times more powerful than humans’. He could track things most cadets couldn’t have a hope of even seeing.

He was just in time, and as he bodily pushed Lara out of the way, something sliced past the side of his face. He had shoulder-length blonde hair. A massive chunk of it was cut in half. It sailed around him, dashed over his shoulder, and fell at his feet.

Marshall thrust forward. Go to red alert. Something’s infiltrated the bridge, he had a chance to say.

Get down, get down, get down, that intrusive voice blared through Lara’s head.

Lara’s first instinct was to collapse on the floor. She pushed into Nok, instead. He might’ve been the equivalent of a mountain, but her desperation pounded through her and gave her the strength to force him to the side.

Something blazed past her shoulder. It wasn’t a blade this time.

It was a bullet.

It smashed into Captain Marshall’s chest, knocked him off his feet, and killed him by the time he flopped lifelessly onto the navigational panel three meters away.

The bridge erupted into screams.

A’qua was back on his feet. He lurched to the side, his body low, his eyes wide.

He wasn’t alone – there was a Havi combat officer, and the guy snatched his gun from his holster and quickly let off a shot, aiming it at exactly the point where that ghostly blast had emanated from.

It didn’t hit anything. It smashed into the deck.

Lara staggered backward. Nok hadn’t let her go, and even if he had, she would have just grabbed him again.

Something….

Something was happening.

Something that shouldn’t be happening.

That last conclusion formed in her mind, unstoppable and unforgettable.

This should not be happening.

But it was. Unless she kept on her toes, it would cost her her life.

She heard the faint rumblings of that voice in her mind again. Before it could beg her to duck, she thrust to the side.

Either Nok now trusted her enough to follow her moves, or he was picking something up with his extended senses. They rolled together, and they came up behind the captain’s seat.

Two blasts of red-hot blistering light smashed out across the bridge. One hit the view screen, and it exploded in a sea of sparks. While it didn’t take out the entire screen, it took out a massive meter-wide section and gouged a hole through to the machinery beneath. The other bullet lanced into Commander A’qua’s shoulder. It didn’t take off a chunk of the flesh – it pulled off his whole arm.

The commander’s eyes had a chance to bulge wide, then he fell backward.

He twitched, and though he tried desperately to clutch his wound with his remaining hand, he didn’t get the chance. Something trod on his chest. As Lara stared at him with tear-filled, rounded eyes, she swore she could see weight pinning him down. The fabric of his uniform rumpled, and the broad man’s chest crumpled inward. His breath was cut short as he brought a hand up and desperately tried to shove something off.

He didn’t get the chance. He was shot in the head.

Lara screamed and jerked her head away.

She couldn’t watch the blood splattering across the once clean floor.

Every single member of the crew acted in concert to contain the threat. But how could they contain what they could not see?

The second-in-command was a human male called Commander Verma. He thrust to the side, always keeping on his toes until he reached one of the science panels. His fingers flew across it. Two members of crew closed in behind him and protected him with their bodies.

A second later, shields crisscrossed the bridge. They would stop anyone from moving.

If they kept working, that was. Another one of those red-hot blasts slammed out across the bridge. It tore through every single shield it met.

That… god, that was impossible. Though Lara had only had a chance to see those shields for a few seconds, she recognized them. They were the strongest the Zeus could produce. As the strongest ship in the fleet, if those red blasts could penetrate the Zeus’ best force fields, then they were unstoppable.

A sense Lara hadn’t felt in years rose through her. It was one that told her this was it. No matter what she did, she would die. She hadn’t felt this alone and lost since the death of her father.

There was a problem – she wasn’t alone. If she let herself believe that, she wasn’t lost yet.

Nok tightened his grip on her arm and pulled her to the side. What the hell is going on? His voice wavered.

If she could answer that, she would. She had no clue.

More of those red blasts smashed through the bridge. They tore it up. Sections of the ceiling fell, and clumps of wire scattered over the floor. They sparked with lethal force, and a stray cadet who’d wandered too close was struck by an arc of electricity.

Lara knew her. Cadet Shirov. She had a second for her eyes to open wide, then she died. She was thrown across the room, and by the time her body smashed into a console, she’d taken her last breath.

Terror engulfed Lara. She grabbed a hand to her mouth and pressed it in hard. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and wait for this to end.

Nok wouldn’t let her. Move, he spat. He sensed another threat, and true to his race, he was bang on the money. He yanked her out of the way just as one of those blades sliced down past her face. It caught a few strands of her hair. They floated up in front of her face then fell against her blood-covered arm.

The red alert was already blaring through the ship. It had initiated the second the captain had realized something was wrong. Now its pitch changed. If it weren’t for the fact Lara had lived through a critical alert before, she wouldn’t know what it was – but as it rang through the ship, a sense of doom descended on her.

That alarm was used when structural integrity was lost.

Nok obviously knew what it meant as he stiffened. She swore his steady heat changed, and he became as cold as her heart.

Something exploded under the floor. It shook so badly, she tumbled to the side. She fell right on top of Nok’s chest.

She stared into his golden eyes as they widened. What— He didn’t have a chance to finish.

Lara felt something moving behind her. This was it, she realized. It was another one of those blades, and it would cut her in half.

She stared down into Nok’s eyes, and in her last moment, she wondered if it could have been different between them.

The answer was it should have been different.

But everything had changed.

Chapter 2

Nok

The ship was under attack. The bridge was being torn apart by an unknown enemy, and he couldn’t do anything to help.

All of that was a side note. The only thing that took precedence as the seconds slipped by was the look in Lara’s eyes. She had intriguing eyes – they weren’t the prettiest, but to a man like him, that was irrelevant. What mattered more was that her eyes led you places. They offered a bridge from the present to a future you could only claim if you were by her side.

These thoughts blasted through his mind as fast as light. They had to, because she was about to die in his arms. He could hear that invisible blade as it sliced toward the back of her head. There was nothing he could do. He was out of time. In approximately half a second, it would slice into her skull, and she would be cut in half.

As the deepest fear he’d ever felt engulfed him, Nok waited for it all to end.

It didn’t. Just at the last moment, he felt a rush of air as something moved. There was the sound of a hand smashing against metal.

No, there was more than a sound – in a moment he would never forget, he saw a hand appear. It grabbed hold of the base of an electro blade and held it in place a few mere centimeters from the back of Lara’s head.

Lara couldn’t move. Her eyes were wide open as they stared to the side. Fear gripped her.

Nok could move, so he did it for the both of them. He wrapped a hand around the back of her skull, his knuckles coming perilously close to that blade. Then he rolled with her, getting her out of the way.

Thank you, a voice said. It came from nowhere. It was female, and it sounded suspiciously like Lara’s voice. It had the same tone and pitch, but it seemed older and a thousand times harder.

What? he stammered.

That hand was still visible. It tightened around the base of the blade and pulled it out of someone’s grip.

For the first time, Nok heard the sound of boots on the deck plating. It was such a faint noise, it was barely there.

Nok considered himself a man who’d seen the galaxy. He’d traveled it for 10 years before he’d bothered to join the Coalition. It was a rite of passage for his race. You could not protect a galaxy you had not seen.

In all his travels, he’d never encountered something like this. While cloaking technology certainly existed, it was imperfect. You could not completely erase the way cloaked objects interacted with their environment. Being able to bend the light bouncing off them and hiding them from sight was one thing, but it was almost impossible to remove their auditory data.

Whatever enemy he was facing had that impossible skill.

Lara was still in his arms. She’d frozen – all at the sound of that voice.

Get the cadets out of here, Commander Verma spat.

A few officers closest to the main doors opened them and started to shepherd the cadets out.

Nok didn’t join them. His people believed in honor – you never backed down from a fight.

Even if he had wanted to move, he wouldn’t have been able to. His focus was fixed on that hand that had wrenched the electro blade out of thin air. For whatever reason, it felt familiar.

Engineering is under siege, the science officer blared, her voice pitching with fear.

Another explosion shook through the bridge. It was stronger than the last. It sent Nok’s body shuddering over the floor. Before he could tumble head-first into a cracked, sparking console, he brought his foot out, smashed it into a fragment of metal, called on his every muscle, and held his position.

Forest was still limp in his grip. He could see the side of her face. Her eyes were open with total fear.

Maybe this was where he should scream at her to pull herself together. He hadn’t been lying back in the accommodation deck when he’d said she had the greatest skill in their class. She was unflappable in combat. Usually, at least.

Now it was like someone had pulled her