Calamity: StarStation, #4

By Toshi Drake

With the planet on the brink of erupting and his memories gone, can Commander Damon Wild find his way back home? 

 

Commander Damon Wild is not having a good day. Being shot down on a remote planet by the Siwu pirates and then losing his memories is enough to make a good man desperate. When his situation becomes worse—a planetary eruption—Damon knows he must do something. A small scientific outpost at the centre of a caldera offers something he had only dreamt about, hope.

 

Captain Zaveid L'eau offers Damon a place to recover and space to find himself once more. The attractive captain distracts him from his troubles, and it is enough. Damon can see light at the end of the tunnel and Zaveid is the one lighting the way. 

 

With a volcano on the brink of exploding and pirates constantly nipping at his heels, Damon doesn't have time for peace. 

 

The pirates are breathing down their necks and a massive eruption destroying everything, Damon must learn to trust Zaveid with his heart and that no matter the circumstances, love will give them the strength to defeat all enemies, including their own self-doubt. 

 

Calamity is the fourth book of the StarStation series, featuring amnesiac heroes, long-suffering captains, and a race against time. Because of the unique circumstances of this book, one does not need to read the previous books, but it is better to get the whole picture

• Language: English
• Publisher: Toshi Drake
• Release date: Apr 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215144596

Book preview

Calamity

Calamity

STARSTATION

BOOK FOUR

TOSHI DRAKE

Calamity Synopsis

With the planet on the brink of erupting and his memories gone, can Commander Damon Wild find his way back home? 

Commander Damon Wild is not having a good day. Being shot down on a remote planet by the Siwu pirates and then losing his memories is enough to make a good man desperate. When his situation becomes worse—a planetary eruption—Damon knows he must do something. A small scientific outpost at the centre of a caldera offers something he had only dreamt about, hope.

Captain Zaveid L’eau offers Damon a place to recover and space to find himself once more. The attractive captain distracts him from his troubles, and it is enough. Damon can see light at the end of the tunnel and Zaveid is the one lighting the way. 

With a volcano on the brink of exploding and pirates constantly nipping at his heels, Damon doesn’t have time for peace. 

The pirates are breathing down their necks and a massive eruption destroying everything, Damon must learn to trust Zaveid with his heart and that no matter the circumstances, love will give them the strength to defeat all enemies, including their own self-doubt. 

Calamity is the fourth book of the StarStation series, featuring amnesiac heroes, long-suffering captains, and a race against time. Because of the unique circumstances of this book, one does not need to read the previous books, but it is better to get the whole picture.

Copyright © 2023 by Toshi Drake

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover created by MiblArt

Edited by Katherine McIntyre

Proofread by A.N Waugh

Vellum flower icon Created with Vellum

For Kat,

Thank God for you.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Interlude

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Interlude

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Acknowledgments

About Toshi

Also by Toshi Drake

Prologue

"M ayday! Mayday! This is Commander Damon Wild of the Padua .  Padua shuttle has been hit! Padua shuttle has been hit. We’re losing main power!" I spat clearly into the comms as I fought to control the descent onto this small planetoid.

My copilot, Ensign Yuliona, sat beside me, utterly silent as she completed a systems check.  Sweat beaded on her forehead. I tried to contain my fear, even as I constantly refreshed the radar, looking for anything that’d help me. Where the hell was my escort? There was supposed to be a small bomber flying close as we searched for a unique planet suitable for my very precious cargo.  My mouth was dry as every terrible potential scenario echoed in my brain.  I had to constantly swallow as I tried to avoid my already terrified copilot’s gaze. She didn’t deserve this. She was a good kid.

Starfucking gods. Someone kept targeting my engines. Rapidly typing, my fingers refused to hit the correct button as I tried to zero in on the small junky ship at my rear. Where the fuck was my escort?

I shot Yuliona a glance, and she shook her head. Nothing. I flicked on the visual sensors, and a multitude of screens popped up on my heads-up display. A wreck of a cruiser trailed distantly after me. I sneered. Fucking Siwu.

Commander Wild, what do I do? They’ve started jamming our communications array. I don’t know how to combat that. The ensign’s voice was high-pitched with abject terror, and I could only reach over and squeeze her wrist in support.

You got this, Yuli. I know you do. Just remember when you’re playing scrimmage and hide and seek with the other guys. Outwit them. You’re an expert at this. I believe in you. I assured her the best I could, and I turned my attention on sending out flared energy bursts to get the enemy off our fucking ass. They weren’t going to give up.

They held stubbornly onto their grudge against us. How they'd tracked us down and realized we were part of the Virgo Cluster Corporation baffled me.  We had done everything possible after the incursion on Asyra’s Moon to protect the Padua and her crew. We'd changed the markings on all ships flying around this quadrant. Even the higher-ups of the VCC took this seriously.

I had to jump through many, many hoops to receive permission to transport my delicate cargo. The only reason I was allowed to do this was because it was supposed to be a one-day-there-and-back-again mission. I chose Ensign Yuliona so she could get actual experience flying a small shuttle. She had just graduated from the Academy and was excited to come with me.

The powers that be and my best friend had allowed this mission if I didn’t linger and if I had an escort. I swore to Commander Gratch I would be back on the Padua before the dinner bell.

There is a Siwu cruiser on my ass. Someone, please respond. We need help now. I maintained my calm manner. I wasn’t going to scare Yuliona, not on her first outing. She was so eager, and I fed off it. It had been so long since I'd felt the thrill of a mission well completed.

If we were going to survive a landing without too much damage to the humans or cargo, then I had to stay steady. I rapidly tapped on the screen, trying to bring up a map of the planetoid and best location to land if it came to that. I only had a small amount of power left going to the battery-operated navigational chart. I needed to commit everything to memory before it died.

Commander, they’re powering up for another attack. What do we do? Yuliona asked, her hands flying over her controls. Strands of bright red hair stuck to her damp cheeks as she passed information along to me. Rear shields are rendered useless. If we get hit once more, there will be a hull breach.

Manually close the doors between the cargo space and us, I ordered. I internally wept at the loss of life in the rear hatch. We were transporting rare saplings to their new home. I had hoped they’d be able to thrive and save the planet and themselves.

But sir, the trees, Yuliona gasped. I nodded grimly. I understood her pain. We had babied and nurtured the trees from seedlings to their current state. Can’t we bring them in here? At least a couple?

I slid a glance her way and then at her screen where a target was locked on us. Calculating the distance for the blaster shot, how fast Yuliona was, and how slow the blast doors were, I gave her the order. I prayed it’d go all right. Do it now. Be careful, as I’m going to do some manoeuvres.

Yessir. She transferred her controls to me, and I sat there with the weight of everything under my hands. Muscle memory guided me as I danced the shuttle in a complicated pattern designed to confuse the ship trailing us. I needed to get the Siwu to stop locking onto us. Gratch’s words and laughter filled my head as I remembered his instructions to escape detection.

The screens fizzled before clearing, and a deep-rooted fear settled in my stomach. I had no main power. Only auxiliary was left. Sighing heavily and crossing my fingers, I used the comms once more, knowing I was opening the shuttle up to the Siwu listening in. Come in, Padua. This is Shuttle Four, losing all power. Send help.

With one last move, I sent the shuttle’s coordinates to one of the nearby StarStations. It was encrypted, but I prayed to the StarGods someone would know what to do and how to save us.

Ensign Yuliona, I need you now! I called back. She came sliding into the small cockpit with two very young trees in hand. They were only three centimetres in diameter, and they were everything to me. I had grown them from seedlings. Yuliona treated them with care as she set them on two bench seats. Swiftly, she tied them down with straps and fell into her seat.

The hull’s cracked, sir. We’re venting out into space. If the enemy hits once more, it’s… it’s no good, she said in a rush. Yuliona slipped her harness on and tapped a button on the side of her collar. A slim helmet appeared. It’s been an honour, sir.

I nodded sharply. This wasn’t goodbye. We’d make it through to the other side and laugh about it later. Pressing my own button, my helmet covered my head, and we were mostly ready for what would come next. Yuliona and I did everything to protect ourselves and the trees for one last salvo. I’ll aim the ship to land on an empty stretch close to that small lake. When we break through the atmosphere, you will brace for landing. I hope this will stop the Siwu from following us.

Yessir. She took a deep breath and sat straight in her seat. A small smile graced her face as we worked together to save our asses from the bastards attacking. Her skills as copilot were unmatched. I didn’t think Gratch could have done any better. I focused on guiding our broken shuttle to an open spot on this planet.

Everything went according to my plan until the assholes took a potshot as we entered the planet’s stratosphere. The blast knocked out the rear cargo hatch, and I lost control of everything.

No matter how hard I tried to make the entry easy on our bodies, I failed. The last hit shifted the trajectory, and my promised smooth landing died a terrible death. We braced ourselves as best we could.

This was not how my life was going to end.  This was not how I wanted to leave my friends. With one last burst of strength, I hit the thrusters and levelled us out.

Unfortunately, the planetoid wasn’t empty or devoid of settlements. It had defenses, ones I wasn’t prepared for. I glanced at Yuliona and saw only calm acceptance as glass shattered beside her. I reached for her instinctively, trying to protect her from the shards, but she slowly shook her head. She knew. This woman, my ensign, knew her life was over. I screamed loudly as I denied her death and forced her to continue, to not give up. Yuliona held tight to her controls and directed the careening shuttle away from whatever she saw ahead. And all that was there was the steep face of a mountain ahead of us. It would be a miracle if we made it through.

This is the Padua shuttle, leaving one last message to anyone. The Siwu are in this quadrant. I repeat, the Siwu are in this quadrant. They shot down the Padua shuttle, taking the life of Ensign Rehati Yuliona and Commander Damon Wild. We will meet in the stars once more, I whispered into the comms one last time.

I tightened the straps on my harness and curled up into a tight ball, just as my destroyed shuttle landed among the spindly pine trees.

The scrape of needles against the bottom of my shuttle startled me from my dark thoughts. The snaps of treetops filled my ears. Everything happened all at once before it stopped, and I jerked forward, cracking my head on the control panel in front of me.

I knew nothing after that.

Chapter

One

The bushes rustled as the big animal stomped through the previously silent jungle. It had caught the scent of its prey and loudly followed it. I hid under an outcropping as it lumbered by. The beast was likely after the same small creature I was.

I had been chasing the large rodent for a while now, getting more and more frustrated as it kept eluding me. And of course, the minute the beast woke up, he managed to choose the same rat I wanted to have for dinner. My thoughts were getting paranoid that this predator, this kaiju, knew exactly what I was doing and was stymieing me on purpose.

The loud squeal and crunching of bones made my stomach turn. I fell back on the rough stones and covered my face and ears, not wanting to hear the kaiju’s enjoyment of my dinner. I had been looking forward to having meat for days now. My skills had gotten sharper every day I tried.

My head had gotten scrambled from the crash. I didn’t have any memories of what happened or who I was. The young woman who was with me had perished immediately after we landed. Her side of the spacecraft had been blasted open, and she was covered in black blast marks. I found her tags with her identification around her neck, but the words meant very little. I had similar ones, but the connection between me and what was written on the small piece of metal was negligible.

Anything I pressed or tried to turn on from the spacecraft and the suit I wore was utterly depleted, leaving me painfully lost and alone.

Instinctively though, I knew somewhere out there, someone was looking for me. I needed to be patient and hang on. They would locate me and tell me who I was, who Damon Wild was.

Though if the fat kaiju kept stealing my food, I didn’t think I’d be able to make it before I was rescued. Sighing, I shook off the negativity and settled on more nuts and berries for dinner. The nuts I discovered were surprisingly delicious and filling. I craved meat though.

Limping back to my home, the broken shell of the fallen shuttle, I stopped dead as I sensed a change in the air. Something had disturbed the feeling of security in my sanctuary. I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk into my camp without doing some sort of reconnaissance, I needed to make sure I was safe. My mind was going a mile a minute as it went through many possibilities of new places where I could rest. If my shuttle had been compromised, I’d have to move. I didn’t want to. Everything was set up perfectly. The young woman’s resting place was nearby. One of the trees from the cockpit had been planted in her honour. She deserved a shrine and someone to watch over her.

For my own safety, I would have to leave her.

Belly-crawling through the dense brush, I peered through the brittle branches to see if whoever disturbed my space was still there. I watched from my spot, remaining utterly still despite the lingering pain in my leg and head. Nothing twitched, and no birds were singing. The forest creatures had been startled into silence. I slowly drew closer to the edge of the shuttle and peered around. A man dressed in leather rags poked around my encampment. Some sort of tattoo crisscrossed his face and neck. An indescribable anxiety ratcheted through me. A cold sweat broke out, and I pressed myself hard against the cool metal, hoping it would hide me.

The rough man spoke, but his words were muffled, and I couldn’t see if there was another person with him or if he had a radio. He was looking for someone. Whatever answer he received was the wrong one. He took his anger out on my repurposed food containers, spilling my small hoard of roots and nuts. I scowled and waited.

The man left the small clearing eventually. I didn’t know how he'd found my camp, and I had to accept that my safe space was compromised. Gingerly, I rolled to my back to alleviate some of the pain settling in my legs. The thick canopy above me calmed me down as a gentle breeze drifted through the leaves. The trees were part of my soul, and I couldn’t give them an identity. It broke me in a way that not knowing who I was couldn’t.

Frustrated, I pounded the earth with my fist. It wasn’t fair, and I was so tired of being this way. Where was my normalcy? Why couldn’t I just remember now? And as always, hitting the ground didn’t solve anything, only gave me a sore hand.

Shaking off the anger, I stood up and peered around the edge of the shuttle. I needed to make sure my unwanted visitors were actually gone. I saw broken branches and a new path from where they'd entered. Craning my head, I listened carefully for any unnatural noises, but the birds singing disturbed the peace. I carefully followed the path for a few minutes, pausing occasionally until I heard two people talking.

They sounded extremely angry about something. Their argument was about tactics and best way to track a missing person. The hair on the back of my arms stood as it dawned on me on who they were searching for.

They were looking for me.

Skedaddling back to my camp, I hurriedly packed up anything I could easily carry. They’d be watching this space for a while, waiting for me to return from whatever I was doing. I stopped at the edge of the shuttle, reluctant to set foot into the cockpit. It haunted me, and all I could imagine was being trapped by flames if I tried to enter it.

I paid my respects to the young woman who'd died and patted the hull of the matte spacecraft. It had kept me alive somehow, and I’d always be grateful. I left the camp in the opposite direction of the uninvited guests. Stepping into the unknown terrified me. Troublesome thoughts of giving up filled my head. The men had already searched this area. I didn’t need to go.

That first step was hard. Eventually, leaving my only