The Unearthed: Strays of Lunar One, #4

By C.M. Simpson

A scouting mission that uncovers more than expected.

A rescue mission gone awry.

A ploy that preserves a race and brings humanity to its knees.

And a plague.

And this is just the start of what Oliver and Lewis's scout team must overcome.

Can they do that in time to save their team mates from a force set on the conquest of known space?

And can they avoid Delight and Odyssey as they do it?

Or will they finally be brought to trial for a bite neither of them regret?

And be removed from the field at a time when they are needed most?

• Language: English
• Publisher: C.M. Simpson Publishing
• Release date: May 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223396604

C.M. Simpson

I spent the first twenty years of my life living in different parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory. My father was a teacher who liked to travel, so he took teaching appointments in all kinds of places. I don’t think I stayed in one place for more than four years at a stretch. I wrote stories for most of that time, drawing on the different landscapes we encountered and giving a hyper-active imagination somewhere to run. Seeing so many different places gave me a lot of food for thought as I stepped into the world of adulthood and took my first full-time job, and I never stopped writing and exploring the worlds in my head. So far, I have written four collections of short stories and poetry, and a number of novels, with many more to come. I hope you have enjoyed this part of my journey.

Book preview

1—New Friends, New Hunt

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You need a mate.

Oliver turned in his seat, wondering how Lewis was going to handle this one. It wasn’t their first flight out with their new clan brothers, but it was one of a very few...and Lewis was tired of the constant cracks about his single status. He started to worry when Lewis gave an exaggerated sigh.

Now, what have I told you Lugrath? Lewis replied, and reached over to lay his hand on his fellow scout’s knee. I don’t need anyone else when I have you.

Stunned silence followed.

Well, fuck, Oliver thought, choking back a laugh.

He’s going to cause a riot back, there.

Oliver glanced at the pilot. He didn’t start it.

No, but he’s stars-be-damned sure is going to push it until it happens.

Hunt Leader’s got it under control, Oliver reassured the other lupari. I promise he won’t break your shuttle.

He’d better not, the pilot grumbled, There’s not a lot of atmosphere, out there, and the ship’s a day behind us.

The ship, Oliver thought, and couldn’t help smiling at the idea of Belle being not so far behind.

The pilot saw his expression and groaned. If you make me throw-up on my controls—

I’ll get to fly this thing and make the rest of them throw up in the crew compartment? Oliver suggested brightly.

And now I know where he gets it from, the pilot growled, "Because now I want to start a fight."

Not in the cockpit, Oliver told him, baring his teeth in a grin that was part mockery and part challenge. His wolf was on its feet, tail bristling, even if he was not.

The rumbling growl answering him, was part of a chorus from the rear compartment. The snap of a half dozen buckles coming undone followed, and Oliver realized he’d lost track of what Lewis was up to.

"I mean, it’s not like you share..."

Oh...He did NOT! Oliver was out of his seat before the pilot had time to react. Just keep flying, he snarled. I need to deal with—

Haversham! In the crew compartment, the hunt leader’s reprimand was a roar. Twenty! And the rest of you get back in your seats. Lugrath, forty!

A human might have argued that the other man had started it, but Lugrath merely rose from his seat and found space in the corridor to do as he’d been told.

And, you, Landstrom, go back to flying before I decide you need a stroll outside.

Oliver toyed with the idea the hunt leader was joking, but didn’t think so. Hunt Leader Togereth was not known for his sense of humor.

Knuckles! barked out behind him. A few seconds later it was followed by Shift! and the snap of muscle and tendon as the two scouts obeyed, moving from their hybrid forms to a human equivalent.

Left hand! followed by Shift! came five minutes later, and the pilot chuffed a laugh.

Are you sure your beta isn’t meant to be an alpha?

Oh, gods, you’d better hope not, Oliver replied. Because if he is, he hasn’t worked it out, yet.

Or he’s decided he doesn’t want to take the shift, the pilot pointed out.

That was also possible, but Oliver didn’t think Lewis was going to ever be more than borderline. Instead of revealing that, he shifted the subject.

I resisted it for years, he admitted, but the pilot wasn’t so easily diverted.

You were an alpha from the start, he pointed out.

I was, Oliver admitted.

He is not, the pilot stated, and Oliver growled softly.

Then why suggest it?

To see your reaction, the pilot admitted.

Why? Oliver asked, even though he was almost sure he knew.

To see what kind of an alpha you are.

Why? Oliver repeated, curious where his pilot was going with the conversation.

Because an alpha who cannot admit where one of his children will fit in the hierarchy is a liability.

And? Oliver pressed, because now he was sure there was more.

And because I need to know my alpha is not, the lupari admitted softly, his ears flattening a little to the side in apology.

No offense taken, Oliver told him, savoring the shift in their relationship.

This had been a while coming, but...

Why now, when my beta is doing his best to start a fight? he asked.

Because you always let him stand on his own, until he bites off more than he can chew...and because, even after you’ve protected him, you make him apologize

That much was true, and the conversations he and Lewis had had on that subject had been lively and requiring a training room to avoid breakages. Hunt Leader Togereth might not have a sense of humor, but he was a comedian compared to Hunt Captain Levgorek.

And? he pressed.

And because you treat him no different to the other betas when we are on the hunt, the pilot admitted. You look after us all.

It is what an alpha is meant to do.

Yes, but you do it without challenging the hunt leader, the pilot pointed out, And that is a rare talent.

I’ve had a lot of practice, Oliver told him, remembering the years he’d refused to be an alpha, even in the presence of other alphas.

It hadn’t been until Lewis’s creation that he’d ever felt the need to dominate a situation to the point others forced him to be in control of it. Li Aram had tried, he remembered, and brushed the thought away. The last he’d known, Odyssey were looking into his old friend, and he didn’t know if Li had escaped.

Nor was he sure he’d wanted Li to escape. The rumors about what his old friend had been up to as a crime boss were unsavory at best, but some of them crossed a line that would have put them at odds if Oliver had had the time to prove they were true.

And then Florey found out, he thought, and didn’t know whether to be happy or sad that it had happened, because while Florey was no longer an Odyssey agent, she still had obligations.

Like the lupari, an Odyssey agent never truly retired...which made him wonder what Agent Delight was up to.

You’re thinking Odyssey, again, the pilot pointed out.

I am, Oliver admitted, then answered the question his lupari beta hadn’t asked. She’s been quiet and I’m wondering what she is up to.

You are not the only one, the pilot told him, then glanced over. What do the monitors show?

Reminded of the scout team’s other responsibility, Oliver checked, shifting through scan and communications frequencies with practiced ease.

They show nothing.

Unusual, since they know you are somewhere in system, and not on world.

Oliver shifted in his seat, alarm spiking through him, and the pilot chuckled.

Regardless of how close they are, you are still safer out here than on world.

Don’t remind me, Oliver replied, since that was another topic the team used to test his and Lewis’s patience.

You were fortunate he let you live, the pilot observed.

Septu had recordings, Oliver reminded him, And I was newly mated.

Your beta wasn’t.

"My beta is mine," Oliver snarled, fur bristling.

The shuttle jerked as the pilot flinched away, and Oliver barely grabbed his wolf in time.

You are a three, the pilot said hastily, an apologetic whine threading his words. The Ank knows that.

"Both Anks know that," Oliver snapped back, reminding the lupari that he did not belong to Regar, save that the Ank was his own Ank’s future mate.

They walk a difficult path, the pilot acknowledged, But I am glad they try.

Our Rek supports them, Oliver pointed out, respect showing in his tones.

Our Rek is the reason our clan will survive, the pilot answered, and they lapsed into silence.

Oliver returned to the scans. Odyssey were out there, but they were as cunning as any wolf, and Delight...

That one never gives up the hunt, he muttered, not happy to find no sign of the cruise company on his screens. Do we know what they might be involved in?

The pilot shook his head, and Hunt Leader Togereth answered his question.

There are rumors they might have been drawn into the invasion of Aquapearl.

That sounds... Oliver began, then stopped, and ducked his head. Apologies, Hunt Leader.

Togereth stepped into the cockpit, casting an eye over the scans and instruments.

None required, Alpha. You are correct in thinking it is not a conflict they would side with the humans in, but we cannot understand how they might speak with the lizardine without losing their lives.

Oliver’s heart leapt, then fell. As much as he might want Delight to perish, he couldn’t imagine a universe without her...or help feeling a universe without her would be a much darker place.

Togereth read him like a book. You don’t seem too happy with the idea, Alpha.

I...cannot help but think the stars would miss Agent Delight, Oliver admitted, and the hunt leader barked with startled laughter.

And that makes you sad?

For all the trouble she has caused us, Oliver replied, She has been the catalyst of making conditions on countless worlds better and many times over. Without her, the stars would not shine so brightly.

They would not, the hunt leader agreed somberly, "So you will be as relieved as my Rek that the shuttle their contractors sent down to Aquapearl’s surface, broke the Federation’s containment lines, and returned to the Shady Marie, and that that ship successfully escaped the Aquapearl system."

How... How do you know this, Hunt Leader?

Because I check everything that could affect my team on any given mission, Togereth replied acerbically, And Agent Delight is one of those factors.

Oliver ducked his head, flattening his ears in apology.

I am sorry, Hunt Leader.

Do not be, Alpha, I am glad you and your beta were assigned to my team.

From the way he said ‘beta,’ Oliver wasn’t sure ‘glad’ was quite the right term, but he didn’t point it out, and Togereth didn’t expand on it.

All we do know is that Delight’s hunt for you has been paused, and that matters of great importance are afoot...and that the status of the galaxy is more fluid than before.

Oliver glanced sharply at him.

I am not sure that is a good thing, Hunt Leader.

Neither is the Rek, but human antics aside, we are more concerned with an older enemy, which is what I am here for.

As well as to check on me, Oliver thought, appreciating the hunt leader’s oversight, even as he struggled to get used to it. It had been a long time since he’d allowed anyone else to look out for him, much longer than he’d known Lewis. Maybe I have found a pack that will keep me.

Hunt Leader Togereth remained oblivious to his thoughts, and activated the shuttle’s address system so he could talk to the team.

We are on a hunt, he announced, and read the frustration on his team’s faces; they knew that much.

What they didn’t know was what they were meant to be hunting.

As he surveyed the team, the hunt leader switched to direct comms for his pilots.

Hold the craft steady. Landstrom, stand by.

Before Oliver could ask what he was looking for, a question came from the crew cabin.

Pirates, Hunt Leader?

Togereth’s attention shifted with such intensity the questioner mumbled an apology.

We are not hunting the pirates, Togereth told them, and the pack’s interest sharpened.

Oliver tensed. If not the pirates, then who?

It was hard to imagine a more important target, especially with Odyssey’s attention elsewhere.

And what is so important it demands that entire company’s focus?

The second question went unanswered, as Togereth continued.

We hunt those with whose scent most of you are familiar, he replied, and touched a control on the console at the cockpit’s rear.

An oddly familiar scent wafted from the ducts, slowly spreading through the cabin, bringing with it a faint sense of threat. Oliver struggled to remember. That he should know the scent he was sure, but—

The snap of several harnesses releasing was all the warning he had as Lewis’s growl rumbled through the rear cabin.

2—A Lesson on Humans and Arach

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Several other growls joined Lewis’s as the bitter scent spread, but the beta was the first to retrieve his blaster from its rack on the seat in front. He had it at the low port and charging as he moved into the aisle, scanning the cabin...until Hunt Leader Togereth barked a halt.

In your seats!

The scent faded, to be followed by one of a rain-soaked forest flavored by citrus.

Oranges? Oliver’s ears quirked at the idea they were deemed soothing enough to keep a strike team in line. Belle is having a bad influence on these guys.

The smell made him smile, but he was careful to stay out of sight of the cabin. The last thing any of them needed was to think their hunt leader’s second-in-command was laughing at them. Especially not over a scent his mate had introduced.

Oranges...

Ever since Belle had mentioned them on the trip to Tonenda, Aylin had kept the tantalizing fruit in mind, and she’d had some imported to see if her Regar would like the flavor, too. It almost made him laugh to remember Rek’Regar’s face when the girl had insisted on importing tree stock from three worlds to see which flavor we like best.

The home ship had been allowed two of the precious saplings ‘to test its viability as a source of Vitamin C,’ although Oliver suspected it was Aylin’s way of thanking Belle for another way of making her Ank happy. That it was being trialed as a scent to calm his brothers was a compliment.

Haversham! Togereth’s next bark jolted Oliver in his seat. I said—

I’ve got him, Hunt Leader, Lugrath responded, and Oliver heard Lewis growl softly in protest. Don’t give me shit, junior, or I’ll eat your next steak.

That earned a stronger growl, and tentative laughter followed.

You playing with fire, Luge, someone called, but Oliver could hear Lewis’s blaster being returned to its rack and the rustle and creak of light armor as he and Lugrath sat.

He didn’t fully relax until he heard the snap of the harness being re-fastened.

I don’t know when you encountered them, cub... There was another growl as a helmet was ruffled. But it looks like you had as rough a time with them as any of the rest of us.

A quieter growl followed, and the hunt leader continued.

For those of you who don’t know it, that stench belongs to the arach. Memorize it, for we hunt one of our most dangerous foes, and that could be all the warning you get before an attack.

The hunt leader paused, giving his team time to digest that unwelcome fact, and then he continued.

The arach come in three forms. They are shifters, descending from a species of giant spider, once thought only to be a legend. His voice dropped. Until the Battle for Alpha 9.

Oliver’s ears pricked, but the hunt leader didn’t see him.

The arach are the vampires of human fantasy, and the blood fiends of our own. They take on the form of their host race, and feed on them like cattle...and they are fierce opponents in battle.

How did the humans survive them? someone asked, Oremak, Oliver thought, as Togereth answered.

We have footage of the battle for Alpha 9, he said, and touched another control.

In the crew compartment, a screen came to life—as did the viewer in front of Oliver.

Watch and learn. We will discuss the tactics we see here, once it is done. Pilots, switch to auto, and monitor your instruments, but observe.

Yes, Hunt Leader!

On screen, the scene opened on a familiar city street, one made strange by the figures materializing in silver behind a large force of heavily armored soldiers. The strange got stranger when Oliver noticed the slight figure of a single unarmored human female among them.

Tens, get her out of here! the largest human male roared, shoving the female to the ground and covering her with his body.

The female was not impressed, and her cursing was followed by the large male’s profanity when teleport silver flared around her and faded in a protesting flicker, leaving her right where she was.

The human female didn’t care.

Stim me! she demanded, slapping the ground with the palm of one bare hand.

The lupari warriors around her were already bounding into battle, when the large human male slapped the female with an autoinjector. Togereth froze the scene.

There is our Rek, he said proudly, indicating the lupari captain leading his warriors into the fight.

And Hunt Master Varain, Oremak added, in tones of awe.

This is the battle where he earned his title, Togereth answered, then highlighted the male. "Mackenzie Star, the Shady Marie’s captain. Wherever he and the Marie can be found, you can be sure Delight and Odyssey will soon follow. He is one of few Odyssey agents to gain independence from the company to operate independently, and he did it when that company ran under another name, and Delight was still new to them."

"How old is he?" another of the team asked.

That is something you may try to divine in your own time, Togereth stated, then highlighted the unarmored human female. "This is Cutter. If you ever meet her you are to keep your tempers and ensure she comes to no harm, regardless of what she does to provoke you."

Oliver stared at what he could see of the woman hidden by the captain’s bulk. She didn’t look like she’d be trouble.

The forces she and Mack were fighting turned and opened fire, and the stone wall between them erupted in shards. Rek Regar and his varanguard returned fire, drawing the enemy’s attention from the group still behind the wall. Mack raised a hand to his ear as though listening to something else, then raised his head.

Captain, my forces are arriving! he shouted.

Relayed, Regar responded, and a sharp yip and brief howl carried across the battlefield.

Silver lit the sky above and around them, and Oliver gasped at the sight of several giant wasps, all wearing weapon harnesses and carrying heavy blasters, flew over the first arrivals. Again, Togereth froze the footage.

The vespis, he told us. Also shapeshifters, also fierce fighters. Do not upset them without very good cause.

Watching the outsized wasps, Oliver almost missed the moment Cutter was allowed to roll cautiously into a crouch. Her captain still kept a hand on her shoulder but she shivered with barely contained energy, and he lifted his, letting her scan the battlefield before them.

After a moment, she pointed and slapped his shoulder.

Go!

Oliver watched as she broke to one side, and saw a new group of wolves come in from the other.

Is...Is that Commander Angravine? someone whispered, and Oliver took a closer look.

This was the battle where lupari legends had been made.

As he watched, Cutter grinned and bounded forward. It took Oliver a moment to realize she was headed for the most well-defended point on the battle field. The footage shifted to show where her line of movement would take her, and a chorus of growls rose from the crew compartment.

I thought I told you to put a leash on her, came in Rek Regar’s distinctive growl, as Cutter slid past him, and leapt onto the back of one of the enemy mercs coming at him.

Oliver’s jaw dropped as she flipped herself up and over the heavily armored merc’s back, grabbed the handles of two las blades slung there for easy grabbing, and flipped to land awkwardly as her foot found a chunk of loose stone.

She landed heavily on her ass, just as the merc pivoted, then turned the fall into a roll, and came to her feet bounding to one side as solids ripped through the space she’d been. One of the vespis landed beside him.

The insectoid’s arrival only made Cutter grin more widely as she regained her feet and resumed fighting her way toward the enemy command. Her blades flashed until she downed one of the mercenaries and lifted his blaster, dropping one of the blades to do so.

Oliver almost protested, but Cutter looked as disappointed as he felt on her behalf...not that it slowed her down. Remind me never to make her mad.

Not that Cutter looked angry, crazy as a box of well-shaken frogs, sure, but not angry. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken she looked very much like she was enjoying herself.

She hit the ground on her belly, rolled, dropped the second blade, grabbed a second blaster, and was firing as she came to her feet.

"I... Are you sure that’s human? Lugrath wanted to know, Because there’s a mate worth fighting for."

And Mack has done exactly that, Togereth snapped. "You do not want to get between those two. They make Oliver look sweet-tempered and reasonable when it comes to Belle."

Or Ank’Regar to Ank’Aylin? Lugrath quipped back, and the sound of fist meeting flesh followed, accompanied by a vicious snarl. Lugrath yelped. No offense...

A second snarl followed, but that was all. It was still enough to remind Oliver the young Rek had at least one of his varanguard fighting with them.

Just watch, Togereth told them, ignoring the altercation.

On screen, the female shot one mercenary through the throat, put five quick rounds through the armor seam under another’s arm and sprayed ichor from one of the other mercenaries that pivoted to face her.

Sucks to be you, she told him, even as Oliver noted the gray cast to the man’s skin, and the second set of arms.

The soldier showed fang in reply. "No. Sucks to be you!"

He was still bringing his blaster around when the woman walked twin lines of fire up his chest and into his head. She was shifting toward the mercenary leader, when two more arach closed. She fired two shots and took them out simultaneously.

Ahead of her, Rek Regar, broke through the mercenary lines and drove his blade into their leader’s back, and the vespis were making short work of his bodyguards. Mack rammed her as she hesitated, bringing her down as a barrage of shots rang out.

Oliver couldn’t be