by J. N. Chaney
J. N. Chaney
Copyrighted Material
Orion Protected and Renegade Star Copyright © 2019 by Variant Publications
Book design and layout copyright © 2019 by JN Chaney
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from JN Chaney and Jonathan Yanez.
www.jnchaney.com
www.jonathan-yanez.com
1st Edition
Books in the Renegade Star Universe
Renegade Star Series:
Renegade Star
Renegade Atlas
Renegade Moon
Renegade Lost
Renegade Fleet
Renegade Earth
Renegade Dawn
Renegade Children
Renegade Union
Renegade Empire (Out Now)
Renegade Descent (June 2019)
Renegade Rising (July 2019)
Renegade Star Prequel Series:
Nameless
The Constable
The Constable Returns
Warrior Queen (June 2019)
The Last Reaper Series:
The Last Reaper
Fear the Reaper
Blade of the Reaper (Out now!)
Wings of the Reaper (July 2019)
The Orion Colony Series:
Orion Colony
Orion Uncharted
Orion Awakened
Orion Protected (June 2019)
The Fifth Column Series:
The Fifth Column
The Fifth Column: The Solaras Initiative (June 2019)
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Orion Protected
Book 4 in the Orion Colony Series
J.N. Chaney
Jonathan Yanez
Contents
Orion Important Characters and Terms
Orion Uncharted Map
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
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
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About the Authors
Orion Important Characters and Terms
Humans
Dean Slade : Former gladiator world champion fighting under the name Dean “Steel Hands” Slade, current mechanic on the Orion.
Stacy Wilson : Civil Authority Officer Special Agent. Stacy infiltrated the mechanic ranks on Earth acting as an undercover agent for the Civil Authority. Her mission was to acquire information working in the yards where the seed ships were constructed. After the Orion’s crash she has taken a more active role as a Civil Authority Officer.
Ricky Matthews (Rick) : Dean’s only friend going into the events of Orion Colony. Ricky is a mechanic and has a gambling issue. He also has a crush on Arun Drake one of the Eternals leading the Orion.
Boss Creed : In charge of the mechanics on Earth as well as on the Orion. Boss Creed is a fair but stern foreman.
Dr. Kelly Allbright (The Professor) : Gifted doctor well versed in caring for the injured and sick. Doctor Allbright has cared for Dean a handful of times already despite their short term of affiliation.
Dr. James Wong (Al) : Head of technology on the Orion. Doctor Wong was responsible for creating the technology that allowed Dean and the rest of the team to find the second Disciple on board. His receptionist was in fact the second Disciple discovered on board the Orion and the one that brought the seed ship down.
Maksim Aleksandre Kuznetsov Petrov: Disciple, AKA Jeffrey Hooke, AKA Trevor Bishop, AKA the Assassin. Discovered while trying to sabotage the Orion. Captured and imprisoned in the prisoner cell block aboard the Orion.
Mutt : Genetically engineered to be larger, stronger and faster than normal canines. Mutt met Dean on the Orion when Dean stumbled on Maksim trying to infect the animals with a violent strain of rabies. Mutt found Dean again once the Orion crashed.
Eternals
Arun Drake : Arun is one half of the sister, brother team leading the Orion. Belonging to a wealthy Eternal family, Arun’s passion is to help those less fortunate than herself. She sees this trip on the Orion her chance to offer aid to Transients she sees as equals. She’s loyal to a fault and ferocious when it comes to protecting others.
Elon Drake : Much like his sister he sees this trip as an opportunity to aid the Transients he sees as his fellow man. Pilot of the Orion, Elon sacrificed his own life to stay aboard the Orion and land the ship. In the process he lost his leg.
Cognitives
Iris : Cognative in charge of the Orion, Iris is one of the sentient Artificial Intelligences coupled with the twelve seed ships leaving Earth. After the Orion’s crash, Iris has been given limited power. The long range scanners, navigation, and communication sections of her ship are currently down.
Other Terms
Eternals : Advanced humans who have been genetically modified with advanced healing and extremely long lifespans. After a few centuries, an additional mutation caused the Eternals to develop albino features, giving them a distinct appearance. They are responsible for most of Earth’s advanced technology, including the seed colony ships, such as Orion, as well as Tritium Cores, slipspace drives, and Cognitives.
Transients : Normal humans who do not posses the Eternal gene. After Eternals arose on Earth, Transient humans were delegated to the lower class, unable to accumulate wealth or obtain high-level positions in either business or politics. This stagnation led to a rebellion in which the Transients demanded equal opportunity. To satisfy this need, the Eternals offered them a deal: venture out into the far-flung reaches of the galaxy and colonize distant worlds, taking their lives into their own hands. The Transients agreed, and so began the greatest mass exodus in Earth’s history.
Slipspace : A dimension beneath our own in which faster-than-light travel is possible. While it is not fully understood, many theorize that slipspace tunnels are in a constant state of nuclear fusion and fission, destroying and creatin
g atoms simultaneously at all times. It was believed that slip tunnels were a naturally occurring phenomenon, but this is incorrect. In truth, the slip tunnel network was created by ancient ships from Earth as they expanded across the galaxy. While some tunnels collapsed over time, many remained to this day, providing modern ships with a faster-than-light means of transportation. Since modern ships cannot create their own tunnels, they must continue to rely on the existing network to travel. The Orion is able to create these tunnels.
Kronos Five : The original planet the Orion was headed to before it was sabotaged and taken off course.
The Orion : One of the twelve original seed ships made to take Transients off Earth. It is shaped like a small moon. It is capable of carrying one hundred thousands passengers. With hundreds of levels including storage, housing and recreation the Orion is a small city in itself. When it crashed the Orion was broken in two. The front half of the ship was landed by Elon, the back half broke into multiple sections scattered around the planet.
Civil Authority : The ruling power policing Earth at the time the Orion launched. Stacy Wilson is Civil Authority Officer, she acted as an undercover agent until the Orion crashed. The Orion was accompanied by a strong presence of Civil Authority Officers upon launch. Only a handful of Civil Authority officers survived the Orion crash.
The Disciples : The first and oldest cult to oppose the Eternals. The Disciples believe that any genetic mutation or evolution of the human body is evil. They’re an underground terrorist group responsible for multiple attacks on Eternal businesses and Eternals themselves.
1
“It’s been a month since we broke the hold Legion had around the Orion encampment. In that time, we’ve emptied the stockpiles of weapons and supplies from Jezra’s installation,” I complained to Stacy, running a hand through my beard, which, of late, I had noticed was shot through with threads of gray. Probably the stress of this new life I was leading making itself known. “But he’s still out there. I can feel him staring at us. Just within the tree line. He’s there watching, building his ranks and waiting to make his move.”
We stood close to one another. Almost, but not quite touching, though I wanted to. In the month since we’d made the run from Jezra’s Cerberus facility back to the Orion, our relationship had bloomed, and I was pretty sure she felt the same way I did, but it wasn’t there yet.
“Comforting thoughts to tuck you in at night,” Stacy said with a grimace and slight note of anxiousness in her voice. She followed my gaze out over the wall toward the thick trees of the jungle. “What do you think Legion is waiting for?”
I shrugged and let out a heavy exhale. Since I was a gladiator turned mechanic turned Chosen One, not a military strategist, I could only guess, and I wasn’t willing to put my morbid thoughts on Stacy. She had enough to deal with.
The morning mist was beginning to dissipate. The intense heat of the twin suns that rose to give our new home planet warmth burnt the faint tendrils of fog away until none remained.
Our planet, I thought to myself. Our planet. Have I really accepted this is home now? Will we ever make it off this rock?
The hard truth was that once we crash landed, there’d been no time to even try to leave Genesis. Every time we turned around, we found ourselves fighting to survive. From aliens to giant creatures and viruses, they all wanted us dead, each for their own reasons, although it wasn’t always clear what those were.
“We have enough firepower to kill Legion ten times over,” Stacy said, gripping the strap over her shoulder that held her own rifle. “That’s probably why he’s not coming to us.”
“Maybe,” I said with yet another shrug. “But then what happens?”
“What do you mean?” Stacy asked.
“I mean, what happens if he doesn’t come back? What happens if Legion remains content picking off creatures on the planet or the Rung or our own survivors that could still be out there?” I asked. “There have to be more survivors scattered across Genesis. This can’t be all of us. It’s a good-sized planet, and some of the escape pods could have landed on the other side. Legion might move to investigate that possibility.”
“Well, then we go in before that happens,” Stacy said with a grim nod. She reached out tentatively with her right hand and gave my own a squeeze. “Then we’ll figure out a way to go after him.”
Her hand felt cold. At the same time, the contact of her skin on mine brought a swell of hope and comfort.
There wasn’t any title on it yet. I think we both knew it was too fragile and new for that. Still, there was something there that went beyond friendship. It was as though if we mentioned it out loud, this piece of comfort would evaporate around us like the disappearing morning mist.
I felt a strange sense of peace with the relationship. There was no guilt. I knew in my heart of hearts that my wife would have wanted me to be happy. She would have wanted me to move on from her death, probably much sooner than I actually had, and this move felt right. I felt that I had her stamp of approval now and was slowly getting over the feeling of being unfaithful.
These thoughts entered my mind as we stood on the catwalk looking out into the jungle. Then the sound of hurried feet behind us slapping the floor of the steel catwalk with an odd clanging noise made me turn.
Jezra was a member of the Remboshi race. As such, she looked like a large gecko that walked on two lizard-like feet. She wore a tight-fitting synth suit around her slender frame and a long coat.
I was used to seeing the alien creature now. Both Jezra and Tong walked freely within the Orion walls. I wondered if they felt the same near-familiarity and had stopped viewing us as the actual aliens that we were. Having been identified as the Chosen One, although I still was not completely sure what that entailed, probably didn’t hurt their acceptance of us.
Even those that survived the crash and made it to the safety of our walls were getting used to them. There were still plenty of stares, and some were a bit afraid of the odd-looking creatures, but all in all, we coexisted with no major problems. It had helped that the two aliens learned our language and could communicate with everyone.
“Chosen One,” Jezra said urgently, coming to me with a glass data pad in her hand.
“Stop calling me that,” I told her for the hundredth time, slightly annoyed and maybe just a little flattered. “Dean, just Dean.”
“Right, Just Dean.” Jezra’s head bobbed. She looked down at where Stacy and I still held hands, raising her eyebrows, or where eyebrows would be if she had them. She pulled her gaze back to our faces. Her expression held a hint of worry in it, if geckos could worry, and I figured there was some pressing issue that needed our attention.
Stacy and I both released the grip we had on one another at the same time. I did so reluctantly and fleetingly hoped she felt the same. I shook my head a bit to clear it of these thoughts so I could focus on the issue at hand.
“Is there something we can help you with, Jezra?” Stacy asked, clearing her throat.
The alien brought her data pad over to us, turning it around so we could see an image of the mountains to our east.
“Our low-flying satellite has picked up images of a confrontation between Legion and the Rung,” Jezra said, zooming in on the scene so we could see.
I looked more closely. The event seemed to be on the east side of the mountains. The furthest we had ever traveled east was to the foot of these mountains, where we had our first run-in with the Rung. This was an interesting development, especially since I was still speculating that there might be survivors in other areas of Genesis.
The Rung were a violent rival faction of the Remboshi race. Centuries ago, they had broken off from the Remboshi culture, deciding to enhance their bodies with machines and technology.
Our first meeting with the Rung had not gone well. Ricky had been gravely wounded when we were attacked. We almost lost him, but he had since recovered, fortunately.
I remembered all of this as I studied the images
in front of us. Bodies littered the mountain slopes. The two sides were easy to pick out. Gecko-like beings with robes and metal adornments fixed to their bodies lay dead. Along with them, a combination of what looked like humans and alien animals all carrying the same black veins and eyes set them apart as infected.
Legion was an insidious virus that spread from host to host. It was a single intelligent symbiotic entity that controlled a host of creatures. Many of the survivors of the Orion had been lost to Legion since we landed. Our priority was to stop this from happening anymore.
Jezra ran through the grisly images of the area. The battle had been massive with many casualties. I guessed there were at least a hundred dead infected with twice that number of Rung.
“That’s horrible,” Stacy said, shaking her head from side to side in a mix of sympathy and horror. “When did this happen?”
