The Pirate from the Stars Book 1- Renegade

by Cheree Alsop

  “Definitely,” Gage replied. “Just don’t give up.”

  Her foot slipped. Gage caught her hand and pulled her up.

  “Thanks,” she said, giving him a wide smile. “I was almost a goner!”

  “I’ll keep you safe,” Gage promised. He swept his hand toward the horizon. “Look.”

  He heard young Sienna’s breath catch in her throat when she followed his gaze. Boats and starships littered the Skavian Ocean. The metal of their hulls reflected the light of the overhead sun as they bobbed at the mercy of the endless waves. Beyond them, the hills of Silver Island appeared a green so brilliant it was heartrending.

  “Wow,” Sienna said breathlessly. “You’re right; it’s worth it.”

  Gage’s fever haze flickered back to the present in time to see Sienna’s foot slip from where she had wedged it. A squeak of panic escaped her. Gage lunged forward and caught her hand before she fell backwards. He yanked her toward him to safety. She landed on her hands and knees next to him on the roof.

  “Thanks,” she said, her eyes wide. “That was close!”

  He gave her his rogue smile. “I’ll keep you safe,” he promised.

  A laugh escaped her. “Feels like old times,” she said.

  Gage nodded. “Mostly,” he replied. He settled back on the roof with a hand on his ribs.

  Sienna’s eyes widened at the sight of the blood between his fingers. “You’ve torn the stitches,” she said.

  Gage chuckled, then winced. “It would’ve been worse if Don had found me.”

  “Why would he turn you in to the Coalition?” Sienna asked. “He’s your brother.”

  A wave of sadness swept Gage. “No; he is the Coalition.”

  She was quiet when she asked, “How did your parents take him joining the ranks?”

  “They were surprised. We all were.” He let Sienna help him to his feet. “The Coalition threw out Lieutenancies left and right for officers who served their three years, but we never thought he’d take it. After all Dad went through to be rid of the Coalition, I think it felt like a slap in the face. I’m surprised they welcome him back here with open arms.” Gage kept his gaze on the horizon; his voice was level when he said, “I guess after everything that happened, Don felt it was the right thing to do.”

  Sienna nodded. “Donovan always had his own unswerving sense of right and wrong. Maybe he thought it was the only way to support justice?”

  Gage couldn’t hide the bitterness in his tone when he replied, “Not justice in the Macrocosm, justice against me. Donovan won’t rest until I hang.”

  Sienna gave him a compassionate look. “From what I’ve heard, Vanessa’s death wasn’t your fault.”

  Gage shook his head. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

  “Maybe if you gave up being a pirate—”

  Gage’s tone was firm when he replied, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Silence filled the air between them.

  “Is he alright?” Mattie called up.

  Sienna walked carefully to the edge of the roof. “Gage tore his stitches. He’s bleeding through his bandages.”

  If Gage didn’t know her better, he would have sworn he heard his sister mutter a curse he had only heard in very distant parts of the Macrocosm.

  Sienna glanced back at him with surprise on her face. “She’s very mad at you.”

  “Mattie, mad? She couldn’t hurt a tufted fly. I’ve met haffots I’d be more afraid of.” He paused, then said, “Speaking of haffots, didn’t you mention one when you were fixing my lung?”

  Pink colored Sienna’s cheeks when she nodded. “I’ve only done that procedure once.”

  “On a haffot?” Gage guessed.

  At her embarrassed nod, he chuckled. “Glad to have been your first.” He immediately regretted laughing at the pain that followed.

  Sienna saw his face pale. “We’ve got to get you down from here and patched up,” she told him. “Come on.”

  She held out a hand.

  “You nearly fell off the roof, and I’m supposed to trust you?” Gage asked. He took her hand anyway and allowed her to help him to the edge.

  She peered over the roof and eyed the ground below with uncertainty. “I wish there was another way down.”

  “One way up, one way down. That was the appeal,” Gage replied.

  He grabbed the edge of the roof and lowered himself along the trellis. He held his breath against the angry throb in his ribs at the pulling sensation. Relief filled him when his feet found the windowsill.

  Mattie grabbed his hand and helped him inside. The displeasure on her face when she saw his bleeding ribs made him wonder if he should have stayed on the roof.

  “When is he coming back?” Gage asked his sister.

  He kept an eye on Sienna as she found the windowsill and climbed back inside the room with much more grace than he had been able to muster.

  “He said he has to go back to the Sculptor Galaxy where Mom and Dad are working on negotiations. He told me his command took him close to our galaxy and when he heard rumors that you had crashed a ship here, he had to investigate.” Mattie motioned for him to lie down on the bed. “We’re lucky you woke up.”

  “Yes, being jarred awake by the sound of his pleasant voice beats any woman’s across the Macrocosm; and believe me, I’ve heard my share,” Gage said as he settled gingerly on top of the blankets. He glanced at Sienna and embarrassment ran through him at the statement. “I mean, uh….”

  “Don’t pretend to be something you’re not,” Sienna said. She gave him a disapproving look as she unwrapped the bandages from around his ribs. “There are plenty of stories circulating around about your pirate lifestyle. Taking the women you want, the pleasures you want, and the riches.” She pulled on a piece of bandage that was stuck to his skin and smiled when he winced. “What do you do with all that money anyway?”

  “I can’t tell you,” Gage replied. He sucked in a breath as she eased the bandage from the wound.

  “Why is that?” she asked, shooting him a skeptical look.

  Gage averted his eyes from the bleeding wound and spoke through gritted teeth at her prodding, “It’s safer that way.”

  “For whom?” she shot back. “You?”

  Gage didn’t reply.

  Sienna let out an exasperated breath and pulled her supply bag closer. “You’re ridiculous, you know that? Risking your life out there living out a little boy’s dreams of pirates and adventures. You have obligations.”

  Gage heard a smothered laugh and glanced up to see Mattie with a hand over her mouth. At his frustrated look, she lowered it but couldn’t hide her smile. “Sienna’s saying all the things I want to. It’s nice to listen to a lecture instead of being the one to give it.”

  “I don’t think it’s fair—” he grabbed a handful of the sheets at the sensation of Sienna’s needle piercing his skin and concluded tightly, “That you lecture me when I can’t get away.”

  Sienna gave him a triumphant look. “Perhaps you’ll think of that the next time you put your sister out like this.”

  Mattie laughed again.

  Gage let his head fall back and closed his eyes. He willed his thoughts to be anywhere but on the pain of his side. The numbing effect of the local anesthetic Sienna used was beginning to make it easier, but Gage didn’t dare let down his guard in case Donovan showed up again.

  “I need to get out of here,” he said.

  “You need to sleep and heal,” Mattie told him.

  The soft touch of her hand on his forehead made Gage open his eyes. “Don’t do it.”

  Mattie’s smile touched her gray eyes that were a shade lighter than his. “Just because you still haven’t figured out how to use your Foundling blood to heal doesn’t mean I can’t. You lost this argument plenty of times when we were younger.”

  Gage shook his head. “My abilities aren’t nearly as pleasant as yours. It takes a lot out of you, and you take on my pain. I won’t let you do that.”
>
  “But you need to heal, Gage,” she replied. There was the stubbornness to her tone that he recognized from his youth. “If you’re leaving as soon as you say, I don’t want to worry about you bleeding out somewhere.” She lifted an eyebrow in an exact impression of Donovan when he refused to compromise. Gage remembered her practicing how to do it in front of the mirror by the front door. “I’ll just wait until you’re asleep; then you can’t stop me.”

  Gage felt her touch in his mind, willing him to let down his guard and close his eyes. “That’s not fair,” he said, his words slurring.

  A glance at Sienna showed that her attention was on the wound she stitched, but a smile toyed at her lips as though she found humor in their banter.

  Mattie smiled down at him. “Let me take care of you for once, Brother.”

  A sigh escaped his lips and his eyelids closed against his will. “Wait for the anesthesia to kick in,” he mumbled.

  “I will,” she replied.

  Gage settled into the welcoming darkness.

  ***

  A sound awoke him a few hours later. It was a rumbling purr as if a motor sat on his bed. Gage opened his eyes and searched for the source. His gaze landed on a large form sprawled across the end of his blankets. Blue glowed faintly across its gray fur, illuminating the outline of its skeleton that pulsed in the evening light. The head turned and green feline eyes met Gage’s. The creature was nearly as long as he was tall. He sat up so quickly his breath caught at the pull to his ribs.

  “Mattie?” he called out.

  The creature rose, towering above where he lay. The rumbling sound from its chest deepened as it crossed the bed to him, its huge paws making deep impressions in the blankets. Claws as long as Gage’s hand snagged on the cloth; the animal drew closer.

  “Mattie!” Gage shouted. He scrambled for the knife he always kept beneath his pillow, but it wasn’t there. He rose onto his knees, his hands out in a poor attempt to defend himself against the creature.

  A giggle sounded from the doorway. Gage saw Mattie out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t dare take his gaze from the animal.

  “Give me my knife!” he demanded.

  “You can’t possibly mean to kill my pet,” Mattie replied with humor in her voice. She crossed to the bed.

  “A pet?” Gage repeated. The creature turned its head toward her and the rumbling sound increased. “Mattie, get back! It’s dangerous!”

  “She’s not dangerous,” his sister replied. “Look.”

  She held out her hand. Gage watched with tense muscles, sure he was about to see his sister lose a limb. To his astonishment, the creature lowered its head and bumped it into her palm. The rumbling sound became even more prominent and the glow from its skeleton beneath its skin nearly lit the room when she ran her hand along its head and tufted ears. Its forked purple tongue licked her arm.

  Gage leaned against the headboard, exhausted, but he didn’t dare take his eyes away from the creature in case it suddenly turned vicious to his sister.

  “I know you want to take care of all living things,” Gage said. “But what would Mom think about you keeping a monster in the house?”

  “Mom’s the one that gave Swisha to me. She’s a felis,” Mattie replied. “Remember Mom’s story about Verdan where Dad grew up? Dad brought her a baby felis the last time he went there to pick up volt pods and she thought it would be a good companion for me.”

  “Swisha?” Gage repeated. “You named her ‘cuddly’ in Mastian?” He eyed the huge, clawed creature. “You might be pushing it a bit.”

  “Exactly,” Mattie replied. “That’s how you connect with a felis. You push warm, accepting feelings and she responds. You should try it.”

  Gage shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Mattie gave him the pleading look she knew he couldn’t deny. “Please, Gage? I know she’d like you.”

  Gage looked from his sister to the huge feline. “You know I’m not good at this,” he said warily.

  “Try it like this,” she said.

  Mattie closed her eyes. Gage felt it the moment she started pushing emotions at him. His anxiety about the felis calmed, his heartrate slowed even with the pain of his healing side, and comfort filled him. It took an effort to remind himself that she was the one giving him the emotions. When she stopped, he felt regret at the departure.

  “I’ll try,” he said.

  He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the felis, but the pain in his side and the worry he felt at Donovan returning pressed at the back of his mind.

  He finally gave up and opened his eyes. “I can’t do it. I’m just not as good at it as you are.”

  “Concentrate,” she urged. “Here. Let me help you.”

  She set a hand on his arm and closed her eyes again.

  Gage felt the batter of the worries on his shoulders slip away. A sigh escaped his lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he had just been able to sit in silence without the pressures of everything in his past and present eating at him.

  He glanced at Mattie. His sister’s eyebrows were pulled together and there was a tiny furrow between them as if what she felt from him bothered her.

  “There,” she said without opening her eyes. “Try it now.”

  Gage took a steeling breath and turned to the felis. If his mother, father, and sister trusted the creature, he could at least try it.

  He closed his eyes and gathered feelings the way Mattie always told him she did. He focused on contentment, warmth, and acceptance and pushed them toward the felis.

  It took a lot of energy to push. He was amazed Mattie allowed it given the fact that he was still healing. It must have meant a great deal to her that the felis like him, or she wouldn’t have asked him to try.

  Gage pushed for several minutes. He was about to give up when something soft touched his hand. He opened his eyes just enough to see the felis’ head against his palm. His eyes widened in surprise. He ran his fingers over the felis’ ears and her purr increased. The light radiating from her skeleton beneath her gray fur pulsed bright. She pushed against him, asking him to pet her more.

  “She likes you,” Mattie said with a giggle. Her expression was pleased as she eased her hold on her brother’s emotions.

  “She’s strong,” he said when Swisha nearly pushed him over begging for more petting.

  “She is,” Mattie replied. “She’s grown up in the past year. Can you believe it’s been twice that long since I’ve seen you?”

  “Too long,” Gage agreed. The emotions of being in his childhood home made his heart hurt. He didn’t want to leave, but he knew he would have to soon.

  Exhaustion swept through him. He settled back on the bed. The felis, disgruntled as his lack of attention, leaped lightly down from the bed and stalked across the floor to the door, her tail twitching from side to side.

  “She doesn’t like being ignored,” Mattie said with a fond smile.

  “That’s why I don’t like cats,” Gage replied, but there was no bite to his words.

  Mattie turned her smile on him. “Sleep now, Brother. You need to heal.”

  Gage closed his eyes. Even with her pushing gone, it was easier to let go and allow the exhaustion to still his mind.

  “Thank you, Mattie,” he said quietly.

  “Good night, Gage,” she replied. She kissed him on the forehead, then left the room.

  Chapter Three

  A hand touched Gage’s shoulder. Tension flooded his body. His hand went for the knife he always put beneath his pillow, but it wasn’t there.

  “It’s me,” Mattie whispered. “You have to wake up. I’m sorry.”

  Gage opened his eyes to find the room still bathed in darkness.

  “You slept through a whole day,” Mattie said, her words quiet. “I wanted you to sleep longer, but Mom and Dad are on their way home, and Donovan’s with them. Mom called me to warn me. Apparently, Don’s troops are scouring Corian because they’re convinced
you didn’t die in that wreck. It’s only a matter of time before they come back here.”

  Gage sat up. A twinge shot through his side, but it wasn’t as sharp as before.

  “How much did you heal me?” he asked.

  “I wanted to do the whole thing, but Sienna wouldn’t let me,” Mattie replied with regret in her voice. “She said if I pushed myself too far, you would be upset.”

  “At least Sienna and I agree on something,” Gage said. He eased up from the bed. A glance showed his washed shirt and weapons’ belt thrown over the chair in the corner. He picked up the shirt and ran a finger along the stitched tear where the shrapnel had gone in. He gave Mattie a searching look.

  “I couldn’t let you go in ratty clothes,” she replied. He caught the glimmer of tears in her eyes that she blinked back. “Who knows when I’ll see you again?”

  Gage touched her arm. “I don’t know how to thank you for helping me.”

  “I’m your sister, Gage,” she replied. “You don’t have to thank me.”

  He eased the shirt over his head and picked up the worn zanderbin hide belt. With actions that told of habit, he checked the gun cartridge to ensure it hadn’t gotten water in it before he shoved the gun into the holster on the belt and buckled it on.

  “Mom wanted me to give you this,” Mattie said. She held out something wrapped in cloth.

  Gage knew what it was before he had even opened it to reveal the two-toned blade. His throat tightened.

  “She wanted me to have this?”

  Mattie nodded, her expression solemn. They both knew the stories of the blade. His mother had lost count of how many times she had used it to save her life and the lives of those aboard the Kratos. It was partially made of Zamarian steel, a highly sought-after element crafted by the Zamarians that knew no match in metalcraft. The other half of the blade was a metal unable to be identified even in the vast libraries of Corian. His mother left the blade as a show of faith whenever she and his father went on negotiations, though they all knew a Damaclan without a weapon was just as deadly as one with.