He started to untie the children from the ropes suspended from the ceiling. Then he felt a hard whack against his helmet.
The force sent him flying into the wall.
He turned, seeing Rina standing behind him with the steel pipe in her hand.
Grayson rolled up. And then he saw a crack at the bottom of his helmet. It began to spider across the surface.
From what he could tell, it wasn’t fatal. Yet.
“I took a hit,” he said into the radio.
He aimed at Rina, but she grabbed a little girl and held the pipe to the little girl’s head.
“You ruined everything for me,” she said. “Come any closer and the kid dies.”
Will aimed at her. “Let her go,” he said.
“Or what?” Rina asked. One of her arms was heavily bandaged. “Going to shoot me again?”
“As a matter of fact, yes, I freaking am going to shoot you again.”
“What’s the endgame here?” Grayson asked. “You have nowhere to go.”
“And nothing to lose!” Rina shouted. “Why couldn’t you stupid soldiers stay home and save someone else?”
“So the pig let you go?” Grayson asked.
“I convinced him. I was almost home when you idiots screwed it up.”
“Drop your weapon,” Will said. “For the final freaking time, I said—”
“Screw you!”
Rina threw the pipe at Grayson’s helmet. Grayson tried to duck, but he backed away too far and hit the wall.
The pipe was coming for him.
Everything moved in slow motion.
If the pipe hit him…
Adrenaline kicked in and his breathing accelerated. His vision narrowed. He heard his own heartbeat…
An explosion struck the ship.
Rina lost her grip on the girl and stumbled forward.
Zzzt!
Grayson’s hands went to his handcoil.
The pipe kept spinning toward him.
Impact!
He fell.
A hit! A blow!
The airlock rotated. The ship listed to the side.
A metal clanging sensation.
His body hitting the floor.
Rina screaming.
More coilshots. Will yelling.
His finger on the trigger.
His finger clicking it rapidly.
His body, flying across the airlock, his torso twisting around as he turned backward to keep shooting.
The little girl screaming.
A hand reaching for her. His hand.
Rina falling, falling, falling. Striking her head against the jagged edge of the metal opening Will had cut.
Glass cracking. Legs. Arms. Flailing into space.
Space. Blooming around him.
Stars spinning above him.
Oxygen.
Oxygen…
Will’s voice screaming.
Beau… Beauregard’s voice.
A metal arm around his waist.
The whole universe spinning before him.
Unable to fight further, he closed his eyes.
Chapter 31
Everything moved in a dazzling blur.
But Grayson never lost consciousness.
He moved and talked as if something else were controlling his body. And he could only watch as he and Will untied the passengers and hoisted them one-by-one onto the rescue ship. It was long, grueling work, and Grayson and Will didn’t speak until the last passenger was onboard. Only then did Grayson’s full awareness slowly return, normal but slightly groggy.
He leaned against the airlock wall and rested as the pressure door closed.
Will took off his helmet and guided him onto the floor.
“Buddy, you’ve got to take it easy,” Will said.
Grayson panted. “It’s over, right?”
“Umm, yeah,” Will said. “Dude, that was insane what you did back there.”
Grayson’s head throbbed. “What did I do?”
“Rina hit you with the pipe. It missed your helmet but it hit your shoulder. I shot Rina. The little girl floated out of the airlock and you grabbed her, but your suit was slowly losing oxygen. If it weren’t for Beau, you would have been a goner.”
“Oh,” Grayson said. “Everything just happened in a blur. Must’ve been adrenaline.”
“You need to relax,” Will said.
Beau spoke over the intercom. “Welcome back, everyone. If you’ll look to the windows on your left, you will see the destruction of the Argus ship.”
Everyone crowded to the windows as the weapons on the bottom of the cutter heated up.
But before they could fire, the Argus ship exploded suddenly.
Will and Grayson covered their eyes.
A massive fire burned where the ship had been; metal and debris flew everywhere, some raining against the side of the rescue ship.
Then, in the middle of the fire, a black swirl appeared. It swallowed the fire, leaving only embers that burned and then blinked away. The swirl vanished, leaving behind a red, jewel-like circle that flickered before fading into the black.
“What the hell was that?” Will asked.
“Was there someone else onboard?” Grayson asked.
Will patted Grayson on the back. “I think at this point, man, we just have to throw our hands up, be thankful for what we accomplished, and drink ourselves silly. What do you say?”
“I agree!” one of the passengers said.
Laughter spread across the airlock, and Grayson laughed, too.
Beauregard spoke again on the intercom as the ship began to move.
“Everyone, I’ve arranged for an army ship to meet us nearby. They’ve agreed to take you home. We won’t risk having you in Rah space any longer.”
The passengers cheered. For the first time all night, Grayson sighed with relief.
Chapter 32
A trio of Galactic Army ships met the rescue ship at the edge of Rah space. The group contained two fighter ships armed with weapons and a transport ship that reminded Grayson of a bus adapted for space, but much, much bigger. The ships were green and gray, and they shone in the pale orange light of a nearby gas giant.
Grayson shook hands with the passengers as they lined up in the airlock. They thanked him.
“Y’all take care of yourselves, now, all right?” Grayson said.
“I have a great feeling about this journey,” the brown-haired man said. “We’re home-bound now. We’ll never forget this.”
He hugged Grayson.
The children approached him and Will.
Will had a soccer ball in his hand. He bent down and gave it to them.
“We can keep it?” a little boy asked.
“How else are you going to pass the time?” Will asked.
The little boy turned the ball over. Something was written on it.
I’m the winner! -Will
The kid blew a raspberry at Will.
“Never!”
Everyone laughed.
The airlock rumbled as the transport ship connected to it.
The pressure door opened and the interior of the transport ship appeared—full of seats and video screens.
An army officer entered and saluted.
Grayson and Will saluted back.
“Everyone, follow us,” the man said. “Time to get you home.”
Grayson waved as the passengers filed onto the army ship and the airlock pressure door closed. Through the porthole window in the airlock, he watched the ship activate its jump core and charge into hyperspace. The army fighter ships followed.
As the purple twinkles faded, he thought about Pop. He would have been proud. He would have listened to Grayson tell this story with a beer in his hand, cheering him on the whole way.
“This was all for you, Pop,” Grayson said, looking at the stars.
***
“Nice work, gentlemen,” Beau said.
Grayson shook his hand. “Thanks for saving me back there.”
“Guess it’ll be the last time, huh?” Beau asked.
Grayson had almost forgotten it was his last mission. He strapped himself in at his instrument panel. “Guess so.”
Ponty and Gregg appeared on the conference screen.
Grayson, Will and Beau saluted.
“Good job,” Ponty said. “You made us proud.”
“Thank you, sir,” the three of them said.
“We’re on the way home,” Beau said.
“There’s one last thing,” Gregg said. “Since you’re already out, we’ve detected a distress signal about thirty minutes FTL from your location. We don’t have any other ships close enough to respond promptly.”
“Is it related to the Arguses?” Grayson asked.
“No. Not that we can tell. It’s a private passenger ship. It’s probably stranded, but the signal is faint. We’re sending the coordinates now.”
“Got them, sir,” Will said.
“We’re on it, sir,” Beau said.
“I can’t think of a better way to end your last mission, Grayson,” Ponty said.
“Search and rescue was always my favorite, sir,” Grayson said, smiling.
Will activated the jump core and the ship’s computer counted down.
“We’ll get them home,” Grayson said, saluting.
Ponty and Gregg saluted back, and their images faded from the screen.
“One last time, eh?” Will asked.
“For the memory books,” Grayson said.
“Let’s roll, gents,” Beau said.
The thrusters fired and the jump core roared. Grayson held on as the rescue ship blasted into hyperspace.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note
I wrote this series completely out of order. In fact, Book 1 is the second book I wrote (I wrote Phantom Planet first).
This is a little unusual for me, but I’m enjoying the crazy ride that is Galaxy Mavericks.
Every series for me is always special. Especially the first book, because everything kind of hinges on it. If readers don’t read your series, it’s probably because of your first book. So there’s always an immense amount of pressure when you’re writing that first book.
I Never Thought I Would Write Space Opera
Well, not entirely true… but it wasn’t high on my list. Until one day, out of the blue, in the shower, I had a glimmer of an idea.
A space opera about ordinary people doing something extraordinary to save the universe.
I had no idea what it would evolve into, but it intrigued me.
And then, my readers challenged me to write the series (read more about this in the Author’s Note in Book 2).
So I did it.
And it was fun!
Living in the Shadow of Star Trek and Military Science Fiction
The entire time I wrote this book, I kept thinking “How can I avoid the clichés and NOT make this like Star Trek or Star Wars?”
I love both of them.
Heck, Star Trek: The Next Generation is responsible for making me a lifelong science fiction fan (Jean-Luc Picard will ALWAYS be my favorite captain—hands down, though Benjamin Sisko was the man, too).
And how can any writer NOT be influenced by Star Wars?
But my science fiction and fantasy is about doing something different. Trying to tell a story that only I can.
I’ve written stories about teddy bears, dragons, androids, etc. I’m drawn to unique characters.
But what about space opera?
I mean, I love aliens and all, but I just couldn’t see myself writing a story about one. At least with a teddy bear or a dragon, there’s something human about them. Readers can still relate.
An alien was just too hard.
That’s why I put space opera at the bottom of my list for a while, trying to figure out what to do with it.
But when I got that idea in the shower, that’s when it clicked.
My heroes aren’t just characters like dragons or androids.
They’re underdogs. They’re unexpected.
(After all, I’m going to run out of “unique” characters to write about after a while…)
At the time of this writing, most space opera right now tilts toward the military sci-fi blend.
But space opera, if it’s one thing, is a timeless genre that will always be relevant. It always reinvents itself. That’s why people are still reading books in this genre that were published decades ago. So I figured I could afford to take some crazy chances.
I thought the idea of a space opera about ordinary people rising to the challenge would be pretty cool. Almost like the Avengers in space, but without superheroes.
Even Grayson is ordinary—he’s a reservist.
Keltie, Book 2’s protagonist, is a real estate agent.
Book 3’s hero is a galactic special agent.
And so on.
If you couldn’t tell, I like to have fun with my stories.
Black People in Space
Much of Grayson’s story resonates with my own experience growing up.
I’m a mama’s boy. My mom worries about me all the time but I usually try to blow it off.
My great grandmother made my favorite meal every year until she died: pig ears and sauerkraut, with a side of German chocolate cake.
Food brings my family together. So does music.
So in a way, Grayson’s life pulls from mine.
But I’m not a hero, though. The other parts were pure wish fulfillment.
I wanted to write a story about an African-American protagonist, since honestly I don’t see that many of them in space opera. Not in the roles of the hero. But I also wondered what it would be like if black people traveled into space. How would we change?
The more I wrote, the more I realized that we would probably stay the same.
I think humanity itself would remain mostly the same. Sure, the technology would change, and if we settled on a different planet, the lifestyle and customs might change somewhat, but the heart of humanity wouldn’t change.
You’d still have good, you’d have evil, and you’d have weird.
But I don’t think it’s a stretch to believe that, aside from some key differences, humans would be just about the same a thousand years from now.
I don’t know about you, but that’s really encouraging.
About Those Military Parts
This book does have elements of military sci-fi, though.
The Galactic Guard is basically the U.S. Coast Guard in space, with a lot of modifications and deviations to suit the story.
In writing this story, I did a lot of research into how the Coast Guard works, and how noble its mission is.
It’s the branch of the armed forces that most people ignore. Especially if you live inland like me. Yet the work they do is so vital to the protection of our country, our freedoms, and our citizens.
I especially thought that the search and rescue operations were awesome. If you’ve never seen it, watch some YouTube videos. It’s amazing.
Before I wrote the first word of this book, I knew that I wanted a character in Book 1 who was likable, relatable, and heroic. There were no better models to look to than the Coast Guard.
I’m not a military guy. Far from it. And I’m sure that I made a lot of errors and faux pas here and there in military customs, language, weapons, and culture. I can guarantee that.
But above all things, I wanted to capture the spirit of sacrifice and selfless heroism, which in my opinion embodies what the Coast Guard does. Hopefully any and all errors can be forgiven in that light.
I’m too old now, and I have too many medical issues, but if I had to go back in time and relive my life again in a different way, I probably would join the Coast Guard Reserve. What they do is very cool, and more people should know about them. You can find out more at http://reserve.uscg.mil/.
Special thank you to Nate Johnson, a former member of the USCG who gave me some pointers on making the Galactic
Guard parts plausible and parallel to the USCG. He’s also a space opera author who puts the Coast Guard in space, so check him out.
Another thank you to author Mark Gardner, who provided tips on making some of the Navy details a bit more realistic.
Music References
In naming quite a few characters in this series, I decided to name them after my favorite musicians. I have very eclectic taste in music, and I will be shocked if anyone knows most of the references. Yeah, I’m throwing a challenge out there!
But Grayson McCoy is named after singer Joey McCoy, who was a member of an 80s Japanese pop band called Carlos Toshiki & Omega Tribe. He’s an African-American who did something that honestly I have never seen before—he sang, toured and wrote songs with a Japanese band.
How did I even find out about this?
Well, my uncle Terry was a band manager for a rock band back in the 70s. He traveled quite a bit and met a lot of famous musicians.
Musicians love to trade and share music. It’s how they learn and bond. It’s a requirement and an unwritten rule, especially when you’re on the road.
My uncle met a lot of interesting people. He never traveled to Japan, but somehow he ended up with this Omega Tribe CD. I don’t know if he ever listened to it. It sat in his basement for years. One day, as a teenager, I showed him some music that I had written and he was impressed. He brought up a crate from the basement, and on the very top I saw this CD—it was a Japanese band, with Japanese written all over it, and in the middle of four Japanese guys was a black guy. I was intrigued.
I listened to the CD and I was hooked. Carlos Toshiki & Omega Tribe stood out from other Japanese bands at the time for a couple of reasons: the lead singer, Carlos Toshiki was half Japanese and half Brazilian with American roots (I think—his English has no accent at all). Any time you put Brazil and Japan together, some incredible things happen (ie. look up Yutaka Yokokura). Also, instead of focusing on current trends at the time (bland chords, a very “Japanese” singer, songs that sounded like all the other J-Pop songs), they focused on pop grooves, cool chords, and American appeal (many of their songs have English words peppered in them). They also capitalized on the “black” sound. If you watch YouTube videos of their performances, many of their supporting band members were African-Americans who were professional musicians. And finally, they had a black singer who had a title name in the band. He even wrote one of their biggest hits, “Reiko.”
Honor's Reserve (Galaxy Mavericks Book 1) Page 11
