The Rabbits fired their laser pistols.
The men had been headed toward the town where the Warden was docked. The new herd of Aurochs saw the battle and decided to join it. Brandt bugled his challenge and Bronwyn reached out with her mind.
The herd ran toward them. The survivors in the ditch felt the earth tremble with the incoming Aurochs. They turned and fired. One of the Aurochs (she’s well in front of the others) is hit with two shots. She goes down. Brandt roars and charges.
Together, he and Bronwyn jump into the ditch to finish the remaining few men. All is silent as Bronwyn realizes what she’s done. She projects fear and horror. The herd cowers. Brandt climbs out of the ditch and runs to his herd where they are gathering around the dead Aurochs. Brandt joins them and bugles his sorrow.
Bronwyn slides down and is torn. Here’s one of her friends and over there, the men who did it. They never bothered to talk with the men, because they’d stolen the lightning spears. They had known what they were doing. Those who seek power should not be in power – a Braden saying.
Chapter 12
They group continues to the town, where Bronwyn, Brandt, and Zeeka wave goodbye. They’ll head north to pick up the wagon and meet the others at New Sanctuary.
Braden, Micah, and the others all jump aboard the Warden for a fishing, sailing, party. The ship is in fine shape and makes great food. The Rabbits disappear into the garden. The twins go down below to watch the sea as it passes, with Rexalita, Chlora, and Rhodi swimming around.
The book will end with Bronwyn hooking Brandt up to the Old Tech wagon. She will wonder about something she heard the Hillcats talking about, that man couldn’t rule himself and that maybe it was time for the Hillcats to take a more active role in Vii’s affairs.
Cygnus Rising
Bonus Content (First Chapter)
Cygnus Space Opera – Book 1
A Tale from the Free Trader Universe
takes place over 100 years after Braden & Micah’s adventures
Sample Chapter of Cygnus Rising
Chapter 1 - Fire!
Flames shot through the open hatch. Cain yelled, “Engineering’s on fire!” as the klaxons continued to scream, echoing down the corridor away from him. He sensed, more than heard the anguished cry.
The hatch was open. The automated fire suppression system had failed.
He ripped open the damage control panel and pulled the tank out. He threw it hastily over his shoulder, reached behind him with a well-practiced maneuver to start the flow of air, and wrapped the dangling mask across his face. He draped the fire hood over his head as he ran. He didn’t have time to put on the whole outfit. People he knew were dying.
He hit the flames of the doorway at a dead run. The intense heat scorched his bare forearms as he passed. He yelled into his mask as he slid to a stop in the middle of the space, looking for survivors. A Rabbit lay under a terminal, an ugly scorch mark cut across his white fur, leaving blackened hair around burned pink flesh underneath. The Rabbit moved – Briz was alive.
Cain slid him from under the melting terminal. The Rabbit was dense and blocky, half Cain’s height, but the same weight. Cain pulled an equipment cover off the back of a chair. He took it and wrapped it around the Rabbit’s head and over as much of his body as he could, then hefted him, trying not to touch the injury. Cain lumbered toward the hatch, ducked his head, held his breath, and jumped through the flames. He deposited the Rabbit in the passageway and raced back into Engineering. Ellie was in there somewhere.
He should have been alarmed that the flames didn’t seem to hurt as much this time. The next victim was a Wolfoid, horribly torn apart from the force of an exploded containment vessel. He saw something odd about the way the Wolfoid’s body, bigger than a human’s was laying on the floor.
A pink-fleshed hand snaked out from underneath the heavy gray fur. Without remorse, Cain heaved the Wolfoid’s shattered body to the side. Ellie was dazed, but seemed to be okay. The Wolfoid must have taken the full force of the rupture, protecting her. Cain’s breath caught as he looked at her silken black hair, the ends curled and brittle from the heat that had passed over her.
He pulled her to him as blue lights started to flash within Engineering, signaling the imminent flooding of argon gas into the compartment. He kneeled, rolling her from a sitting position over his shoulder. He stood without much effort. She wasn’t heavy and laid easily over his shoulder as he hurried for the hatch. The flames had died down somewhat, but he still ran through, hoping speed would keep them safe. Once through, he stopped, took off his hood and breathed deeply of the better air in the corridor. The hatch to engineering closed.
The klaxons stopped as someone helped Ellie from his shoulder. He looked at the closed hatch. Anyone still in the space would be denied oxygen, just like the fire. The argon gas was supposed to be flushed in a matter of seconds, but it would be too late. He was surprised that he didn’t know how many people worked in the space. Three? Four?
“Holy Rising Star, Cain! You shouldn’t have gone in there. Why the hell would you do something like that?” the Captain’s words were harsh, but his eyes were grateful. As the older man looked at the two survivors in the corridor, he added, “but I’m glad you did, son. Looks like you saved two lives, irreplaceable lives.”
The two Hillcats waiting for Cain and Ellie in the corridor couldn’t have agreed more. Carnesto yowled in pain as Ellie came back to her senses. The burns on her lower body attacked her with waves of agony. He put a furry paw on her head to help her through the worst of it.
Why had Cain risked knowing what his death would do to his ‘cat, to his family? He had no choice. It’s who he’d always wanted to be. It’s who he was. He’d spent his short life trying to live up to one man, the Space Exploration Service Captain who showed him how a hero acts.
Free Trader 8 – The Great Cat Rebellion
The Free Trader is caught between his friends and the ease with which man fights against himself.
Free Trader Book Eight – coming soon, exclusively on Amazon.
Postscript
If you like the Free Trader and would like to see the series continue, please join my mailing list by dropping by my website www.craigmartelle.com or if you have any comments, shoot me a note at [email protected]. I am always happy to hear from people who’ve read my work. I try to answer every email I receive.
If you liked the story, please write a short review for me on Amazon. I greatly appreciate any kind words, even one or two sentences go a long way. The number of reviews an ebook receives greatly improves how well an ebook does on Amazon.
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Thank you for reading the Free Trader!
Author Notes
I call the Free Trader my flagship series. It is my science fiction adventure series that I can escape to. I wrote it because I’m a fan of the roleplaying games designed by James M. Ward – Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World. That’s why the ship in this one is called the Warden, in honor of my friend Jim Ward.
Thank you to the best fans anyone could ever ask for! When I need anything while writing a story, they are here, ready to help.
I know this was supposed to come out in 2017, but with the runaway bestseller success of the Terry Henry Walton Chronicles, I needed to stay with that series until it was finished. You will see Free Trader 8 – The Great Cat Rebellion after I finish Bad Company 4, then Free Trader 9 – Return to the Traveler after I finish Bad Company 5. Free Trader 9 will be the end of the series since the Cygnus Space Opera picks up with the descendants of your favorite characters from the Free Trader.
Erika Everest delivered unto me the name Southport in the flash of an eye. Ultra-Superfan Ron Gailey earned some primetime as well. A good friend and always ready to help, Micky Cocker provided more names for me that I’ve used for the leader of the ra
iders as well as the elders of Southport.
Sarah Weir offered Hopewell and Chesterton for the port city, but I had already used Southport, so I they became the interlopers who later joined the crew. Thanks Sarah and good luck writing your own books – you’ll be great.
Everyone needs a group of elders. It doesn’t hurt to have a pure-heart test, either.
Some writers who have influenced me? Robert E. Howard (the original Conan), JRR Tolkien, Andre Norton, Robert Heinlein, Lin Carter, Brian Aldiss, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Anne McCaffrey, and of late, James Axler, Raymond Weil, Jonathan Brazee, Mark E. Cooper, and David Weber. I learned something from each of these authors, story line, compelling issue, characters that you can relate to, the beauty of the prose, unique tendrils weaving through the book’s theme. My writing has been compared to that of Andre Norton and my Free Trader characters to those of McCaffrey’s Dragonriders, my Rick Banik Thrillers to the works of Robert Ludlum.
I find the comparisons humbling and continue to improve the quality of my stories. All I want is for my readers to relate to the characters, put themselves into those situations, and ask themselves, what would they do if they were there instead?
Through a bizarre series of events, I ended up in Fairbanks, Alaska. I never expected to retire to a place where golf courses are only open for four months out of the year. But I love it here. It is off the beaten path. My wife and I watch the northern lights from our driveway. Our dog has lots of room to run. And temperatures reach forty below zero. We have from three and a half hours of daylight in the winter to twenty-four hours in the summer.
It’s all part of the give and take of life. If we didn’t have those extremes, then everyone would live here.
Table of Contents
The Raid on Livestel
The President’s Warriors
The Chase Begins
A Party Divided
A Mountain Pass
Southport
The Aurochs
Trials
Delay
Tomorrow
Transitions
The Spaceship Traveler
The Fury Rises
Fight Fire with Fire
Feel the Burn
Recovery
Parting Ways
Bonus Content!
Cygnus Rising Bonus Content (First Chapter)
Postscript
Author Notes
Southern Discontent (Free Trader Series Book 7) Page 15
