For all the authors who’ve helped me through this year – Kit Rocha, Bec McMasters, Anna Hackett, Olivia Waite and all the others—Thank you. I needed you all a lot this year, so thanks for being there to keep shouting Love Wins into the hurricane. Likewise, thank you to Noelle Stevenson and the rest of the writing team that brought us Catradora; love is the balm we need, and you got me back in the chair when things were at their worst.
For Sasha – you do all the hard work. Edits, suggestions, and pep talks to help keep me on track and make each story the best it can be. You catch my problems and logic gaps like no one else, and you seem to inherently know the best way to drag a compelling story from the rough-hewn clay I often start with. Thank you for your patience, your skill, and above all, your friendship.
To my darling partner, none of this would be possible without you. You are the happily ever after in my life, and your support, your belief, and your love help make everything else possible. Thank you for continually being my shoulder, my support, and when I need it, my taskmaster. Most of all, thank you for continuing to say yes every day.
To L--even though I know you can’t read this—thanks for being a writing partner and remining me when it was time to play. And time to eat (Or at least feed you). And to A, my long departed iguana, the Goanna are all based on your silliness. As Nick Cave perfectly wrote “grief is the terrible reminder of the depths of our love, and like love, grief is non-negotiable.” The joys, love, and also the grief that you’ve taught me have made my life immensely richer. This has been a hard year to get through, but I learned from you that nothing is so bad that it can’t be healed by cuddling a fluff, chasing a ball, having a good meal, or sleeping at the seaside. I’ll miss you forever, F.
Thank you to Shannan who told me I should, and Kim who made me look good, and my sisters and brothers in romance who keep me honest and inspired. Thanks to Veronica and Pauline and all my Pets in Space fellows – what great fun we’ve had, for such good cause.
And lastly, thank you dear reader, and all the readers. Science Fiction Romance is a niche inside another niche, and it is your belief that they aren’t strange bedfellows, your voracious appetite for more great stories, and your dedication that keep me going. You are collectively the reason I sit down in front of the keyboard every day, and the payout that makes all the low times worthwhile.
Finding Mogha
Before the Fall
1
“They’re shooting at us.” Talking out loud, Dani’s voice sounded high-pitched, even to her ears.
Taking a hellhound puppy from a lab didn’t warrant a death sentence. But shooting at them now? All the way out here?
Even when the Human Colony Alliance pursued her from the science station three days ago, none of the warfighter ships fired at her.
Said hellhound pup stood alert in the middle of the bridge, feather-tipped antennae sticking straight up, bushy gray tail pointing backwards. A small tan-furred, trumpet-eared creature perched on top of his head, tiny snout sniffing at the air.
The freighter slipped into another fishtail as a second volley of bolts hit them from behind. The gray hellhound crouched on unsteady feet.
C’hase, get under my chair, Dani said to the pup. She didn’t want to see him go flying across the room.
The blackness of space felt even blacker as her eyes scanned the dimmed distant stars. Dani couldn’t see the aggressors, but they were out there; one had appeared as a blip on her radar. Gaining visual was another thing. Perhaps if she noticed a group of stars disappear, that would indicate where the ships were.
There—
Sitting forward over the console, squinting at the bottom of the transpari-steel viewscreen, Dani’s blood froze.
“That does not look like a human ship—”
“Send another warning shot,” K’vyn said from the pilot seat of his scout-class cruiser, having decided there was no need to report such an insignificant incident to the Cyborg Corps.
Lounging in the seat, leaning on his elbow, he casually flicked his wrist.
The ship did as he asked, laser fire grazing the back of the invading ship’s hull, just as the others had.
Humans were so arrogant. They thought they could just amble around the galaxy in their clunky inferior ships and claim what they wanted. Their entitlement galled him.
Watching the Invader ship from a distance, his lip curled. Could their ships be more offensive?
It was the clunkiest monstrosity he’d ever see, much like most human ships. However, this one was especially clunky. How were these beings even space-faring?
It probably couldn’t cause much damage to anything, might not have even had any weapons. But damned if he was going to allow some Invader this close to Mogha, sworn to protect the planet and its beloved inhabitants.
“Wait,” he scooted to the edge of his seat. “I feel something.”
Could this finally be his mogha companion? He had almost lost hope of ever finding one—
L’iza’s ghostly holographic form suddenly appeared next to him, concentration twisting her features. “We are too far from Mogha for you to be detecting one.”
The bond with his ship wasn’t as deep as a cyborg would have had, but L’iza could detect his thoughts, especially if they were accompanied with strong feelings.
“Strange,” she said next. “There is something there.”
Of course, there was. He knew what he felt.
The Korthan watched the human freighter, standing, clasping his hands behind his back. He couldn’t allow his elation with finding his mogha distract him from the problem at hand. They weren’t that far from the home world. What else could it be?
“Send a holo-transmission,” he said.
Was the ship Korthan?
They were in neutral territory, in an unarmed cargo freighter. No Korthan should be shooting at them.
Heart leaping as the ship flew closer, it swooped in front of Dani’s freighter in a graceful arc before hovering overhead.
Sleek in design, it had four swept back wings, all seeming to move independent of each other. Defying logic, it didn’t look anything like the Korthan ships she’d seen before.
This couldn’t have been Korthan. With ships like this, the humans were going to lose the war—
Not for the first time since Dani rescued the hellhound, she lamented the lack of a crew. A co-pilot would have been nice right about now.
Can I come out? C’hase’s innocent voice sounded from under Dani’s seat.
The young hellhound sounded so much like a human child, his voice was as startling as it was when she first heard him in her mind.
“No, stay where you are, Little One,” Dani said.
But I want to see the ship.
Ignoring the pup, Dani concentrated on the task at hand.
Mogha companion, I reach out to you. Can you hear me?
Dani blinked. “C’hase, is that you?”
There was movement under her seat that abruptly halted.
I’m not doing anything, C’hase said. Why did he sound like he’d just been caught doing something? Hedge isn’t doing anything either.
Hedge, the little space rat he couldn’t live without— Yup, definitely up to something he shouldn’t be.