Consorts of the Red King by Eden Winters

Author:Eden Winters [Winters, Eden]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rocky Ridge Books
Published: 2019-10-25T16:00:00+00:00

Van never spent much time in physical form on the ship, until a king showed up to deal with. Much better to stay inside the ship’s circuitry, conserving resources.

Like Tayn, Jorvik stared at nothing while Van told him of their betrayal. “Is there any off-worlders you know who might help you?” Jorvik sat on the edge of Van’s bunk while Van loomed in the doorway, arms folded across his chest.

Jorvik shook his head. “Not unless you have another contact with the Coalition.”

“No. Besides, the commander is too highly placed. If we make a move, he’ll know we’re still alive.” How far would the man go to remedy the situation? He’d killed one hell of a lot of innocent people, and by whose order?

The Cormorant was a prototype, or so Commander said, designed to host Terran DNA. Apparently, whatever loyalty, if any, he’d had to them ended.

A lie. The past ten years a lie. For all Van knew, Commander lied about the prototype experiment too, a means to an end known only to the bastard who’d tried to kill them.

Thought he’d killed them.

Their names listed among the dead gave them an advantage, but also a disadvantage. Ports existed where they could dock for supplies, shady worlds where no one asked too many questions, but where they might wind up with a knife to the heart instead of a fuel cell.

Think, Van, think!

He’d nearly admitted defeat when Jorvik said, “I only have about twenty-eight days to return home with a fleet.”

“What? Why?”

The confident mask Jorvik wore since announcing himself king slipped, then fell completely. “My ancestors were Terran, like yours, gleaned from Earth by an advanced race who specialized in genetics. They performed tests, made modifications, and suited the specimens to the worlds they hoped to colonize. I do not know the exact name of the place we came from on Terra.”

“They kidnapped you?”

Jorvik gave him a bittersweet smile. “No. They realized humankind would one day destroy itself, and the vastness of space needed life. They started a colony on Akiak, of Terrans already used to certain similarities between the two planets, and altered them to tolerate the gravity and other differences.”

He paused then, staring at his hands. “They were mistaken in thinking Akiak a barren planet. The planet thrived with life.

“The first colonists died out quickly. The geneticists returned. Again and again they tried—and failed. Then they realized a sentient species already inhabited the planet. So, they blended their hybrid humans with the native life forms.”

Jorvik looked up at Van then. “They created a violent race of monsters, with fangs, claws, and bad dispositions, and decided to destroy them all. The precursor of the Federation found them first. Without technologically equal weapons, the colonists would have died, could have been wiped out from space.

“The religious say the queen of the stars intervened, saved us and made us her children. Back then weapons weren’t as advanced, couldn’t pinpoint population centers due to crystals interfering with their sensors. The enemy forces made the mistake of underestimating us.

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