Thieves of Destiny: A Military Space Opera Series (Gravity City Book 1) by CJ Valin & Artie Cabrera

Author:CJ Valin & Artie Cabrera [Valin, CJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2022-10-24T16:00:00+00:00

14 SYRENEX

Planet Syrenex

Livronia System

After they landed at the Syrenex spaceport and secured the ship, Rangers followed Koya to the outskirts of town. It was barely mid-afternoon, but the planet was already hot, humid, and rainy, and the barometric pressure only worsened as they headed for the jungle edge. Rangers didn’t know much about Ojavan space in general and had never heard of Syrenex. It was primarily inhabited by the downtrodden and seemed like a place no one should ever come to. There was evidence of war everywhere he looked, and he wondered how far they’d get before they found themselves in the middle of a battle.

Life there moved very slowly. There were bonfires in scallop-rimmed pits everywhere. The seasonal heat was staggering, and brown-watered filth and rust covered most things. Relentless swarms of flies buzzed loudly around compost and garbage. Women delousing or nursing children with swollen stomachs looked at Rangers and Koya with a beaten calm. At the market the size of a small newsstand, there were enormous fish and gators on yokes and a grilled animal on a spit that may or may not has been a monkey. There was a bowl on the ground filled with charred bones feeding the flies. Nothing in the village bore proper sanitation or good health.

A jungle bird screeched overhead, flying in slow-motion against the oppressive weather as they passed rows of hovels and huts and approached the rutty, windowless shack of a building, which Rangers would never have figured for any kind of business, other than maybe an old foundry. Hovering above the doorway was a sign with Ojavan letters painted over it.

“What does it say?” Rangers said.

Koya looked up at the sign. “The Slaughtered Boar.”

“Lovely.” Rangers mopped sweat from his brow.

He vaguely recalled how the Ice Boar was a symbol of Hegemony because the Ojavans themselves had small tusks protruding from their lower teeth, which was one of the ways they differed from humans.

“I thought Ojavans loved boars,” Rangers said.

Koya stopped and gave Rangers a look again. “Of course, they love boars. As much as they love their rum. You think we’d go to a place with Ojavans who love the Hegemony to find someone to take us illegally into prohibited Ojavan space?”

Rangers realized he was an idiot as Koya opened the door to the dump. He followed her in and immediately retched from the smell. Alcohol, body odor, cigar smoke, and terrible food and animal-like aromas made Rangers gag.

“Man up, Rangers,” Koya said. “If you can’t handle this, I don’t know how we will get through the rest of this mission.”

“If the rest of the mission smells anything like this, I don’t, either.” Rangers adjusted his eyes to the darkness and saw the establishment was packed with what he assumed were smugglers and pirates. There were many types here, most of them armed and none pleasant or welcoming.

“Wait here and order a bottle of the hard stuff.” Koya handed him a handful of Ojavan Hegemony credits while she sought out her contact.

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