Ouroboros 1: Start Read online

  All characters in this publication are fictitious, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  A Galactic Coalition Academy Series

  Start

  Book One of Ouroboros

  Copyright © 2014 Odette C Bell

  Smashwords Edition

  Cover art stock photos: Handsome adult man looking up © konstantynov, Closeup beautiful woman portrait © chesterf. Licensed through Depositphotos.

  This book was previously published under the pen name Monica Shepherd.

  This series is in Australian English

  START

  Book One of Ouroboros

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 1

  Cadet Nida Harper

  The planet around her was dead. Not a single thing remained alive. There were no trees, no plants, no life. Just the cold colours of rock, stone, and metal.

  Nida took a step forward, forcing a deep and reassuring breath as she did.

  The rest of the team was behind her somewhere, and she indulged in a moment of solitude.

  She stared up at the horizon. Dusk was settling in, and with it, a stunning array of colours lit up the sky. There were a few scant clouds scooting through the oncoming darkness, and their undersides lit up with vibrant oranges, purples, and golds.

  Beyond the clouds, the first few stars were blinking on, like lights in a darkened city.

  It was beautiful, especially when you considered how different it was to the stark, cold view of the planet around her.

  This was one of her first missions away from the Academy, and she hadn't expected it to be so . . . confronting.

  She could see the outlines of buildings in the dusty valley below her, hints at what this planet had been long in the past.

  Apparently, a great civilisation had once inhabited this world, and now all that remained was the dust, rock, and rubble.

  Sighing at how sad it was, Nida soon shook her head and realised she had to get back to work.

  Pushing off, her regulation black boots kicked through the dust until she made it down the short incline in front of her.

  “Hey, Nida,” someone called from behind.

  It was J’Etem, her good friend. The young woman was not human, and was rather from an alien race known as the Barkanas. She had lustrous golden hair flecked with flashes of orange and red, like flame licking through a field of summer hay.

  “What are you doing so far from the group?” J’Etem asked with a semi-cross look crumpling her smooth brow. She had perfectly even and shiny skin. Not a mark, not a wrinkle, nothing but silky black flesh.

  Nida made a face and quickly looked behind her, checking to see whether she was about to get in trouble again. “Is the commander around here? Did he tell you to come get me?”

  J’Etem shook her head. “Nope, I just saw you wandering off and figured it was a good idea to come and get you before you get in even more trouble than usual.”

  Nida gave a small laugh, then nodded at J’Etem before turning to follow her back to the rest of the group.

  “Isn't this planet fascinating?” J’Etem pointed out after she gulped in an excited breath. “I mean, how cool is it that we're getting the chance to go on an actual mission? With Carson Blake, of all people,” she added in what could only be called a squeak.

  Nida had to laugh at that. She already knew J’Etem was a major fan of Lieutenant Blake. Because, seriously, who wasn't? He was a living legend at the Academy, and every cadet, man or woman or somewhere in between, loved the guy to bits.

  “It's cool,” Nida managed after a lengthy pause.

  “Come on, I think you can muster a bit more excitement than that. The Academy is finally trusting us with a bit of responsibility. And considering your track record, that's a really good sign,” J’Etem added subtly.

  Nida had to laugh; J’Etem was totally right. Nida had one of the worst records of anyone in her class. She was barely scraping by. But she stuck with it. Though she could have quit the Galactic Coalition Academy many times, she found herself coming back every year.

  Soon she would graduate, then a lifetime of missions in space would welcome her.

  . . . .

  Which was what she wanted, right? It's what everyone at the Academy wanted. They all worked towards the same goal: space exploration, and the honour of forming the group of men and women that kept this galaxy safe.

  “You're doing it again,” J’Etem announced as she offered Nida a pointed sigh.

  “What?” Nida looked up sharply.

  “Thinking. You always get that look of profound consternation on your face when you are deep in thought, and I have to say, it reminds me of a nagar toad about to squirt poison on you.”

  Nida laughed. It felt good, but even that couldn't chase away the melancholy that had descended over her.

  With a quick move, she looked over her shoulder again at the view. Specifically the small ridges and bumps that hinted at the remains of some building destroyed long ago.

  This planet had once been thriving with people—with real, live things—and now it was nothing more than a testament to destruction and death.

  Okay, so it had sat desolate for over 2000 years according to archaeological reports, but that didn't matter. It felt wrong to come here and dig up the place looking for its secrets without mustering just a little respect for its previous inhabitants, no matter how long ago they'd existed.

  “What's the matter?” J’Etem asked again, pressing her perfectly plush, purple lips together as she gave Nida a knowing look.

  “Just . . . thinking about the people that once lived here,” Nida answered truthfully as she gestured to the planet with a sweep of her arm.

  “What's there to think about? Nothing but the occasional blob of bacteria has inhabited this world for the past 2000 years. All that remains now is dust and a couple of old buildings. I'll grant you, some of the archaeology is interesting, and Blake clearly thinks this planet is important for some reason. But apart from that, this place is nothing more than dust and stone.”

  Nida offered her friend a smile and remained silent.

  Then they both made it back to the main group, and Nida carefully walked over to a deserted corner, trying to pretend she'd always been there when a few people glanced her way.

  “Don't make me go find you again,” J’Etem whispered under her breath as she strode past.

  Nida nodded, then leaned down on her haunches.

  She didn't have much to do, to be honest. Both her and J’Etem were only here as ‘observers’. Neither of them were out of the Academy, and they certainly couldn't be trusted with any real work. Okay, J’Etem could—she had fantastic scores when it came to xenobiology and the study of alien civilisations. Nida, on the other hand, didn't. In fact, she was only here because J’Etem had somehow managed to convince the commander to bring her along.

  Just
sit tight and don't get in trouble, Nida thought to herself as she brushed her fingers through the dust.

  She wasn't wearing armour or an environmental suit; she was merely dressed in the usual garb of a Galactic Coalition Academy recruit. A standard black and blue uniform with absolutely zero pips on her collar, because she had no rank, and considering her lacklustre abilities, would likely never get one.

  Dragging her fingers through the dust, Nida enjoyed the distinct feeling of it tracking over her skin. It scratched and played at the edges of her fingernails.

  Looking up, she glanced at the rest of the team. Everyone seemed locked in some important task, their collective expression one of concentrated work. And yet here she was, actually playing in the dirt like a three-year-old.

  Scrunching her lips together and feeling perfectly silly, she stood up, turned her head to the sky, and stared at the clouds pressing in from the horizon. Dusk was beautiful. The colours were so vibrant and exquisite. It was such a contrast to the dull gunmetal grey and black of the planet. It was almost as if all the life of this place had drifted up into the sky.

  With that philosophical thought ringing in her mind, she turned to stare behind her.

  There was a large broken-down building there, and it stretched for almost 200 meters on one side. It had a low, flat roof, and several large, sweeping sets of stairs leading up to it.

  A small, flat path ran around the outside of the building, and even in the dwindling light of dusk, she could make out five people standing on it.

  She recognised all of them. Every cadet at the Academy would. Hell, most citizens of the United Galactic Coalition would too.

  Lieutenant Blake and his incredible team.

  They were called the Force, and they were always sent on the most important and dangerous missions.

  And, for some reason, they’d been sent down to this planet. Though Nida wasn't ranked high enough to know the details, she could imagine it was fabulously important, otherwise, it wouldn't demand the attention of Blake and his Force.

  She stared at them as they stood there, their bodies stiff with concentration as they listened to Blake.

  He was resting with his back against a broken statue, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He was too far away for her to see his expression, but she could bet it was one of disciplined concentration.

  The other four members of the group were Piya, Travis, Sa’oq, and Bor. All the best in their respective professions.

  They were the top of the top. The absolute cream of the Academy. When they weren't running off saving the galaxy, they occasionally popped in for guest lectures, or to assess the up and coming recruits to see if any were worthy enough for entry into the Force.

  Nida, needless to say, would never get a tap on her shoulder and an invite into that selective group. She was way more likely to get a smack on the back and a swift kick in the butt instead.

  Pursing her lips together and breathing through them, she turned on the spot again, surveying the whole scene before her.

  The other ten or so members of the mission to this planet were all dotted around, doing their respective tasks, all against the backdrop of these incredible ruins.

  With dusk coming down, the shadows that had built up along the building and under the stairs of this ruined compound deepened.

  Though it wasn't cold, Nida found herself shivering.

  She wanted to be back on the ship. Though ostensibly it was exciting to be on a real mission, she felt a little like she was walking across someone's grave. Who cared if no one had inhabited this planet for 2000 years? It still felt wrong to walk all over these ruins without a hint of compassion or respect.

  Just as Nida looked around for a place to sit, a man cleared his throat gruffly behind her.

  She turned to see none other than Commander Sharpe.

  An enormous man of half human and half Yara build, he was like a brick wall on legs. He also had a particularly stony expression to match. “Cadet,” he said, the word sounding exactly like a shot from a gun, “what are you doing?”

  “Ah,” she swallowed hard, “I haven't been assigned a task yet,” she managed.

  Sharpe's eyes narrowed, and he regarded her with a look that could melt steel. “This is an important mission, and you need to treat it like one,” he began.

  She nodded, for some reason bothering to throw in a salute, even though it was completely unnecessary.

  Sharpe rolled his eyes. “Don't just sit there,” he said, breathing through his teeth.

  “Yes sir,” she snapped. Then she shuffled her feet slightly. “Um, should I go back to the shuttle?”

  Sharpe grumbled under his breath.

  This was not the first time Nida had come to the unwanted attention of Sharpe. In fact, he was the bane of her existence. He threatened her every other day with expulsion from the Academy for being the ‘worst recruit in 1000 years'. So he was fully aware that not only was this her first mission, she really didn't have the skills to be here; hence, she was standing around and staring at the sky.

  “Look, take this,” he handed her one of the spare scanners from his belt, “and do a mineralogical survey of the ground,” he suggested.

  She took the scanner silently and didn't point out that there was no point in doing a mineralogical survey, as it had already been done.

  “Just stick to where I can see you,” he added harshly. “And even if you aren’t doing anything useful, for god’s sake, look busy. The Force is here, and you could at least try to pretend you’ve earned the honour of being here with them.”

  She didn’t react to that cutting remark. Instead, she nodded, adding another needless salute.

  Rolling his eyes, Sharpe walked away, muttering something under his breath that sounded exactly like “worst damn recruit in a thousand years.”

  Nida desperately wanted to point out that the Galactic Coalition Academy had only been running for the past 450 years, but she didn't. Instead, she bit her tongue, turned on her foot, and picked a random direction. Then she turned the scanner on and wandered off.

  She had no idea how long this mission was meant to last. Presumably until the Force had done whatever they were meant to do. But Nida really didn't like the idea of spending the next several hours walking over the same section of dust, scanning it for no other reason than to appear busy.

  As dusk settled darker around her, she found herself walking further away from the compound.

  She reasoned that if she'd been tasked with a mineralogical survey, she might as well do a thorough job, and the geology seemed to be different the further away she walked from that ring of ruined buildings.

  Once she was safely out of earshot of everyone else, she began humming to herself.

  She liked it when she was alone. There was no one to point out she was a failure. Plus, she could explore space the way she felt it ought to be explored. By taking the time to stare up at the stars above and to revel in their mystery and beauty. In fact, it was when she was doing just that, that she tripped over something.

  Her head was turned up to the heavens as she walked along, the scanner held steadily in her hand, but when her boot snagged on some rough piece of stone, the scanner went flying and so did she.

  Her body slammed against the uneven and dusty ground, her chest smacking into a rock that pushed the wind from her lungs.

  “Ow,” she managed after a short pause.

  Then she scrambled to her feet to seek out the scanner. Usually they were hardy, but Nida was a particularly unlucky soul, and seemed to have a talent for breaking everything.

  And Sharpe would be seriously unhappy if she came back with a shattered scanner. As he kept on telling her, a good cadet looked after their equipment.

  She pushed herself up, then she stopped.

  She could see the scanner. It was several meters in front of her, down a set of dark stairs that led into a room sunk low underneath the earth.

  “What the hell?” she breathed wildly. “
Where did that come from?” she pushed back on her knees, getting to her feet.

  Her heart pounded in her chest, the powerful thump of it reverberating through her clenched teeth.

  She had already wandered around this compound, and she had not come across this set of stairs before.

  How had she missed it? Had she been so busy staring at the sky that an enormous, gaping hole in the ground had failed to grab her attention?

  Scrunching her bottom lip in and biting it earnestly, she turned over her shoulder to see if anyone was in earshot.

  They weren't. In fact, she couldn't even see the rest of the group.

  They were hidden by a slight rise in the ground.

  Damn, she thought bitterly. Sharpe had told her specifically not to walk out of sight, and here she was, completely hidden from the compound and the rest of her team.

  “Right, just go get the scanner, then get back to the group,” she told herself firmly.

  Then she could return triumphant to Sharpe, and let him know she'd found . . . a random set of stairs that hadn't appeared on the scans the ship had done from space.

  Her gut twisted with fear.

  Before the team had come down to the planet, they'd all been forced to attend a briefing. In it, Lieutenant Blake and Commander Sharpe had explained what they were all to do. They'd also shown everyone an in depth interactive hologram based on a blueprint of the ruins.

  This set of stairs had not appeared in that hologram, she was sure of it.

  “Right,” she managed, taking a deep breath.

  So this was good, yeah? She'd just found something no one else had. Something that had somehow failed to appear on the numerous scans that had been done of this planet.

  Sharpe would be proud of her discovery. Perhaps it would even raise his estimation of her.

  . . . .

  Yeah right. As if that would ever happen.

  “Get the scanner, stop stalling,” she told herself firmly.

  With a deep breath, she stepped forward, her black, standard-issue boots reaching the first step.

  It was firm, like all steps, and felt like stone under her tread. And that was it. It didn’t turn into a monster and consume her whole, and neither did it disappear as it was replaced by a seething spatial anomaly.