No Place to Hide Read online

  “Very well,” she said. “You were once a Keeper, Idrib, and you have been given a mission by the Hierophant you clearly take seriously. We shall maintain our faith in you. Please keep us apprised of all developments.”

  “You do not need to have faith in me,” Idrib said. “Have faith in God; it is his path I’m walking.”

  “As you say.”

  She moved gracefully to the door, pausing before keying it open.

  “Tread carefully, Idrib,” she said. “Even the path of God is beset with broken stones. It is possible to misstep despite following the Light.”

  Idrib tried to think of a retort, but nothing came. He settled for a sneer.

  Emello keyed the door and went out. He sighed in exasperation when she was gone. For the so-called Keepers of the Faith, they lacked conviction in the plan God had laid out before them.

  It didn’t matter. Tomorrow, he would introduce his legislation to the Senate. They would be forced to accede. Then he could get to the business of restoring order to the Empire.

  Twenty minutes later, JaQuan was strapping himself into the pilot’s chair of the lander and powering up the ship’s systems. His heart continued to race. He wanted the hell off Sigba Station and away from the Horari Belt as quickly as possible. Too many bad things were happening.

  Of course, he had no idea where they would go next. Senator Mol and IEN had made it so nowhere in the galaxy was safe.

  That problem could wait until they repaired the ship, though. Once they were back aboard Cataan’s Claw and she was FTL-capable again, they could figure out what to do about Brody and his damned kidnapping scheme.

  “Life-support is online,” Rorgun said from the co-pilot’s chair.

  JaQuan consulted his own board.

  “Engines are powered up and ready,” he reported.

  Rorgun tapped keys on his board.

  “Sigba Station Control,” he said, “Lander-One ready to depart. Request permission to disengage.”

  He didn’t get an answer. JaQuan’s stomach started churning. He’d been afraid of this.

  “Sigba Station Control,” Rorgun said again. “Lander-One ready to depart. Request permission to disengage. Please acknowledge.”

  “Acknowledged,” a voice said over the speaker. “Request denied.”

  “God damn it,” Rischa said.

  “Station Control, explain the denial,” Rorgun said.

  “We are unable to allow you to depart at this time,” the voice said.

  JaQuan gave Rorgun an I-told-you-so look. The first mate frowned.

  “Why not?” Rorgun said.

  “We are unable to allow you to depart at this time,” the voice repeated.

  “Looks like your ‘old friend’ isn’t interested in us actually leaving with the crystal he gave us,” Rischa said.

  “The Kwin Faan don’t run the station,” Rorgun snapped. “This is something else. Either the administrator is detaining us for the reward, or someone in the control booth is freelancing.”

  “Or Kairee is leaning on them to hold us,” JaQuan said.

  Rorgun didn’t answer immediately. JaQuan watched as he turned possibilities over in his mind. The first mate tapped a few more keys on his board.

  “Station Control, I’m going to give you one more chance to disengage those docking cables,” he said. “If you don’t. I’m going to message my boss and have him take care of the problem.”

  “And just who is your boss?” the control operator asked, making his contempt plain.

  “Mutakh Kairee,” Rorgun answered.

  No reply came. There was nothing but silence. Then the docking cables unclamped.

  “Permission granted, Lander-One,” Station Control said. “You are free and clear to navigate.”

  JaQuan arched his eyebrows, but he didn’t wait. He fired the lander’s retro-thrusters and pushed back from the docking bay.

  “Well, it’s not Mutakh who was holding us,” Rorgun said.

  “Assuming the crystal is genuine and operable,” Rischa said.

  “You didn’t check?” JaQuan said.

  “I am no hyperspace engineer,” Rorgun replied. “I wouldn’t know an authentic Myollnar Crystal from a piece of ore rock.”

  “So all this may have been for nothing?” Alan said.

  “Let us hope not,” Rorgun said. “I do not believe His Eminence would cheat us that way.”

  “Yeah, cuz he’s proven so trustworthy already,” JaQuan said.

  “And both you and JaQuan made real threats to kill him today,” Rischa added.

  JaQuan tried to ignore the dread in his gut. He spun the lander one hundred eighty degrees and then fired her main thrusters. Hoping they were actually escaping and not just flying into another trap, JaQuan rocketed away from The Outpost.

  Mutakh drummed his claws rhythmically on his desk. He smiled as he watched the viewscreen. Rorgun’s ship disappeared quickly into the Belt.

  “Why would you do that?” Oraniel asked, incredulity pouring off his tongue.

  “Do what?” Mutakh replied, although he was certain he knew the answer to the question.

  “Let them escape! We had them. Station Control wasn’t going to let them depart. We could have turned them over to that Space Ranger.”

  “And what would that have accomplished?”

  Oraniel looked on Mutakh as though he were insane.

  “They betrayed us,” the big Mandran said. “They murdered one of our own and threatened to do the same to you. We cannot let that pass.”

  Mutakh smiled at him. He was a good bodyguard but not a strategist.

  “First of all, we do not cooperate with the Space Rangers or any other arm of what’s left of the Imperial government. The body is corrupt, and with no emperor, it has no authority. I’m not selling Rorgun to those fiends, no matter what he’s done.

  “Secondly, we cannot defy the will of God.”

  Oraniel blinked dumbly at Mutakh. Confusion spread across his bovine face, washing away the outrage.

  “The will of God?” Oraniel said. “What do you mean?”

  “Our prodigal returned to us,” Mutakh explained. “Just as was foreseen. He needed our help to travel farther. Aboard his ship, he carries a bomb that will detonate in the very heart of the Empire, sundering the pillars of corruption and sparking a war that will ultimately lead us to a new golden age.

  “All this was foretold, Oraniel. Rorgun Krisch follows Kitekh Galesh. She has aligned herself with humans who will ignite the cleansing fire. She cannot take them where they must go to fulfill the prophecies without the assistance we provided. Thus, to follow the will of God, I had to let Rorgun and his companions escape.”

  “But . . . but you don’t know they will do any of that. You can’t be certain these are the humans who will fulfill the prophecies.”

  “I have faith, Oraniel. We’ve been given signs. Rorgun’s return and the circumstances under which he came to us suggest the time of the great war is upon us. I am playing the role God had chosen for me.”

  “But . . .”

  “You cannot hide from destiny, Oraniel. If you attempt to fight God’s will, you will only be destroyed by it, not prevent it. You must have faith in the divine plan if you wish to benefit from it.”

  Oraniel said nothing. How could he refute Mutakh’s words? They were the Keepers of Truth. The truth was not always comfortable or easy to understand. But it had to be accepted.

  Mutakh returned his gaze to the viewscreen. Rorgun’s shuttle had vanished. Soon, he would be reunited with Kitekh Galesh. Then the Empire would burn. Mutakh looked forward to it.

  S o many escalations. So many people deciding to take it to the next level.

  I wonder, if they knew what would happen, if they thought an entire world would be destroyed, would they take it back? Would they do something different? Would they decide, ‘We don’t need to blow this up; it’s good right here.”

  Cuz like I said, once a situation escalates, there’s no turni
ng it around. And that’s where we were at when the lander left The Outpost on its way back to Cataan’s Claw. Everything was already blown to Hell. We just didn’t know it.

  Would any of us have made a different decision if we’d known it could save a whole planet? Would I?

  I’d like to say I would have. But I don’t know. Things were pretty fucked up. It’s hard to believe any of us could have made a different decision.

  And it doesn’t matter anyway. We’re all fucked. It doesn’t matter who lives and who dies. The whole galaxy is gonna burn.

  Has the crew of Cataan’s Claw really escaped?

  Where can they go with the whole galaxy hunting them?

  Will Gwen Carter ever let JaQuan go?

  Don’t miss the next exciting episode of Empire’s End, “The Real Sin”!

  Available February 23, 2018 –

  Tap here to preorder and have it autodelivered wirelessly to your Kindle!

  Author’s Note

  Hey, y’all! Thanks for buying and reading Episode 3 of Empire’s End. So Gwen and JaQuan had a thing, and it didn’t turn out so well. And now? Well, you know you can’t shoot your ex-girlfriend, lock her in a closet, and expect she’s just gonna let it slide. Stay tuned for the fireworks!

  By now, you may have read my appeals for reviews, so I’ll keep it short this time. If you’ve been reviewing, thank you so much! If you haven’t yet, I’d so appreciate it. It really does make a difference, y’all.

  Tap here to review Empire’s End Episode 3.

  Here’s hoping you stick around for Episode 4. More will be revealed, especially about Gwen and JaQuan.

  Don’t forget, if you want to know more about Empire’s End, check out my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/empiresendserial. It has bonus material, release dates, sci-fi trivia, and other cool stuff.

  -JP

  Empire’s End

  A Science Fiction Serial by:

  JP Raymond

  Episode 3:

  No Place to Hide

  Copyright 2018 JP Raymond

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover Design by:

  Fleur Camacho

  About the Author

  JP Raymond was totally blown away by Star Wars in 1977. He spent the rest of his youth in love with Princess Leia, obsessed with all things science fiction, and railing against the identity of a certain Jedi Knight’s father.

  He eventually went to college, where he studied literature and got all sorts of ideas about writing about the human condition and penning the Great American Novel into his head.

  These days, he’s finally managed to author his own space opera saga. Empire’s End is his first foray into traditional science fiction, and he’s having a blast with it. He credits George Lucas for lighting the fire that got him here, but he refuses to accept Darth Vader as Luke’s father.

  Send JP a subspace communication at [email protected] and tell him what you think of Empire’s End. He’ll reply.