J. N. Chaney
Copyrighted Material
Orion Colony Copyright © 2018 by Variant Publications
Book design and layout copyright © 2018 by JN Chaney
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from JN Chaney and Jonathan Yanez.
www.jnchaney.com
www.jonathan-yanez.com
1st Edition
Books in the Renegade Star Universe
Renegade Star Series:
Renegade Star
Renegade Atlas
Renegade Moon
Renegade Lost
Renegade Fleet
Renegade Earth
Renegade Dawn
Renegade Children
Renegade Union
Renegade Empire
Renegade Descent
Renegade Rising
Renegade Alliance
Renegade Evolution
Renegade War
Renegade Peace
Standalones:
Nameless
The Constable
The Constable Returns
The Warrior Queen
The Renegade
The Deal
The Orion Colony Series with Jonathan Yanez:
Orion Colony
Orion Uncharted
Orion Awakened
Orion Protected
The Last Reaper Series with Scott Moon:
The Last Reaper
Fear the Reaper
Blade of the Reaper
Wings of the Reaper
Flight of the Reaper
Wrath of the Reaper
Will of the Reaper
Descent of the Reaper
Hunt of the Reaper
Bastion of the Reaper
The Fifth Column Series with Molly Lerma:
The Fifth Column
The Solaras Initiative
The Forlorn Hope
Final Battlefield (Coming soon!)
Resonant Son Series with Christopher Hopper:
Resonant Son
Resonant Abyss
The Galactic Law Series with James S. Aaron:
Galactic Law
Galactic Judge
Galactic Jury
Galactic Executioner
Deadland Drifter Series with Ell Leigh Clarke:
Deadland Wanderer
Deadland Sentinel
Deadland Protector
Contents
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Orion Colony
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
Epilogue
Orion Uncharted
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
Epilogue
Orion Awakened
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
Epilogue
Orion Protected
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
Epilogue
Orion Uncharted Map
Renegade Star Universe
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Connect with Jonathan Yanez
About the Authors
Join the conversation and get updates on new and upcoming releases in the Facebook group called “JN Chaney’s Renegade Readers.” This is a hotspot where readers come together and share their lives and interests, discuss the series, and speak directly to J.N. Chaney and his co-authors.
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For all of the Renegade Readers.
Your support made this new series possible.
-J.N. Chaney
To J.N. Chaney,
Now, we’re cooking with gasoline.
-Jonathan Yanez
1
Life on Earth was changing.
Thanks to the creation of an immortality drug, humanity had divided itself into two distinct groups: the Eternals, a class of wealthy, prospering people, and the Transients, which consisted of lower- and middle-class folk who were just trying to stay alive in a world that was quickly running out of room.
My name is Dean Slade, and I’m
a Transient mechanic, grade-2.
Once the Transients rebelled against the all-powerful Eternals, demanding a return to the old ways, things seemed to get out of hand, quick and in a hurry. It took a few months, but the Eternals had struck a deal with the leaders of the rebellion, finally granting their lower level counterparts—us Transients—an opportunity to branch out and leave this planet. This compromise had been a long time coming.
Twelve seed colony ships had been built over the last few decades, each the size of a small moon. I was one of the lucky sons of guns working in the trenches, assembling parts. Mechanics were high in demand right now, thanks to the sheer size of the ships. It wasn’t as if they valued our trade, however. Far from it.
They just needed hands to hold the tools, turn the screws, and connect the pieces. Automation could only get you so far, after all. There was just no substitute for human hands and a little elbow grease.
It was about two kilometers in each direction from my apartment to the yard where I worked. During this walk, I traveled through a neighborhood well known for its crime statistics. As it happened, I was about to become one of those numbers.
The sounds of footsteps shuffling echoed like a whisper from the nearby alleyway, followed by someone gagging and coughing. Usually, I didn’t get involved in these types of things. My credo was don’t ask, don’t tell. Just keep my head down and do my job. Live my life.
Survive.
I don’t know what made me break my silent pledge. It’s not like I didn’t know better. For whatever reason, I chose to stop and investigate the sounds, poking my nose where it undoubtedly did not belong.
Around the corner, large trash receptacles and a fair amount of garbage littered the ground. The smell of week-old rations someone had thrown up wafted through the air. Past the stench, three men wearing heavy coats and beanies struggled with a woman. Outnumbered three to one, she still found the strength to fight back.
While I didn’t know her name, I knew I had seen her before. She was one of the other mechanics working on the colony ship. There were hundreds of us, and I’d only taken the time to talk to a handful.
The three men harassing her were reaching into her coat pockets, or at least I hoped that was what they were doing. The alternative left a foul taste in my mouth.
“Easy, come on now,” snickered the man covering her lips. “Credits don’t come easy around here. This is Warlord territory, so you’d better get to know that name. You’re going to have to start paying a fee for walking on our streets.”
She tried to speak, but his hand kept her voice muffled. His two counterparts were wrestling her arms to her side while still rifling through her pockets. To her credit, she wasn’t making things easy on them as she squirmed around, trying to get away. Suddenly, they ripped off her coat and beanie, revealing a curtain of long, dark hair.
“Well, well, what do we got here?” asked the second man as he pulled out of her pockets. “A fistful of credits and some kind of—card? What is this? Is this one of those fancy new holo—”
Her foot came up, kicking him in the groin.
The unlucky mugger sank to his knees, whining like a small child.
At the same time, she bit the first man’s hand. He grunted and pulled his palm away.
She looked at the entrance of the alley, seeing me for the first time, and her eyes begged for help. She opened her mouth to yell when the last mugger slammed a fist into the side of her face. A hard crack sounded, and she slumped to the ground.
The man glanced back at me, finally alerted to my presence, and all three men weighed my intentions. I wasn’t the biggest brute in the room, by any means. I was only average height and in decently good shape from my years lifting and working with my hands. Still, I’d been in enough fights to know I could handle myself.
You don’t need to do this, I reminded myself. This isn’t your problem. This has nothing to do with you.
“What are you looking at?” the bigger one who’d hit her across the jaw yelled. “You gonna do something?”
“Yeah,” I said plainly. “I guess I am.”
“Wait a minute. I know you,” the man holding the dazed woman said. “I mean, you’re different now with the beard and long hair, but—I’ve seen you somewhere, haven’t I? What’s your name, fella?”
I ignored the question, making my way down the alley. My steel lunch box container was the only weapon I had, but it would have to do.
“You’re a mechanic, aren’t you?” said the one who had his balls kicked in. He was still recovering, barely able to stand straight. “Just another Eternal slave. Working on their ships, following their rules, and doing whatever your Eternal masters tell you to do. The Warlords don’t bend the knee to those albino scum. We make our own rules. You’d better watch out, boy, because if we don’t get you, the Disciples will. Yeah, the Disciples are who you need to worry about.”
“Naw, he’s just dressed like a mechanic, but he’s someone else. It’s right on the tip of my tongue,” said the man holding the woman. His face was screwed up in a look of concentration. “Where have I seen you before?”
“Don’t think too hard,” I said. “You might overheat.”
“Oh, you got jokes,” the big man said, moving to intercept me. “Let’s see how funny you are when you’re lying on the ground. There’s three of us.”
“If you want to make it a fair fight, I can wait for you to go grab more of your friends,” I said. “Or you can just walk away with all of your teeth. No one will hold it against you.”
“That’s it, asshole!” he raged.
He was faster than I gave him credit for. He ran forward, swinging with his right fist.
I stepped back, slamming my lunch box upward with every ounce of strength I had. Adrenaline kicked in. It had been a while since I’d felt this, and I was scared to say I missed it.
My heart rate doubled as the lunch box exploded on impact. The container latch broke, sending my meager meal hurling through the air, falling in a pile of garbage. A spray of bloody teeth followed, launching together with the food in a gruesome display.
I didn’t wait to see how damaging that blow would be. I dropped my broken lunch box and took to the brute. He didn’t have a chance. It was an unfair fight from the beginning.
I landed two left hooks to the body, followed by a right to his temple, sending him to the ground.
The first man released the girl. She was finally conscious enough to stand on her own and slowly staggered away from him.
“I do know you,” said the man. “You’re—”
“Stop talking and grab him!” yelled the other guy, who was still holding his groin from the pain.
He reached into his coat pocket, revealing a knife with a short blade. He rushed at me with a flurry of blows. I blocked most of them, but it had been too long, and I was rusty. On his second attempt, he stabbed my left forearm.
Pain exploded in my limb. I clenched my teeth, refusing to yell out. Instead of concentrating on the knife in my arm, I took advantage of his momentary sense of triumph, breaking his nose with a brutal strike from my right hand. Blood spurted into the air like a broken sprinkler. Whether it was the pain or being in a fight again, bloodlust took over, and I laid into the man.
As I landed a series of strikes to his body and face, a rib snapped inside of him. Coming out of my trance-like state, I shook my head, breathing hard. I didn’t want to kill him, just put him down.
When I glanced over, I saw that the last man had backed out of the alley. His mouth formed a wide circle. He gave me one last look then bolted.
I decided to let him go, knowing it would be a waste to follow. Instead, I turned around and walked over to the woman.
“Thank you,” she said, massaging her jaw. “If you hadn’t come, they would have—well, I don’t want to think about what they would have done to me.”
“You shouldn’t walk by yourself in this part of the city,” I said, motioning to the two unmoving bodies in th
e alley. “With everything that’s happening, it’s just gonna get worse around here.”
“I usually don’t,” the woman said. “I picked up an extra shift at the yard, and well, I needed to get to work. You’re—you’re bleeding, by the way.”
I looked down at my left forearm. As the adrenaline wore off, its throb only grew more intense.