Andromedas guardian, p.1
Andromeda's Guardian, page 1
ANDROMEDA’S GUARDIAN
DEBRA JESS
ANDROMEDA’S GUARDIAN
By
Debra Jess
Copyright © 2022 Debra Jess, Corp.
* * *
Edited by Heather McCorkle.
Cover Design by MiblArt.
All stock photos licensed appropriately.
* * *
Published in the United States by City Owl Press.
www.cityowlpress.com
* * *
For information on subsidiary rights, please contact the publisher at info@cityowlpress.com
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior consent and permission of the publisher.
PRAISE FOR DEBRA JESS
“Readers will revel in the desire for freedom and thrilling space battles as they embark on an explosive journey of shadow schemes and new-found love. Fans of science fiction, romance, and mystery will discover Ms. Jess’s tale of a heroic woman determined to forge her own destiny is a satisfying, out-of-this-world adventure.” — InD’tale
* * *
“Riveting and complex, Andromeda's Rebel offers up a mix of sci-fi adventure and a compelling love triangle that kept me turning pages long into the night. Tamarja Chase is my favorite kind of heroine--snarky, smart and kickass!” — Holly Crawford, co-author of the Wicked Widows series.
* * *
“Andromeda's Rebel is my favorite science fiction romance of the year. It's mystery drives the Star Wars-style action, ensnaring a strong-willed heroine-pilot and a super-sexy hero in a struggle for the truth of her hidden past. Saying more would mean spoilers! Highly recommended!” — D. C. Black, screenwriter, Scarecrow & Mrs. King.
* * *
“The books jumps right into the story, slamming the reader into their seat with rich, descriptive writing…I found myself marveling at the author's use of language. She has created such a deeply interesting and encompassing world in this book, and it's difficult for me to understand just how she accomplished it.” — LibraryThing Early Reviewer
* * *
“Andromeda's Rebel strikes a satisfying balance among action, romance, and mystery, all woven in to a fast-paced storyline full of sci-fi goodness sure to satisfy both avid fans of the sub-genre and newbies alike. Expertly blended, stellar elements add up to a book that you won't want to put down.” — Kat Turner, author of the Coven Daughters series.
In loving memory of Miss Lily, who adopted me two years ago and brought joy and happiness into my life even on the darkest of days. I will always miss her.
CONTENTS
Want More City Owl Press Books?
Find Your Next Read
Prologue
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
Sneak Peek of Love at 20,000 Leagues
Find Your Next Read
Want More City Owl Press Books?
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Publisher
Additional Titles
WANT MORE CITY OWL PRESS BOOKS?
Click here to sign up for the City Owl Press newsletter and be the first to find out about special offers, including FREE book days, contents, giveaways, cover reveals, and more!
* * *
Sign up now and become a City Owl Reader today! And join our City Owl Reader-Author group here for even more deals and a whole lot of community and fun!
Want more sci-fi? Try LOVE AT 20,000 LEAGUES by City Owl Author, Lizzy Gayle, and find more from Debra Jess at debrajess.com
Paradise Atlantis: The underwater, high tech vacation destination where utopia awaits.
Not for Sam. Not only is she deathly afraid of being submerged under millions of tons of ocean water, she's stuck for an entire month with the people she blames for her family falling apart. Even with the unexpected attention of two sexy men, including her longtime celebrity infatuation, Sam is sure the trip will be a nightmare.
She’s both right and wrong. A type of pressure sickness she was unprepared for hits Sam hard, causing both lowered inhibitions and blackouts. When she gives in to her desires, a passionate romance blossoms.
Unfortunately, even this steamy new relationship can’t salvage the trip when a saboteur uses the AI to commit murder – murder timed perfectly with Sam's mysterious blackouts. Now Sam must clear her conscience by finding the truth. But is she prepared for what she’ll find? Because either she’s a killer or she’s setting herself up to be next on the growing list of victims.
GET IT NOW!
PROLOGUE
She loved nothing more than to look upon her sisters, watching the vastness of their stars warm and nurture the cosmos while life flourished all around them. Tucked away in the core of her own star, the solid masses of her family, eleven in total, orbited around her. Ten rotated in prograde, but the small rebellious one, farthest from her warmth, spun in retrograde.
She would never say so, but she loved that one best, not because of its rotation, but because of the beings that roamed its surface. It took time, but their evolution brought them out of their caves and into artificial homes with other mechanical constructs that allowed them to achieve amazing things. Their own lives lasted longer than they ever had before, and they spent as much time exploring their world as they did working to improve it. She watched them with love and pride, until the core that cradled her changed.
No matter how much her presence would stabilize the star, the end was near and then her star would expand, destroying most of the masses in orbit. How could she stand by and watch everything die?
She had to warn them. So, gathering all of her courage, she began to sing to them of her star’s impending death. It didn’t work. To her horror, her voice caused the beings to fight. What had she done? Some sang songs about capturing her, others sang of wanting to kill her, and still others sang songs of worship about her. All she wanted to do was save them, so she didn’t understand why they had fractured so badly.
What to do? She stopped singing to them and poured her heartbreak onto her sisters. As the oldest sister, it was her responsibility to convey her mistake and make sure it never happened again. Her sisters would know what not to do if their stars threatened the living beings orbiting them. Everything that lived died, and no matter how much it hurt, they had no choice but to let nature take its course.
The violence on the masses waxed and waned over the next billion cycles. Regardless, she refused to intervene, having learned her lesson. So she stayed tucked in the core of her star. The beings found their peace with each other just as her core changed again. They created mechanical constructs to lift them into space, and she wept knowing they would be safe once they found a compatible mass orbiting one of her younger sisters.
By the time her core shifted once again, the beings finally found the perfect world, so similar to their original, orbiting her youngest sister who would nourish them for twice as many eons to come.
When her star burned through all of its layers and nothing remained to keep her warm, her core contracted around her, then expanded in an explosion of light and power. Despite the cacophony, she continued to listen to the song sung by her youngest sister. She sang of the beings’ progress, but also of their stress. The beings had started to fight again.
After so many cycles, the violence continued, and her youngest sister could only sing of her own pain, forced to watch the beings die by their own hands. At the end of one particularly violent cycle, her youngest declared she would descend on their world to stop the killing. As the oldest sister, it was her responsibility to make sure her sister didn’t repeat her mistake. Singing as loud as she could, she counseled her sister to remain in her core. The beings needed to find peace on their own as they had done once before.
The youngest acquiesced, but her song soured. This lasted for another slight turn of the universe as her core cooled and hardened around her. Then, without warning, the youngest stopped singing. Panicked, the oldest sang louder than she ever had before, but heard no response. None of her sisters could hear her. She continued to sing, encouraging her sisters to increase their volume.
That youngest still did not respond. Without one of her sisters at its core, the life cycle of her star accelerated unnaturally. Instead of billions of rotations around her sister’s star, the star would burn through its first layer in a matter of twenty cycles. By this time, the beings had stopped fighting, and some of them travel
The ones who remained were still in danger. What to do? What would happen to her if she also left her now cold, dark world to find the youngest? Indecision made her more aware of time passing while she contemplated the possibility. With no other option, she rose to the surface.
Her world no longer had gaseous elements surrounding it. The beings who once lived on the long-destroyed masses could never have survived the harsh elements of her exposed skin. It was best that they had left and not returned.
Yet even as she reached out with her senses, she still couldn’t hear the youngest. Worry overwhelmed her. She’d never encountered a situation such as this. Though the rhythm of the universe changed around them, her sisters’ songs were a constant. As the oldest, she was the one who should have stopped singing if that was part of their stars’ next evolution. None of them could guess their future though, so she had no knowledge of what would happen to her next.
If only she could travel toward her sister’s star, just like the beings who had fled in their constructs. What would it take to create such a thing?
The only way to find out was to bring a construct to her world where she could examine it. Her sisters sang of the beings, spreading themselves far and wide in their constructs. Time continued to tick, and the youngest star continued to burn faster than ever.
Almost as if the beings knew she was waiting for them, a construct breached the gaseous remains of her star. It ventured close to her world, but the construct crashed, crushed flat by the enormous gravity.
In another minuscule turn of the universe, more constructs arrived. The ones that carried life kept a safe distance from her gravitational pull, while others, empty of all life, propelled toward her. These lifeless things continued to crash...until the day one didn’t.
None of this distracted her from her goal, though the impact on her surface tickled a little. She examined the intact construct while the other ships retreated.
Her examination did not result in a better understanding of how the construct worked. Even as she pulled it apart and put it back together, she had no manner of understanding how to get it to fly away with her attached to it. In fact, she didn’t think it was supposed to fly again, which did not help her situation.
The universe crept along its rotation and more constructs arrived, larger and more complex, crowded with life dwelling within their fragile interiors. Instead of approaching her world, these beings built an imposing construct on the edge of her nebula. This one didn’t propel toward her but stayed in place, spinning as those who inhabited it watched her from afar.
She continued to wait, but her agitation grew as her sister’s star burned ever faster.
CHAPTER ONE
Another slight turn glided by before the beings approached her again, this time landing on her surface without difficulty. It soothed her, a slight massage as the energy their constructs emitted touched her in a way she never thought possible. They created two shells next to each other, both of which dispelled her gravity, a heady sensation. Light poured throughout the shells, spilling across her smooth surface as the larger constructs gave birth to smaller constructs.
How could she use these constructs to travel toward her sister’s star? So many intricate parts, all fitting together in a way that kept the beings inside comfortable despite the harsh environment.
From just below the surface, she watched with an open heart. She communicated as much to her sisters, and they rejoiced with her, except for the one who had ceased singing.
Her own song stopped when the pain began.
A pointed construct under one of the shells poked hard through the surface of her world, drilling down, tearing apart her shelter, heading for the core.
This she could not endure.
How to make them stop? She moved closer to the beings so they could see her. When they noticed, they emitted high-pitched sounds as some retreated against the wall of the shell while the ones who stayed pelted her with small projectiles. This did not hurt. Instead, the projectiles bounced off her, littering her landscape. Only the sharp, pointy object hurt, and she had to stop it.
Raising her voice so they would hear her song over the noise of the construct, she communicated that they must stop. The construct continued to push downward, so she lifted the offending construct out of the hole. Its noise increased as the rotating blade sprung free, still sparking with energy.
Not sure how to make the rotating stop, she tossed the object toward the shell, breaching the protective layer when the blade touched it. The dome collapsed, gravity returned to normal, and the beings who’d hurt her flattened onto the surface, their life fluids visible where they once stood.
What had she done? She’d only wanted the pain to stop. Now her world absorbed the dust that remained. Her horror soured her song even more, the agony of hurting other beings for the second time only adding to the pain caused by the pointy construct.
What to do about the other shell? So far, nothing inside it had hurt her. She descended under the surface, reemerging next to the flying construct. No life wandered here. Never had she walked on any surface other than her own, but the flying construct beckoned to her. Unlike the sharp one, this flying one was smooth to the touch, the matter softer. Careful not to break anything, she reached over to touch different matter. The colors changed and another surface appeared, the matter evolving from a plasma to solid instantaneously.
What to do next? If she entered the flying construct, would it leave her planet? That’s what she wanted, wasn’t it? But would it bring her back? It was unlikely that her world would de-evolve further than it already had, but leaving home made her sad. Still, the desire to find her lost sister stoked her determination.
Stepping onto the now solid matter, she moved forward little by little until she crossed the threshold. How different this construct was from the ones that crashed. It was a cavernous space with so many things inside for her to examine. More walls dissolved into pass-throughs that allowed her to move beyond the cavern.
Daring to touch each of the materials allowed her to identify common elements, but others were mixed together in ways she’d never imagined. Touching things also had unintended consequences. When she picked up a small object, it started to make noise and project images into the air. The image of one of the beings stood before her.
What would they think if they sent another construct and found the destruction of their second shell? Would they know she killed their own? Would they try to hurt her again? She wouldn’t allow that. What to do? If she watched the images projected by the communication construct, she could learn more.
With time running out, she listened to every communication construct she could find. Some projected sound throughout the entire cavern. Others displayed images with sound. She learned something new every rotation, until the day two more constructs breached her nebula.
With her new knowledge, she could identify these ships. One of them was a large cruiser, which chased a smaller, one-person fighter. Cannons fired from the larger craft in an attempt to destroy the fighter, but the pilot weaved through space, ducking around small meteorites. It wasn’t enough, as the cruiser blasted the rocks into particles. As hard as the pilot tried, he couldn’t dodge the larger ship forever. With a severe volley of ammunition, the cruiser tore away one of the fighter’s engines.
