Alive and Tricking (Epic Literary Universe Series)

Book summary

Miri Nin Valia and her team of spies embark on a high-stakes mission to Salus Prime, a planet where men are oppressed and the elite rule with an iron fist. Investigating rumors of magical powers and a lethal cult called the Daughters of Vengeance, the team faces cunning foes and unexpected dangers. Young engineer Zayne Trefal joins the mission, hoping to prove her worth, but finds herself relying on her intellect to survive in this thrilling sci-fi adventure.

Excerpt from Alive and Tricking (Epic Literary Universe Series)

Chapter 1: My Life of Elegance

Stretched out on her bed, with her head propped up on a thick, gray pillow, Zayne Trefal slid two fingers across the screen of her SmartGlass tablet. The gesture brought up the next page of the e-book she had been reading for the last half hour, complete with a little animation of the page turning and the sound of paper rustling. She would have to look in the settings and figure out how to turn that off. Why people insisted on pretending they were reading a printed book when they were very clearly using a device was beyond her.

She was thoroughly engrossed in the adventures of Ladia, a mage’s apprentice from the kingdom of Retula. So far, the young woman had been struggling to get her spellwork right. Her attempt to clean the Library of Elemental Wisdom with an enchanted mop had nearly resulted in the destruction of several bookshelves and had angered her master in the process. Zayne could relate. There were days when she felt like she was bumbling her way through life.

She groaned when her multi-tool started buzzing on the nightstand. Snatching the metal disk out of its charging unit, she killed the alarm and silently cursed the decrepit engine that kept this ship limping through the galaxy. The damn thing was worse than a colicky baby, complete with a tendency to wake her up in the middle of the night.

Sighing, Zayne stood and returned her multi-tool to the charger. Her quarters were nothing special, just a cramped little box with a metal floor, metal walls and one bright light in the metal ceiling. With most of the space taken by her bed, the small cabinet that contained her unimpressive wardrobe and the desk on which she wrote out her mission reports, there was barely any room to maneuver. Miller had suggested getting rid of the latter, but…No. She needed a place to work. Even if it was just to write out the thoughts that kept bouncing around in her head like charged particles.

The heavy door swung outward when she pushed it, revealing a narrow corridor on the other side. Like everything else aboard the Elegance, it was made entirely of metal. The floor plating even had little ridges that she could feel through the soles of her shoes.

She crept out as quietly as possible, hoping to go unnoticed.

It wasn’t long before the corridor opened into a massive room that was supposed to be used for storing cargo. Her crewmates had decided that it would be a gym instead. Or a party room when they wanted to play cards. And sometimes, it served as Alu’s personal meditation chamber, allowing him to practice his strange brand of not-magic.

Today, it was a sparring ring.

Miri, Kezia and Miller stood well apart from each other, their bodies marking the points of an equilateral triangle. Or close enough to it, anyway. They all wore shorts and tank tops, and Kez looked especially fetching with sweat glistening on her shoulders. Zayne tried not to stare.

Standing with her back to the door that would grant Zayne access to the engine room, Miri planted her fists on her hips and glared disapprovingly at the young Justice Keeper. “Again!” she demanded.

Raising a hand to forestall the other woman, Kez shut her eyes. “It’s okay,” she insisted. “I’ve seen the move; we don’t have to drill it a hundred times.”

“That arrogance is going to get you killed, girl.”

“Miri, I promise you, I’m paying attention.”

“Then you’ll have no trouble taking me down.”

Zayne wanted to creep back to her quarters; she would have done so if not for the fact that she had to perform some critical engine maintenance within the next half hour. Arguing with the captain was never a good idea. Miri Nin Valia was a kind woman, but she did not suffer fools. And there was no better way to get yourself branded a fool than refusing to accept her training.

Kez forced an awkward smile, her plump cheeks flushing ever so slightly. “I’m not going to attack you,” she declared. “It would not be fair.”

“And why is that?”

Kez stood there with her mouth agape, flabbergasted by the question. “Because I’ve got super strength?” she spluttered. “Miri, you can pummel me with your fists, and I’ll be better in about ten minutes. But if I land a blow at full power, you’re going to be in the infirmary for days.”

Chuckling, Miri swaggered up to the young woman with her arms swinging. “Sounds like Little Miss Cocksure is getting too big for her britches. Tell you what, you land one good hit – don’t matter where – and I’ll never ask you to do training again.”

“You should listen to her, Kez,” Miller cautioned.

Poor Kez was still blushing. “Look,” she said, raising both hands defensively. “Training is important. I get it. But if it’s all the same to you, I would rather train with other Keepers.”

“You see the other Keepers maybe once every three months. That’s not nearly enough.”

“Miri…”

“Well, if sweetness ain’t gonna get it through your thick head, maybe I need to inject a little sour. Either you pin me in the next five minutes, or we’re going to be doing this twice a day, every day, for the next month.”

Kez moved to throw a punch, but before she could even draw back her arm, Miri thrust her open hand forward, jamming her fingertips into the tender spot where Kezia’s arm met her shoulder. Stunned by the hit to a pressure point, the young Justice Keeper yelped and staggered.

Pressing her attack, Miri jumped and seized Kez by the shoulders. She brought her legs up to trap Kezia’s head between her knees. One quick twist was enough to fling the young woman down onto her side.

Zayne winced.

That looked painful.

The captain was back on her feet in an instant, dusting her hands and pacing across the room. “Sloppy,” she said, casting a disdainful glance over her shoulder. “But then I should have expected nothing less.”

Rubbing her sore arm, Kez grimaced. “Yeah, yeah, I get it,” she muttered. “Your training is so good you can take down any Justice Keeper.”

“Oh, there are Keepers I couldn’t do that to, darlin’. But you ain’t them. So, I’ll be seein’ you tomorrow. Bright and early. And we’ll go over this again.”

Zayne took two steps toward the door.

The captain suddenly became aware of her presence, spinning around in a blur of motion and greeting her with a grin that was just a little too bright to be entirely genuine. “Zayne!” On second thought, Miri had probably been aware of her from the moment she arrived. “Don’t suppose you’d like to join us for a little training.”

Pale-faced and frightened, Zayne drew a rasping breath through her parted lips. “I-I have to sort out the containment field,” she said, gesturing to the engine room. “It’s…um. It’s out of alignment again.”

“Well, that takes what? Five minutes? We can wait.”

“Um…Um…”

Kez shook her head and brushed some sweat off her brow with the back of her hand. “Leave her alone, Miri. You know this isn’t her thing.”

“I’d just as soon not have one of my people end up dead because she can’t take care of herself. But all right. I suppose the engine does need seeing to. Best get on that then.”

Zayne scurried through the door before this conversation could go any further.

The engine room was about half the size of the cargo bay. Most of the space was taken up by the large sphere that housed the fusion reactor. A series of control consoles formed an octagon around it but only one of them was active at the moment. The screen kept flashing, indicating that the computer was requesting some routine maintenance.

The fusion reactor’s containment field had to be recalibrated once every six hours while they were at warp. Otherwise, they would have to jettison the plasma to prevent an explosion, which would leave them stranded in the middle of nowhere.

She was tempted to say that on a properly functioning ship, the computer would perform the calibration for her, but that was inaccurate. On a properly functioning ship, the field wouldn’t go out of alignment in the first place. Not in a mere six hours, anyway.

It wasn’t so bad when they were travelling at sub-light speeds. The field remained relatively stable when the reactor wasn’t channelling power to the warp field emitters. Zayne still wasn’t sure why that was the case. Under other circumstances, she would have taken the engine apart piece by piece until she found the source of the problem, but she had doubts about whether it would still function after she put it back together.

Stepping up to the console, she spread her hands along its surface only to remember that this wasn’t standard Leyrian SmartGlass. The interface was a little different from what she knew.

She tapped the exact centre of the control panel, which brought up a prompt for her password. After breezing through the security protocols, she set to work. The first step was to drop out of warp. She took control of the ship’s navigational systems and did just that. With the power demands severely reduced, she was able to execute the protocol that would recalibrate the containment field.

As Miri had said, the whole thing took about five minutes. When she was finished, she re-engaged the warp drive and put them back on their previous course.

She emerged from the engine room to discover that Miri, Kez and Miller were still chatting in the cargo bay. Their training session seemed to have transformed into a discussion about the political situation on Berex, one of the outer Ragnosian colonies. With any luck, Zayne could slip by without being noticed.

That hope vanished after she took one step.

Turning to Zayne with sweat glistening on her lovely, brown skin, Miri flung a towel over her shoulder. “Got everything sorted out?”

“The Elegance is back on course for Leyria, Captain.”

“Good. Then could I possibly convince you to join us? We’ll start slow.”

Zayne’s mouth moved silently, forming words that she couldn’t quite find the courage to speak. “I…I…” She squeezed her eyes shut and gave her head a shake. Her reluctance would only result in Miri thinking that she was a coward. And that might result in her being put off the ship. “Maybe tomorrow?”

“I’ll be training Kez first thing in the morning. You can join me afterward.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Trying to look casual, Zayne walked to the stairs at a measured pace and sped up the moment she was out of sight. She took them two at a time, nearly tripping over her own feet and grabbing the railing to steady herself. She made a sharp right turn at the small landing and climbed the last few steps to the lounge.