Lost Star, Hawke, Morgan [novel24 .TXT] 📗

intelligence in a face that looked hewn from stone. “Aubrey, welcome back.”

Aubrey stepped into the center of the room and saluted. This time he recognized the tall, severe man. “Captain Sear.”

Sear arched a fine black brow. “Civilians don’t need to salute, Aubrey.”

Aubrey froze. “Civilian?”

Sear sighed. “I’m afraid that I must release you from the Agency with full honors, of course.” He rolled his eyes. “Not to mention a whole shitload of back pay.”

Aubrey’s mouth fell open. Release me? “But…why?”

Sear dropped back into his chair. “Simply put, you’re no longer a citizen of the Empire.”

Aubrey scowled, unconsciously baring his long teeth. “What kind of crap is that?”

Sear’s golden eyes narrowed. “According to medical, you’ve been genetically altered into a Skeldhi rehkyt.”

Aubrey frowned. “Yeah, so…?”

“So”—Sear folded his arms across his chest—“according to our treaty with the Skeldhi, that makes you their legal possession and legally dead to the Empire.”

Aubrey felt a cold wind blow around his heart even as a growl welled up. “Are you going to send me back?”

Sear tilted his head to the side. “Do you want to go back?”

Aubrey shook his head. He had joined the Agency specifically to destroy the Moribund Company, and that was exactly what he planned to do, with or without the Agency’s blessing. “I don’t deal well with collars.”

Sear nodded. “In that case, I seem to recall a mercenary craft that could use a first officer that knows how to talk to ships.”

Aubrey stiffened in shock. “Mercenary?”

Sear leaned forward and folded his hand together on his desk. “Through your fine efforts, we have uncovered that the Moribund Company has an extremely highly placed…patron. This means that they cannot be dealt with directly through official Interstellar Service & Discipline: Lost Star

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channels, not even by the Agency. However, a mercenary destroyer is another story entirely.” He smiled. “Sound interesting?”

Aubrey smiled right back. “It does.”

Sear nodded. “In that case, you might want to consider using some of that back pay to make a few…cosmetic adjustments to conceal some of your less-than-human characteristics.”

Aubrey’s jaw tightened, though his smile remained. “I plan to, among other things.” Lots of other things.

* * * * *

Only days later, Aubrey left the

Machiavellian

on a tiny courier craft that flew on broad solar sails heading for a covert Agency hospital located deep in the heart of an asteroid. A few days after that, he left on yet another courier ship with his fangs filed down to human flatness. He could finally chew his food again, instead of being forced to swallow it whole.

A week later, he arrived at a tiny outpost with a covert clinic. Two days later, he left with the points of his ears clipped down to human roundness. At the next stop, his golden eyes were exchanged for those of silvery electrum with deep space piloting augmentation. In still another hospital located in an isolated space station, he received biomechanical arm enhancements. After a particularly long shuttle jaunt, he arrived on a backwater planet and received augmentations to his legs.

Aubrey stared at his reflection in the small sanitary cubical attached to his cabin.

Somewhere between hospital jaunts, his body gained in height and increased in muscle mass until he actually looked the age he was. At the same time, the golden sheen of his skin faded until he merely looked tanned. However, the dark waves of his hair remained tinted with deep red. He was not human, but the tall, broad-shouldered man that he saw in his mirror with gleaming silver eyes certainly looked human.

Another saying from his father came to mind. “Adapt, overcome.”

He nodded at his reflection. He was adapting. He would overcome. Moribund would pay for what he did.

After a very long jaunt in another solar sail courier vessel, he arrived on a distant colony world that was very nearly solid forest.

At the bottom of the courier ship’s steps, a lean, broad-shouldered man greeted him. He had long deep red hair, elegantly pointed ears, and gold-green eyes that were cat-slitted. He smiled with fangs. “So, you’re going to try hiding in plain sight?”

Aubrey’s brows rose. He smells like… He smelled like himself. The man was a rehkyt in hiding.

The man nodded. “Greetings, cousin.” He waved his arm toward the forest.

“Ready to learn how to actually use that body of yours?”

Aubrey nodded firmly and followed him into the trees.

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Morgan Hawke

For almost an entire year, he trained in a form of sword and dagger fighting and hand-to-hand combat that involved spectacular leaps. While training in survival techniques, he learned that certain animals normally poisonous to humans were in fact quite edible to rehkyt, and how to identify them by scent. He also learned that his severe allergic reaction to plant-based foods was genetic. The Skeldhi were strictly meat eaters, and so were the rehkyt they made. If it was green, it was damned near poisonous to him.

He came back out of the forest alone and boarded a shuttle. On board, he exchanged his forest leathers for breeches, a silk shirt with matching cravat, and a silver-trimmed blue waistcoat. His overgrown mane was neatly trimmed to just below his shoulders and tied back with a black ribbon. Spit-polished boots were set on his feet.

He shrugged into the royal blue long coat and belted on the sword of a first officer. Less than an hour after liftoff, he stepped on board the demon-class dreadnaught Reaper to report for duty to Captain Maria Melchior.

Finally, his very personal mission to wipe the Moribund Company from existence had begun.

However, in one particular area did his true rehkyt nature prove very difficult to adapt to, or overcome…

* * * * *

The stunning woman sitting behind the desk perused the file on her holographic projection monitor and tugged on the lapel of her snug maroon jacket. “Well, Aubrey, this is quite a situation we have here.”

He curled his lip, revealing neat, white, flat teeth. “I would appreciate it if you did not use that name, Doctor.”

“Oh?” She lifted her