ROGUE SHEPHERD: Wayward Hope: Rogue Shepherd Space Opera Series: BOOK 2 Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright © 2014

  Dedication

  Hornet's Nest

  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

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  The Cover... I Feel The Same Way

  Hornet's Nest-1

  ROGUE SHEPHERD: HORNET'S NEST - PREQUEL

  A Note from Chris Vaughn-1

  About The Author

  ROGUE SHEPHERD:

  WAYWARD HOPE

  ROGUE SHEPHERD SPACE SERIES

  BOOK 1

  By

  Chris Vaughn

  Copyright © 2016

  ROGUE SHEPHERD:

  WAYWARD HOPE

  ROGUE SHEPHERD SPACE SERIES

  BOOK 1

  By

  Chris Vaughn

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission from the author, Chris Vaughn, or the Publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Chris Vaughn (2016-09-10)

  DEDICATION

  To my wife Lisa Renee, who has always encouraged me

  to chase my dreams, and to write those dreams down.

  To SB, MA, and LC for giving life longevity and meaning.

  To my Daddy and Mama.

  One gave me the strength of convictions, thanks Daddy;

  one gifted me with the ability to tell a story, thanks Mama.

  Hornet's Nest

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  Chapter 1

  Luke slammed the radio headset down!

  He wondered out loud of how many times he’d have to be the one to take supplies to his brother’s outfit. How many? Every two to three weeks he made the trek from his home planet to the front lines.

  His ship, The Hornet’s Nest, was old and worn, needing constant attention. Having to play errand boy with a leash on him for his brother’s army unit was bad enough, but having to wear out his own ship was something else only to be mocked when they greeted him.

  He picked the headset up and argued again that there were others who could make the trip. The voice on the other end of the headset was short, hard, and impatient. Luke arguing with his father was pointless, and in his home not tolerated. He needed to take these supplies to his brothers and their unit on the front lines of the war, and on this trip, he may even have to use his ship as a pod tug to tow even more supplies.

  “Yes, sir! I understand. I’ll return home when I’m done.” Luke didn’t wait for a response but slammed the headset back in its holder to end the communication.

  It wasn’t a hard trip, nor one he abhorred, but a trip he didn’t like having to make. An errand boy. The trip to the supply base was barely a day, and after putting the ship on autopilot, the only enjoyment he could have was making ion sling cannon shots at distant asteroids while in light speed. It wasn’t easy making the calculations for those shots, but Luke had made this run so often now he could hit the asteroids at will. The fleeting flash made him happy even it had become routine.

  “Pick up this. Pick up that. I get the errand to run for my brothers.”

  Luke was young, but not a rookie. He’d fought his way out of several space fights before, but his brothers would often remind him that one or two fights didn’t make him a fighter.

  Then how many fights does it take to be a fighter?

  That is what he always wanted to ask when his brothers mentioned he was too young to join. The army and fleet were more of a civilian militia. No physical to take. You didn’t have to sign up for years at a time, but you committed your life to the General, and to the safety of the Twelve Clans. Other friends of his had done just. They left home and joined the fight, and those that had were several seasons younger than him.

  He turned to the navigation controls of the ship and set the course for the supply depot of Graco. The old supply point on the back part of the star system had all the trappings of a military base with too much base distractions and not enough military. He found it hard enough to be taken serious by his brothers, and the friends of his who were already in the service didn’t see him in better light either. The people he had to deal with at Graco were worse. In the space port of Graco, he had already fought off more than his share of swindlers, hijackers, and pirates just to make sure he could supply his clan’s detachment to the army with food and supplies.

  “Least I get to get away from Bethel 5 while I'm at Graco, then I go drop off the supplies, get myself mocked for a couple of hours, and then home.”

  Luke waited for the navigation update to come through to see if his route would be clear. The fighting clans in this region of the galaxy had always been at war, or at least in a state of unease. Often the front lines changed and shifted daily, but of late they had been stable and all the military reports suggested it was a holding position we were now fighting.

  “How do you fight to a holding position? That’s just sitting,” he thought to himself.

  He walked through the ship and looked for anything he might need to check before making the jump to light speed for Graco. Old and dirty looking on the outside, his Hornet’s Nest was a distant memory of long-ago days. She smelled old and looked more worn than she was. Smaller than some ships of her age and class, she had overlooked benefits. She was fast with updated engines. The ship was small and could fly almost cloaked to radar using her ion sails and could even fly cloaked to scanners if Luke could get the scanner jammer unit it to work. And she had two ion sling cannons that many considered outdated by modern standards. But for accuracy and destructive power, they were deadly to an enemy if the right gunner had the controls.

  Luke typed a quick message to his brothers to see if they would greet him at Graco when he arrived. It would take two hours before he got the reply but at least he’d know before he docked.

  Luke envied other sons. Sons like Charles Bridges, who was the eldest son of General Cornelius Bridges. He was only a few seasons older than Luke but being the son of the leader of the Twelve Clans had its perks and the unexpected pressures of responsibility. Luke envied Charles for the ability to chase the wilds of war and see life on the front lines, but he was the youngest son of his family. And the youngest son doesn't have much to expect than to be on the leash of his father
's command, and the whip of his brother's rebuke.

  “I have to accept to live with being the youngest son, from a nothing planet.”

  Luke sat in the cockpit of the Hornet’s Nest waiting to see if a reply would come. The stars streaking by at light speed had a hypnotic effect and Luke’s eyes blurred as sleep approached.

  Boom! The barrage of nearby cannon fire woke Luke.

  He scanned the radar station to what ships were nearby and who was shooting at him.

  Boom! The barrage of cannon fire again was close, but further away this time.

  Boom! Only the faintest shock wave shook the ship, and those rounds were even smaller.

  The radar showed two ships, one a frigate class and the other a small sloop of war. The frigate never changed course towards Luke but continued in its chase of the sloop.

  That’s my Hornet’s Nest! Fly unnoticed!

  Luke scanned the signatures of the ships, to identify the sloop but wondered if the frigate was roaming raiders or pirates. The radar beeped and hummed before it spat out the two names:

  The larger of the two was The Plest. A Gimti Ship. Frigate class. Armed with twenty-eight cannons.

  The other ship was a ship of The Twelve Clans, The Royal Bridge. Sloop class. Armed with eighteen cannons.

  “Royal Bridge!” Luke said to himself.

  Luke immediately changed direction and brought his ship around. From the semi-cloaked angle, he was leaving the two ships from, he could see that the Royal Bridge was trying to out run the frigate. The frigate kept moving and darting to work the angles of fire for maximum effectiveness, and the Royal Bridge was putting up a good game of cat and mouse.

  “She’s taking more than she’s giving. God this isn’t smart Luke.”

  Luke grabbed his headset and dialed in the encrypted channel, “Royal Bridge. Royal Bridge this is Hornet’s Nest.”

  He waited for a reply but heard none.

  “Royal Bridge! This is Hornet’s Nest! Can you transmit?” he barked into the microphone.

  The static continued in the headset.

  “Her communications stack must be hit.”

  He brought his view screen up and could see on maximum magnification that the Gimti ship was working the angles towards the sloop. Many of the Gimti shots weren’t hitting the sloop, and fewer shots of the sloop, The Royal Bridge, were hitting the frigate, but the few that were hitting the sloop were making up the difference in the fight.

  Luke made the quick decision to engage the Frigate. He knew that his ship could take a shot or two and leave before the Gimtis could engage him he hoped. But maybe that would be enough to make a difference in the fight. If not, he’d have to engage, and fire again to give the sloop some time.

  “Maybe my brothers will consider me a fighter after this.”

  He adjusted the ion sails and planned to drop out of light speed right between the frigate and sloop.

  If I drop out just long enough to fire the two ion cannons… maybe.

  He set the coordinates for the where he wanted to be when he jumped back to light speed after he fired his two ion cannons. He wanted the ship to automatically jump back to light speed when needed. His eyes ran over the gauges. He checked the cannons to confirmed they were primed and loaded. Next, he made sure the engines were strong enough for the full brake and immediate jump.

  “Hornet’s Nest. You can do this! I wonder who is on the Royal Bridge? Who cares? The sloop is part of the Twelve Clans and if I don't.... there may not be a Royal Bridge!"

  Chapter 2

  The Royal Bridge had taken three hits in a row near the rear of the ship. Luke could see through his view screen the damage taking its toil. He looked over the controls of his two ion sling canons and readied himself for the sudden brake of his ship. The Hornet’s Nest was about to drop out of light speed in between the Royal Bridge and the Gimti Frigate.

  “This isn’t the best idea I’ve ever had," he said to himself.

  Another shot hit the Royal Bridge, and she rolled to her port side and back.

  “Her shields are going down and her gravitational systems are taking a beating. El-Gibhor help me make this work.”

  Luke typed into the navigation computer the final coordinates he’d need to make a light jump as soon as he fired. The shots from the Frigate were beginning to cause concussion shocks to his ships. His books, pads, stylus, and communicators were starting to fall off the desk behind him. He set the computer and transferred the nav controls to the ion sling canon gun station.

  Ion sling canons were a throwback to another time. They were slow firing cannons as the ion generators spun up to load the sling, and could be fired one at a time, or together. Even worse, the shots could be overloaded to create a more volatile shot, but the time to overload could cost a ship in the long run. On a ship with a dozen of the outdated sling canons, you could fire often as others reloaded. On this ship, Luke could do the same but the time it took to reload made it seem insignificant. Luke hoped he could fire both at the same time to double the hit. The canons of the Frigate could fire faster, but the longer the ion slings wound up, the more explosive force they produced. Sling canons were slower and more deadly, but on a ship like the Hornet’s Nest that had speed, it meant Luke could make a shot and move on.

  “I hope one shot will do it.”

  The Hornet’s Nest shook as Luke hit the control to begin the emergency braking. The sails retracted and fore thrusters fired. Everything in the ship bounced around off the walls and floor. The braking maneuver had stopped the ship about a thousand kilometers off the beam of the Gimti frigate. The shots of the frigate were flying over the top of the Hornet’s Nest, her cannons ranged for The Royal Bridge.

  “Their cannons aren’t aimed for me yet!” Luke yelled. “Shot them over my head!”

  He aimed the sling canons just short of the quarterdeck of the frigate. Quarterdecks were for ceremonies and often where the bridge was, but Luke also knew that’s where the weapons command and control stations were. Or at least he hoped so on this Gimti Frigate.

  “If I can shoot asteroids, I can hit the mast of this Frigate, if not, I’ll hit the quarterdeck and at least slow their rate of fire. I might get one more shot in after that.”

  Luke hit the fire controls of the sling canons then punched the controls for the navigation to make a small light jump away from the Frigate. Grabbing the canon controls, he began the sling canons to load up again for his next shot. He wasn’t sure if he’d have enough time to load up enough power in the canons, but that wasn’t his biggest concern. He had to get back to the navigation controls to plan the next jump.

  “This would be easier with a crew,” Luke murmured to himself as he jumped out of the gun seat and over to the nav controls.

  The Hornet’s Nest jumped out of light speed farther off the aft section of the frigate. Luke wanted to have the coordinates typed in quicker, but his next jump he wasn’t sure about. He wasn’t sure if he’d hit the mast of the ship or not.

  Luke quit with the navigation and checked his view finder. He wanted to see what damage if any he’d inflicted. The frigate’s main mast of ion sails split in two from the shot. He jumped back to the canon controls and fired! That shot took out the other mast, mid way. Never taking the time to check the controls, he wasn’t sure if enough time had elapsed for a strong enough shot, but that couldn’t be helped. He took a moment longer than he wanted with the aim and fired. Never looking to see if there was a hit he made his way to the navigation station and punched the pulsar motors to give him some distance away from the frigate. He deployed the ion sails, and the jolt from the sails deploying bounced Luke out of his seat.

  “Now let’s try to figure that light speed setting…”

  The frigate had spotted the Hornet’s Nest. The last shot from the Hornet’s Nest had gotten the frigate's attention away from The Royal Sloop and the Gimti frigate now moved towards The Hornet's Nest. That bit of confusion had created the moment Luke needed, but now the Ne
st had given its location away.

  Luke fought the controls in an effort to out run the fire of the frigate. He bounced the ship up and down, port and starboard to evade her fire. He checked his view screen and watched the range of distance from the frigate.

  “Did I slow you down?” he asked himself.

  The range counter began to display the distance increasing, but he wasn’t outside of cannon range yet from the frigate. His main hope was to give The Royal Bridge some time. Luke turned his ship around and headed straight for the frigate. It was the only way of giving The Royal Bridge time to get out of cannon range.

  “Shoot at me!” Luke shouted.

  He typed into the navigation computer the easiest of all light speed jumps and set the computer. Luke moved as quick as he could back to the cannon controls to get one more shot before he made a jump to light speed. He looked at the controls and his mind went blank.

  “I didn’t spin them back up. They aren’t loaded and I’m heading right for a frigate.”

  Chapter 3

  The Royal Bridge reeled from the fire of the frigate. Smoke filled the holds and cargo areas and even the bridge. The damage controls crews worked to put out fires and deal with issues on the ship as well as maintain her speed.

  “I don’t care what you have to do, just make it happen. Put men in the masts holding ion sheets if you need to, but get all the ion sails back on line,” the Captain of The Royal Bridge screamed into the intercom and to everyone on the bridge. He turned to face his passenger. “I really need to put you in a life pod and have you escape. I can put two marines in there with you to protect you.”

  “No Captain. If my father and family of the Twelve Clans can face danger, I can to,” she replied.

  Her name was Hope Bridges, and she was the daughter of General Cornelius. Her long red hair made her an oddity in her family and the clans, along with her green eyes. She carried herself with poise and was not unfamiliar to danger with the wars of the Clans, and now with the Twelve Clans united and in a fight for survival against the other kingdoms it was a danger of daily life. She knew fear, and knew war, but she’d never been in a space battle. The Captain looked down and saw her knuckles were white as she held onto the side of a control panel.