Proxima Five Read online

  Proxima Five

  Geologist Dr. Leah Warren wakes after extended cryogenic hibernation to discover she’s crash-landed on a foreign planet. The sole survivor of her crew, she struggles to piece together what went wrong. Leah ventures from the ship in search of signs of life only to be captured by desert raiders.

  Keegan, a clan warrior, discovers Leah, weak and barely alive. Her kindness and affection for Leah seem in direct conflict with her tough and emotionally remote façade, and Leah’s attraction for the reserved warrior grows. Unfortunately, Tiago, the clan’s volatile chieftain, is a tyrant who wants Leah for himself. Keegan will have to relinquish Leah or challenge Tiago. Will love give Keegan the strength to defeat him?

  What Reviewers Say About Missouri Vaun’s Work

  Love at Cooper’s Creek

  “Blown away…how have I not read a book by Missouri Vaun before. What a beautiful love story which, honestly, I wasn’t ready to finish. Kate and Shaw’s chemistry was instantaneous and as the reader I could feel it radiating off the page.”—Les Reveur

  “Love at Cooper’s Creek is a gentle, warm hug of a book.”—The Lesbian Review

  Crossing the Wide Forever

  “Crossing the Wide Forever is a near-heroic love story set in an epic time, told with almost lyrical prose. Words on the page will carry the reader, along with the main characters, back into history and into adventure. It’s a tale that’s easy to read, with enchanting main characters, despicable villains, and supportive friendships, producing a fascinating account of passion and adventure.”—Lambda Literary Review

  All Things Rise

  “The futuristic world that author Missouri Vaun has brought to life is as interesting as it is plausible. The sci-fi aspect, though, is not hard-core which makes for easy reading and understanding of the technology prevalent in the cloud cities. …[T]he focus was really on the dynamics of the characters especially Cole, Ava and Audrey—whether they were interacting on the ground or above the clouds. From the first page to the last, the writing was just perfect.”—AoBibliosphere

  “This is a lovely little Sci-Fi romance, well worth a read for anyone looking for something different. I will be keeping an eye out for future works by Missouri Vaun.”—The Lesbian Review

  “Simply put, this book is easy to love. Everything about it makes for a wonderful read and re-read. I was able to go on a journey with these characters, an emotional, internal journey where I was able to take a look at the fact that while society and technology can change vastly until almost nothing remains the same, there are some fundamentals that never change, like hope, the raw emotion of human nature, and the far reaching search for the person who is able to soothe the fire in our souls with the love in theirs.”—Roses and Whimsy

  Birthright

  “The author develops a world that has a medieval feeling, complete with monasteries and vassal farmers, while also being a place and time where a lesbian relationship is just as legitimate and open as a heterosexual one. This kept pleasantly surprising me throughout my reading of the book. The adventure part of the story was fun, including traveling across kingdoms, on “wind-ships” across deserts, and plenty of sword fighting. …This book is worth reading for its fantasy world alone. In our world, where those in the LGBTQ communities still often face derision, prejudice, and danger for living and loving openly, being immersed in a world where the Queen can openly love another woman is a refreshing break from reality.”—Amanda Chapman, Librarian, Davisville Free Library (RI)

  “Birthright by Missouri Vaun is one of the smoothest reads I’ve had my hands on in a long time.”—The Lesbian Review

  The Time Before Now

  “[The Time Before Now] is just so good. Vaun’s character work in this novel is flawless. She told a compelling story about a person so real you could just about reach out and touch her.”—The Lesbian Review

  The Ground Beneath

  “One of my favourite things about Missouri Vaun’s writing is her ability to write the attraction between two women. Somehow she manages to get that twinkle in the stomach just right and she makes me feel it as if I am falling in love with my wife all over again.”—The Lesbian Review

  Jane’s World and the Case of the Mail Order Bride

  “This is such a quirky, sweet novel with a cast of memorable characters. It has laugh out loud moments and will leave you feeling charmed.”—The Lesbian Review

  Proxima Five

  Brought to you by

  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  Proxima Five

  © 2018 By Missouri Vaun. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13:978-1-63555-123-5

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, NY 12185

  First Edition: September 2018

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

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editor: Cindy Cresap

  Production Design: Susan Ramundo

  Cover Design By Melody Pond

  By the Author

  All Things Rise

  The Time Before Now

  The Ground Beneath

  Whiskey Sunrise

  Valley of Fire

  Death By Cocktail Straw

  One More Reason To Leave Orlando

  Smothered and Covered

  Privacy Glass

  Birthright

  Crossing The Wide Forever

  Love At Cooper’s Creek

  Take My Hand

  Proxima Five

  Writing as Paige Braddock:

  Jane’s World The Case of the Mail Order Bride

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank the team at Bold Strokes Books for all the continued support. Rad, Sandy, Ruth, Stacia, and my editor, Cindy, you guys are really terrific to work with. I continue to be so grateful to all of you for the community of writers and readers you’ve introduced me to. I’d also like to thank my beta readers, Jenny, Vanessa, Alena, and Deb. A special thank you goes out to Anne Laughlin for reading a very early draft of the first few chapters and offering valuable feedback. Peggy, thanks for talking geology with me. I greatly appreciate our shared love of rocks.

  I hope you enjoy reading this adventure as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Dedication

  For Evelyn, for always.

  Chapter One

  Leah Warren dreamed a landscape of eternal daylight. Wait, not a dream. She squinted at the fierce light from the small oval window. As sharp as a laser, the shaft cut through the dark compartment. Leah tried to lift her arm, but the nerve signal from her brain went unanswered.

  Should get up. Need to move. Nothing. Her body refused to respond.

  Leah rotated her eyes away from the window toward the spaceship’s interior. Emergency lights flickered, but they were no match for the intensity of the light from outside. The long glass access door for the stasis tube hovered above her, open but partially blocking her view of the rest of the ship. Is the crew awake? Where are the others? Are we on Proxima B?

  Exhaustion.

  So sleepy.

  She fought the urge to close her eyes.

  Her body jerked awake. She hadn’t meant to doze
off. How much time had passed?

  Hazily, Leah realized she was still in the stasis tube. She fought against gravity to sit up. Her thoughts were murky and confused. She covered her face with her hands and exhaled. The interior lights were brighter now. The compartment illumination had risen to normal levels. The floor was cold against her feet as she slid out of the tube and made her first attempt to stand. Dizzy, she dropped back to a seated position.

  Where is John? The onboard doctor should be checking her vital signs right about now. There was a list of protocols that should follow extended cryogenic hibernation. Hydration was imperative. Her foggy brain remembered that much.

  Leah managed to stumble to a water unit. She pulled a tube free and drank. A fit of coughing followed the first few swallows, but after a minute she was able to drink comfortably.

  Her mind was coming back to life. She scanned the hibernation quarters that bordered the cargo bay for the fifty crew members. Her tube was the only one open. A sick feeling threatened to overwhelm her as she viewed the dark, unopened stasis beds from across the large compartment. Swallowing the nausea, she examined the panel readout of the nearest tube. Inactive. Vital signs, negative. The doctor, John Reed, was dead in his tube. Why? What happened?

  All the other panels she checked delivered the same data. She was the only survivor. Her entire crew was dead. She barely made it to the nearest trash receptacle before throwing up.

  Leah dropped to the floor, leaned her head against the smooth surface of the wall, and focused on breathing. In and out, in and out. The muscles in her arms and legs began to quiver. A stress reaction? Or a symptom of extended hibernation?

  First things first, address basic needs.

  Sorting through data wouldn’t be an option if she passed out from dehydration. There’d be no one to revive her. She was utterly alone. Panic choked her airway. Leah took a deep breath, stood, and braced against the narrow passageway for a moment to settle another wave of nausea that threatened to capsize her.

  Life support, water, and food systems seemed to be operational. She drank a protein mix. Waited a minute to make sure her stomach was stable, then took a quick shower and discarded the stasis sleeper suit. The brief spray of cool water helped. She pulled a faded blue shirt and cotton pants from her gear trunk. The softly broken in fabric felt good. It felt familiar. The skin on her arm pebbled. The air was cool but not cold; maybe she was simply fatigued. The lightweight crew jacket she tugged on offered an extra layer. She finger-combed her wet hair, droplets of water soaked into her jacket where damp tendrils brushed her shoulders. She leaned against the console in the galley and searched for something to eat from the store of rations.

  Despite the fact that she had no appetite, her body needed food and more fluids.

  And she needed energy and nutrition to think.

  It was hard to keep food down as she visualized her crewmates, forever asleep in their cryogenic chambers.

  Dead. They were all dead.

  Her body trembled with silent sobs.

  Leah forced herself to concentrate on chewing, then swallowing, then chewing and swallowing again.

  Chapter Two

  Dust and smoke swirled in small puffs around her boots as Keegan kicked a clump of smoldering black embers. They scattered across the dirt. This particular outpost had been constructed of packed earth and timbers, surrounded by a few open-air shelters with plank siding. Now all that was left of the wood struts was blackened sticks and ash.

  This place wasn’t continually manned. It was more of a stopover for small squadrons heading north or south along the desert rim. But there had been at least enough supplies here to feed a few troops for several days, and now everything had been taken, the shelves picked clean. But why go so far as to destroy an outpost that would at some point be resupplied? Why not just steal the food?

  “Fucking raiders…cowards and thieves.” Tiago stepped through the charred struts of the doorframe. The door hung at an angle, one hinge ripped away. He was almost as tall as Keegan, and what he lacked in height he made up for in mass. He was stoutly muscled through the shoulders and chest, swarthy, with dark hair. “Well, this is your mess to clean up. I have to be in Haydn City before lights out.”

  “I can handle a few raiders.” Keegan wondered what was so urgent but was happy to be rid of him.

  Tiago made a circle in the air signaling to his two men. The three of them piled into his crawler, leaving Keegan and her two soldiers, Yates and Gage, standing near the smoldering rubble.

  “Report back to me with anything you find.” Tiago leaned from the crawler’s passenger side door. “I want to question the raiders personally.”

  “Fuck you.” Keegan muffled the comment with a cough.

  “What did you say?”

  “I said, no problem.” She smiled thinly. There was no way she was reporting back to him. She and Tiago held the same rank, even though, lately, he acted as if they didn’t. She didn’t answer to him, and she wasn’t about to start now. The dust trailed behind Tiago’s crawler as they drove east, toward the green zone.

  “There are two sets of tracks.” Yates was standing several feet away looking west toward the desert.

  Keegan joined her. They stood shoulder to shoulder. Yates was a couple of inches shorter than Keegan, her skin brown, her build slender but fit. Yates’s long black hair swirled around her face in the breeze.

  “They took every fucking thing.” Gage walked over to where they were standing. He was almost as tall as Keegan, but thicker. He was as solid as a tree. His thickly muscled, tanned arms bulged from his sleeveless shirt. He picked up a stone and threw it at nothing.

  Keegan studied the horizon.

  “We’ll have to split up.” Yates holstered her weapon. She was practically a sharpshooter with a gun and if possible, even more lethal with a knife.

  “Why did they split up? Were they trying to throw us off?” Gage squatted as if examining the tracks might answer his questions.

  “We won’t know for sure unless we follow.” Keegan crossed her arms.

  “Well, there goes your two-day furlough.” Gage looked up at Keegan.

  “Fuck.” Keegan turned and walked back toward her two-wheeled rover. She slid her rifle into the sheath mounted at the side and reached for the canteen. After a minute, Yates and Gage joined her. “I was hoping for a drink. All I can taste is dust.”

  “They never keep the good stuff here anyway.” Yates pulled her canteen free.

  “You two take the crawler and follow the tracks heading southwest. I’ll track the ones that head northwest.” The military-issue crawler could carry four. Keegan’s rover was really only good for one, two in a pinch.

  “I’m starving.” Gage was always hungry.

  “You two.” Yates shook her head. “One of you is always whining about lack of food or drinks.”

  “We can’t all be as self-controlled as you, Yates.” Keegan admired Yates. She was glad that at least one of them was professional and disciplined, and was especially happy that it didn’t have to be her.

  “Don’t you mean evolved?”

  “Ha. Good one.” Keegan shook her head as they walked back toward the vehicles. “If you don’t overtake them within twelve hours, turn back for Haydn City. It’s not worth the risk for the value of what they found here. Even the liquor.” Keegan paused to allow her joke to sink in. Yates shook her head. “Report to Maddox whatever you find if you get back before me.” Maddox would likely be at the garrison by the time they returned, and he could share any pertinent intel with Behn, the chieftain of the ruling clan. The three of them had taken an oath to serve under Chief Behn’s House, the house of the Tenth Clan.

  “You mean we’re not going to turn any intel over to Tiago?” Yates smirked.

  “Yeah, that’s not happening.” Tiago was Chief Behn’s son, sadly, soon to take the chieftain’s chair. But until then, Keegan refused to answer to him.

  “Just don’t openly piss him off.” Gage c
rossed his arms. “I’d hate to have to step in and save your ass.”

  “As if.” Keegan snorted. She checked the readout on the rover. There was plenty of power left, enough for several more hours of running time, even over rough terrain. The sun was strongest in the desert so she could deploy the solar charger even if she had to stop to sleep.

  Gage nodded as he and Yates climbed into the front seats of the all-terrain vehicle.

  “I’ll see you in twelve hours, or less.” Keegan balanced the rover between her legs, her boots planted firmly on the ground, and lowered tinted goggles.

  “Last one to Haydn City buys the drinks,” Gage shouted. He sped away, not waiting for a reply, a churning dust trail in his wake. Yates gave a single wave from the passenger seat.

  Keegan gripped the accelerator and the rover lurched forward. She shifted her position, low over the steering column, keeping her center of gravity fluid as the rover moved across the soft and shifting terrain. After about two hours, the tracks veered due north. They were clearly skirting the boundary of the desert rim, parallel to the green zone. She put the rover in neutral and scanned the horizon with binoculars. Three clicks ahead, she saw smoke. She knew the spot.

  Greer had taken over the outpost a few years earlier. It had been a safe place for his son who’d suffered in the city because of his physical limitations. City life was hard for anyone who was perceived to be weak, or for those who tolerated weakness.