{"id":4934,"date":"2023-10-13T10:30:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T16:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/?p=4934"},"modified":"2023-10-13T10:44:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T16:44:53","slug":"sci-fi-romance-first-chapter-friday-soulless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/free\/sci-fi-romance-first-chapter-friday-soulless\/","title":{"rendered":"Free First Chapter Friday: Soulless, a Heart Pounding Sci Fi romance novel!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Give a romantic sci-fi welcome to “First Chapter Friday,” where we delve into alien romance and the allure of fated mates. This is a place where sci-fi meets romance on an otherworldly journey through the cosmos. Discover the passion and intrigue in this sexy sci-fi adventure where love defies the boundaries of space and time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Soulless,<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Download this spicy sci-fi romance for free or purchase the audiobook! Get your copy!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra didn\u2019t know why she\u2019d agreed to family dinner. Her father sat ramrod straight with a glass of whiskey clenched in one hand and studiously ignored the insignia on the sleeve of her uniform. She ate her peas one by one and only spared him glances when he shifted or sighed. Three years of this shit and she still hadn\u2019t learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI talked to Commander Mitchell about the training course I told you about. Two years of officer training and then you\u2019ll have a command. Say the word and it\u2019s yours.\u201d He wasn\u2019t using his General voice, which Sierra appreciated. But it also made her want to cry. He\u2019d given up ordering her around. How long would it be before he gave up on her all together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was moments like these that she could still smell the stench of the Wastes where she\u2019d spent her first years sticking to her skin. Her father, General Remington Alvarez, had saved her life. And all she was to him was a disappointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like my job, Dad.\u201d She forced herself to look up. Even though he was in his mid-sixties, her dad barely had any gray hair and his muscles made her think he could lift a tree if he had to. He\u2019d been stationed behind a desk for more than a decade, but none of the work had made him soft. No, Remington Alvarez was all hard edges and strict rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe job that means I have to spend every night you\u2019re in the field wondering if you\u2019re safe? The job that I can\u2019t talk about to any of my friends? The one that will steal away your future before you even realize it?\u201d He jerked his glass up to his mouth and threw the whiskey back, hissing as the liquid burned its way down his throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be any safer in the fleet,\u201d she felt the need to point out, even as his other statements flayed her alive. \u201cAnd if it weren\u2019t for the work I did, the fleet would be flying blind.\u201d He made it all sound so sordid<\/em>, and not a necessary part of any defense apparatus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her father sucked in a deep breath and Sierra had to look away, staring at a still photograph her father had taken at some fancy event with an alien with bright yellow skin and sharp teeth. They\u2019d had this fight a hundred times before and the only sure thing about it was that both of them would be left hurting and resentful by the time the night was over. \u201cI\u2019m\u2014\u201d she cut herself off before the apology could flit across her tongue. That was the problem. She wasn\u2019t<\/em> sorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSneaking behind enemy lines, lying to people. It\u2019s not honor\u2014\u201d he, too, choked on his words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra still flinched. It\u2019s not honorable<\/em>. Yeah, she\u2019d heard that one plenty of times too. This had to end now. If they spoke for any longer, it would lead to more months of silence and shitty tempers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She placed her napkin on the table and scooted her chair back. \u201cThanks for dinner. I\u2019ll give you a call when I get back and we can do this again.\u201d Emotion lodged in her throat and she swallowed it, unwilling to break in front of this man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack?\u201d her father demanded, throwing his own napkin down. \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA mission. Classified. Dishonorable stuff, you wouldn\u2019t want to hear about it anyway.\u201d Her eyes itched and if she didn\u2019t get out of there in the next minute she\u2019d end up crying. Sierra didn\u2019t cry in front of her father, not ever. That was even worse than dishonor, that was weakness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cErra\u2014\u201d he tried to stop her with her old childhood nickname. Sierra didn\u2019t even pause as she scooped up her jacket from where she\u2019d laid it on the back of his couch. She made her way through the narrow hallway of his quarters and to the front door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something that might have been regret danced in his eyes as he met her at the door. \u201cBe safe,\u201d he finally said, grabbing her in a tight hug and yanking her close. \u201cCome back in one piece, I still need a date to the reception for Ambassador Yormas of Wreet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them again, her eyelashes were wet. Her dad said nothing. \u201cI\u2019ll give you a call,\u201d she promised, not ready to agree to anything when her emotions were so raw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He just nodded and let her go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hallway outside of his apartment was the same boring gray as the walls inside her father\u2019s quarters. He shared the floor with three other units, but she saw no one as she made her way down the faded carpet to the stairwell beside the elevator. She took the stairs at a fast clip, as if speed were enough to outrun everything on her mind and in her heart. She hated disappointing her father. He\u2019d saved her from a short, hard life of unspeakable cruelty and darkness. She doubted she would have made it to twenty-nine if he hadn\u2019t adopted her. But Sierra had long ago realized that being grateful for her existence didn\u2019t mean she owed her dad her entire future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He saw it all for her: officer training, command, rank. Everything he\u2019d doggedly pursued for his entire life. The only life he could conceive of. She\u2019d taken one look at the training manuals and run screaming. Sierra was no stranger to discipline. How could she be when her father was General Remington Alvarez? But if she made that life hers, she\u2019d be extinguishing herself. And as much as she loved her dad, she couldn\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d give her that derisive laugh of his if he knew she thought that way. How, he\u2019d ask, could she be more true to herself as a spy than as a soldier?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She didn\u2019t have the answer, but he wouldn\u2019t care to hear it even if she did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her vehicle was located in the parking garage under his building. Sierra scanned the area, noting the android attendant near the entrance and a flickering light near where she\u2019d parked. Awareness prickled at the back of her neck and her muscles loosened, her stride long and confident as she waited for the threat to make itself known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cat darted out from a dark corner and Sierra\u2019s blaster was out, her finger on the trigger before she even registered the movement. When the animal jumped on top of her vehicle, she laughed and put her weapon away. She needed a damn vacation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But vacation was the last thing she had to look forward to, not when planetary defense had to come first. Sierra gave the cat a gentle pet and then shooed it on its way before sliding into the car. As soon as she was on the road, her communicator lit up. She engaged the call without video and didn\u2019t bother to glance at the identification to see who was calling. Anyone who had her code wouldn\u2019t call if it wasn\u2019t an emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJoyce is calling us in,\u201d her friend and navigator, Mindy Branch said in lieu of a greeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now?\u201d A glance at the clock showed it wasn\u2019t even close to midnight, let alone their 0500 call time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, Jo\u2019s already on her way.\u201d Mindy sounded about as pleased with that turn of events as Sierra was, but neither voiced their concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be there in an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGot it. Drive safe.\u201d She disengaged and the communication\u2019s display went dim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra sent a silent prayer of thanks to anyone who was listening and turned her car around to head to the rendezvous point. She needed to get the fuck off of Earth to remember why it was worth saving in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Raze\u2019s indicator alerted him that his required physical exertion period had come to an end. He glanced at the readout on the machine to see that he\u2019d improved his last run time by three seconds and noted the statistics for his file. A quick swipe with the cleaning pad took care of the sweat that had dripped onto the machine, and he used a separate towel to take care of the moisture beading on his forehead and at the base of his neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The material was rough and cheap, but sturdier than anything else the legion had been able to purchase. He dragged it slowly across his skin and nearly couldn\u2019t suppress the shiver that tried to climb up his spine from the almost painful friction. A moment later he pulled the towel away and disposed of it in the laundry chute. He mechanically stripped himself of his clothes and they followed the towel down to where they\u2019d be laundered and returned to the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He nodded to Kayde, one of his fellow warriors, as he walked naked to the shower station. The cold water hit his skin with bruising force and this time he couldn\u2019t stop the hiss from the sensation. The water quickly warmed to a sufficient level and he cleaned himself in his allotted time. Another swipe of a different abrasive towel saw him dry, and he barely spared a glance for the marks it had left on his green skin. He pulled on a clean uniform and exited the shower station before the next warrior to finish his training could be delayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Raze knew he was scheduled to join his team for the final briefing before their scheduled mission, he consulted his schedule before heading toward the administrative building in case the plan had changed. The legion and its soldiers were slaves to their schedules, especially those like him. To eschew routine was to eschew control, and when the soulless lost control, there was only one solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he could still feel fear, Raze might have felt the shiver in his spine. But just like everything else, those emotions had been taken away from him, given up, two years ago, just before his thirtieth birthday. He couldn\u2019t regret his decision, and he chose not to dwell on it. The legion had saved his life, he owed them his loyalty and his service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A quick walk through one of the service tunnels brought him to the administrative building. The entire compound was connected through underground tunnels and elevated walkways so that no soldier or staff member would need to brave the harsh weather of their home moon by walking between buildings outside. The moon was habitable, but the weather extremes made it less than ideal, and for that reason, it had been sitting uninhabited after a failed colonizing attempt six decades before. The legion had bought the rights to the land and had spent years making their own little colony into a fortress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one would be able to do to them what had been done to their ancestors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something that might have once been sorrow clenched in his chest, but Raze paid no attention to it. If he chased the phantom emotion, he could easily find himself out of control and scheduled to be executed within the hour. Punishments were harsh and final for the soulless, but it was the only way to protect the legion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The familiar path inside the administrative building centered Raze with the comfort of routine. He walked down the brightly lit hallway and spared a glance at the Detyen art that decorated the walls. When he was younger, it would have brought to the forefront all of the sorrows and joys of a home he\u2019d never seen. Now he merely noted that one of the frames hung slightly askew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He entered the assigned meeting room and took his seat, nodding in greeting to Toran NaLosen, a younger Detyen warrior who smiled at him in response. Unlike Raze, Toran still possessed his soul. He wouldn\u2019t need to choose between death and soullessness for a few more years. \u201cKayde and Sandon should be here soon,\u201d Toran said. He tapped his fingers against the table, the small sound loud enough to fill the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raze let his eyes rest on those moving digits. Toran\u2019s clan markings climbed down both of his arms and covered parts of each hand, making his golden skin appear almost spotted. The door slid open and two more men walked through. Toran pulled his fingers into a fist and stilled as he studied the newest entrants. Raze spared them a glance, nodding at Kayde and Sandon before settling his gaze on the holo projector in the center of the table. Kayde settled in beside him and Sandon took his place at the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a flick of his fingers, Sandon brought up a projection of the planet they would be heading to and their target. \u201cThe planet is called Fenryr 1,\u201d Sandon said, calling up the basic climatological and population statistics as he spoke. \u201cIt technically sits at the edge of the Oscavian Empire, but has no native population and no Oscavian development. Flares from the dual stars at the heart of the system make it difficult to monitor the planet and it\u2019s become a haven for pirates and slavers. Our intelligence has detected a small gathering here,\u201d he pointed to a peninsula on the globe. \u201cThere are few other inhabited pockets near the southern pole, but we have no interest in them. Your target is the Lyrden,<\/em> which is located a hundred kilometers away from the peninsula. It was brought to the planet two years ago and we think it is meant to be scrapped. Due to the extensive number of scrap ships collecting there, the Lyrden<\/em> is not heavily guarded and we have no reason to believe that it will be destroyed before you can find it. We need all of the data that you can scrape from the onboard computer. Questions?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Raze and Kayde glanced at Toran, who was reading through the mission parameters on his personal tablet. \u201cThis says the Lyrden<\/em> is a XA-1. That\u2019s more than a hundred years old. It\u2019s possible, if not likely, that the system can\u2019t be scanned or recovered. Do we have the authority to bring parts back? Or do we not want the inhabitants to know we were there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a high priority mission. Use any means necessary to recover the data,\u201d Sandon pierced Toran with his steely gaze. \u201cThe Lyrden<\/em> was recorded in the Detyen system the day of the attack. We have reason to believe the information on that ship could lead us to whoever attacked us or supplied the weapon. Are we clear?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were. Sandon left them alone to plan. If Raze weren\u2019t soulless, he\u2019d describe the blood coursing through his veins as excitement. He sat forward, ready to talk the mission through. They couldn\u2019t save their home, but they could get revenge, and this was the first step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Within two hours of her disastrous dinner with her father, Sierra was on a ship and off planet, speeding towards the jump gate. The mission had suddenly moved up when a gap in scheduling provided her team with a quicker route to their destination, but the gap would be closed by the scheduled launch time. She could still hear Jocasta Nelson, her pilot, grumbling about missed sleep. Sierra kept her distance, opting to spend the time from Earth to the gate strapped in one of the chairs in the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindy had shot her a glare and taken her position at the navigator\u2019s station beside Jo. The two traded barbs as they worked through the checklists that would see them safely out of the solar system and on their way to Fenryr 1. Fucking pirates were stealing women from Earth and selling them off as slaves\u2026 or worse. Hundreds abducted over the course of a decade, and it wasn\u2019t until the niece of a US Senator disappeared that anyone paid any attention to the victims. Sierra was trying really<\/em> hard not to be angry about that, but she had three days to get her emotions under control. By the time they reached the pirates, she\u2019d be ice. Until then, she wanted to hit something and not stop until it bled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A warning alarm buzzed and the lights flashed as they approached the gate. The interstellar passageways were seeded throughout the galaxy and made it possible to travel throughout inhabited space in a relatively short amount of time. Humans hadn\u2019t put them in place, but the Sol system had free use of one gate and that gate opened to a highway of other passageways that led anywhere a person could want to go. Not that Sierra particularly wanted<\/em> to go to Fenryr 1, but she\u2019d do the job, gather the intel\u2026 and leave any women behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She clenched her jaw as her ears popped. Pressure built in her head as they slipped through the portal and out the other end. An all clear alarm sounded and the first leg of the journey was complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A minute later, Mindy came bounding back and plopped into the seat beside Sierra, pulling her legs up to curl into a ball of fluffy woman. She wore a gray sweater that was soft enough to pet, but it was covered in soft balls of an unfamiliar fabric. The ensemble was matched by tight, synth leather pants and a bright green headband that held her long blue hair back. She didn\u2019t look like a spy, but she was one of the best navigators in the entire Sol system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll save them all,\u201d Mindy promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra wasn\u2019t surprised that her friend had read her mind. The parameters of the mission hung heavy over all of them, even the standoffish Jo. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot easier when we get to go in and steal data from rich assholes or plant a bug in some government official\u2019s communicator.\u201d Sierra unbuckled her safety harness and turned so she could more easily face Mindy. As her body shifted, the chair reshaped itself to accommodate her new position. They were designed for comfort on long journeys, something regular military vessels didn\u2019t need. Though she\u2019d never use that point in an argument with her dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you might actually get to shoot someone this time,\u201d Mindy countered. She glanced back toward the cockpit and then lowered her voice. \u201cDinner not go great?\u201d It was more of a statement than a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra shrugged. \u201cCould have been worse. We\u2019re still talking to each other, so that\u2019s good. I think he\u2019s still kind of pissed off that I grew up.\u201d Feelings weren\u2019t something that they talked about in the Alvarez household, and Mindy was one of the few people who didn\u2019t let Sierra get away with deflecting the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd he knows that you\u2019re doing dangerous shit,\u201d Mindy pointed out. \u201cMy parents think I work in accounts receivable. They\u2019d be terrified if they knew what I really did. But it\u2019s not like this is a secret you can keep from the great General Alvarez. No one keeps secrets from the man who singlehandedly saved a city from alien destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra groaned. \u201cDon\u2019t talk about Mumbai, please!\u201d She covered her face with her hands and burrowed further into the chair. The trouble with being a hero\u2019s daughter was that she could never escape his heroics. No one saw Remington Alvarez as the guy who\u2019d panicked when he needed to help her buy bras. No, he was the man whose astute observations and quick thinking had turned a would-be massacre into a minor skirmish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe wishes you had your own Mumbai,\u201d said Mindy. \u201cIt\u2019s not that he wants destruction, but he wants you to be recognized. And as long as you\u2019re doing this<\/em>, recognition is the last thing you can have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t give a shit about medals and ceremonies. This<\/em> is what I\u2019m good at.\u201d She\u2019d been nine when her dad had swooped in and saved her from the Wastes, but that was old enough to already know how to wear a dozen different faces depending on what she needed. A safe home and years of therapy had given her the opportunity to live a fulfilling life, but she couldn\u2019t escape those early years, not completely. They\u2019d given her the tools she needed to survive and now that she could control her own destiny, she wanted to use those tools to help others, to help her people. Anyone could hold a gun, but only someone like her could lie to the face of the head of the Oscavian Diplomatic Corps and get away with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou ever regret what we have to give up?\u201d Mindy asked. She grabbed a blanket from the storage bin overhead and wrapped herself up, adding to her already high level of fluff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike what?\u201d She still had her dad, the money was good, and when she was home she was pretty much safe. What more could she need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindy scoffed. \u201cReally? You know, a guy? A family? It\u2019s kind of difficult to maintain a relationship when we\u2019re called off planet for months at a time with no way to communicate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever met a guy worth more than a few weeks of my time, and even those are rare. What\u2019s wrong with having some fun? We\u2019ve got plenty of time for families later.\u201d Though now that Mindy mentioned it, Sierra tried to remember the last time she\u2019d been on a date. Had it even been this year? She had a feeling her friend wouldn\u2019t count a hookup with one of the marines they\u2019d been briefly stationed with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you don\u2019t want any of it?\u201d This truly seemed to baffle Mindy, whose face screwed up in a look of confusion and something approaching pity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot enough to give all this up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A slew of curses followed by fevered hammering came from the cockpit as the ship did something Jo didn\u2019t like. Sierra and Mindy shared a look and both bit their bottom lips to keep from bursting out laughing. A moment later, footsteps pounded down the metal catwalk leading from the cockpit to the kitchen and Jo stomped through. She paused to look at both of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of you babysit the damn autopilot. I need to take a shower.\u201d Without waiting for either of them to agree, she headed off towards the bathroom, muttering more curses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For once, Sierra said her silent thanks to the temperamental pilot. A few more minutes of Mindy\u2019s questioning and they\u2019d be talking weddings or babies or some shit like that, and Sierra was not in the mood to discuss things that weren\u2019t going to happen, at least not anytime soon. Unless there was some man out there who could respect what she did and appreciate her for the woman she was and not some perfect princess that he wished she\u2019d be, she\u2019d rather be single and fulfilled than paired off and miserable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And she hadn\u2019t once met a guy who wouldn\u2019t want to change her. So single it was. And that didn\u2019t make her regret anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can get this romantic sci fi book for free in ebook format! It’s also available in audiobook and paperback.<\/strong> Download directly from my website<\/a> or find it at your favorite store.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preview the sci fi romance audiobook of Soulless right here:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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