Finding Mogha Read online

  Finding Mogha

  Before The Fall, Volume 2

  Kyndra Hatch

  Published by Letahatchee Books, 2021.

  Copyright

  ***

  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 electronic or mechanical methods (including, but not limited to, copying and redistribution across the internet), without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental.

  FINDING MOGHA

  BEFORE THE FALL

  Copyright © 2020 by J.J. McLeod Dooley, writing as Kyndra Hatch

  Cover art by Desiree DeOrto of Dark Queen Designs

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Author’s Notes & Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Also By Kyndra Hatch

  About the Author

  Author’s Notes & Dedication

  “Finding Mogha” is set in the same universe as my stories from Pets in Space® 3 & 4, “After The Fall” and “Interrupting Starlight,” respectively. The events of “Interrupting Starlight” and “Finding Mogha” occur before the evens of “After The Fall,” but they all can be read as standalone stories. All have mischievous moghas, cyborg Korthans and living ships, and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

  I want to thank the organizers of Pets in Space® for bringing me onboard for yet another anthology. Being a part of Pets in Space® continues to be the best author experience of my life. It is a true joy being a part of the team. None of my stories in ‘The Fall’ universe would exist if it weren’t for these wonderful anthologies. Creating this universe has been so much fun. And contributing to Hero-Dogs.org is near and dear to my heart. Pets in Space® is an inspiration on so many levels. Thank you!

  I want to thank my husband, who suggested I go to the ‘river house’ to get this story finished. I was having a hard time concentrating during the time of COVID and uncertainty and literally had to unplug from everything. I wasn’t sure where I could do that, and going to my childhood home was the perfect solution.

  I thank my parents, who were more than happy to let me unplug from the distractions of life at their place on the river. We had a wonderful time during those several weeks.

  I dedicate this book to the Reagans, fabulous friends, fantastic neighbors, and whose son, Chase, was a big inspiration.

  And I thank all you readers. Without you, pursuing my dreams wouldn’t be possible.

  –Kyndra Hatch

  Chapter 1

  “They’re shooting at us.” Talking out loud, Dani’s voice sounded high-pitched, even to her ears.

  Taking a hellhound puppy from a lab didn’t warrant a death sentence. But shooting at them now? All the way out here?

  Even when the Human Colony Alliance pursued her from the science station three days ago, none of the warfighter ships fired at her.

  Said hellhound pup stood alert in the middle of the bridge, feather-tipped antennae sticking straight up, bushy gray tail pointing backwards. A small tan-furred, trumpet-eared creature perched on top of his head, tiny snout sniffing at the air.

  The freighter slipped into another fishtail as a second volley of bolts hit them from behind. The gray hellhound crouched on unsteady feet.

  C’hase, get under my chair, Dani said to the pup. She didn’t want to see him go flying across the room.

  The blackness of space felt even blacker as her eyes scanned the dimmed distant stars. Dani couldn’t see the aggressors, but they were out there; one had appeared as a blip on her radar. Gaining visual was another thing. Perhaps if she noticed a group of stars disappear, that would indicate where the ships were.

  There—

  Sitting forward over the console, squinting at the bottom of the transpari-steel viewscreen, Dani’s blood froze.

  “That does not look like a human ship—”

  “SEND ANOTHER WARNING shot,” K’vyn said from the pilot seat of his scout-class cruiser, having decided there was no need to report such an insignificant incident to the Cyborg Corps.

  Lounging in the seat, leaning on his elbow, he casually flicked his wrist.

  The ship did as he asked, laser fire grazing the back of the invading ship’s hull, just as the others had.

  Humans were so arrogant. They thought they could just amble around the galaxy in their clunky inferior ships and claim what they wanted. Their entitlement galled him.

  Watching the Invader ship from a distance, his lip curled. Could their ships be more offensive?

  It was the clunkiest monstrosity he’d ever seen, like most human ships. However, this one was especially clunky. How were these beings even space-faring?

  It probably couldn’t cause much damage to anything, might not have even had any weapons. But damned if he was going to allow some Invader this close to Mogha, sworn to protect the planet and its beloved inhabitants.

  “Wait,” he scooted to the edge of his seat. “I feel something.”

  Could this finally be his mogha companion? He had almost lost hope of ever finding one—

  L’iza’s ghostly holographic form suddenly appeared next to him, concentration twisting her features. “We are too far from Mogha for you to be detecting one.”

  The bond with his ship wasn’t as deep as a cyborg would have had, but L’iza could detect his thoughts, especially if they were accompanied with strong feelings.

  “Strange,” she said next. “There is something there.”

  Of course, there was. He knew what he felt.

  The Korthan watched the human freighter, standing, clasping his hands behind his back. They weren’t that far from the home world. What else could it be?

  He couldn’t allow his elation with finding his mogha distract him from the problem at hand, however.

  “Send a holo-transmission,” he said.

  WAS THE SHIP KORTHAN?

  They were in neutral territory, in an unarmed cargo freighter. No Korthan should be shooting at them.

  Heart leaping as the ship flew closer, it swooped in front of Dani’s freighter in a graceful arc before hovering overhead.

  Sleek in design, it had four swept back wings, all seeming to move independent of each other. Defying logic, it didn’t look anything like the Korthan ships she’d seen before.

  This couldn’t have been Korthan. With ships like this, the humans were going to lose the war—

  Not for the first time since Dani rescued the hellhound, she lamented the lack of a crew. A co-pilot would have been nice right about now.

  Can I come out? C’hase’s innocent voice sounded from under Dani’s seat.

  The young hellhound sounded so much like a human child, his voice was as startling as it was when she first heard him in her mind.

  “No, stay where you are, Little One,” Dani said.

  But I want to see the ship.

  Ignoring the pup, Dani concentrated on the task at hand.

  Mogha companion, I reach out to you. Can you hear me?

  Dani blinked. “C’hase, is that you?”

  There was movement under her seat that abruptly halted
.

  I’m not doing anything, C’hase said. Why did he sound like he’d just been caught doing something? Hedge isn’t doing anything either.

  Hedge, the little space rat he couldn’t live without— Yup, definitely up to something he shouldn’t be.

  The console cackled, comms coming to life with a screech before fading to silence again.

  She covered their ears, wincing.

  What was that? C’hase said.

  Dani’s fingers danced over the controls. “I think they’re trying to hack our comms.”

  She had no idea if they could do that, but by the looks of that ship, she was surprised someone hadn’t beamed aboard somehow.

  A vertical beam of white light suddenly came to life between the console and her view screen. Dani froze. She sure hoped something wasn’t about to beam aboard her ship. Not possible by human standards, and she’d never heard of a Korthan doing it, there was a first for everything.

  The beam of light became more focused until a Savage of Korth appeared. So, not some other being after all.

  Black hair cropped close to grayish blue skin, he wore a black uniform. Somewhat transparent, Dani was relieved that it was just a hologram and not the actual man standing there.

  But what a man he was, with striking silver eyes that pierced Dani’s soul. The sight of him stirred something unexplainable, her heart swelling. It was similar to what she felt with C’hase, but deeper— Soul deep—

  Blinking, she stamped down the feeling. This man, this savage, this enemy, was shooting at them.

  “CAN THEY SEE ME?” K’VYN asked, still standing, hands clasped behind his back, he glanced at L’iza.

  “Yes,” she said. A group of colorful control holograms floating in front of her, she swiped her hand in the air as she scrolled through one.

  “Why can’t I see them?”

  “I know what you look like, so I can project an image of you.” She looked up. “But I don’t know what they look like or what they’re doing, so I can’t project an image back.”

  Nodding, he turned back to the green hologram floating in front of him. A projector, it scanned his image and broadcast a hologram of himself through the easily hacked systems of the human ship.

  “Human vessel,” he spoke at the projector. “Turn around or I will be forced to destroy you.”

  He also tried speaking to his mogha again, projecting his mind outwards in all directions. Mogha companion, I feel you out there somewhere. I am here.

  DANI REACHED OUT, HER hand flowing through the focused light. It was a hologram.

  Ask him if he knows where Mogha is, C’hase said, tone chipper.

  “I don’t think he’d be interested in telling us,” she said, wondering how a being purported to be lawless and savage had the technology to accomplish a ship to ship projected hologram through a hacked system.

  Mesmerized, sitting at the edge of her seat, she studied his features. Pictures of Korthans littered the newsfeeds, but she’d never actually seen one in real-time. The way he moved— Were the vids inaccurate?

  “The hologram is so lifelike,” she said, blowing a strand of brown hair that had fallen across her nose back into place.

  Can I see? C’hase said from beneath the console this time.

  “No,” Dani said out loud to the little guy. Focus, she thought to herself.

  Mogha companion, I feel you out there somewhere. I am here.

  Dani’s eyebrows knitted. That was definitely not C’hase.

  “Do you hear that voice?”

  C’hase rubbed against her leg as he moved from under the console back beneath her chair. What voice?

  Something else accompanied the voice, something pure and unadulterated; it was joy.

  “Human vessel—” the man in the hologram said, snapping Dani from her thoughts.

  His deep voice struck a thrill through her, igniting a tingle in places that hadn’t been touched in too long.

  “—Turn around or I will be forced to destroy you.”

  Well, damn. That took some of the thrill away.

  What now? Should she speak directly to the hologram? Would it hear her?

  “Human vessel,” the hologram stated again.

  She activated the comm. Had to be the safest bet that the Korthan would hear her.

  “We are an unarmed cargo freighter,” Dani said into the comm. “This shipping lane is neutral territory.”

  “You are in Korthan space,” the handsome hologram replied. “I will allow you to fly back to neutral territory, but you cannot resume your current course.”

  Was this a blockade? Was he even allowed to do that per Human Colony Alliance - Korthan neutral territory agreements? According to her charts, he was mistaken.

  Or lying.

  Taking a deep breath, Dani punched several buttons on the console, pulling up three space charts of the surrounding area. Playing games with this guy wasn’t going to help her find Mogha any quicker. She’d just go around him.

  Flip. There was no safer route to Colony 739 than the route she was on. The plan was to deliver her cargo of chickens there and look around for the next clue to finding Mogha.

  If they couldn’t find a way around this Korthan, Dani didn’t know what they were going to do—

  Noticing a blue planet on the chart, she zoomed in. Orange and green became apparent on the surface as it was magnified. The planet was close.

  Aligning the chart with the stars outside her viewscreen, she found it on the port side and blinked. How did she not see that before?

  She’d just go to that planet and wait him out. Surely, he wouldn’t hang around this space lane indefinitely.

  Can I come out now? C’hase said, movement at her feet as he was apparently preparing to come on out.

  “No, stay put.” Dani resisted the urge to trap him with her feet.

  But I want to see the ship, he said again.

  “Stay where you are,” her voice was stern this time, leaving no room for questioning.

  The pup groaned, more movement at her feet, but he stayed where he was.

  Studying the charts, Dani let out her own groan. There was nothing on that planet. No cities. No towns. Nothing. There was nowhere for them to hide there.

  Though, they didn’t have to hide, just had to wait for the Korthan to go away.

  Typically, if they just got out of Korthan territory, they would be left alone. They could fly towards the planet, pretending to be leaving, then double back on the dark side and wait. Of course, that was assuming he didn’t consider the planet a part of his territory.

  Checking the charts again, Dani shook her head. They were in clearly marked neutral territory, the planet as well.

  Easing the thrusters forward, she headed towards the blue world.

  She checked her radar—

  Damn. Of course, the Korthan would be following.

  THE COMM CRACKLED AS the human freighter pulled away and L’iza cut the connection.

  What were they doing? Were they headed towards the planet? There was no way he was going to allow a human ship to land on a Korthan world, even an uninhabited one. Especially an uninhabited one. Especially one this close to Mogha.

  “Follow them,” K’vyn ordered. “Send a few more warning shots.”

  “Already on it,” L’iza said.

  THE HOLOGRAM FADED away as Dani piloted her ship in the opposite direction of the Korthan’s.

  If she were a fighter pilot, she’d push the yolk down and send her ship into a spiraling barrel roll. If she were a fighter pilot, in a fighter.

  But she wasn’t. She was a freighter pilot in a slow, bulky ambling freighter. The best she could do was speed up, angle slightly left and hope for the best.

  The Korthan fighter? Battleship? Cruiser? Some hybrid in between? Flew circles around her as they meandered along. The most fluid flying she’d ever seen, there was a grace and beauty about it she couldn’t help but admire. Whoever said Korthans had inferior technology was severely mista
ken.

  Stars, could her ship go any slower?

  Flashes erupted from the leading edges of the downward sweeping wings of the Korthan ship, moments before her freighter was jolted by several impacts.

  “Okay,” Dani said over the comm, heartrate spiking. “We’re leaving now. No need to destroy anything.”

  Another jolt as a bright laser bolt skidded across her bow. Perhaps he considered the planet Korthan territory after all.

  “Dammit all,” Dani cursed, throttling the ship forward at full speed.

  Edging closer to the planet, Dani noticed that she could no longer see his ship on her radar. He either had some kind of cloaking technology, which wouldn’t surprise her, or it was something to do with the planet.

  Perhaps they were in luck.

  “OKAY,” A WOMAN’S VOICE said. “We’re leaving now. No need to destroy anything.”

  That voice— Igniting a fire in his very soul, the feeling hit him instantly. He never felt more alive. K’vyn suddenly didn’t want to destroy the freighter.

  Biting his tongue hard enough to draw blood, he let the taste linger in his mouth. This was enemy number one. He couldn’t allow her to land on the planet. He had to blast that freighter out of space.

  THE FREIGHTER SUDDENLY tilted left, Dani yelling out as it rolled completely on its side towards the planet.

  I’m scared, C’hase said and Dani could feel his fear permeating her veins. Or maybe it was her own fear—

  Leaning over the console, Dani typed a request for a damage report, head bowed over the readouts. Cascading failures in the hyperdrive. Stars, this asshole meant business.

  The ship leaned towards the planet as gravity took over. No problem. She’d just reverse the thrusters and pull out of it like with any world.

  Nothing happened.

  Attempting to reverse the thrusters, she began troubleshooting procedures.

  Reaching under the seat until she touched fur, Dani said, “Come on out, C’hase.”