“Yeah, why?”

  “I’m a big fan of Earth. Especially the food.”

  “You’ve been there?”

  “Not personally. But I’ve ordered takeout, so to speak.” He repeated the same throaty laugh.

  “There’s no way we can convince you to help us?”

  “For free? Not a chance.”

  “So how do we earn your help?”

  Levain sighed. “This is painful. Look, you don’t know enough about anything to even know why you’re here, or what any of it means. The Warden is a toy collector. To him, you’re a new toy. To me, you’re an ignorant nuisance. Those two things don’t blend well, understood?”

  “Not really,” Tyler said.

  “You said a thousand ways to get here,” Ben said. “We came through a rift in spacetime.”

  “Through the Void?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You have a rift engine?”

  “No. Is that a thing?”

  “Could be. I don’t know. How’d you get into the Void if you don’t have a rift engine?”

  “Chaos energy.” Ben answered truthfully.

  Levain straightened to a full stand, his condescending regard softening a little. “You know how to harness chaos energy.”

  “That’s right.”

  He reached up to rub his chin with a gigantic paw. “Well, that is interesting. But…” He shrugged. “...it probably doesn’t change anything. I take it you weren’t aiming for Warexia. Something knocked you off course, and here you are. And you can’t get out because chaos energy is choked off here.”

  “Yeah, we were redirected. We thought unintentionally, but maybe not. Could the Warden be responsible?”

  “Like I said, a thousand ways in. All the dead end streets in the Void lead here. The Warden’s responsible for that.”

  “Who is he?” I asked. “The Oron said he’s a god.”

  “Kid, I wish I knew,” Levain answered. “All I can tell you is that he thinks he owns this place because he’s been here for so long. Could be he’s a god. I guess that depends on your definition of such. Or it could be he’s the first to find himself trapped here. Or could be he’s something else entirely. Something harder to define.”

  “His banners are all over the spaceport,” Tyler said.

  “Yeah, most of the people of Cacitrum love him. They don’t worship him, though. He’s more like their fun uncle. He claims to protect them from harm, and they eat it up like candy.”

  “Are there any people on Cacitrum?” I asked. “Because we haven’t seen any besides you two.”

  “Not in the cities. Not anymore. These days, the regular folk send their bots to do anything they want done while they lounge around out in the countryside, doing who-knows-what. It’s people like me—people who still do the dirty work—who keep this planet running.”

  “But the Warden does protect them,” I said.

  “I protect them!” Levain snapped, slamming his fist down on the desk. This time, the wood couldn’t take the strain. The legs on the left side buckled, the whole thing collapsing to one side. The display of strength left me stunned and frankly a bit terrified. Levain only sighed, glancing at Mando. “I’ll need another new desk.” The other man nodded. Levain looked back at us. “The Warden takes credit he doesn’t deserve and hasn’t earned. The people of Cacitrum honor him and fear me, while I’m the one working my ass off so they don’t need to get off their asses. It’s a thankless job, but somebody has to do it.”

  “And I’m sure it’s all out of the kindness of your heart,” Ben said.

  “Wise-ass. Of course not. Who do you think builds half the bots on this planet? My point is, the Warden has almost nothing to do with Cacitrum beyond all those stupid banners and statues. Until now, anyway.” He waved a noncommittal hand. “So, go ahead. You have a message for me? Let’s hear it.”

  I looked at Ben, who looked back at me, uncertainty gripping his face. If the Warden had provided an actual message, we’d yet to discover it.

  “Well?” Levain said. “I’m listening.”

  “Nothing?” I mouthed to Ben. He shook his head.

  “I’ll handle this,” Tyler said, taking a couple of steps toward Levain. “We… well… we uh…. I think we’re having some kind of technical difficulties. Can you give us a minute?” He motioned Ben and me into a huddle.

  “That’s handling this?” I whispered while Levain folded his arms across his corpulent chest and continued glaring impatiently at us.

  “What else am I supposed to say?” Tyler countered. “The Warden left us high and dry.”

  “We need to tell him something,” I said.

  “We need the freaking Warden. Isn’t he supposed to know where we are and what we’re doing right now?”

  “He’s probably enjoying making us sweat. Ben, any ideas?”

  “Maybe the message is that there isn’t any message. Maybe we were just supposed to meet Levain.”

  “Why, so he can eat us?” Tyler hissed.

  I risked a glance at our host. He looked amused now, but I could already sense the limits of that amusement. He wouldn’t suffer fools like us for very long.

  “Let’s just try to bow out gracefully,” Ben continued. “We tried to deliver the message. We made it all the way here. It has to be good enough.”

  “I agree,” I said. “I just want to get the hell out of here.”

  We broke our huddle.

  “Oh, are you ready now?” Levain asked. “Because you’re about ten seconds from a pounding.”

  Ben stepped forward. “The truth is, the Warden told us we needed to deliver a message to you,” he said. “But he never gave us an actual message. We’re sorry to have bothered you. We thought we were doing the right thing. If you’ll just allow us to go, we won’t⁠—“

  A shrill tone sounded from Ben’s pocket, interrupting him. He retrieved his RFD. A simple message had been scribbled across the screen in childish handwriting.

  Tell Levain that I want his associate to remove his helmet. - W

  “Wait, I have it,” Ben said. “He wants your bodyguard here or whoever he is to remove his helmet.” He turned the message toward Levain.

  “Are you serious?” Levain replied, releasing another rumble of a laugh. “Talk about wasting everybody’s time. At least I don’t have to kill you. It goes against my sensibilities to hurt children. Especially stupid ones.” He turned to his associate. “Jaffie, you heard the Warden. Lift the bucket off your head.” He sighed, still confused by the Warden’s request as his man reached up to release his helmet. “I swear, I thought this would be about something important. Now you get why I think the Warden’s such a joke.”

  “You know, he can probably hear you right now,” Tyler said.

  “I’ve said worse. If he wants me, he knows where to find me.”

  I’d already locked my attention on Jaffie. I wasn’t curious who might be under the helmet. I wouldn’t know him from Adam, anyway. I was more curious why the Warden had sent us here just for this. A beginner’s task to see if we would follow his instructions? A means for the Warden to get under Levain’s skin? The Warden worked in mysterious ways, I guess. At least we would succeed in our first quest relatively unscathed, and avoid the same fate as the Achai.

  “Come on, Jaffie,” Levain said, growing impatient with how slowly the man lifted his helmet. “We don’t have all day. Just get it off.”

  The man did as his boss ordered, pulling the helmet straight up in one final jerk. I looked at him. He looked at me. In that instant, we were both transported back to the intersection in downtown Cedar Rapids, millions of light-years away. I heard the rumble of the SUV’s engine, felt the tension of knowing the truck couldn’t stop and we wouldn’t clear out of its path in time. My breath caught in my throat recalling how the front of his behemoth vehicle made contact with the passenger side of our family sedan, crumpling it and pushing us nearly fifty feet across the intersection and into a light pole. My heart broke anew remembering that my parents were dead, and this son of a bitch, instead of checking on them, had fled the scene.

  I almost laughed as I glared at him, my hands curling into fists. “You,” I snarled, my pain and fear and fury rising in my throat as the most acrid bile.

  No doubt, the Warden was very entertained…

  Thank you for reading Starship For Rent! For more information on the next book in the series, please visit mrforbes.com/starshipforrent2

  OTHER BOOKS BY M.R FORBES

  Want more M.R. Forbes? Of course you do!

  View my complete catalog here

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  Starship For Sale (Starship For Sale)

  mrforbes.com/starshipforsale

  When Ben Murdock receives a text message offering a fully operational starship for sale, he’s certain it has to be a joke.

  Already trapped in the worst day of his life and desperate for a way out, he decides to play along. Except there is no joke. The starship is real. And Ben’s life is going to change in ways he never dreamed possible.

  All he has to do is sign the contract.

  Joined by his streetwise best friend and a bizarre tenant with an unseverable lease, he’ll soon discover that the universe is more volatile, treacherous, and awesome than he ever imagined.

  And the only thing harder than owning a starship is staying alive.

  Forgotten (The Forgotten)

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  Complete series box set:

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  Some things are better off FORGOTTEN.

  Sheriff Hayden Duke was born on the Pilgrim, and he expects to die on the Pilgrim, like his father, and his father before him.

  That's the way things are on a generation starship centuries from home. He's never questioned it. Never thought about it. And why bother? Access points to the ship's controls are sealed, the systems that guide her automated and out of reach. It isn't perfect, but he has all he needs to be content.

  Until a malfunction forces his wife to the edge of the habitable zone to inspect the damage.

  Until she contacts him, breathless and terrified, to tell him she found a body, and it doesn't belong to anyone on board.

  Until he arrives at the scene and discovers both his wife and the body are gone.

  The only clue? A bloody handprint beneath a hatch that hasn't opened in hundreds of years.

  Until now.

  Deliverance (Forgotten Colony)

  mrforbes.com/deliverance

  Complete series box set:

  The war is over. Earth is lost. Running is the only option.

  It may already be too late.

  Caleb is a former Marine Raider and commander of the Vultures, a search and rescue team that's spent the last two years pulling high-value targets out of alien-ravaged cities and shipping them off-world.

  When his new orders call for him to join forty-thousand survivors aboard the last starship out, he thinks his days of fighting are over. The Deliverance represents a fresh start and a chance to leave the war behind for good.

  Except the war won't be as easy to escape as he thought.

  And the colony will need a man like Caleb more than he ever imagined...

  Man of War (Rebellion)

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  Complete series box set:

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  In the year 2280, an alien fleet attacked the Earth.

  Their weapons were unstoppable, their defenses unbreakable.

  Our technology was inferior, our militaries overwhelmed.

  Only one starship escaped before civilization fell.

  Earth was lost.

  It was never forgotten.

  Fifty-two years have passed.

  A message from home has been received.

  The time to fight for what is ours has come.

  Welcome to the rebellion.

  Hell’s Rejects (Chaos of the Covenant)

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  The most powerful starships ever constructed are gone. Thousands are dead. A fleet is in ruins. The attackers are unknown. The orders are clear: Recover the ships. Bury the bastards who stole them.

  Lieutenant Abigail Cage never expected to find herself in Hell. As a Highly Specialized Operational Combatant, she was one of the most respected Marines in the military. Now she's doing hard labor on the most miserable planet in the universe.

  Not for long.

  The Earth Republic is looking for the most dangerous individuals it can control. The best of the worst, and Abbey happens to be one of them. The deal is simple: Bring back the starships, earn your freedom. Try to run, you die. It's a suicide mission, but she has nothing to lose.

  The only problem? There's a new threat in the galaxy. One with a power unlike anything anyone has ever seen. One that's been waiting for this moment for a very, very, long time. And they want Abbey, too.

  Be careful what you wish for.

  They say Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. They have no idea.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  M.R. Forbes is the mind behind a growing number of Amazon best-selling science fiction series. He currently resides with his family and friends on the west cost of the United States, including a cat who thinks she’s a dog and a dog who thinks she’s a cat.

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  M.R. Forbes, Starship For Rent

 

 

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