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  OFFENSIVE

  MINDSPACE: BOOK 3

  A.K. DuBoff

  MINDSPACE: OFFENSIVE

  Copyright © 2018 by A.K. DuBoff

  All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles, reviews or promotions.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either the products 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.

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  Editor: Jen McDonnell

  Special thanks to Beta/JIT readers:

  Craig Martelle

  Jim Dean

  John Ashmore

  Leo Roars

  Kurt Schulenburg

  Nick Rayl

  Randy Barber

  Charlie Obert

  John Piper

  Curtis Johnson

  Ron Gailey

  Kelly O’Donnell

  Larry Omans

  Paul Westman

  Peter Manis

  Mike Pendergrass

  Micky Cocker

  Joshua Ahles

  James Caplan

  Kimberly Boyer

  Tim Bischoff

  Erik Cushman

  Publisher: BDL Press

  Cover Design by Andrew Dobell (www.creativeedgestudios.co.uk)

  Cover Copyright © 2018 A.K. DuBoff

  First eBook Edition: January 25, 2019

  Kindle Edition

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Foreword – The Cadicle Universe

  Key Terms, Cast, and Locations

  Book Two Recap

  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

  Also by A.K. DuBoff

  Author’s Notes

  About the Author

  Foreword – The Cadicle Universe

  The events in the Mindspace series are a self-contained story arc set in the larger Cadicle universe.

  Tarans are the predominant race in the Cadicle universe; humans are a Taran sub-race. Because these characters aren’t human, they use different swears and terms. Most of the Taran sphere falls within the purview of the Taran Empire, governed from the planet Tararia. There are several rogue colonies on the outskirts of the Empire, some of which broke away from the Empire so long ago that they have forgotten their Taran ancestry, such as Earth.

  Chronologically, the Mindspace series takes place after the events in the original Cadicle series and before the forthcoming Cadicle sequel series, the Taran Empire Saga.

  There are references in Mindspace to the Bakzen War and a political coup related to the Priesthood. These are the central events in the original Cadicle series, so it is recommended to read that series first if you’d like to experience the events in chronological order. However, prior knowledge of this broader story universe is not required in order to read and enjoy the Mindspace books.

  Key Terms, Cast, and Locations

  KEY TERMS

  Taran – The race of all people in the Taran Empire; synonymous with human

  Tararian Guard – The primary military force for the Taran Empire

  Jump – Faster-than-light travel through subspace

  Beacon Network – The navigation method for subspace jumps, maintained by SiNavTech

  High Dynasties – The seven ruling families of the Taran Empire, collectively a governing council

  Tararian Selective Service (TSS) – A quasi-military organization specializing in telekinesis; a complement to the Tararian Guard

  Telepathic Receptor (TR) – An artificial neural structure that makes an individual susceptible to remote telepathic control

  Priesthood – The former governing body of the Taran Empire

  CAST

  Tararian Guard

  Kira Elsar – Captain, team leader

  Ari Lanmore – Lance corporal, weapons specialist on Kira’s team

  Kyle Asher – Lance corporal, technical specialist on Kira’s team

  Nia Boro – Lance corporal, technical specialist on Kira’s team

  Terence Kaen – Colonel, Kira’s chain-of-command (formerly possessed by an alien presence known as ‘Nox’)

  Lucas Sandren – Major, Kira’s commanding officer

  Leon Caletti – Civilian consultant, geneticist/scientist, Kira’s significant other

  Jack – Technical specialist in Leon’s lab

  Tess – Technical specialist in Leon’s lab

  Deanna Olvera – Major, Orion Station head of security

  Doctor Elric – Lead medical doctor for Orion Station base

  Allen Lucian – General, leader of Orion Station base

  Crew of the Raven

  Rodrick – Captain

  Aleya – First Officer

  Sven – Support systems engineer

  Gil – Mechanic

  Elusian Alliance

  (member world of Taran Empire)

  Elton Joris – President

  Ellen Caletti – Press Secretary, former Mysaran spy (Leon’s sister)

  Nico – Assistant to President Joris

  Mysaran Coalition

  (independent world)

  Cynthia Hale – Former Mysaran chancellor (deceased, formerly possessed by an alien presence known as ‘Reya’)

  MTech

  (Research company based on Mysar with a branch on Valta)

  Monica Waylon – Director of MTech’s lab on Valta (deceased)

  Jared Frey – Monica’s research assistant at the MTech lab (formerly possessed by an alien presence known as ‘Nox’)

  LOCATIONS

  Orion Station – Tararian Guard base

  Elvar Trinary – Kira’s home system (planets: Mysar, Valta, Elusia)

  Gaelon System — Supposedly uninhabited star system adjacent to the Elvar Trinary

  Tararia – The central planet of the Taran Empire

  The Story So Far…

  While completing her investigation of illegal nanotech experimentations in an MTech lab on Valta, Captain Kira Elsar of the Tararian Guard is infected with a new strain of nanites. Upon returning to her base, Orion Station, Kira notices her eyes glowing orange—a trait of the experimental Robus.

  Kira immediately enters quarantine. Soon thereafter, she transforms fully for the first time into the Robus alien hybrid state, where the nanites coat her with metallic scales and silvery claws.

  Leon—Kira’s boyfriend—and his science team begin studying Kira’s nanites to understand their function and if they can be disabled. Not having the equipment he needs for his analysis, Leon returns to Valta with Kira’s covert ops team to commandeer items from MTech’s lab. While leaving with the equipment, the team gets into an altercation with the Mysaran leader—Chancellor Cynthia Hale—and an unknown man high up at MTech, as well as a complement of soldiers in the Mysaran military. They barely make it out unscathed, mystified about the nature of the relationship betw
een the Mysaran government and MTech.

  Back at Orion Station, Colonel Kaen is facing a transformation of his own. Three years prior, he was unwittingly taken over by a telepathic alien entity known as Nox, which has been covertly directing Kaen’s actions. Kaen realizes that he was responsible for the Guard security breaches. Unwilling to continue being a passenger in his own body, Kaen steals a ship as part of a risky plan to get himself help.

  Kira and her commanding officer, Major Sandren, manage to board the ship as Kaen pulls away from the station. They apprehend Kaen and interrogate him, learning that Nox and his kind once lived on Valta; these beings are the reason behind the Valtan’s unusual telepathy. Another of the entities has possessed Chancellor Hale. Leon and Doctor Elric devise a treatment to dissolve the ‘telepathic receptor’—or TR—in Kaen, a nanite-created structure in the brain that allows the alien entities to control their hosts. Nox is forcibly removed from Kaen, where he then jumps into Jared, a former MTech scientist in the Guard’s custody for his crimes on Valta.

  Understanding that the alien beings are behind the attempts to start a civil war in the Elvar Trinary, Kira and her team go on a covert mission to Mysar to extract Chancellor Hale so they can bring her to Orion Station for treatment and dissolve her TR. Leon’s sister, Ellen, has inside connections in the Mysaran government and has gone ahead to facilitate the Guard’s entry into the capitol—of her own volition, much to the Guard’s annoyance.

  When Kira’s team arrives, they discover that Ellen is now a prisoner and that Chancellor Hale has no intention of submitting. Kira enters her Robus state and engages in a telepathic battle with Hale’s possessor, an alien being known as Reya. Kira is able to suppress Reya, but the shadow of Cynthia Hale’s former self chooses death for herself. Reya is forced out, freeing everyone on Mysar who’d been under its control. However, with most of the government having been subverted, the resulting power vacuum leaves Mysar and the rest of the Elvar Trinary in a state of unrest.

  With Nox still linked to Jared, Kira and the investigation team take the opportunity to locate the aliens’ base of operations. They trace the telepathic link to the Gaelon System adjacent to the Elvar Trinary. A recon mission is in order.

  CHAPTER 1

  Kira saw the punch coming as if it was in slow motion. She dove aside, easily avoiding the swing. “You’ll have to try harder than that,” she needled her sparring partner.

  Ari, the weapons specialist on her covert ops team, grunted. “I’m going easy on you.”

  Kira smirked. “Sure you are.”

  In the week since Kira had been exposed to the experimental nanites developed by MTech, she’d experienced a new level of physical ability unlike anything she’d dreamed was possible. Strength, endurance, speed, reflexes—her years of physical training and conditioning hadn’t come close to granting such mastery. But, thanks to her new nanotech upgrades, now she could even rival someone of Ari’s substantial stature in combat.

  The odds are evened.

  With a determined glint in her eyes, she got a running start to slide across the floor toward Ari. Her legs deftly wrapped around his, and she snatched ahold of his right wrist while he toppled to the side.

  She pinned him. “I bet you let me do that, too, huh?”

  Ari struggled against her with no effect. “I’m not sure I like this new you.”

  Kira released him. I’m not sure I do, either.

  She had come to terms early in her Guard career that mental prowess was the greatest asset she could contribute to a team. She had been able to keep up in training and combat, but being a living tank was never a consideration. Now, her sense of identity was at a crossroads. Her new physical abilities had a catch—a big one.

  Whenever she became too agitated and lost focus, she would transform into a Robus. The hybrid alien form shouldn’t even be possible, and yet it was her new reality. While she had remained lucid during her latest transformation, the technology was unstable; she had no control over the timing of the form shift. In addition, the agony she had experienced during past transformations didn’t exactly encourage her to make it a regular occurrence.

  Moreover, it was the enemy who wanted her to master the form. The Guard soldier in her screamed that she should run away from the enemy’s designs for her fate, but she couldn’t avoid what was inside her.

  “Hey, I was only joking,” Ari said when Kira didn’t reply.

  “Yeah, I know.” She took a slow breath. “This is weird for me, too.”

  Ari stretched out his shoulder. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”

  “Unless I decide not to.”

  He eyed her. “You mean that suppression therapy Leon invented?”

  “You heard about that?” Kira raised an eyebrow.

  “Word gets around. I mean, our team does specialize in information gathering.”

  “Fair point.” She shook her head. “Yeah, he came up with something, but I’m not crazy about trying more experimental shite.”

  “Don’t blame you. Plus, there’s that whole part about you now being able to take me down.” Ari grinned.

  “Not a bad side effect, not gonna lie.”

  Ari shrugged. “You haven’t randomly transformed since Mysar, so maybe—”

  “It’s not that I don’t think I could gain control of the shifting,” Kira interrupted. “I’m even willing to deal with the pain of the transformation. But there are some other really big things that we keep overlooking because aspects of this seem good on the surface.”

  “Such as?” Ari prompted.

  “Well, the obvious thing: that psycho-bitch doctor, Monica, intentionally did this to me. Those aliens in Gaelon want me for something, and I don’t particularly want to find out what they’re planning.”

  “Admittedly, that part isn’t ideal.”

  “You think?” Kira groaned. “But let’s pretend for a minute that we can thwart their plan and I don’t somehow become a weapon for their dastardly ends. Best-case scenario, I have enhanced strength and speed, and I can transform into the Robus form at will. But, whenever I try to transform, my track record is either having a seizure or entering into a temporary blind rage. Either way, in a battle scenario, that means I’d be a massive liability to the team.”

  “Regardless of that, Kira, the bigger question here is what you’re comfortable doing. You need to decide if you want to embrace your changes or have them go away. This half-committed thing is probably what’s causing most of your issues.”

  “The threat those aliens in Gaelon pose isn’t in my head.”

  Ari chuckled. “Well, they certainly would like to be.”

  She sighed. “Okay, that was poor phrasing for a comment about telepathic beings. But you know what I mean.”

  He nodded. “They want you for something, and we don’t know what that is.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So, when are we going to go find out?”

  Kira laughed. “Aren’t you jumping ahead a little?”

  Ari evaluated her. “Rumor has it that you traced the telepathic signal in Jared before you evicted the Nox entity.”

  Only a handful of people were privy to that information. “How did you…?”

  “You might want to talk to Leon about keeping his mouth shut.” Ari gave Kira a playful smile.

  And this is why we don’t typically have civilians work with the Guard. Kira nodded. “What if we did trace that signal back?”

  “That’s obvious. You’re going after them.”

  She’d already said too much to outright deny what she knew. “Maybe. The signal trace confirmed that Gaelon is where the beings are camped out, but I haven’t heard anything from the Guard leadership yet about next steps.”

  “Maybe they needed to run it higher up the chain.”

  Kira shrugged. “Or maybe they decided that it’s a remote enough system that it’s not worth the trouble to investigate.”

  “Did one of my punches actually connect with your head tod
ay?” Ari asked. “Since when does the Guard know about a threat and not do something about it?”

  “Maybe it’s just wishful thinking.”

  “I thought you wanted this?”

  “I do.” Kira crossed her arms. “It’s complicated.”

  Ari leaned against the wall and tilted his head.

  “I want to go after the bad guys that did this to me, don’t get me wrong,” she explained. “But I can’t shake this feeling that this was all part of some master plan, and we’d be walking into a trap.”

  “You’ve overpowered both of the beings we’ve encountered, and you can do it again,” Ari tried to assure her.

  “That was when they were remotely projecting themselves,” Kira countered. “Going to Gaelon, we’d be on their turf. And that is precisely where Kaen tried to take me while he was subverted.”

  “It’s risky, yes, but we can’t ignore a threat in a system that neighbors a Taran Empire world.”

  “I know.”

  “And that’s why you’ll have us with you.” Ari smiled.

  “I really don’t like the idea of you walking into a trap with me.”

  “It’s not a trap if we can avoid it together.”

  Kira nodded.

  The training room door opened, and Nia poked her head inside. “Colonel wants to meet with us.”

  Kira came to attention. “About what?”

  “Sandren didn’t say when he relayed the order, but I got the impression it’s for recon.”

  “Sounds like they’ve made the decision for us,” Ari said to Kira.

  “It does.” She grabbed her water bottle from the rack and took a swig.

  “You know what this is about?” Nia asked her.

  “I’ll give you one guess.”

  The soldier nodded. “Right. I should have known.”

  Kira looked down at her mussed shipsuit from the sparring. “I don’t suppose we have time to clean up?”