Defying The Alliance (Novokin Alliance Invasion 1) Read Online Free PDF

crowd for familiar species. Some he recognized from his time on the slave ship. Others seemed as fanciful as the images of the wild worlds often featured in Space Geographic. He’d never admit it to his fellow soldiers, as a fierce warrior of the now extinct Othmarvian Royal guard holding the rank of Esmardlan or exalted commander, but reading was one of his favorite leisure activities. His soul ached to see his people. He hadn't seen another of his kind for several months, not that he had expected to. There was none left. He was the last of his kind. And the last of royal blood. How ironic. Being 16th in line for the throne, there was no chance of him ever ascending to the crown, not that he even cared about such matters. The cry of the battlefield drummed in his warrior’s heart. Diplomacy and bureaucracy rarely graced his disposition. However it was customary to have at least one member in line for the throne off world at all times. This forced vacation spared him from sharing the same fate as his people. 
    The majority of the species hastily traversing the promenade were foreign and somewhat strange to him. Even stranger than those he was accustomed to. A large blue semi transparent gelatinous creature walked together with a huddled old brownish humanoid sporting a face as wrinkled as a charchave nut. A reddish creature that seemed to be made of intertwined vines hurried past the slave line, while three women who shared the same skin as the young girl near the front of the line gawked with fear. Either at him or at the entirety of the scene itself, he could not be certain.
    It was a hodgepodge of sentient life forms who seemed to share two things, beside the need for commerce. They all had that scurry to their step and nervous eyes that spoke of a Novokin Alliance presence. A flutter of hope touched his spirit. Could his quarry be here?
                  Across the main thoroughfare he saw three Daunietes scrutinizing the caravan. Though they had no home world in his sector, he had seen his share of this despicable creature. They were ruthless, conniving and dishonorable creatures, selling biological weaponry to the highest bidder. Warmongers, always in the shadow of an emerging conflict, but decidedly absent in the carnage. On top of it all, they were speciests. Whenever one of them left their home world or more precisely their home atmosphere, they did so only in protective gear and breathing masks. They refused to share the air with what they considered inferior species, which apparently included every sentient life form in the galaxy but them.
    He bristled, the muscles in his arms tightened, his hands folded into fists... But only for a moment, as the awareness of his purpose kept him in check -albeit didn’t quell his rage- and he forcefully slumped his shoulders back down. If the Daunietes were looking for slaves it was for suicide work. He'd have to make sure he didn't end up with them. This most likely would mean a demonstration of strength and a limited show of resistance on his part, certain to be followed by disciplinary action from the lead Lizardian.
    Shouting at the front of the line caught his attention. He suspected it had something to do with the Terran girl the slavers had picked up less than a week ago. He liked her, she was kind. He bore witness to more than one occasion when she shared her food with the older, sick Oskevite female. She also kept the Floturan child by the hem of her skirt. Tending to her like she was her own. Protecting her against the abuse of the guards, placing her own body between the beating stick of the guards and the child. The thought pulled his lips into a smile. It was rare he witnessed such acts of compassion and strength from someone in her predicament, let alone to a different species. Was it just her or was such honorable behavior part of all Terran people’s make up? Since this sector of space was largely populated by Terrans, he had a feeling he soon would