Renegade Read Online Free PDF

civilised peoples of the galaxy, whom they had only just learned to also exist. Humans fought bravely to save their homeworld, but they did not have the technology to match the krim spacecraft and weapons.
    “But the galactic peoples were run by a greedy race called the tavalai. They and their allies cared for nothing but their own peace and happiness. The krim were powerful, and the tavalai agreed that each people should be allowed to do whatever they chose in their own area of space. The human area of space was deemed to be krim space, and so the krim could do as they pleased, while the tavalai counted their money, and congratulated themselves on being such a peaceful and civilised people, that they avoided such trouble with the krim.”
    Alice read this line from her visual with scorn, and there were grim chuckles from the audience. Human-tavalai bad blood was old indeed… though nowhere near as old as that between chah'nas and tavalai.
    “Meanwhile the krim slaughtered the brave humans in their thousands. But one of the galactic peoples did listen. One honourable people did not think that it was right that the krim could rape and pillage a world that was not theirs. These brave people took it upon themselves to defy the Tavalai Confederation, and smuggle arms and modern technology to the embattled humans.”
    Alice raised her glass again to the chah'nas. “Our friends, the great Chah'nas Continuum. Long may you prosper.” Loud assent from the crowd, and glasses were raised and sipped from. The chah'nas looked pleased.
    “With their new weapons, the humans fought back against the krim, and began to do damage. Humans left their home system and struck against the krim in the krim’s own territory, now having the ships to do that. This caused the krim great consternation. For two hundred years did humans fight this guerrilla war from and around their occupied system, while the chah'nas argued the case for humanity with the Tavalai Confederacy.”
    She was taking liberties, Erik knew, by calling it that. There had been no Tavalai Confederacy — most species in the Spiral called it the First Free Age, and the tavalai claimed not to have been in charge of it at all. It had been the first equal time, they said, when all the sentient races could do as they pleased without having to answer to one powerful overlord. And to some extent, they were right. But allowing freedom of action had allowed the krim to make war on humanity without consequence. And for that, humanity would never forgive or forget.
    “Finally the Tavalai Confederacy agreed to intervene. But instead of demanding that the krim leave humanity’s home system, they sent a force of peacekeepers, to keep the peace between humans and krim.” Again, the sarcasm was dripping. Old and often repeated history though it was, Erik could feel his blood boil at the telling. “But they found, of course, that there was no peace to keep. Humanity did not want peace with the krim — they wanted justice, and the krim to leave Earth, and Sol System, and all humanity alone forever. But the tavalai thought to make a deal between us, thereby to legitimise the krim occupation.
    “This the humans could never accept, and so a new war began, the war between humans and the tavalai peacekeepers. Soon the tavalai tired of fighting these brave freedom fighters in a distant corner of the galaxy, and returned to their own worlds. The krim took this admission of tavalai defeat as an opportunity to end humans once and for all, free from tavalai interference forever. They destroyed the human home, the beautiful Mother Earth, and left none upon its surface alive. Humanity was cast adrift, a people without a home, and with no purpose left for living. No purpose, that was, except revenge.
    “Once again, humanity’s chah'nas friends nurtured us. Barely one hundred million strong, out of so many billions before, only those humans living off-Earth at the time had survived. Humanity rebuilt its