TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

Dedication

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

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68

Chapter 69

Chapter 70

Chapter 71

Chapter 72

Chapter 73

Chapter 74

Chapter 75

Chapter 76

About the Author

About the Artist

Rights Information

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sample: Evergreen by Bruce Golden

1

2

To Ethan Nahté

You came through when no one else would. This book would not have been possible without you. Thank you!

And to P.N. Elrod’s mini-brick in the face.

Chapter 1

Claudia entered the seedy station bar. She wasn’t encouraged by her possible employer’s choice of a meeting place. The lighting was subdued, making it hard to see details aside from what was immediately around her. A slow beat vibrated the air accompanied by wailing reeds. She could feel it through the deck and the soles of her shoes. Her nose itched from smoke, and her eyes tried to water. Another law blatantly disregarded at Turbic Station. No wonder the air recycling fees were so high. And this was only the edge of the Fringes. How much worse would it be out in the unexplored regions beyond the United Dominion’s influence?

But she had no other options. Not if she wanted to stay in anything resembling the medical field. The one open job at the station she qualified for required high-level background checks. Background checks she couldn’t afford to have done. Despite her old patient’s skills, he’d been quite insistent the ID wouldn’t hold up if scrutinized too closely. Since Turbic Station was run by a former admiral of the United Dominion Fleet, he most likely had resources that would punch through her subterfuge in seconds.

A job on a ship was her best bet—one where they didn’t ask a lot of questions. So, it was this or nothing. The chance anything better would come along before her funds ran out was slim to none. If she had no money, they’d force her to indenture herself, an ugly and barbaric practice the info she’d dug up about this station didn’t even hint about. It stank of a system put in place to ensnare the ignorant and those down on their luck.

Claudia studied the listless dancers, who were separated from the patrons by thick tubes of clear plastic. The large blinking collars around their necks proclaimed them as indentured. The collars covered more of them than the skimpy costumes they were wearing. Had they, too, come here hoping for a fresh start? If so, now their dreams lay shattered.

She made her way deeper inside, trying not to choke on the tobacco smoke and the smell of desperation.

The fact the Holiday was even in this region, and her captain able to come meet about the job, had been a stroke of luck. From the chatter at the food dispensary, she’d learned some ships didn’t return to the station or be heard from for months at a time.

In the back of the bar, a man sat in one of the bolted-down chair and table sets, his attention focused on a tablet. A large woman held up the wall behind him, arms crossed, her gaze scouring the room. The tables around them were conspicuously empty. Claudia headed toward them, they being the only ones in the bar not drinking or watching the slow gyrations of the dancers.

“Excuse me, are you Ricardo Bennet?”

The man looked up; dark dreadlocks on the right side of his head swayed and clinked with the movement. The hair on the left side was cropped close. Hard eyes studied her, a slight frown creasing his eyebrows.

“Yes, I’m Captain Bennet. You’re my fourteen-hundred?”

He didn’t move to stand, offer her his hand, or even motion for her to sit. He just studied her.

Claudia ignored his rudeness, as well as his insinuation there might be others vying for the job.

“I’m Aya Maynard. I’m interested in your open position for ship’s medical officer.”

Bennet made no reply, just continued to scrutinize her. Claudia glanced up at the woman behind him but realized there would be no help forthcoming from that direction. If anything, the woman looked even less friendly than the captain. She stood over two meters tall, stout, with close-cropped white-blond hair.

Claudia sat down without waiting to be asked.

“New to the Fringes, I see.” Bennet waved his hand in her general direction. Chains rattled at his neck. His clothes were a darker brown than his hair and looked well worn. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, exposing white scars crisscrossing his dark skin.

Claudia kept her mouth shut, the statement needing no additional comment from her. If he thought he could get a rise out of her by calling her a newcomer, he would be disappointed. Not the first time she’d had to contend with that attitude.

He looked her up and down again. “Educated, entitled, moral,” He made the three words sound like stigmas. “Never spent a single hour doing hard labor in your life.”

Again she had no intention of giving a response. It was all true. She’d lived her entire life on Ellos, one of the founding planets of the United Dominion. Her parents had done well for themselves, so she’d not wanted for anything as an only child. Her world had a well-established infrastructure, transportation systems, anything anyone might need. Not like some of the newer planets in the United Dominion, colonized by the sweat, hard work, and sacrifice of those sent there.

“I didn’t get to pick where I was born, Captain, and physical labor isn’t the only way to work hard.” She hadn’t gotten her position at Clonos Labs, mapping and marking ncRNAs as well as finding ways to change genomic ‘dark matter”, by doing nothing.

A flicker of a smile came and went. Bennet sat forward, leaning his scarred arms on the table. “I know you.”

Claudia stiffened, those words the last she expected.

“You looked familiar when I first saw you, but I wasn’t sure.” He leaned back again. “I hardly ever forget a face. Plus, after that little rebuttal, I know exactly where I’ve seen you before. I liked you better as a blonde.”

She looked away, knowing there’d always been the possibility someone might recognize her. She’d just never thought it would happen so soon or out here in the middle of nowhere.

“I’m sorry, you must be mistaken. As you pointed out, I’m new around here.”

“I never said I saw you here.”

He sounded so sure. But then, who but the desperate ever came out this far? This could be a ploy.

Not many people got as much news coverage as Com News had decided to give her, however. Damn them. Still, that had been almost a year ago. Dare she risk it? Better to try to find something else, even if it wasn’t in the medical field.

“Sorry, I can see this isn’t going to work out.” Claudia stood. “I apologize for wasting your time. If you’ll excuse me.”

“One more step, and I’ll yell out your name for everyone to hear.”

The threat, voiced in no more than a whisper, made her stop. She didn’t move, but she didn’t turn around, either. She refused to be the one to take the next step. She could be playing right into Bennet’s hands if she did. He was most likely bluffing.

“Despite what your ID says, ‘Aya Maynard’, you’re way overqualified for the open position on my ship. Which means I’ll be getting a bargain if I take you on. I like bargains.”

Claudia could hear the smile in his words. He would dare to blackmail her to become his ship’s medic? Despite herself, she turned around. There was still no proof he had any idea who she really was.

“Sir, this might not be prudent.” The woman against the wall didn’t shift position or expression, but her disapproval was palpable.

“Now, now, Stevens, this was your idea, remember?” He gave the woman a cocked smile. “Good for the crew, less expensive than bringing them here for care, less downtime, yadda yadda yadda.” He twirled his hand during the last part then pointed at himself. “My ship, my crew, my choice.”

“As always, sir. But if she’s not who she says she is, there could be trouble.”

“That’s why I keep you around.” He stood up, his gaze having remained on Claudia throughout the entire discussion. “In case you have any doubts about what I might or might not know, ‘Aya Maynard’, on the ship, you’ll be known as Doc Z.”

Claudia’s mouth went dry. Bennet did know who she was. The smirk on his face declared bluntly that if she didn’t play along, he would expose her and have fun doing it. Child killers weren’t welcome anywhere.

Although she didn’t have a collar, she might have just become no less indentured than the rest of the desperate souls who got trapped here.

Chapter 2

The captain left with a nicely worded command for her to show up at the ship ASAP, as if he had no doubt at all she would. Stevens informed her of the dock and slip number, her expression still stubbornly neutral.

Claudia was sure Bennet only wanted her to report immediately so she wouldn’t have time to figure a way out of the situation. Except, what options did she have? None. If he let the station know who she was, no one would hire her. Who knew what would happen to her then? Like it or not, the Holiday was her only choice. For now.

Gathering her things took only minutes. She stared around the tiny station berth, as if it could have come to mean anything to her in the few days she’d spent in it. She knew she was only wasting time, unhappy about Bennet, his sour companion, and what might happen next.

It felt strange heading toward the dock level, especially after having arrived but a handful of days before. With the help of the virtual map tied to her Identi-All, she was able to locate the Holiday’s slip without too much trouble.

What she could see of the hull through the plasteel windows was covered in old paint and pitted but looked to be in otherwise good condition. What caught her gaze and held it were its Drexon laser cannons. Armaments on a non-military ship, and the station didn’t mind?

“Z!”

She jerked half-around, not having expected that voice blaring into the hallway. A small screen lit up next to the station’s permanent airlock. Bennet’s image gave her a lopsided grin.

“About time you made it here.”

The seals on the station airlock hissed as they opened. Several green lights on the board below the screen started blinking.

“Get inside, then cycle on through. Stevens will be waiting for you.”

The screen went blank.

Claudia took a deep breath, one full of anticipation and a smidge of apprehension, then pulled the airlock door open enough to squeeze through. Hitting the close button on the other side, she heard the door seal behind her. She walked the short length of the airlock to where it joined the Holiday’s.

“Prepare to be scanned.” Stevens’ clipped tones blared from the unit at the door. The screen there remained dark. Purple light washed down on Claudia from above with a hum.

The scan was unexpected, especially just to enter a small ship like this. What was Bennet hoping to find? Weapons? Although, if he’d endeared himself to others as he had with her, he might actually have cause to be a little paranoid.

Less than twenty seconds later, the scan shut off, and green lights lit up on the console. The door gave a soft pop and opened, a similar door doing the same on the other side of the small airlock of the ship.

“Welcome to the Holiday. My name is Emma Stevens. I’m second in command. If you have any problems or issues, you’ll come to me.”

Despite the “welcome”, the tight expression on the woman’s face wasn’t welcoming at all. Claudia couldn’t fathom why the first mate thought anyone would willingly come to her for anything. She was off-putting, to say the least.

“Thank you.”

Stevens actually nodded at that. Claudia was surprised to see her defrost half a degree.

“Come, I’ll show you your cabin and work area.” Stevens set off at a brisk pace. “We’re only here for another day. So, do a quick inventory and send me a list of what’s lacking or what needs replacing, I’ll see what I can do before we leave.”

Claudia’s eyebrows went up with honest disbelief; she was glad the woman had already turned away and didn’t see it. Efficiency and communication weren’t exactly what she’d been expecting.

“The Holiday is a class-three Endine merchant cargo ship with mods. Two decks, six pressurized cargo storage units, and a large non-pressurized area. Carries a maximum crew of thirty-five. Currently, we’re only at twenty-three…” She hesitated a moment. “Twenty-four.”

They left the airlock zone behind and emerged into what looked like a main passageway. It didn’t escape Claudia’s notice that thick metal doors had been added at the junction to cut off the space, if necessary. A prudent move, since the Fringes didn’t exactly have safe shipping lanes.

One unexpected thing she noticed was how clean the ship’s interior was. From Bennet’s scarred arms and hoodlum look, she’d not anticipated his ship would be this tidy. For the first time, she found a definite positive point in her current circumstances.

“Only officers are allowed armaments aboard ship,” Stevens continued. “Weapons are dispensed to crew on an as-needed basis only. Since you’re the sole member of your department, and an unknown quantity, you’ll be treated as they are where weaponry is concerned.”

That was fine with Claudia. She had no experience with weapons and would be more than happy to keep it that way.

“Bulkhead doors are to remain open at all times; they’re only closed on captain’s orders or mine, except for those in the holds. Gravity generators remain active under those same conditions. The medbay has a separate unit for emergency use only.”

After that, Stevens led Claudia through the two decks—the bridge, the recreation room/mess hall, the lift. Curious looks raked her as she walked past, but only when they thought Stevens wasn’t looking. Of Bennet, Claudia saw no sign, although she was shown the door leading to his quarters/office.

Claudia hadn’t been sure what she’d expected with regard to Bennet and the information he’d implied he had on her. Being ignored completely after being ordered aboard hadn’t been it.

They stopped by her assigned berth only long enough for her to throw her duffel inside and key her thumbprint on the lock. It looked to be the same size as the one on the station. At least, it didn’t appear she’d have to share it.

Their last destination was what Claudia had been waiting to see since the moment she’d stepped aboard—the medbay.

That was when she understood she’d definitely hit bottom.

Chapter 3

“Th–this is the medbay?”

Claudia tried, but it was impossible to keep the horror out of her voice. The equipment looked to be the original installed when the ship was first built. So, it was a good twenty to thirty years out of date. It had been there so long the white plastic surfaces had yellowed, and all the colored stripes were a dull gray. Bonding tape covered up places where the plastic had cracked. Although clean, the room smelled stale.

The back wall was storage, and housed the medical computer, sanitizers, and other necessities. A full-body scanner/examination/operating table was on the left, with two, currently folded, patient beds on the far right wall.

She hadn’t been deluded enough to expect to have the same cutting-edge equipment she’d had access to at Clonos Labs; but she’d still not expected this.

“Do the units even work?”

Stevens opened an already-loosened panel on the ceiling and flipped something inside. An audible jolt swept through the room, and lights flickered across the different boards and machinery. Most were green, but a few blinked orange or red.

“We haven’t had a medic for a while, so the unit was shut down to conserve power. Doctors and their equipment have been low on the captain’s priority list.”

Her’ tone was too even, almost mechanical, for Claudia to be able to make much of it. Something subtle was being implied…or hidden. She couldn’t tell which.

“What does he consider more important than the health of the crew?”

“The ship—her engines, her armament, her hull. The crew is a necessity he puts up with.”

This was all said matter-of-factly, which somehow made it worse. This was the man who knew her secret?

Claudia felt her shoulders tighten. “I see.”

“All the manuals for the equipment are in the database. They’ll be your responsibility. Though, if you run into something you can’t fix, let me know, and I’ll find someone to take a look at it. If they can’t do a workaround, and it’s not something critical, you can put in a requisition for parts for the next time we make port. Just don’t expect anything right away.”

Stevens’ stance appeared relaxed but also ready, as if she expected Claudia to throw a tantrum. Claudia sighed, not surprised by either the news or the attitude at this point. Bennet could make her life very difficult if he chose, so it wasn’t like she had the freedom to complain about anything. It brought her some relief, however, that it looked like he’d not shared her shame with the tour guide. Stevens was being straight with her, as well. She couldn’t fault the woman for that.

“Anything you could do would be greatly appreciated.” She surveyed the room again. “Any idea when the crew had their last physicals?”

The pained expression on the woman’s face when Claudia turned back to her said it all. At least she would be quite busy for a while. It was something. Not much, but something.

“We can work on a timetable to get each crew member to see you,” Stevens said. “It’ll have to be on their down time, so there’ll be grumbling about that. If any of them give you trouble, or don’t show, tell me immediately.” Her hard expression said she’d brook no excuses, in either case. It gave Claudia a touch of hope. The first mate looked to be someone she’d definitely want on her side if she could manage it.

“There should be some files on at least part of the crew in the database.” Stevens nodded toward the medbay’s computer. “Permissions should feed through momentarily. You’ll also need to rekey all the cabinet locks to your thumbprint or Identi-All. It’d be best not to present the crew with any temptations.”

“Temptations?”

Stevens’ brow rose. “Medicinals.”

Claudia looked away, feeling like an idiot. Not like she hadn’t heard of such a thing before. She’d even done a paper on addiction once.

“Yes, of course. I’ll do that before anything else.”

The first mate nodded. “Also, the sooner you can get those requisitions to me the better. Ship’s time is the same as the station’s. Shifts, mealtimes, etcetera, can be downloaded to your Identi-All, tablet, or your cabin’s console from the computer.”

Claudia nodded, trying to take it all in. “Why the rush? Surely, this isn’t the only port of call for supplies?”

Stevens gave her a hard look. “Not for the kind of supplies you’re looking for. So, make sure to send me that list. We won’t be back for several months or longer.”

The weight of her words settled heavily on Claudia’s shoulders. They were in the Fringes, so goods taken for granted in the United Dominion might be hard to come by here.

“I have other duties to attend to, so I’ll leave you to it.” Stevens headed for the door.

“Wait!”

The older woman half-turned in surprise. “Yes?”

Feeling her face flush with embarrassment at the impulsive outburst, Claudia didn’t meet Stevens’ gaze.

“Do I need to worry about Bennet?”

Stevens faced her, impassive, studying her for several moments before she spoke.

“If you do as you’re told and don’t cause any trouble, you’ll be okay. As long as the captain has no reason to be displeased, he won’t bother to take the time to bother you.”

Somehow, that didn’t sound all that comforting.

“Thank you.”

Stevens nodded and left her to her thoughts.

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Table of Contents

1. Table of Contents

2. Title Page

3. Dedication

4. Chapter 1

5. Chapter 2

6. Chapter 3

7. Chapter 4

8. Chapter 5

9. Chapter 6

10. Chapter 7

11. Chapter 8

12. Chapter 9

13. Chapter 10

14. Chapter 11

15. Chapter 12

16. Chapter 13

17. Chapter 14

18. Chapter 15

19. Chapter 16

20. Chapter 17

21. Chapter 18

22. Chapter 19

23. Chapter 20

24. Chapter 21

25. Chapter 22

26. Chapter 23

27. Chapter 24

28. Chapter 25

29. Chapter 26

30. Chapter 27

31. Chapter 28

32. Chapter 29

33. Chapter 30

34. Chapter 31

35. Chapter 32

36. Chapter 33

37. Chapter 34

38. Chapter 35

39. Chapter 36

40. Chapter 37

41. Chapter 38

42. Chapter 39

43. Chapter 40

44. Chapter 41

45. Chapter 42

46. Chapter 43

47. Chapter 44

48. Chapter 45

49. Chapter 46

50. Chapter 47

51. Chapter 48

52. Chapter 49

53. Chapter 50

54. Chapter 51

55. Chapter 52

56. Chapter 53

57. Chapter 54

58. Chapter 55

59. Chapter 56

60. Chapter 57

61. Chapter 58

62. Chapter 59

63. Chapter 60

64. Chapter 61

65. Chapter 62

66. Chapter 63

67. Chapter 64

68. Chapter 65

69. Chapter 66

70. Chapter 67

71. Chapter 68

72. Chapter 69

73. Chapter 70

74. Chapter 71

75. Chapter 72

76. Chapter 73

77. Chapter 74

78. Chapter 75

79. Chapter 76

80. About the Author

81. About the Artist

82. Rights Information

83. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

84. Sample: Evergreen by Bruce Golden

85. 1

86. 2

Landmarks

1. Cover

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4