Bonds of Resolve (Cadicle Vol. 3: An Epic Space Opera Series)

Chapter 1

Vibrations wracked the shuttle as it rocketed through the atmosphere. Saera Alexander gripped her harness, her stomach rising into her mouth. The force of the seemingly impossible upward trajectory had Saera pinned to her seat. Her breath was ragged from nerves and the pressure, but she was exhilarated. In that moment, she felt like anything was possible. She was about to start a new life.

With one final surge, the shuttle broke orbit. It was suddenly quiet, serene.

A grin spread across Saera's face, igniting a spark in her jade eyes as she took in the view out the window. Earth was a glowing orb beneath her, shrinking with every second. I'm in space. I'm in freaking space!

It all felt like a surreal dream. A week before, she was trying to survive high school like any other teenager. Then the TSS came to find her, and everything changed.

The notion of intelligent life outside her home planet was considered farfetched by many. Personally, Saera was always drawn to the idea. The chance to visit other planets, to see the culture of another species—she used to daydream for such an escape. But the TSS didn't reveal the kind of alien world she envisioned. The Agents looked just like her. Except, they possessed incredible telekinetic abilities, and they said she had them, too.

The two other passengers on the shuttle supposedly had latent telekinetic abilities, as well. Both of the boys were a year or two older than her. One was from Japan, and the other from Germany, or maybe Austria. Their English wasn't great, so they hadn't talked much before boarding the shuttle.

Saera glanced over and saw that their eyes were glued to the windows next to their own seats. She returned her attention to the outside.

Earth was no longer visible, but she could see part of the moon. As the shuttle approached, the terrain became more distinct—broad, pitted plains interrupted by the lips of craters plunging a kilometer or more into shadow. She was mesmerized by the foreign landscape. Looking through a telescope didn't begin to compare to real life.

On the final approach, the shuttle turned to the side so the moon was underneath, arching around the equator to the dark side of the moon. At first, Saera couldn't see much beyond the gray lunar surface that seemed flat and featureless in the dim starlight. Then, the edge of the TSS spaceport came into view. Her mouth dropped open.

The massive spacedock stretched for as far as Saera could see from her vantage. Ships of all sizes were berthed along long, glass-wall corridors. The central dome of the dock stood out as a delicate bubble that shined with a pearlescent sheen under lights along the perimeter and gangways.

The shuttle headed toward a wing on the far side of the dock that berthed other small ships. On the way, they passed by what looked to be armored warships that would dwarf even the largest aircraft carriers on Earth. None of it seemed possible—that such an incredible facility could be hidden behind the moon she'd stared up at her whole life. But that was just the beginning. There was a whole civilization of people living across distant worlds, and she got to be a part of it.

The shuttle shuddered as it came to rest.

Saera and the two other recruits looked at each other, not sure what to do.

After a moment, the man who'd introduced himself as Agent Franeri when they met on Earth emerged from the front of the shuttle. He reached inside his sleek black overcoat and pulled out a device that looked something like a smartphone. He spoke into it, and the device stated, "Unstrap your harnesses. Time to go," in English, then short phrases in Japanese and German.

Saera unclipped her harness and the boys did likewise. She stood cautiously and tightened the ponytail of her auburn hair that had slipped in the jostling of the launch.