I released my book on Jan. 17, 2025. It's the third in my Intergalactic Civilian Defense Agency Files. It is a YA science fiction series that follows a group of Intergalactic Agents as they work together to move up the Agency's ranks in order to accomplish a mission of their own--find their teammate's missing family and hopefully discover the secret of recovering their Captain's memories.
Here's the description of Book #3--Medical Tech: Tajet Trembourne:
After months of hard work, Alex and his team have finally made it to the top 25! Their first assignment? Document Delivery. It sounds like a piece of cake, but this could be the break they need to find Tajet’s family and unlock the key to Alex’s missing memories.
But one character bent on revenge could put all their hope and hard work in jeopardy, placing them squarely on the Empire’s bad side. Will they be able to escape the trap that has been laid for them? Family ties will be put to the test, but can they hold strong? Or will time and distance tear it all apart?
In case you're curious, here's the first chapter. Enjoy!
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Chapter 1
Alarms blared in the asteroid base, echoing off the cement walls. The noise made the air tremble and vibrated off of Alex’s eardrums. Luckily, his communication device had a function to dampen background noise. Lights flashed. The alcove housing one of the base’s computer access ports flooded with eerie, blood-red light and then plunged into darkness—a technique meant to disorient intruders. Good thing Alex’s visor mitigated the effect.
“They’ve detected us.” Alexander Donson, captain of the Intergalactic Civilian Defense Agency’s #26th team, retreated from the corner he had been peeking around. He swung around to a girl with cocoa-brown skin and shiny, kinky-curly black hair that rested on her back. “Get a move on, Dani! They’ll be here any second.”
“Stop rushing me.” Danielle, the team’s Technical Specialist, crouched in front the access port. The panel that had been covering it lay on the ground by her feet. Her DataHub, a flat device with a screen, had been plugged into the port with a cable.
“I have to rush you. Security will be here any minute. They can’t find out ICDA Agents broke into an Imperial run facility.” Alex glanced at his gun, making sure it was ready to fire . . . again.
“Then be silent and let me work!” Danielle snorted through her nose.
Alex hissed in a breath through his teeth but turned away from her. No use arguing when she was in this mood. Instead, he tapped the earpiece hidden in his ear. “Taj, where you at, big guy? You done?”
“It’s awful how you mangle the English language,” Danielle muttered.
Alex rolled his eyes
“Target acquired,” came a deep voice in his earpiece. “On my way.”
“Any trouble?”
“No.”
“Then who tripped the alarms?” Alex peeked around the corner to glance up and down the hall. Other than the sirens, no sign of security. Strange. They should have been here by now. He glanced at his watch. Yeah . . . according to his research, the facilities’ security response time was much faster than this. Maybe security was headed somewhere else? Perhaps a different threat had caused the alarms to sound.
“I set off the alarms.” Danielle tapped on her DataHub.
Alex swung around to face her. “Why would you do that?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose! I tried three ways till Sunday to bypass the alarms. But the information we need to extract was connected to the security system. I had to go through it.” Danielle’s fingers never stopped flying over the holo-keyboard displayed in the air above her DataHub.
“Couldn’t you have disabled the alarms?”
Danielle shot him a glare. “If I had a week and my computers at HQ, but all I have is half-an-hour and a DataHub.”
“How long until they pinpoint your breach?”
“I’m busy, Alex.” Danielle pursed her lips as she worked. “Ask Emily.”
Alex bit back a comment before tapping his earpiece again. “How’s it looking, Em?”
“Big trouble, Alex.” Emily, the ship’s pilot, shouted over the noise of their ship’s emergency alarms. At just 14 years old, she was already one of the best pilots in the Agency. “They found the ship. Our stealth shield is gone! Security is lined up to cut off your escape, and we can’t do a thing to help you!”
“The cloaking software hiding our ship’s registry is intact,” came Levi’s voice. He was the ship’s unofficial mechanic and engineer. “They don’t know who we are, but they’ll find out if they breach our firewall.”
“Impossible,” Danielle said with a laugh in her voice. The entire team was privy to these calls. “I programmed it myself.”
Emily’s voice came back on. “They’re firing, Alex. Our defense shield could crack any minute!”
Alex spent a second to review their options. They could either pull out, task undone, or stick it out and face the consequences. He clenched his teeth. He couldn’t abandon this assignment now . . . not if it was plausible for them to finish. “Levi, can you send more power to the shields?”
“If I reroute power from the drive engines and max its output.”
“How long can you hold out?”
“Twenty minutes at most!” Levi said, and Alex heard the engines whine in response. “This will strain both the drive and flight engines. We’re already doing everything we can to keep the hologram projector hiding the ship’s name and Agency logo intact.”
“If the ship’s engines go red, we won’t be able to jump into drive space until it cools,” Emily said.
“How long and still be able to jump?”
“Uh . . .” Levi went silent for three seconds . . . Alex counted. “10 minutes,”
Alex clicked his tongue. Not enough time. “Do it.” He snatched Danielle’s arm. “Dani, we gotta go.”
Danielle pulled her arm from his grasp. “I am not conceding defeat. There is no system I can’t get into. Give me ten minutes.”
“We only have ten!”
“Five, then.”
Alex’s ears pricked. He adjusted the setting to his earpiece and strained to hear over the siren. Boots. Security had caught up to them. “They’re here.”
“Five minutes, Alex.” Danielle turned to him. Her bright, brownish-purple eyes glinted in the flashing light beneath the greenish tint of her visor. “Just give me five. I can do this.”
A lump rose in Alex’s throat. How was she always able to change his mind by looking at him that way? “Five minutes, and then I’m dragging you back to the ship screaming if I have to.” He darted into the hall.
“There!” One of the guards pointed at him. Several more poured into the hallway. Alex stood his ground. His eyes narrowed, and his visor zoomed in on his targets. He raised his gun and fired. One by one they fell, shot through the heart or head . . . wherever Alex saw a gap in their body armor. The thought of killing people always twisted Alex’s stomach, but the sight of their still bodies lying there on the ground didn’t bother him today. They’d be up again in about an hour or so. Though his laser weapon had a lethal setting, Alex never used it. It just wasn’t in him.
The guards, however, had no such scruples. Laser fire streaked toward him, plowing into to him enough to make him stumble backward. Luckily, his Agency uniform’s built-in cloaking and shielding device dampened the shots’ energy. They hurt, but they’d only leave a bruise. The Agency’s personal defense technology far outweighed theirs. No matter how advanced, however, his uniform had a limit. Already it started to fail. Every shot he took stung more and more. Soon he’d start getting first degree laser burns . . . then worse.
“I got it!” Danielle yanked the cord out of the access port. “Mission accomplished, Alex. And in less than two minutes.” She raced to his side.
“Then go, Dani! Go! Go!” He shoved her down the hall.
Danielle darted away from the guards, heedless to their laser shots. She knew Alex would cover her, and Alex wouldn’t let her faith in him fail. So even though his shield dropped to 30% efficiency, even though he felt the searing lasers slice his skin, he kept firing until she rounded the corner at the end of the hall. Then he ran after her.
“Taj,” Alex said in his earpiece, “use the tracker to find us. We’re under fire.” He glanced at Danielle. “How you doing, Dani?”
Danielle had her mouth hanging open, gasping between breaths. “I’ll make it.”
Alex smiled at her. The least athletic of the team, Danielle had particular difficulty with running. She couldn’t make it ten yards without getting winded, but her hard-headed determination always pulled her through. Alex liked that about her.
A laser flew over their heads. Alex glanced over his shoulder. More guards had joined the chase . . . and they were gaining. “Almost there, Dani. I’ll set the pace.”
She nodded.
Alex ran down the hall a bit faster than before. Danielle fell behind, but after about three feet, the distance between them stopped widening. Alex led her through the base, following the map displayed on his visor to the ship. He turned every so often to fire at their pursuers to keep them at bay, but strangely, they kept back, allowing Alex and Danielle to escape. Suspicious, but why look a gift horse in the mouth?
“Keep it up, Dani.” Alex rounded the corner. “We’re almost—whoa!” He skidded to a halt. Danielle slammed into his back.
A team of thirty security guards blocked the path to the ship. At their head stood their captain, a tall man with a prickly beard growing on his chin and cheeks. He narrowed his eyes and sneered a smile. “With the amount of chaos you’ve caused, I expected they’d be more of you.”
Alex leaned his head back slightly. “Back up, Dani,” he whispered.
“Oh, don’t move,” the captain said, shaking his head wearily. “Don’t you know when you’re outmatched?”
“Stop where you are!” The guards chasing them pounded down the hall. They converged on Alex and Danielle, guns drawn. Alex winced. So that’s what they were doing . . . herding him and Danielle into a trap. Smart for them, and stupid for him to fall for it.
“Drop your weapons,” the guard behind him shoved his gun in Alex’s back.
Alex glanced around before let his gun fall.
“You too, girl.”
Danielle scoffed at him. “I don’t carry guns. I’d much rather use my intelligence.”
“Hands up, then,” the guard said.
Alex and Danielle complied.
“I have to say that you, whoever you are, put us through quite the runaround.” The Captain stepped toward them. He examined both their faces before snorting through his nose. “Did you honestly think you could outsmart us? Us, the elite Imperial Security Forces?”
Alex shrugged. “I thought so, yeah. Call me helplessly optimistic.”
The Captain snarled through clenched teeth. Thanks to their uniforms’ cloaking devices, he couldn’t see their Agency uniforms. He’d only see generic clothes they had programmed in beforehand. “Who are you, and who are you working for?”
“Don’t you recognize us?” Alex bowed with a flourish. “I am the Imperial Royal Emperor Jiovanni, and this here . . .” He jerked his chin toward Danielle. “Is my royal courtesan,” he said, rolling the ‘r’.
Danielle swung around to Alex. “Your what?”
“My . . . courtesan?”
“Courtesan? Really?” Danielle thrust her hands on her hips. “What, I’m not good enough to be an empress? I’m only courtesan material to you?”
“S-seriously? You’re going to argue about this now. In this situation?”
“Yes.” Danielle’s fingers deftly fiddled with her DataHub strapped to her belt. “I deserve better than courtesan!”
“Enough!” The Captain shoved his gun into Alex’s forehead. Danielle’s arms shot back up in the air. “What do you think this is, a game?”
“A game? No. More like a distraction.” Alex gave him a grin and wiggled his eyebrows.
The Captain froze. His brows furrowed and met in the middle of his forehead as he considered Alex’s words. Then his eyes narrowed. He leaned in close to Alex . . . so close Alex felt his breath on his cheek.
“I’ll ask one more time: who are you?” The captain’s gun whined as it charged.
A low rumbling rolled through the air. Alex stiffened. He knew that rumble. Tajet had arrived at the worst possible moment. “You don’t want to do that.”
“Oh, don’t I?” The Captain said.
“No, you don’t.” Alex’s eyes flicked behind the Captain’s group. A shape—dark and silent—loomed over the soldiers. The low rumbling rolled through the floor. Alex looked the Captain right in his gray eyes. “If you want to live, move the gun away from my head. Now!”
“I don’t take kindly to empty threats, boy.” The Captain spat in Alex’s face when he spoke.
Alex narrowed his eyes. “I don’t make empty threats.”
“Hey, girl! Don’t move!” said the guard next to the Captain.
The Captain’s eyes flicked to Danielle for a split second. Alex shoved the butt of the gun with the heel of his hand. It discharged over his head, singeing his hair. A snarling growl exploded through the air, and a dark shape leapt into the midst of the guards.
“It’s a grudget!”
“Where’d it come from?”
The grudget caught the Captain by the face and threw him over his shoulder. The captain slammed into the ground and lay still. Alex shoved Danielle to the wall as the guards turned their attacks on the creature. Alex pressed himself as close to her as he dared, shielding her from the mayhem behind him. The grudget smashed guards into the walls and slammed brick-like fists into their faces. They shot at him, but to no avail. In addition to his uniform, his thick, bark-like skin absorbed their shots. But like Alex’s uniform, Tajet’s defenses wouldn’t last forever.
“There.” Danielle tapped her DataHub. “Weapons Disablement Program launched.”
“Hey! What happened?” One of the guards said.
“My gun! It’s stopped.”
“Nice work, Dani.” Alex refused to look behind him. Without their guns to ward him off, Tajet was free to attack as he pleased. It wasn’t pleasant to look at. Alex winced at every grunt, scream, and the sound of bodies collapsing to the ground. Soon, the turmoil ended. When Alex turned, Tajet stood amongst a mountain of bodies, the floor smeared with blood. Happily, the guards were still breathing and relatively unhurt—no broken bones at least.
“Taj!” Alex hopped over the groaning guards to reach the grudget. “Tajet, are you alright?”
Tajet hissed in his breaths between clenched teeth. His chest expanded and contracted, causing his skin to creak. His uniform shielding had failed—it was clear from the burns his arms bore. His pointed ears stuck straight into the air, searching for sounds going beyond human perception. His eyes caused Alex’s stomach to drop. The maroon irises of Tajet’s eyes expanded and contracted, trying to push away both the whites and the pupils. Tajet was trying hard to stay in control . . . trying not to not fall into a state called an “Unbounded Attack,” where he’d lose control of himself and pummel every perceived threat into even more of a bloody mass.
Alex placed both hands on his shoulders. “Come on, Taj. Get a hold of yourself.”
Tajet clenched his teeth. His breath came in hisses through his teeth. His fists clenched and unclenched as he surveyed the bodies on the ground. Bodies of the enemy that had threatened Alex’s life. Alex had to turn his focus away from them.
“Snap out of it, Tajet. We don’t have time for this. Emily is under fire.” Danielle tip-toed around the groaning bodies.
That did it. Tajet closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them, they were back to normal.
“You good?” Alex struck his friend’s shoulder.
Tajet nodded.
Alex sprinted after Danielle without another word. Tajet fell in step behind him.
“How long do we have?” Danielle glanced at them when they caught up to her.
Alex glanced at his watch. “Four minutes. We have to book. Taj!”
Tajet grunted. Without missing a beat, he picked up Danielle and darted forward. Alex took a deep breath and pushed himself as fast as he could go.
“There’s the ship!” Danielle pointed out of one of the windows. The CSS Strider was docked in space outside. The asteroid which housed the base had no extra space for docking, but a long, covered tunnel—the Docking Hall—had been built to alleviate the problem. It stretched into space like a long arm.
Emily had pulled away from the Docking Hall to prevent guards from boarding the ship, but laser fire from both ground troops in pressure suits and the base’s anti-space craft guns bombarded it. So far, the ship’s shield impeded the shots.
“Three minutes.” Alex pressed on. “Let’s push through.”
Tajet’s ears pricked. “Alex.” He tossed Danielle in the air and darted down the hall at twice his previous speed. He disappeared around the corner.
“Whoa!” Danielle arms and legs flailed in the air.
Alex caught her as he ran. He slowed to a stop and set her on her feet.
“I can’t get over how strong he is. He tossed me like I was a doll.” Danielle straightened her uniform.
Alex peeked around the corner where Tajet had run. The access door to the Docking Hall had been surrounded by guards. Tajet had launched in, attacking and tossing them over his shoulder.
“Pressure suits!” Alex tapped his chest to activate his. He darted toward the fight.
“Got it.” Danielle followed suit and launched her weapons disabling program.
With the enemies’ guns disabled, Tajet punched the access panel keeping the airlock door closed. Then he wrenched the doors open, darted to the other end of the Docking Hall where the other airlock was, and wrenched that one open too. Air whooshed out to open space.
An alarm blared. Emergency blast doors started to drop.
“Let’s go!” Alex launched himself into space toward their ship. “Emily, door!” He ducked laser fire still streaking toward them. “Prepare to jump.”
The ship’s door slid open. Danielle and Alex floated in, and Tajet slipped in just after them.
“Go, Em!” Alex slammed his hand on the button to shut the door.
“Emergency drive jump, now!” Emily’s voice came over the intercom. The ship lurched forward, knocking Alex and Danielle off their feet. Tajet caught them before they fell.
Alex righted himself before tapping his earpiece. “Levi, how’s the engine?”
“We’re in drive space, but I don’t like the look of these readings,” Levi said over the intercom. “They’re in orange. Another few moments, and drive space wouldn’t have been possible. As it is, we’ll have to stop to cool them or risk burning them out.”
“Can we make it three hours?” Emily said over the intercom. “That’s how long it will take to get to Narsan space.”
“Barely.” Levi paused a few moments. “We can, but it’ll be ticklish.”
“Do it.” Alex cracked his back. “Danielle, check to see if they got through our firewall. If they figured who we are . . .”
Danielle looked up from her DataHub. “Not a problem. They weren’t even close. Just as I surmised.”
“Are we being followed? Or traced?”
“I don’t see anyone following us,” Emily said.
“My sensors say the ship’s clean. No tracers. The emergency jump was too quick for them to calculate our trajectory.” Danielle latched her DataHub in the holder on her belt.
“They don’t have a pilot as good as Emily.” Alex grinned at the intercom speakers. “Good work, Em. Levi, you too. That’s the way to do it.” Emily giggled over the intercom. Levi remained silent, but Alex could picture a goofy grin on his face. “We’ll keep an eye out when we stop for cool-down, but I think we got away. Thankfully.”
“Now that that’s over . . .” Danielle smacked Alex’s arm as hard as she could.
Alex hopped away from her. “What was that for?”
“Courtesan? Really?” Danielle put her hands on her hips.
“You weren’t joking?”
“I used it as a distraction to launch my gun-jamming virus, but what you said hurt, Alex.”
Alex gaped at Tajet. “Am I missing something?”
Tajet shrugged.
Alex threw his hands into the air. “This is ridiculous! I can’t believe you’re getting so worked up about that.”
Danielle glared at him, her eyes narrowing and studying his face. Finally, she sighed. “Do you have any idea what a courtesan is?”
“Isn’t it a fancy name for a king’s girlfriend or something?”
“It’s a fancy name for a prostitute . . . or at best, a mistress.”
“Oh!” Alex fell silent a moment. He hissed in a breath through clenched teeth. “Now I see why you’re mad.”
“I suppose I can’t be upset if you didn’t know, but never call me that again.” Danielle tossed her hair. “I am far too classy to be associated with that sort of behavior.”
“Sure.” Alex grinned. “Next time I’ll call you my empress.”
Danielle tossed a smirk over her shoulder. “As if I’d ever want to be your empress.” She thrust her nose in the air as she waltzed out of the door.
A smile slipped onto Alex’s face as she watched her disappear down the hall. That girl . . . there was something about her that made him want to—
“Heart-rate: elevated . . .” Tajet slipped behind Alex. “. . . facial surface temperature up . . . increased sweat production . . .”
Alex’s tossed a glare in Tajet’s direction. “What are you going on about?”
Tajet leaned in close to him. “Your biorhythms. You like her.”
Alex recoiled. “I do not!”
Tajet pointed to his eyes. “I see it.”
“Who cares?” Alex swung away from him.
“Ask her out.”
“I don’t want to. I don’t like her!”
Tajet only smiled. His eyebrows raised.
“I don’t care what you think you know. She’s stubborn and spoiled and a big, fat know-it-all!”
“Or determined. Elegant. Intelligent.”
“If that’s what you think, you ask her out. I’m heading to the flight deck.” Alex shoved him aside. He marched out of the cargo bay, paused, and rushed back in. “And it’s not because Danielle is there!”
Tajet just grinned.
Alex stomped down the hall, fuming as he went. Blast Tajet and his knowing gaze! And blast Danielle and her ability to disarm him! Not that it mattered. Tajet was wrong. He didn’t like Danielle. Not one bit.
He was far beyond liking her by now.
© 2025 M.R. Anglin. Do not copy or redistribute without author's permission.
You can pick up the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Medical-Tech-Trembourne-M-Anglin-ebook/dp/B0CZ5FQFCQ
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