Storm Chaser: Book Two of The Channel Riders

Storm Chaser: Book Two of The Channel Riders

Valerie Gaumont

4.4
Comment(s)
5.1K
View
58
Chapters

This is Book Two in the Channel Riders Series. Elena has been welcomed back into the Guild of Families, an ancient guild with the skill to navigate channels to cross space.As she begins to market off world goods in her Earth based store, politics and military intrigue increase forcing her to walk a very tight line. With potential suitors with dangerous intent, business negotiations, alien pirates and determined military personnel, Elena finds herself in high demand. Can she navigate the lines between without disaster?

Storm Chaser: Book Two of The Channel Riders Chapter 1 Storm Chaser

The explosion sizzled across Elena's vision like lightning. She squinted and ducked her head to preserve her vision. The electronic bursts from the Matrovean raiders were even more disturbing for their silence. The vacuum of space stole all of the sound from the explosions.

"Getting closer, " she muttered to herself as her crew struggled to control the random sparks that threatened to ignite once they hit the pocket of oxygen around their ship. Elena blocked out the sounds and concentrated only on escape. Adrenaline bubbled through her system and her attention was more focused than the lasers that burned through the black. The Storm Chaser veered to starboard and lost a little speed.

"No help for it." The course adjustment may have cost them some speed, but it protected the delicate tracery that allowed the ship to retain its oxygen supply. Without it they would be dead before the raiders boarded. Elena ground her teeth. They would not board her ship. She focused her waning energy on a burst of speed and felt the ship speed its pace. The crew's movements showed relief as the Storm Chaser pulled ahead of the Matroveans.

Elena kept her focus. Her muscles began to shake with the energy drain. "Only a little more, " she told her body as she poured its resources into pushing the ship faster, her energy causing it to move. Ahead outlines of larger ships loomed in the distance. Rapidly they grew until she was able to pick out the details. Heavy artillery had already been rolled out and the two ships were putting on speed to get close enough to fire. The Storm Chaser was within range of the Docking Facilities defense network.

Elena allowed herself a tight smile at the sight. One of the heavy cruisers aimed its cannons towards the raiders. Blue white light sliced silently through the black of space. The beam missed the raiders, but the point hit its mark. The raiders slowed and turned away. Elena sighed with relief as the crew cheered. She eased the Storm Chaser to a normal speed and carefully uncurled her hands from the wheel, allowing inertia to keep them moving rather than relying on her personal reserves. She stretched and wiggled her stiff fingers while the muscles in her arms jittered. She could feel the exhaustion building behind her eyes, but pushed it away for later. Once she was docked Elena could pass out, until then there was much to do. The Storm Chaser glided between two of the heavy cruisers.

"Signal the cruisers, " Elena called. Dobbs, jumped to the bow, signal flags in hand. His wiry frame moved like a greyhound at full sprint. He signaled the cruisers that no injured were aboard and the ship was not damaged enough to require assistance into port. They signaled back their understanding and remained in patrol mode. Spin, the ship's cat poked her head into the pilot house and stared up at Elena. In the few weeks since Spin had come to Elena she hadn't grown much in anything but self-confidence. She still didn't like the lights of attacking cannons. On that Elena could agree.

"Things will be calm for a bit, " Elena told her. Spin wound around Elena's ankles twice and then stalked off to check on the rest of the ship. Elena stepped from the pilothouse, certain that inertia would keep the Storm Chaser on course. She couldn't help but look at the cruisers as they passed. Though no shadows fell, Elena shivered as they passed, their sheer bulk giving her pause.

'Smith would have loved those, ' she thought to herself as she walked the ships, checking for damage and getting assessments from her crew. When the military paid a visit to the Docking Facility all of the heavy cruisers were moved out of sight. The Council decided seeing ships of that size would have given the military too many ideas. Smith, as military representative, would have no doubt considered that withholding information, but Elena was okay with that. After all she had only been asked to tell the military about the channel riders. The heavy cruisers were incapable of riding the channels. They existed as a means of keeping the smaller channel riding merchant vessels safe from raiders like the Matoveran.

The Storm Chaser suffered no real damage, just a few scorch marks and Elena heaved a sigh of relief and leaned against the railing. She smiled as the cruisers passed and the Docking Facility came into sight. After five years being gone it felt good to be back on board. Most of the adrenaline drained leaving her exhausted, but a spark of it still remained. The thrill of it sang through her blood.

'Damned if I didn't miss it, ' she thought. Elena pushed away from the railing and walked back towards the pilothouse to ready the ship for docking. Spin followed her in after having made her own rounds of damage assessment.

"Hell of a way to make a living, " Elena told her. Spin sat down by Elena's feet and began grooming as Elena adjusted their headings towards port.

Continue Reading

Other books by Valerie Gaumont

More

You'll also like

Secret Triplets: The Billionaire's Second Chance

Secret Triplets: The Billionaire's Second Chance

Roderic Penn
4.5

I stood at my mother’s open grave in the freezing rain, my heels sinking into the mud. The space beside me was empty. My husband, Hilliard Holloway, had promised to cherish me in bad times, but apparently, burying my mother didn't fit into his busy schedule. While the priest’s voice droned on, a news alert lit up my phone. It was a livestream of the Metropolitan Charity Gala. There was Hilliard, looking impeccable in a custom tuxedo, with his ex-girlfriend Charla English draped over his arm. The headline read: "Holloway & English: A Power Couple Reunited?" When he finally returned to our penthouse at 2 AM, he didn't come alone—he brought Charla with him. He claimed she’d had a "medical emergency" at the gala and couldn't be left alone. I found a Tiffany diamond necklace on our coffee table meant for her birthday, and a smudge of her signature red lipstick on his collar. When I confronted him, he simply told me to stop being "hysterical" and "acting like a child." He had no idea I was seven months pregnant with his child. He thought so little of my grief that he didn't even bother to craft a convincing lie, laughing with his mistress in our home while I sat in the dark with a shattered heart and a secret life growing inside me. "He doesn't deserve us," I whispered to the darkness. I didn't scream or beg. I simply left a folder on his desk containing signed divorce papers and a forged medical report for a terminated pregnancy. I disappeared into the night, letting him believe he had successfully killed his own legacy through his neglect. Five years later, Hilliard walked into "The Vault," the city's most exclusive underground auction, looking for a broker to manage his estate. He didn't recognize me behind my Venetian mask, but he couldn't ignore the neon pink graffiti on his armored Maybach that read "DEADBEAT." He had no clue that the three brilliant triplets currently hacking his security system were the very children he thought had been erased years ago. This time, I wasn't just a wife in the way; I was the one holding all the cards.

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Madel Cerda
4.6

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch—a titan of industry and my best friend’s father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

Sexy Behind The Mask

Sexy Behind The Mask

Ellie Wynters
4.7

She hides behind ugly suits and fake names. He's done trusting women. When they meet in a masked sex club, neither realizes they've been fighting each other across boardroom tables for eighteen months. At Taylor Industries, she's Joy Smith-the frumpy CFO who drowns her curves in shapeless polyester and wearing a wig. At home, she's the forgotten wife of a cheating lawyer who hasn't touched her in so long she's starting to wonder if she's broken. When she finds hot pink lace panties stuffed in her couch cushions...definitely not hers, it's not heartbreak she feels. It's freedom. Grayson Taylor doesn't do relationships anymore. Not after walking in on his actress fiancée with another woman. Now he channels everything into hostile takeovers and board meetings, especially the ones where his overcautious CFO fights him on every goddamn acquisition. Joy Smith is brilliant, infuriating, and funny when he pushes all her buttons. But Honey is tired of being invisible. Tired of never having felt real pleasure. So, when her best friend gives her the details of The Velvet Room-Manhattan's most exclusive masked club-she promises herself just one night. One night to find out if her husband's right, if she really is frigid, or if she's just never been touched by the right hands. She doesn't expect the masked stranger who claims her the second she walks in. Doesn't expect the chemistry that ignites between them, the way he makes her body sing, or the orgasms that leave her shaking. Doesn't expect him to hand her an email address with one command: "Only me. No one else touches you."

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
Storm Chaser: Book Two of The Channel Riders Storm Chaser: Book Two of The Channel Riders Valerie Gaumont Short stories
“This is Book Two in the Channel Riders Series. Elena has been welcomed back into the Guild of Families, an ancient guild with the skill to navigate channels to cross space.As she begins to market off world goods in her Earth based store, politics and military intrigue increase forcing her to walk a very tight line. With potential suitors with dangerous intent, business negotiations, alien pirates and determined military personnel, Elena finds herself in high demand. Can she navigate the lines between without disaster?”
1

Chapter 1 Storm Chaser

09/02/2018

2

Chapter 2 Storm Chaser

09/02/2018

3

Chapter 3 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

4

Chapter 4 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

5

Chapter 5 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

6

Chapter 6 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

7

Chapter 7 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

8

Chapter 8 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

9

Chapter 9 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

10

Chapter 10 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

11

Chapter 11 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

12

Chapter 12 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

13

Chapter 13 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

14

Chapter 14 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

15

Chapter 15 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

16

Chapter 16 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

17

Chapter 17 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

18

Chapter 18 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

19

Chapter 19 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

20

Chapter 20 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

21

Chapter 21 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

22

Chapter 22 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

23

Chapter 23 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

24

Chapter 24 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

25

Chapter 25 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

26

Chapter 26 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

27

Chapter 27 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

28

Chapter 28 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

29

Chapter 29 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

30

Chapter 30 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

31

Chapter 31 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

32

Chapter 32 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

33

Chapter 33 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

34

Chapter 34 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

35

Chapter 35 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

36

Chapter 36 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

37

Chapter 37 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

38

Chapter 38 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

39

Chapter 39 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018

40

Chapter 40 Storm Chaser

26/02/2018