MONTGOMERY (STARSHIPS TRILOGY, BOOK 1) ✔

PROLOGUE

RYAN TAYLOR CONRAD

I was the youngest of four. And a bit of a tomboy. There was no one I could really blame for that, except my three brothers. But I love them to death. I still do, even after all the years that I've been away from them. They were my best friends. Taught me everything I know about cars, spaceships and war machines. Also taught me how to defend myself. I used to hide in the cabin of their ships and go on special missions with them.

I saved Robert's butt once. It was during a race in the Fifth Quadrant - that's a good 100,000,000 miles away from Earth's solar system.

The day they told me they were to be sent to the frontlines, I crumbled. President Duhamel needed all military forces for an invasion on a new quadrant - now known as Quadrant 94 - and wanted that solar system ready for habitation. That was six years ago. I was fifteen.

After the Fourth World War in 2076, the W.N. - what used to be the U.N. - space travel, and living off-world, became extremely popular. And accessible to the public. At first, it was meant to be a means of getaway for anyone who wished to start over in the new quadrants. Then it became a requirement that every school teaches its students to fly a shuttle. Like driver's ed. It was fantastic.

I was nineteen when I decided I wanted to find my brothers. The so-called invasion had been a semi-success and pilots had been returning home. But Hunter, Bobby, and Mackenzie hadn't. I inquired amongst the other pilots and officials but didn't get the answers I was seeking. I was old enough to apply for my shuttle license and had enough money for a down payment on a ship. I was going to find them.

Since then, I've been looking for my brothers. They're the only family I have and I am not ready to admit defeat. I'm a one-woman crew for now. But it's not like I've been going anywhere too far from Earth - First Quadrant - because I want to be sure my brothers are not actually here before searching the other quadrants. Because if I were to come up empty and return home to find them all dying of old age, I could never forgive myself.

Being a woman pilot is not uncommon, but the recent changes in the Laws of Space Travel have made it hard for women to pilot their ships undisturbed. So I hide behind men's clothing. Ryan and Taylor are both names that can go both ways. No one needs to know there was ever a girl in the Conrad clan. For all anyone knows, General Conrad has four sons. All of them are badass pilots. I can get away with looking like a man. A petite man, but I get away with it.

I'm not ashamed of hiding the fact that I'm a woman. But there are some sticky characters out there. I'd rather have people think I'm a man then have to fight someone off me. Settle down and be a housewife? If I ever come to that, I'd like to know my brothers are safe first. Even if it means in another quadrant.

Earth is nothing like it was forty years ago. The islands were forced to evacuate due to chronic tsunamis. There are those who chose not to leave and have found a way to survive the waves when they come. I know it can be done because when I was ten, my entire family lived in District 20 - known as Cuba in past times - for a season.

When that wave rose high above the island, I thought for sure I was about to die. The neighbor, who'd been prepared for the wave, hurried my family into his home. He sealed all the windows and the doors. I thought he was crazy. A wave of that height and that strength would break the house to smithereens. But when the house held firm and the waters had surrounded us, I grew curious. I didn't understand how this crazy man had managed to keep his home from being washed away.

I never got around to asking him how we were still alive. I didn't have to because he started helping my dad build an invincible home for us too. We never saw it completed because my mother didn't want to live under these circumstances. She left my dad and he took us kids to Sector 6, District 5. It's where I've been living since.

I stare out at Earth from my ship's cabin, high above the atmosphere. I've been in orbit for a few days now. I have reason to believe my brothers are not in this quadrant. But I can't travel the galaxies alone. I need a crew. I can be the captain and pilot. I'm crazy enough to keep my cool. I've caught a few transmissions of people looking for jobs. And it would be nice to have a doctor on call. These galaxies are not safe for a lone pilot.

There are other life forms. As fascinating as that is, it's also terrifying. All those stories my grandparents grew up hearing as kids are all true. Aliens are real. I met one once. He looked human to me. I didn't know he wasn't until the officials broke down his parents' front door and dragged them into the street. That was a terrible day. Since then, along with the memories of my brothers, I have flashbacks of that boy. I wish I'd been braver. I wish I'd tried to help save him.