The Darkest Night Audiobook Release!
The Darkest Night, The Second Dark Ages Book 02
By Michael Anderle
Michael returns to fulfill a promise to his love, but the world isn’t the same place.
Michael just wants a little sleep. The last few days have been a bit of a learning overload after coming back 150 years after he was blown apart by a backpack nuke.
The world destroyed itself, there are anti-gravity cars and ships, and his love is in the stars…somewhere.
Plus, there is a vampire trying to make Europe his personal fiefdom. Akio and Yuko are trying to find him, and he has a young female Wechselbalg and male vampire to keep on the straight and narrow.
Michael has his own brand of justice, and this world is now understanding the Patriarch is back.
Nothing will be the same.
Bourne – Snippet 1
Bourne, The Ascension Myth Book 8
By Ell Leigh Clarke & Michael Anderle
Snippet 1
Unedited
AI Lab, Nefertiti Military Research Facility, Ogg
Charles Tergon’s eyes darted from the holoscreen in front of him to a second screen that was streaming code like there was no tomorrow.
Sue came over to look over his shoulder. “Are you sure?”
Charles swallowed hard. “Pretty damn sure,” he confirmed nervously. “Check out what’s happening to the base programming. It’s rewriting itself.”
He pointed at the code on the first screen and they both watched as one line after another changed before their very eyes.
She leaned in, absently pushing an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. “You mean… it’s changing? By itself?” she clarified, her eyes tracking back and forth.
He nodded, mesmerized by the code streaming before his very eyes. “It’s self-correcting. The next stage of development, if it crosses it, will see it becoming self-aware.”
Sue’s face was frozen in disbelief. She turned pale. “It’s really happening…” she whispered.
Charles glanced away from the screen to look at her. “It really is,” he said, his eyes locking back onto the process in front of them.
“Shouldn’t we, er… tell someone?” she asked tentatively, the anxiety rising in her voice.
Charles ran a hand across his face. “Not yet,” he sighed, sitting back in his chair. “I mean, we don’t know if it’s really going to work… and that it’ll keep going. It’s very unstable, and I wouldn’t want us to…”
He hesitated, figuring out his reasoning. “I wouldn’t want us to look like morons if it destabilizes.”
Sue had known Charles a long time. She wasn’t convinced by his explanation. “I don’t know. I mean, what if it gets into the EtherTrak?”
“It can’t,” he responded, his jaw setting firm. “It’s 100 percent isolated. Besides,” he said, reaching into a drawer, “it’s going to need a lot more processing power before it can bridge the next stage.”
He pulled out a bottle of Scotch and looked at it.
Sue couldn’t help but feel she was being given the official line. The same line he might end up giving in his court martial hearing when all this blew up like fuckery.
He stared at the bottle. “Been saving this for the last fifteen years, since I graduated,” he told Sue. “My father gave it to me before he croaked.”
Sue noticed the flippant way he had dealt with his father’s death. He treated it so casually, even though she knew it had been a big deal for him. The way he acted about it now, though, just made him sound like a dick. She shook the thought loose from her head. “I think we should report in,” she said a little more firmly.
Charles leaned back in his chair. “Not yet,” he said just as firmly, overruling her. “Ah, but you could be a doll and grab a couple of beakers for us from the next lab? I’m going to see if Rasheed can help us track down some more processing power. It would be a pain in the ass if we have to wait for a new shipment.” He pulled up a comms screen and started connecting a call.
Sue shook her head and headed out the door. She hated the way that dickwad Charles pulled rank on her. This was always his way. And then when the shit hit the fan, which it always did, he ended up leaning on her for advice when things went wrong.
She sighed as she walked down the corridor.
And just when things were finally going right, though, she reminded herself. “Right,” at least as far as their remit was concerned. For the last four years they had been working night and day to create a self-programming code, capable of adapting and learning. And the last two years had been particularly slow going… what with Molly having been discharged and all.
They both knew it.
Even though they never spoke it out loud.
Even though she was in another department, their evenings drinking and chewing the fat with her would often result in their most profound leaps forward in their projects.
Why Molly never joined their department she’d never know. She assumed it had something to do with not liking Charles. But then there was always some dickwad in whatever department you end up in.
Sue bypassed the drug development labs and headed in the direction of the mess halls. No way was she going to be drinking Charles’s scotch from one of their beakers. She knew what some of those experimental drugs had done to people over the years. That shit could turn your hair blond.
Nope, she was going to find some normal glasses that were designed and kept for the purpose of drinking.
And, she decided almost at the same time, if she happened to put her head round the door of Lugdon’s office, then she might let slip what they had just discovered. After all, this revelation in the code was huge. They could single-handedly be responsible for unleashing artificial intelligence onto the world.
There was no way they were ready for this.
No way the military was ready for this.
In fact, she and Charles had seen so many “AI taking over the planet movies” it was kinda cliché.
Almost to be expected.
She just never thought the two of them would be the first ones to succeed in creating one.
FROM MICHAEL >>> WOOOP! Molly’s back!
I can’t wait for you to get your hands on this story, as we make life happen for Molly and the team.
SOMEONE becomes a new Daddy 😉
And he didn’t even see it coming.
Ellie is winging her way across America to arrive in her new home state of Texas (almost 3 times the size of her home country of England…Although I checked and that is 3x the size of the United Kingdom… I really don’t know how that works, frankly. I should ask her.)
Either way, her new home state is ‘big.’ I hope my fellow Texans treat her very well, she deserves it!
Storm Warrior Audiobook Release!
Storm Warrior, Storms of Magic Book 4
By P.T. Hylton & Michael Anderle
The greatest threat to the future comes from the secrets of the past.
Abbey and her friends return home after their long journey west to find Holdgate threatened by both an enemy to the south and a hidden Barskall army to the east.
Lucky for Holdgate, Abbey and the crew of The Foggy Day are more than ready to defend their home.
But there’s an even greater threat to the city… one nobody sees coming.
A man with a mysterious connection to Abbey’s past has arrived, and he wants to see the stormships burn.
He’s about to learn why it’s never a good idea to mess with Abbey’s friends.
Death Defied Release!
Death Defied, Valerie’s Elites Book Two
By Justin Sloan, PT Hylton, Michael Anderle
An evil intelligence bent on galactic domination is about to meet the Justice Enforcer.
When a mysterious AI demands the release of a criminal, it gets something else instead: the wrath of Valerie’s Elites.
Now the team must travel to a remote space station to uncover the secret their enemies want to keep hidden.
Valerie and her team will join with resistance fighters on a secret moonbase to take on mechs, giant robots, and an artificial intelligence that can infest any advanced technology it encounters.
No one said bringing Justice to the stars was going to be easy. But that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be fun.
Capture Death Snippet 03 of …
Unedited
CHAPTER TWO
QBBS Meredith Reynolds
Lance nodded to Admiral Thomas as he sat down with a cup of something akin to coffee in his hand. Team BMW plus Tina, Jean Dukes with three of her team, and six Yollin specialists in gate technology surrounded a large table.
“Thank you, everyone. I appreciate you being here,” he started. “Use your tablets if you want to know who is who. I’ve hated the ‘Go-around-the-table and introduce yourself’ thing for two hundred years. Technology has improved, so use it.” He turned to the woman sitting four chairs to his left. “Jean?”
Jean Dukes nodded. “It’s going to take us a while to pull that oversized gate out of the Leath system.
“No choice,” Lance replied. “We got it as part of our war reparations and I’m not leaving a back-door like that anywhere. In fact,” he tilted his head toward Admiral Thomas, “I don’t know if I want it here in the Yollin system either. If we can hide that big sumbitch and keep it safe, we need to do that.”
“With what?” Jean asked. “The Meredith Reynolds is the biggest gun we have.”
Lance nodded to Team BMW. “We’re starting large-scale production of the BYPS setup. Let’s plan on using those, plus we need a dead-man switch on the gate. I’d rather blow it up than give someone a straight shot back to Earth.”
Bobcat spoke up. “Can we perhaps not blow it to shit and gone?” He flipped his hand over and back. “I’ve seen the requirements to build another of its type, and while not unique, it would make a banker pucker their butt to have to write another check like that.”
“I’ve seen the cost just to move it,” Lance agreed, “and that is a pittance compared to the actual effort to build one of those behemoths.” He turned to Jean. “Do we have an EI ready for the gate?”
She shrugged. “Archangel says we don’t need a true AI on that fucker, so yes. I’d have preferred to chat with ADAM and TOM on the subject, but I understand that the few comments we get back from them consist of ‘Give them time?’”
Lance nodded. “Yes. Their comments are, ‘She’s safe, she hasn’t found the Seven, and she hasn’t destroyed a planet…yet.’”
“Not exactly the most comforting message,” Admiral Thomas said.
“Yet brief and accurate,” Bobcat tossed in.
“This isn’t a Baba Yaga meeting,” Lance’s eyes narrowed at the humans in the group, “so let’s focus. We need to give our Empress a reason to concentrate on this project herself, so this gate needs to be moved safely, effectively, and quickly.” He looked down at his tablet, his eyes narrowing at a new number.
“Meredith,” he continued, “is this new projected time to move the gate accurate?”
“Yes, General,” the station operations AI replied. “We have done the numbers, and it will take…”
“Decades.” Lance sighed. “Less costly than building, but more than I’d hoped.”
“Not much we can do,” Admiral Thomas said as he looked at his tablet. The rest of the people around the table started doing the same. A couple of the Yollins had their heads together. Arguing over something to do with the update, he figured.
“Okay, as Dan would say if he were here instead of on Leath, ‘Grab some bricks and start slamming some nuts until someone figures out a solution to make this happen a little,” he looked at his tablet once more, “no, a lot faster.’”
The teams worked on options for another thirty minutes before Lance called for a stop. “Get with the main team liaison and work through the communications group. Bart, Jean, Bobcat and team, please stick around.”
It took five minutes for everyone to finish up their last few questions with each other and step out of the meeting room, but soon there were only seven of them.
“Ok.” Lance looked down the right side of the table, which held Bobcat, William, Marcus, and Tina, and then back up the left with Jean and Admiral Thomas. “We need to deal with getting that big-ass circle here faster.”
“It’s not going to be ‘snap your fingers’ fast, Lance.” Admiral Thomas looked him square in the eye. “Can’t fight physics on this.”
“Not worried about a little time, but I’m sure as hell worried about that much time.”
Bobcat scratched his cheek. “I’m sure we can cut it…maybe in half at least. But,” he pointed a finger up, “we need time to mass-produce enough of the BYPSs to surround a planet and seed them in Earth’s system on likely routes. We can’t build them fast enough to leave here in ten years anyway.”
“When we get Bethany Anne back I’ll let her deal with that issue,” Lance replied. “That’s up her alley anyway.”
“Anyone got a system that needs to be cleaned up?” Jean asked. “She seems to like to straighten out systems. I suggest we give her nothing but a ride and drop her off, then we all get to bet on how many months it will take her to sort out the world.”
“I would give her weeks,” Tina popped in.
“Less than two,” Bobcat replied, smiling at Tina, who was thinking about the bet.
“Not so much to clean up in the Empire anymore since the Rangers have been working so hard,” Marcus commented. “I’ve heard that even Tabitha is bitching about being bored.”
Jean leaned forward. “That’s true, I’ve heard the same. I understand Barnabas is actually eager to find a new criminal organization or two.”
Lance tapped on the table. “Focus, people! Tabitha isn’t our problem at the moment.” He sighed. “I’m personally hoping that Bethany Anne will focus on getting to Earth and securing that area. It would be nice if there was a Michael at the end of the trip.” He looked around, a small smile playing on his lips. “Might as well wish for Santa Claus to swing our way, too.”
“Well, if this were a romance story we would get our happily ever after,” Jean told him. “All by the end of the first book.”
“How the hell do you write one book about a love that spans over a hundred years and finish it with a happily ever after?” William asked. Everyone turned to look at him and Jean raised an eyebrow. “Love is ephemeral.” William snapped his fingers. “It’s here one moment, gone the next.” He smiled and waved a hand when he noticed everyone staring at him. “Uh, forget I said anything.”
FROM MICHAEL >>> WOOP! Almost to Christmas day and I’m baller excited (that is a term one of my sons uses…So, I’m being timely with my slang. At least, I think I am. Geez, I could be using it ALL wrong and how embarrassing would that be?)
Anyway. We just dropped Candy Crum’s new book THE DAMNED today so lookout in your email(s) for the link to get it for $0.99 today! (or use this I suppose – books2read.com/thedamned )
I’m about to fly to Vegas before going to Cabo for Christmas … break? Is it a break when you work it? How about a Holiday ‘slow down.’? I’m excited to say we are working, just slower at the moment.
There seems to be a fair amount of not working (by me) right now. I feel a bit guilty by it, but then I saw Jumanji last night (LOVED IT!) and think “Isn’t this why I’m a full time author, so I can go see imaginative stories that help fill my imagination back up?”
I think so!
I read a few books in the last week and a half, and I’m pretty stocked about that. I’ve loved reading SO much in my life and as those fans who are working in the Fans Write for Fans group now know, when you start writing, your time to read goes WAAAAY down.
I’ve spoken with Ell Leigh Clarke recently, and her LATEST (#8) Molly book is about 40,000 words right now, so that book is coming ‘soon.’ So, if you haven’t started HER stories, what better time than Christmas? Try out Awakened here: books2read.com/awakened-aoe
If you like Zombies and that genre, our Age of Madness stories linking the time when Bethany Anne leaves Earth the second Time to the Age of Magic starts with Hayley Lawson’s book in Late January!
I’m going to go ahead and ‘turn off’ now, and allow myself the opportunity to put this up on Facebook.
If you want to grab the Pre-Order copy of Capture Death – $2.99, a $1.00 cheaper but not the same as $0.99 on Christmas day (when that finally gets updated by Amazon) you can have it as SOON as Amazon goes LIVE by clicking here: books2read.com/capture-death
Defending the Lost Audiobook Release!
Defending the Lost, Reclaiming Honor Book VI
By Justin Sloan & Michael Anderle
A time of reckoning has come for the council of Toro, a bandit city about to burst with corruption and injustice.
Valerie refuses to allow her world to rot, and she’s brought friends to help her teach the council a lesson.
As if that weren’t enough, Cammie and Royland have begun to rule the former pirate island.
This involves ensuring there are no nearby threats, so while these two might be perfect for each other, they have business to attend to before they can sit back and bask in their newfound positions of power.
And down south, New York has risen up out of the sewers it once occupied.
It’s a new world, one Sandra and the others might just one day soon be able to enjoy without bloodshed.
Someday… maybe.
Buy on iTunes
Capture Death Snippet 02 of …
UNEDITED
QBS Shinigami
Baba Yaga halted in her room, her eyes narrowed in concern. “Shinigami?”
“Yes?”
“Are there creatures that can eat this ship?” the ink-black woman asked.
“Of course,” the EI admitted. “Didn’t you know this?”
“Well,” Baba Yaga thought about the answer as she resumed walking through her outer room to her bedroom and past her bed to find a new set of linens, “I guess I’d heard rumors, but I never thought about running into one of the beasts.” Her voice was muffled as she stuck her head into a storage chest. “Are there any around?”
“None that we can register,” the EI admitted.
Baba Yaga straightened from the chest and tossed the new set of linens on the bed, then walked out of her bedroom, through her suite, and into the hallway. She stopped and looked down the hallway in both directions. “Where are the spare mattresses?”
“Deck two, supplies area. There are only three,” Shinigami reminded her.
Baba Yaga started down the hallway. “Remember to resupply when we dock somewhere that can provide a decent product. I don’t want some lousy lumpy mattress,” she grumped as she took the stairs down a level. She jumped down the last couple steps and continued along the hallway. “How many large things are out there?”
“Are you asking about organic creatures?”
“Yes,” Baba Yaga answered as she strode toward the supply area.
“Do you want to know everything that is large enough to hurt this ship, or just those species which can survive in the cold of space as well as hurt this ship?”
She ran a hand along the bulkhead in thought. “Cold of space and hurt this ship.”
“There are over twenty-two confirmed organic-type creatures which could hurt this ship. There are a few which can move through space, and others which tend to congregate in one area.”
“And do what?” Baba Yaga asked as she stepped through the supplies room’s door. She looked around the large room and found the rolled-up mattresses, then grabbed one before heading back towards her cabin. “Dock me the cost of this.”
ADAM ignored the command. She had already paid for everything.
“Do we have any research on these behemoths?” she asked as she stepped through her cabin door and walked to her bedroom. She slid off the wrap which kept the mattress rolled up and grabbed the sheets, then laid the mattress down and started making the bed. “You would have thought the future had a better solution for sheets than…sheets,” she muttered.
>>There are multiple types which allow you to use the product and eject it into space, where it will disintegrate in time.<<
That’s not necessarily better, ADAM, just more convenient. What happens if a ship hits one of those items that was tossed out? Baba Yaga asked as she tucked in the first sheet.
>>The mathematical chance of that happening is rather small.<<
I’d rather not be the first to explode a ship due to my laziness.
“There are,” Shinigami replied to her earlier question, “twelve separate confirmed engagements between organics and ships. There are hundreds of suspected encounters which lack proof.”
“What proof do we have?” she asked as she tossed the pillow on her bed. A video popped up on the wall to her left, and she took a moment to sit on her bed. “Wish I had popcorn.”
The view on the screen was of space, and there were three ships. One looked like a warship about half the size of the ArchAngel II, but it obviously was not as advanced. It had been hurt, but not too badly. One of the two smaller ships had been broken in half.
Baba Yaga stood up and stepped closer to the bulkhead screen. “Is that a bite out of that ship?” she asked softly.
“Yes. This is a confirmed attack that occurred a decade ago some twelve systems away. The ship with the bite taken out of it was a mid-range transportation vessel, which issued a request for help. The two warships belonged to a Tulet group which was in-system. The smaller warship didn’t do well; it got too close to the creatures. The battleship was able to pummel the creatures from a distance, and the report says two died but seven disappeared.”
“Son of a bitch!” Baba Yaga waved a hand. “Turn it off. I’m a believer.”
TOM’s voice came on. “Just like that?”
“Yes,” she admitted as she sat back down on her bed. “There is no reason to ignore it. I don’t know why I wouldn’t believe there could be creatures that used space like our oceans back on Earth.”
She turned towards her nightstand. “Now, let’s figure out our future steps.”
FROM MIKE>>> OK! Just shipped off the FINAL changes to the book, it’s uploaded to the store and we are just waiting on the clock (and Amazon) to send out the book to all the pre-orderers at the stroke of Midnight, Christmas Eve!
So, what else can I get into, now?
Did you hear about the latest new books? (All on Kindle Unlimited)
Evolution (Ghost Squadron #3 – Age of Expansion) Just came out TODAY. So, still $0.99 pricing!: books2read.com/evolution
Fast Read – Christmas at Estelle’s Short Story (The Leira Chronicles – Oriceran) $0.99 because it is a Short Story : books2read.com/EstellesChristmas
Midwest War (Midwest Magic Chronicles Book 04 – Oriceran): books2read.com/midwest-war
Shout Out to New (fiction) Writer
Michael W Huard is doing a give-away to build awareness of his first book release on the fiction side. I think his book cover was enough to make me want to know more. Then he pinged me on FB to further a discussion we had related to letting YOU know about his giveaway.
His pre-order giveaway has a chance to win a Wonder Woman POP doll… I’m kinda “in” at that moment alone. Plus, I think his signup page is freaking amazing.
I’m a SUCKER for eye-candy and this landing page is a candy store for book marketing (hey, just laying it out honest here.)
Michael’s been a wonderful person to interact with, and I like to support those wishing to break into telling more stories for their career. I can’t help everyone, but I do a decent share.
CLICK HERE TO REVIEW HIS PAGE AND ENTER HIS GIVEAWAY
Pre-order Land of the Free for your chance to win
(details below the eye-candy)
A SIGNED PAPERBACK COPY OF LAND OF THE FREE
A WONDER WOMAN POP
ONE DOUBLE-SIDED BOOKMARK
ONE DOUBLE-SIDED POSTCARD
A $10 AMAZON GIFT CARD
Plus, there are 11 other ways you can enter, including some daily tasks!
CLICK HERE to check out THE GIVEAWAY
The Hidden Magic Chronicles Audiobooks!
Age of Magic: The Hidden Magic Chronicles, Books 1-4
By Justin Sloan & Michael Anderle
The Truth will set you free, but what happens when the Truth is a Lie?
Shades of Light Buy on Amaozn Buy on iTunes
Shades of Dark Buy on Amazon Buy on iTunes
Shades of Glory Buy on Amazon Buy on iTunes
Shades of Justice Buy on Amazon Buy on iTunes
Blockade – SNIPPET 1
Blockade: Age of Expansion, The Bad Company, Book Two
By Craig Martelle & Michael Anderle
Snippet 1
Unedited
“Is it always this loud in here?” Timmons asked the large man with the crossed arms blocking the front door.
“Maybe this isn’t the club for you, old guy,” the man rasped. He leaned back to look down his nose at the group.
Timmons rocked back on his heels as if punched. “Old guy?” he asked, a shocked expression on his face. Sue started to laugh.
“We’re having a party in here. We’re from the Bad Company. Maybe you’ve heard of us?” Sue said, giving the man a furtive smile.
He looked at her sideways. “What’s that supposed to mean to me? You look like a bunch of troublemakers, think you’re better than the good, hard-working people of this station. Go in, but don’t be surprised if your dumb asses are the first ones I throw out.”
Sue leaned close, her blonde hair reflecting the flashing Seymour Heine sign. “I don’t think that’ll happen, but if you feel the need to throw us out, come on in and give it your best shot,” she said coldly as the others brushed past her on their way in. Timmons glared at the man over Sue’s shoulder.
The bouncer blew a kiss at Timmons. Sue stopped her mate before he could go full werewolf on the man. She grabbed Timmons’s shirt and pulled him after her.
Merrit and Shonna were already buying drinks for a small group of people occupying a large table. After a brief exchange, they shook hands as they gave up their seats.
Aaron and Yanmei stood to the side. “I don’t think I want to get into a bar fight.” Aaron frowned. Yanmei wore a tiny black dress, the same as Shonna and Sue.
“You won’t fight for my honor?” Yanmei said, baiting her husband.
“Always, but there is no honor to be had in a bar fight. We will leave before fists fly, and I know you can defend yourself because you’re faster than me,” Aaron replied evenly.
“Honor isn’t necessarily about who can beat whom. It’s about who stands up for whom, whether they know they can win the fight or not,” Yanmei replied.
“You’re starting to sound like Terry Henry Walton.” Aaron raised one eyebrow as he looked at his wife. She was Chinese, lithe and tall, a weretiger like him. He had been converted during his time in China as an English teacher. After the fall, he found himself in the United States, fighting over scraps until the native nation took him in.
But they turned him over to Colonel Walton when he passed through with his fledgling Force de Guerre. The weretiger had joined Char’s pack, not that he’d had a choice, but it suited him. He had always been opposed to fighting, so he tutored the children, watching them when the rest of the pack left to fight the battles that defined the rebuilding of civilization.
“Would I fight for my wife?” he asked her, holding her gaze without blinking. “Ten times out of ten, because you’re worth it.”
Yanmei smiled and gripped his hand tightly.
“Screaming Buki Holes all the way around!” Timmons shouted at a fleeing form. “And two Slippery Nipples.”
“It’s going to be that kind of night, isn’t it?” Sue asked, rocking with the music. “If I remember correctly what that is like. It’s only been what?A hundred and fifty years.”
“Fucking A!” Merrit screamed into the cacophony, thrusting his fist into the air. They tapped their feet to the booming music as they waited for their drinks. The server quickly returned with a tray full of glasses, maneuvering expertly through the crowded area.
Shonna chased people away who were trying to take the empty chairs at their table.
The drinks were deposited, and the server scanned Timmons’s face for payment.
“Is that how you do it? How much did that just cost me?” Timmons wondered, sliding back into his New Yorker accent.
“You shouldn’t worry about those kinds of things. It’ll ruin your evening. Go dance!” the server suggested. “It’ll take your mind off how many weeks you’ll have to work to pay off this tab.”
She bolted before he could reply.
Sue started to laugh. The Walton children and their spouses magically appeared from the crowd, securing the empty seats. Marcie, Kim, Kae, Auburn, Ramses, and Cory looked grossly out of place, even though they were dressed up as the werewolves had directed. The club was loud and crowded.
“Is it always this loud in here?” Cory yelled as she held her hands over her wolf ears.
“Yes!” Sue yelled back. “Isn’t it magnificent?”
“That’s not the word I’d use,” Marcie replied as Cory continued to wince.
There was a commotion at the doorway and the group turned to see Terry Henry Walton holding the bouncer in the air, and then he slammed the man into the wall.
“He had it coming,” Timmons said.
Cory and Ramses jumped up and forced their way through the crowd to get to the front door just as Felicity and Ted arrived.
“Put that man down!” Felicity demanded.
“This fucking skid-mark would be scrubbing decks using his toothbrush if he worked for me!” Terry declared.
“Good thing he doesn’t work for you,” Felicity said in a measured tone. “Now put him down.”
Terry jammed the bouncer downward. He landed heavily and tottered on unsteady feet. Char grabbed Terry’s arm and held it firmly.
“You’re not getting out of this by starting a fight!” she snarled. Terry’s eyes dropped. He hated seeing Char angry. He nodded and they walked inside.
Felicity held her hands up. “Well?” she bellowed.
Terry and Char both turned. Felicity pointed to the bouncer.
“Fuck that guy. He’s a total douchebag. You can have a gatekeeper who isn’t an asshole, unlike that bonehead who’s drunk on the little power he has. So fuck him. I’m not apologizing.”
Char nodded and tipped her head, signaling to Terry that it was time to join the party.
Felicity looked to Ted. He looked back in the hopes that the evening was over, and he’d be able to return to his lab.
“No,” she told him. “And you,” she said to the bouncer, “stop being a dick.”
Cory led her parents into the dance bar called Seymour Heine. “Nice entrance, Dad,” Cory yelled over her shoulder. The way ahead cleared for Terry. He walked proudly in his gigolo shoes.
“I should have known,” Char lamented.
Capture Death Snippet 01 of …
UNEDITED
QBS Shinigami, In Space, Location Unknown
The darkness was enveloping. The woman was transfixed in her nightmare, and the raw emotions roared out of the darkness and pummeled her body. She was twitching, half-frozen, half-thrashing against unfathomable pain as her raw nerves reacted to the subconscious agony.
WAKE UP, BETHANY ANNE! TOM yelled through their link.
His friend continued to thrash, unable to hear his screams as he sought to locate the places he could try to take over her neuro-transmissions.
She was beating the hell out of the bed.
>>This mattress is going to be sub-optimal after this.<< ADAM commented.
You mean it’s going to be fucked, TOM corrected.
>>You seem to be using more of Bethany Anne’s colloquialisms lately.<<
Yes, I’m cursing a lot more, TOM admitted. After this long as her closest organic friend, she has rubbed off on me. I like to think I’ve provided a modicum of restraint and mathematical understanding in exchange.
Bethany Anne’s arm swung, slamming into the bulkhead behind her head and denting it.
Well, shit. TOM mentally ground his teeth. I hate this.
>>What?<< ADAM asked.
BABA YAGA, WAKE YOUR ASS UP! TOM yelled through their connection.
The thrashing slowed over the next minute.
>>That is rather confusing and disconcerting.<< ADAM noted.
No shit! TOM sighed. I’m concerned we are losing her, ADAM.
>>She is still there, TOM, but based on my research into multiple personality disorders, she isn’t a classic case. She chose to switch to Baba Yaga, for better or worse.<<
Yeah, you can do all of the research you want, but we need to catch these seven Kurtherians or I could lose my best friend.
>>Her mental waves are coming out of REM, so she will be with us in just a moment.<<
What the hell just happened? Baba Yaga’s red eyes slammed opened and she looked around, taking in her room before speaking aloud. “Shinigami, turn on lights twenty percent.” The cabin’s lights came on and she looked at the bulkhead before looking at her fist. “Ohhhh, that left a mark.”
I’d say.
“Still wondering what happened here.” Baba Yaga turned over and looked around the room for additional damage before she made an ugly face. “This mattress is trashed.”
>>That is an understatement.<<
I’d say you probably produced the equivalent of a nuclear explosion in the Etheric. If you had been on a planet it would have been a challenge to hide the effect. I’ve no idea what it did throughout the dimension itself.
Baba Yaga reached down to the end of the mattress and started rolling up what was left. “Shame the mattress didn’t come with a warranty.”
You aren’t listening to me.
“I’m listening, TOM,” Baba Yaga admitted as she stripped the ripped sheets. “I’m just not responding to you. That’s different.” She padded out of her cabin carrying the remains of her mattress and linens. “Teach my ass to thrash around with claws on a cloth mattress.”
“We aren’t on a planet, nor are there probably any Kurtherians within a hundred thousand miles at the moment.” She took a right, and five steps later there was a place in the wall to shove the ruined mess so the ship could consume the debris and recycle it. She walked back to her cabin. “So what’s the big deal?”
TOM’s voice came over the speakers. “If you don’t handle the reasons behind these nightmares, you are going to scream loudly enough for something nasty to find us.”
Baba Yaga chuckled as she stepped back into her suite. “Like what, some creature large enough to eat our ship?”
“Yes, that’s a possibility.”
Planet N’Var, Non-allied Space, Industrial Shipping City of Cleerk, Two Blocks from the Spaceport
The alien had three legs, three eyes, three tentacles coming out of his head, and a nose about three feet long. The three eyes looked from Leath to Leath.
And counted seven.
“No way,” Jermom shook his head. One of his tentacles waved above his head, pointing at the Leath in front of him. “I cannot hide you, Levelot.”
“Why not?” asked Levelot, the prime Leath, as she looked down at the alien. “Our coin is good, even for someone like you.”
The alien looked across his desk at the prime Leath in front of him, then one of his eyes slid quickly to the left when two hushed voices hissed at each other under the hood.
Of the same Leath.
All three eyes focused back on Levelot. “I know who you are.” His other two tentacles lifted as they pointed to the seven aliens in front of him. “You were the gods of the Leath.”
“Then you should know to fear us, you insufferable little slug,” The male Leath who had introduced himself as ‘Behome’t’ snarled.
“I know why I fear the Witch of the Empire. She has killed many, including your people. Why should I fear you more when it is obvious you are running from her?”
Behome’t ground out, “We run from no alien. We are—”
Levelot cut him off. “Looking for a place to rest for a moment. Our people decided they would like to try another way, and after we allow them the chance to live with their decision for a year or two they will again be receptive to moving forward on the path which—”
A tentacle went up in a “stop” motion. “Won’t happen. You will be dead, and so will I.” He looked at the aliens. “Do you have any idea what the Witch of the Empire did back on Alchemist 441?” There was no recognition in the Leaths’ eyes as Jermom turned his head and spit into a dish on the floor before turning back.
“Tell us.” Levelot pulled her robes tighter. “Let me understand why you fear this one being so much.”
“Me?” Jermom chuckled. “It isn’t just me, Levelot. If the Empress sends her Witch after you,” his tentacles pointed at them again, “and yes, she has sent her after every one of you, you either find a way to disappear forever or you die when she finds you.”
His tentacle stabbed a couple controls on his desk and a video screen blinked into existence in an orange frame, displaying a newscast showing a bunker of some sort. Black smoke billowed into the green sky as blue flames licked the air. “This was a group of Skaine that got in the way of some of her Rangers. They called the Empress last year, and she sent the Witch.”
A tentacle stabbed the hologram. “This was a very heavily defended base that most police would have negotiated with, or called in an air strike or kinetic round to deal with.”
“Kinetic wouldn’t have worked,” Levelot murmured. “You can see the berms and support effort.”
Jermom eyed the Leath; she wasn’t as clueless as he had thought. “You’re right, it wouldn’t have.”
“So,” Levelot looked at him, “how did she rain fire on their base and destroy it?”
Jermom shut down the newscast. “From the inside. It blew up from the inside and there was only one survivor, a child, and a recording of the radio chatter as they tried to find and kill the intruder.”
“How many did she have with her?” Behome’t asked.
Jermom looked at him. “Was I stuttering?” he asked. “There was one! The Witch herself.” He turned his head and spat once again before turning back. “That’s why you seven are wanted criminals that even we don’t want to touch. You are the walking dead, and you aren’t nearly scary enough to stop the Witch.”
Silence descended on the room as those in front of Jermom absorbed what he had said.
“There is no information that cannot be helpful.” Levelot turned to her right. “Terellet, it is time to separate.”
The Leath who had spoken to itself in two voices looked from Levelot to the alien and back. “Now?”
“Yes.” Levelot turned back to the alien, whose eyes were growing larger. His tentacles had frozen in the air. “You are trying to move and have just figured out you can’t.”
The Leath female leaned over the desk. “Baba Yaga may frighten you, but she isn’t the scariest thing in the universe, Jermom. Unfortunately you will only be able to enjoy this knowledge for the next few moments while your body becomes the new home of our dear friend Gorllet.”
The Leath known as Seventh of the Seven stepped around the side of the crowded room and walked behind the desk. She took off her robe and folded it, laying it on the table.
“Goodbye, Gorllet. May you make this transfer successfully.” The Leath sat down and reached around the alien, turning its face towards hers.
“Goodbye, Teret,” the same Leath mouth uttered, albeit in a darker and more sinister voice. “I hope you recognize how patient I’ve been while you hosted me. I will endeavor to remember your graciousness.”
“So it shall be,” she remarked, again in a female voice as she leaned forward to place her lips on the alien. Her body started convulsing.
Levelot turned away from the transfer. It would either be successful and they would be eight or it wouldn’t and they would most likely be seven again, but without the burden of a mentally unstable Kurtherian.
The math didn’t work out when the imaginary number she had to introduce for Gorllet was in the calculations.
The symmetry was flawed.
As glass broke behind the desk, Levelot looked at Behome’t and Torik. “We need to do something about that Empiric Witch and her people or we will never be able to rest.”
—MORE TO COME
>>> FROM MICHAEL – Holy CRAP five days from release of Capture Death!
We are working hard to bring you the first “Kurtherian Fans Write for Kurtherian Fans” book. A set of short stories that are non-cannon releasing next month – January, 2018 (basically 4 or so weeks away.)
I really want to say I appreciate the fans helping so damned much. Without your involvement, we couldn’t bring this book to you which means we wouldn’t have been able to give a few new fans their shot at doing something I did two years ago.
Two years ago, I wrote my first book Death Becomes Her… It was on my bucket list of “shit to get accomplished” sometime before I died. With this effort of KFWFKF, maybe now we will all help some of our co-fans accomplish THEIR bucket list item.
If nothing else, it will be damned cool for me to publish fan-fiction in a way that will bring a small amount of income to each of the authors for their stories in the book. This effort is more of a ‘what can I do for fans’ effort and another Indie Outlaw type of opportunity I’m testing.
Because, why the fuck not?
LMBPN Publishing is a legitimate and medium sized publisher. These authors who make it into the anthology of fan stories will be able to point to the books and BUY THEM… Order them online and have them shipped to themselves. They work together, learn together, and bring us readers new opportunities to live in the Universe.
It’s pretty fucking awesome. I hope it changes a few lives when they see their own words in a book and realize that maybe, just maybe, they had more in them than they thought.
If nothing else, they met new friends and are enjoying the hell out of themselves!
WANT CAPTURE DEATH AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT?
If you don’t want to wait until the fan pricing change happens, and the email goes out then you can grab CAPTURE DEATH right now for $2.99 US (or different in your local currency).
Amazon pushes the books out to you at the stroke of Midnight (Pacific Time) Christmas morning.