RETRIBUTION – TAM 06 – Snippet 02 of …
UNEDITED
Chom-X9, Secret Base
The thin atmosphere on Chom-X9 was still. It had been several days since the electrical storm, and the scent of ozone remained in the air, in patches.
Shaa hurried back inside, bringing a little whirlpool of dust with him into the airlock. It was safe to be outside for a short time. Time enough to experience the vastness of space, and marvel at how far he had come. But to stay too long meant to suffer the effects of the low pressure and the lack of oxygen. Of course, being Zhyn, he was a little more robust than other species might be. But still. It wasn’t something he wanted to push.
The second door of the airlock opened and he stepped through, stamping the sand and dirt from his boots.
“Sir,” one of his subordinates acknowledged him.
Shaa nodded to him, and then made his way through the utilitarian corridors to the meeting room. He pressed the keypad and strode in.
The four engineers sitting around the conference room table stood as soon as they saw him.
“At ease, gentlemen,” he told them, his attention on other things. He wandered over to the window, looking out over the wilderness he’d just come from, as they reclaimed their seats.
“Sir, we have an update on the-” one of them began.
Shaa turned, waving his hand to silence him. “In a moment. First,” he commanded in his domineering tone, “tell me about the other entry points to the base. How secure are we, structurally, without those secondary doors having an airlock?”
A couple of the engineers looked at each other, trying to decide what to answer. They seemed to agree on who was going to answer, and the older looking one spoke up. “Sir, it is safe for now; but over time, the pressure differential, and, of course, the use of the other doors, will put the surrounding structure under stress. We should look at putting in airlocks as soon as possible.”
Shaa grunted. “Sooner than the automatic targeting defense systems for the building?”
The engineers all nodded emphatically, as if he had asked them if Zhyn needed oxygen to survive.
Shaa sighed. “Very well. Have work started on them immediately. Do one at a time, though.”
The engineer on the far right took a note to make it happen.
Shaa seemed ready to get down to business. He turned his attention to the four of them, and sat down at the table. “So, what of the anti space missiles?” he asked. “Did the storm take any of them out?”
The engineers proceeded with their update, and Shaa took a deep breath, fighting to maintain his patience in dealing with the minutia of setting up yet another base from scratch.
Gaitune-67, Base conference room
Molly breezed into the conference room, her mind still immersed in the numerous projects she had been running. Plunking her anti grav mug of hot water on the table, she closed her eyes for a second, trying to call up the relevant file for the conversation she was about to have.
Why are we here, Oz?
Zhyn mission debrief.
Right. Thank you.
…
I’m going to ask him about that damn letter, too.
You go for it, Tiger.
‘Tiger’. Ha! I’m LOL’ing in my head at you, Oz.
I’m glad I can provide some amusement.
Molly sat down, opened her holo, and hit ‘Call Connect,’ ready for when the General came on.
She sipped on her hot water trying to remember the high she would feel when she would sip on hot mocha. Alas, since her body seemed to have taken to rejecting it, it had been a while since she had truly enjoyed the stuff,. It was as though the nanocytes just didn’t want her consuming mocha – and so, under Arlene’s suggestion, she had given it up.
Life has a way of taking away the things I love the most, she mused flatly as she waited in the empty conference room.
The holo cube in the center of the table popped out and unfolded, creating a screen that opened out against the wall on the other side of the conference table.
Lance Reynolds appeared before her in his usual military attire, with a half-chewed cigar in his mouth.
“Bates!” he exclaimed. “Good to see you alive and well.”
“You too, sir,” she agreed, quickly getting to her feet and saluting.
The General returned the salute, and nodded for her to sit back down. “I hear the mission was a success?” he prompted.
“Yes, sir. We took out all targets and escaped without causalities,” Molly confirmed.
The General looked pleased. “Very good,” he gruffed. “You did a good job.”
Reynolds flicked through a holoscreen that cast a haze between him and the projection that appeared on Molly’s side of the holo feed. “Yeeees,” he said admiringly now, “looks like you did very well, according to Oz’s report.”
Molly sat motionless in her seat, watching him review the report.
Eventually he sat back in his console chair, and scratched the side of his head, and then his nose. “You won’t have heard yet, but we just got word that the responsible parties were dealt with. The Justicar called me this morning, and explained the situation. It seems their armed forces commander was going off-book without the Emperor’s knowledge or consent.”
Molly’s eye twitched a little. As the General paused to take a breath, she jumped in. “Sir, I understand this question may be beyond my remit, but… do we believe that?
The General started, and removed the cigar from his mouth.
Molly continued with her concern. “I mean, are we to believe that story, or do we have reason to be suspicious? They have a lot to gain by using this commander as a scapegoat, and then just rebuilding, unsupervised.”
Reynolds took a breath and placed the tobacco stick down on the console in front of him.
“Hmmm…” he said thoughtfully. “I took him at his word. He’s always proven to be an honorable man in all my dealings with him in the Federation.”
He paused, thinking for a moment. “But it’s a fair question. Tell you what, Bates,” he said, leaning forward again and poking at his screen. “How about I send my reports for you and your team to look over? Then you can share your thoughts with me, and include your… intuition.”
Molly’s gut tightened. She had the strange sense that she was being tested. “Of course, sir.” She hesitated, not quite knowing how to ask her follow-up question.
The General recognized her facial cues of concern, and paused, giving her space to speak.
Molly took a second and then frowned. “Am I to assume that you’re wanting something more than just a standard tactical analysis?”
The General’s face broke into a bemused smile. “Why, yes, Molly. I’m asking for your personal opinion… Based on data, but, also, I must admit, including any hunches and feelings you might get.”
He paused, considering what to tell her. “Arlene has informed me of your progress. It seems that even though your Vision Quest was cut short, you still proved to be quite the student.”
Molly felt her cheeks flushing and hoped the General didn’t notice. She couldn’t tell if she was feeling put on the spot to perform, or whether she felt proud of her new abilities. It was all just a little overwhelming. “Erm. Thank you, sir,” she said tentatively.
“I think,” she added quietly.
Lance chuckled and picked up his cigar, before poking the screen again. “Okay, those files should be with you now,” he told her. “I’d also like you to continue working with Arlene for the foreseeable future. She assures me you have talent, and that her methods are helping…” He flicked at his screen, “And that you’re still having some difficulties.”
His eyes scanned from side to side, reading other pieces of Oz’s report. “Looks like you got yourself into a hairy situation on the surface.” His forehead broke into a slight frown. “Good job Royale was there with you.”
Molly felt instantly embarrassed. She lowered her head. “Yes, sir. I got lucky. It won’t happen again.”
Lance was looking at her again. “Yes, hence my request for you to keep on with Arlene. I’ve known the woman for years. She is the best at this realm stuff…” His voice trailed off as he contemplated the direction of the meeting.
He seemed to get another thought, and so did Molly. They both started to speak at the same time, and then stopped.
“Sorry, sir. Please…” Molly gestured with her hand, allowing him to speak first. She placed her hand back in her lap, hiding it under the table, as she also tried to hide the storm of emotions that she’d been awash with since the meeting started.
The General sat forward. “I was just going to suggest that it might be worth you and your team coming over to the ArchAngel for a visit—given that you’re now part of the larger team.”
Molly’s face lit up. “Seriously?”
Lance was smiling the grin of a twenty-something who had just scored a hat trick. “Yes, of course. Besides,” he told her, “there is still much you need to learn to be effective out in the field. Plus, I have some people I want you to meet.”
Molly nodded enthusiastically. “I think we’d enjoy that. Very much.”
“Good,” the General said firmly. “I’ll have ADAM set up the details, but let’s make it sooner rather than later. I have one particular team member who doesn’t tend to stay put for long periods of time. I’d hate for you to miss him.”
“Of course, sir,” Molly replied. “We’ll make it happen.”
There was a slight pause in the conversation.
The General tilted his head. “So, what were you going to say?”
Molly remembered her trail of thought. “Ah. Yes. I was… er… I was going to ask about the letter. From Bethany Anne.”
Lance grinned a Cheshire cat grin again, clearly enjoying the situation. “Right. Yes. You’ve completed the mission. How about you have a look at it when you get here? Then you’ve got something to look forward to.”
Son of a bi-
That’s your commanding officer!
Bite me, Oz. Besides, when did you go all company-boy on me?
Oz’s chuckles reverberated in the lower edge of her skull.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Oz, not wanting the General to misinterpret the move and think she was reacting to him.
“Very good, sir,” she conceded politely. “As you wish.
The General placed his arms on the console, looking satisfied. “Good. Right, I’ll see you soon then, Bates. And see if you can’t persuade Arlene to take the trip with you. I’m sure there are folks here that she’d like the opportunity to catch up with.
He nodded his goodbye, and then clicked off the call.
—
FROM MICHAEL >>> This is IT! (Provided everything is going correctly) we will have RETRIBUTION released to Amazon tomorrow morning (Central Time US) and then we wait…
Hopefully not for HOURS 🙁
I hope your weekend is going FANTASTIC, those fans who are here in the Texas Area are dry and not hurt by the hurricane and generally speaking, life is treating you well.
For those asking, “yes” this book has the letter from Bethany Anne in it.
😉
Michael
Terry Henry Walton Short Story
Terry Henry Walton Short Story
Joseph & Petricia
Terry and Char stood on a Treasure Island shore, looking out on the bay. Ships were in various stages of coming and going. The engine droning did not detract from the peace of the scene.
“Civilization,” Terry said.
“Humanity has found its purpose again,” Char added.
“Yes. Beyond survival. That Maslow guy was pretty smart. Once the basic needs are taken care of, people can focus on other things. But there’s still a lot of scratching in the dirt to survive out there.”
Char shrugged.
The beachhead of civilization would expand outward, giving people more and more purpose. Like history had taught them, people would flock to the cities for a taste of the good life, until that good life was shared in the country, then people would emigrate from the congestion and the turmoil of the big city.
The farms were king, but they were close to the cities. They would be pushed out, farther away, as they had been before. Not yet, but someday.
Terry and Char held hands, accepting the silence of the moment, drinking in the earthly air. They weren’t sure when, but they’d soon board a ship, take it to the Annex Gate, and fly to another galaxy. They hoped to meet Bethany Anne, the Empress of the Federation. She would be busy, as Empresses tended to be, but TH could always hope. Char was more reserved. She wasn’t sure about meeting the Queen Bitch herself. Char had been the alpha bitch for over a century.
She was afraid of getting on BA’s wrong side with an errant thought. If Akio was there, he could vouch for her. She remembered her first exchange with the Queen’s Bitch.
That could have gone better. Terry had done everything except grovel at Akio’s feet.
She chuckled to herself. Terry looked at her, then returned to watching the small waves slap gently at the shore.
They both heard the sound of approaching footsteps. They were measured, but light. Terry didn’t need to turn around and look. He’d heard them before. Char sensed the etheric energy within them.
“Joseph. Petricia. Thanks for joining us,” Terry said. The Forsaken nodded, holding hands, and watching the bay.
“Have you guys gone crabbing recently?” Terry asked, finally turning to face his friends.
Petricia rolled her eyes.
“Not yet,” Joseph replied. She cocked her head and looked at him. “We may not.”
Char coughed to hide her laugh.
“I never took you for one to …” Terry fought valiantly to find the right word. Three pairs of eyes watched him intently. Char and Petricia’s looks became glares. Joseph started shaking his head. “Dammit! You never really liked crabbing, did you?”
“I have to admit that I did at first, then I didn’t, then I did again. It was nice being successful at something like that. And it wasn’t just me. Andrew was a natural. His joy at doing it was infectious. You’re right. It wouldn’t be the same going out now.”
Terry bit his lip, upset with himself for bringing it up. To Joseph, it had been only a few weeks since he last saw Andrew. To TH, it had been sixteen years since the Forsaken had died.
“We mourned a long time,” Terry started. “For Andrew, for Destiny Chase, for all those we lost. We’re finally in a position to move on. I will tell you this again, but I could not be happier that we finally found you. Alive.”
“Us, too. I’m all about being alive,” Joseph said, trying to keep it light, but his face darkened with his mood as he thought about his friend Andrew.
“Enough of this. It’s time to celebrate the next step in our journey. When Bethany Anne returns with her fleet, we’re going to board one of the ships, the FDG, both the tac teams and some of the regular warriors. I would you like you two to come with us to the stars, my friend.”
Joseph and Petricia looked at each other. She wasn’t sure. Too much had happened in too short a time. Joseph took a deep breath, closed his eyes and appreciated the moment.
When he opened his eyes again, he looked calm.
“The world descends into an age of madness,” he began in a voice free of doubt. “And an age of expansion. Like the wild west of the 1800s, people race into the great unknown of the new cities, the Wasteland to find their fortune. Alas, Earth holds no allure for one such as I, trapped between the good and the evil that is mankind.”
Joseph pulled Petricia close and hugged her tightly. His wide-brimmed hat blocked his face. Terry and Char watched as his tears splashed on the black leather covering Petricia’s shoulder. She sobbed in his arms, briefly, before stepping back, wiping her eyes with a delicate finger, and smiling at her husband.
She nodded.
“Sometimes, one must grieve in their own way. I wish I had a beer to share with you, so we could toast appropriately.”
“As do I. It’s never too early for beer, is it, Joseph?”
Char shook her head.
“We want you to come with us. Help us with whatever lies ahead,” Char added.
“Sounds good,” Petricia said.
“You heard the woman. Reserve us a window seat on the express train to the stars.”
Joseph offered his hand. Terry grabbed it and yanked Joseph into a one-armed man hug.
“I am ready to go, my man. Right now!” Terry exclaimed.
“Hang on…” Char started to say before slapping Terry’s shoulder. He laughed, picked her up, and danced on the bay shore.
“Where you go, we will follow,” Joseph whispered.
Check out Craig Martelle and his books at http://www.craigmartelle.com
RETRIBUTION TAM Book 06- Snippet 01 of …
UNEDITED
Chapter 1
Aboard the ArchAngel, Reynolds’ Office
The General was looking weary from being woken up in the middle of the night and looked bleary eyed over at Giles. “So, tell me again why you haven’t got the talisman?”
Giles scratched the back of his head, his tweed jacket opening up in a strange shape on one side, exposing his vintage-style shirt. His expression was one of sheepishness. “Er. Would you believe me if I said it involved a girl?”
Lance had wandered over to the drinks tray in his office and poured himself one. He ambled back to the sofa and sat down, his legs spread apart, resting his arms on his legs while studying the contents of his glass. “Yeah,” he sighed. “I would.”
Giles shifted awkwardly where he stood before deciding to join him on the adjacent sofa. “It’s okay, Uncle Lance. I know roughly where to find it again. It’s just going to take me some time to go get it.”
Lance looked up at him from beneath a somewhat furrowed brow. “How long?” he asked. He dropped his eyes back to the liquor, bracing himself for a ridiculous response.
Giles shrugged, and breathed deeper. “I dunno. It depends. I need to find the guy who hid it for me first…”
His voice trailed off as he realized how, to a practical man like Lance, this wasn’t a well (enough) defined parameter.
Lance didn’t react.
Instead, he just took a swig of the whiskey, draining the glass in one go. “Okay. Well, whatever it takes. I don’t like the idea of there being things out there that we don’t understand. Things that can potentially be used against us.”
He stood up and returned the glass to the tray on the other side of the room, and then turned back to Giles. “That said,” he continued, “I don’t believe there is anyone more capable of solving this puzzle than you. Let’s talk some more in the morning, but suffice to say, it looks like you have your next assignment.”
Giles stood up. “Understood, General,” he replied.
Lance nodded affably. “Go get some rest, dear boy. We’ll continue this at a decent hour.”
Giles bobbed his head and turned to leave.
“Ah, just one more thing,” Lance called after him.
Giles turned back.
“The woman, the one that was the cause of us not having this vital piece of intel…” Lance watched Giles’s reaction carefully as he spoke.
“Yeah?” Giles asked.
“Anyone I know?” The General asked.
Giles’s lips curled in a half smile, with a hint of admiration for the woman, and a touch of contempt for a certain thought about her that came to mind. “Some things are best left in the past Uncle,” he replied.
He turned again to leave, heading out of the door.
The General watched him go, shaking his head quietly to himself. “ADAM,” he called hitting his holo button. “Have my morning meetings postponed for a few hours. I’m going to sleep in to recover from this emergency meeting.”
ADAM’s voice came over the intercom. “Of course, sir. Did you not deem the conversation urgent and important?”
Lance nodded to himself. “No no, it was both urgent and important. I’m glad you woke me. And we’ll discuss our next moves in the morning when I’ve had time to process. And sleep.”
“Yes, sir. Sleep tight,” ADAM responded over the intercom.
The General wiped his tired face as he wandered across his office reception area. “You too, ADAM,” he responded.
Lance headed out of the office door, and padded down the corridor in his blue and white striped pajamas, covered over with his dark red bathrobe. He knew to his crew, he would look like a crazy man wandering around in his nightclothes, but most of them knew him. They knew that he was far from crazy. And that he didn’t care what they thought.
Just then, an ensign rounded the corner. “Good night, sir,” he chirped amicably, only just refraining from a salute — on account of the General not being in uniform.
“Good night, Thom,” the General muttered as he continued down the corridor, back to his quarters where he had left Patricia sleeping.
Gaitune-67, Safe house, Molly’s conference room
Paige gazed idly into thin air as she mused about the future. “I dunno,” she said wistfully. “When we have enough sales, I think we could have a few employees, maybe based on Ogg, who might want to take over the marketing.”
Maya grinned. “Bored with the marketing already?”
Paige shook her head, quickly returning to the conversation. “No. Not at all. I just want to make sure that I’m focused on my job, as well. I don’t want to leave the adventures we have here. Not for fame or fortune.”
Maya grinned. “Well, it’s good that the kinds of things you need in the business are things that you don’t need to do yourself.”
Paige grinned. “Yeah, especially now we have the perfect formula nailed – pun intended,” she said chuckling. “Molly’s done all the hard work,” she added glancing over at Molly, who was immersed in her holo.
Paige and Maya had stopped talking and were looking at her. Molly became aware of the change in the room, and looked up at them. “Sorry… did you…?”
Her eyes were on them, but she was still absent.
Paige laughed. “It’s okay. We were only mentioning the work you did for the nail formula.”
“Oh, right…” she acknowledged. Seeming to get another thought, she turned to Maya. “Anything useful on those Chaakwa files, then?” she asked.
The girls had been holed up in Molly’s favorite conference room all morning, working through their various things, and catching up with the routine since their mission defeating the Zhyn.
Most of the crew was pretty tired. It had been exciting, but also intense for all involved. Even two days later, Molly was happy to take it easy and just catch up on rest. Joel would have them running circuits and sparring the crap out of each other soon enough.
Maya closed her holo to give Molly her full attention. “Yeah. She has a bunch of leads that we can run down.”
Molly frowned a little. “Leads that she couldn’t pursue herself?”
Maya bobbed her head from side to side. “I’m not sure. Some. I don’t think she had the access she needed. Not the kind that Oz and Pieter can secure for us…”
“And?” Molly pressed, sensing some hesitation in Maya’s voice.
Maya narrowed her eyes, thinking. “Well, I have a funny feeling that she was holding back. Almost like she didn’t want people to know she was still looking into it.”
Molly stared off into empty space for a moment, before scratching the side of her face and scrunching up her nose. “Well, I guess I can understand that. I mean, if The Syndicate were anything to go by, who knows what lengths these particular goons were going to in order to keep themselves protected? It wouldn’t surprise me if they were tapping her holos, and… worse.” Molly’s voice drifted off again, before she gave a small shudder at the thought.
“Anyway, keep at it,” she instructed a little more brightly. “I’d like us to get these fuckheads dealt with so that Chaakwa can get on with her life in peace.”
Maya nodded. “Sure. On it, boss,” she affirmed looking back down at her holo.
Isn’t it time you started moving?
What for?
Your meeting with the General.
Oh, shit. Fuck.
Molly closed her holoscreens hurriedly. “Shit, I’d forgotten I have a debriefing with the General. I’ve got to go…” she explained quickly to the girls.
Paige and Maya looked up, semi-stunned by the flurry of activity from Molly’s direction. In a matter of seconds, she was packed up and out of the door. “I’ll catch you later,” she called back to them.
The door bounced closed behind her, and didn’t quite catch— opening slowly, and then settling ajar. Paige and Maya looked at each other.
“See what I mean?” Maya urged.
Paige shook her head. “Nooo…” she said slowly. “It’s just the same old Molly. Living in her head.”
Maya shook her head. “No,” she insisted. “Didn’t you see how she shuddered when she was thinking of what Chaakwa might be going through?”
Paige frowned. “So?”
“So,” pressed Maya, “I think she’s empathizing. You know, putting herself in other peoples’ shoes. At least, in terms of her imagination.”
Paige looked at Maya suspiciously. “That’s not what you’re getting at though, is it?”
Maya smiled gently. “Okay, you got me. No, honestly, if it were just that, it would be a feat of a personality shift, no doubt… I think it’s something more.”
Paige’s eyes lit up as she started to understand. “You mean like they were saying about her being able to tune in to other peoples’ energies.”
Maya pursed her lips together and nodded. “I think so.” She kept nodding. “I think she’s feeling how people feel, and then having her own reaction to it; like a…”
Paige smirked. “A human being?”
Maya grinned. “Exactly!”
Paige clapped her hands together in childish excitement, and her motions dissipated the holographic screens that had been arranged in front of her. “So, you think that she and Joel will finally get together, then?”
Maya grinned, and started back in on her work. “Let’s not get too carried away. I mean, it is still Molly in there, after all.”
Paige took the hint that the conversation was over, and set about retrieving her closed screens, still smiling excitedly to herself.
FROM MICHAEL >>> This might be in the new Author notes…or old ones, I’m getting confused!
Ell is on Zoom, a version of Skype (Video Call). I’m showing her three fingers (as in, I counted something three times.) If you read Ell’s comment’s in a British Accent, it is ALL the more humorous… 😉
Saved by Valor – Snippet 1
Saved by Valor, Reclaiming Honor Book VII
By Justin Sloan and Michael Anderle
Snippet 1
Unedited
Over the Atlantic
Flying in an air ship back to Europe was definitely something Valerie never thought she would be doing. Yet, here she was, on a ship with some of her closest friends. Their mission: to bring a boy back to his family and see what they could do about a group of bandits who had been taking people from their homes and collaborating with the pirates of Toro.
The trip was infinitely more glorious than the journey that had brought her to New York. Every time she passed the cargo hold, she remembered hiding out behind crates in that other ship with Sandra. That’s where they had met Diego, the Werecat who had sense stolen Sandra’s heart. Soon they would be a family, and Sandra had threatened Valerie to not miss the baby’s birth.
She planned on returning in time, but it wasn’t exactly like she could rely on plans in this crazy world.
Now she had the captain’s quarters, as Captain Reems had insisted. Cammie and Royland had come along, and were taking care of the boy, Kristof, in the only other room, leaving the captain to bunk with the rest of the crew.
He was still welcome, of course, and at the moment was sitting at the desk while Valerie sketched a map into the bulkhead with her vampire nails. She could have used a blade, sure, but it would have dulled the blade. With Michel’s power surging through her, those nails were dam powerful.
“So you’re saying we go north of the island?” the captain said, pointing to the section she had just carved.
She took a step back, looking it over. Basically, she had created a map that showed the coast of America and Canada, with her best estimate of where New York, Prince Edward Island, and the Golden City were. She also made little marks farther to the left, to indicate Cleveland and then Chicago, but didn’t bother making the distance to scale.
Then there was the ocean. She remembered how they had sailed from France, and Reems had made a couple of journeys to Spain in his time, so together they had been able to piece that together.
But everything north of there was conjecture. They knew there was land north of the path their journey from France took, because they had seen it on their way. It wasn’t like she hadn’t met people who had made their way across the water, immigrants from England, Scotland, and Ireland, so she assumed that had to be that. She wrote those three on the landmass, but had no idea how large it was.
They were currently over a landmass that she thought was likely either Iceland or some unknown islands north of Scotland. So far the journey had taken them two days—two days of smooth sailing through the skies, two days of sailors telling stories, singing songs, and even a bit of dancing one evening.
She had been quite surprised at the pipes on the one named William, but that boy loved to sing. It was nice, because that wasn’t something they seemed to get much of. She certainly hadn’t back with the vampires of Old France, except for one night she remembered going out and watching a family and wishing she had that.
Then Sandra had come along and, in a way, she had her family.
“The island could be small or damn huge, I’m not sure.” She took her pointer nail and made a large X to the northeast of the island. “And our destination is somewhere up here, to my understanding. In a land once called Norway.”
A knock sounded from the door.
“Enter,” Valerie called out.
Martha came in, her face pale. Considering the fact that she had been a pirate of sorts, sailing and working in the open air, which gave her skin a tanned, leathery quality, pale was saying something.
“The hell’s going on out there that’d make you look like a ghost?” Valerie asked.
“Storm,” Martha replied, glancing over at Reems.
Valerie turned to him now too. “Isn’t it your job to steer us clear of storms?”
“My job is to get us to X on that map.” He stood, putting on his leather vest and then a broad captain’s hat. “The crew needs to warn me of storms before it’s too late, so that I can then get us through. I hope that’s what is happening here?”
Martha gave him an apologetic shrug. “Seems the crew isn’t exactly used to the skies this far east. I mean, really the best crews, the ones that went out this way, they were all with the Prince, and likely died with the prince. We’re sailing with the best we’ve got, and that ain’t saying much.”
“Spare me the excuses,” Reems said, moving for the door. He paused, looking over his shoulder. “I imagine we’ll need all the help we can get it, if it’s bad enough to give Martha here the shakes.”
Martha roller her eyes, but sure enough, her hands were shaking. She quickly hid them behind her back.
“You weren’t ever really much of a sailor, where you?” Valerie said, grabbing up her own hat and strapping on a sword, just in case. For all she knew, they might find air ships out there with pirates waiting for the attack. Maybe Europe had evolved with pirates who controlled the storms just for this purpose, for all she knew.
“There were those of us on the island who sailed, and those who ran things,” Martha replied, following them out through the door and up the darkly-lit stairwell. “Since the running side of things required less killing and all that, guess which I chose.”
“Good for you then,” Valerie said. “Bad for us right now though.”
“If I could travel through time, I’d be sure to go kill a bunch of innocents for our better chance of survival right now.”
“Hmm,” Valerie paused at the top step, looking back with a smile. “Better to use it to go back a few seconds and decide against snark, so I don’t have to teach you a lesson.”
Martha’s eyes went wide.
“Joking,” Valerie said with a laugh. “The day I start hurting people for speaking their mind is the day I’m no better than those I’m out here to put down.”
“Good for me, because right now I’m feeling a lot of snark.”
“Right now I’m feeling you two need to shut up and follow me,” Reems shouted, opening up the set of doors that led to the deck.
Valerie nodded in mock submission and followed with a quick glance to Martha like, You made daddy upset.
When she saw the storm, however, all the humor vanished.
She might have been a damn powerful vampire, able to heal from most wounds, able to walk in the sunlight, and even kind of able to read minds. Well, she could sense emotions, anyway, and right now a hell of a lot of fear was floating her way.
The fear made sense. A bit of it might have even been originating with her. Hell, if this ship went down or she was blown overboard, she imagined she would be able to swim for a long time, but the freezing waters would be damn uncomfortable.
And there was a chance, she thought, that she might not make it. It wasn’t like she had ever tested herself to that extent.
On deck, men and women were securing barrels of food that had been out for consumption, bringing them below deck or securing what they had to with rope. Many were heading into their sleeping quarters, while two stood at the helm with their arms spread, hollering into the wind.
“Reems,” Valerie shouted.
Her voice must’ve carried over the harsh wind, because Reems stuck his head out and said, “Yes?”
“See to it that those idiots don’t go flying overboard.”
“You got it!” he shouted, voice barely audible, and then ran over to see to his men.
Valerie supposed it had to have happened sooner or later, considering what good luck they’d had so far.
The captain had just course-corrected and they were steering clear of the storm when a loud CRACK came from behind and they spun to see what had hit them.
Oh, no. In the chaos to control their own ship, they hadn’t been paying enough attention to where Captain William’s ship was, with Cammie and the others.
No more confusion about where it was anymore, because it hull had just struck their balloon, rending a massive tear in it.
“ALL HANDS!” Captain Reems shouted, pointing to the hooks and ropes used for boarding other ships in their pirate days. “Abandon ship!”
FROM JUSTIN >>> I can’t believe I have seven books going already! The real fun starts once they are on the ground, but… we’re not there yet 🙂 Hey, good news – nobody tried to steal my computer this time around! It has been a relatively calm writing period unless you count those sleepless nights from kids waking up way too much. I think they can sense the new baby coming and are trying to remind us that sleep is a luxury we don’t always get. Sigh.
I have some really cool art work coming for my new scifi solo series coming in September, so I can’t wait to bring that to you all. It’s going to be a hectic couple of months though, so if you find me passed out at some cafe or on a street corner, just toss a quarter in the hat and tell me to get back to writing, haha.
Check out Justin Sloan and his other books at http://www.justinsloanauthor.com
Might Makes Right, Snippet 4 of …
Leath System, Sanctified Ground, City of Truth
Torik, the Third of the Seven, looked at Supreme Fourth Maliki and asked, “How are our efforts to drive them from the Testing System going?”
“Stalemate, Your Holiness.” Maliki answered.
Torik nodded. It was the same answer he had received three times before. Now, with their most recent effort a week in the past, it was just another example of a waste of their resources.
His role was to handle resource management for the efforts to elevate—and incidentally modify—this race. The actual killing of participants in the Testing was designed to facilitate Prime’s effort to genetically enhance the Leath as a people. That the Leath believed their clan were gods was to be expected.
Because they effectively were. Power and ability to change whole races and worlds did put them into the godhood bracket. Clan K’gurth, and specifically their branch, were the future of Clan Phraim-‘Eh. Now they would explain to those who had cast them out why they reveled in the purity of Chaos.
The pure math that predicted the future.
“I will take the information you provide and consult with the Seven. We will have instructions before the next Testing for you to implement, Supreme Fourth.”
The Leath military head bowed and left the holy location. He always felt exalted when he spoke to any of the Holinesses. But why would he expect any less when speaking with gods?
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Military Bases Development Offices
Kevin was working at a large table, space displayed by a holographic projector above. Stephanie, beside him, was arguing with him as Bethany Anne, Lance and Bartholomew entered the Base Development offices.
Neither of them turned as the three started talking softly between themselves.
“Do they realize we are here?” Bethany Anne asked her father.
“Doubt it,” Lance answered. “Occasionally Kevin would get into arguments back in Colorado having to do with the base, and he could become laser-focused on the situation. Especially,” he nodded at Stephanie, “if it was a spirited debate over engineering versus proper base arrangement.”
The trio listened as the two deliberated the merits of the latest project they had been assigned.
“That,” Kevin pointed to a rather large asteroid and highlighting the huge chunk of rock, “is not going to work well for defense purposes. There are too many odd angles, and it would take a goddamned lifetime to install enough protective emplacements to cover all of the—”
Stephanie, the half-Japanese engineer Bethany Anne and her father had hired years ago, wasn’t budging an inch. “We can cut the peaks down!”
Bethany Anne thought she noticed Stephanie’s hand twitch as if she were considering empasizing the statement with a slap to the back of Kevin’s head.
“Why would we want to spend the time cutting this shit down,” he shot right back, “if we have three other selections, each of which is better?”
“I swear, If I have to force-feed you the reports on the mineralogy reports for options 21, 88 and 221B I will do it, page by page.”
Kevin looked at her, “I’ve read them. What I don’t understand is why the percentages matter, since the numbers don’t seem to be that far apart.”
Stephanie stopped a moment, mouth open. Closing her mouth, her eyes narrowed. “You read them?”
“Hell yes, I read them. I’ve learned to make sure I am prepared. Are you?”
Stephanie ran her tongue around her lips a moment. “May I?” She nodded to the display and Kevin waved a hand, offering her the opportunity to take over. She stepped up and touched the four rocks hovering above the table in the display, then spoke. “Reynolds, please get rid of everything but these selections and then provide me the top five types of rock which make them up by percentage, listing below each.”
The three watched, entranced, as the two continued their discussion.
“Left is my selection labeled one, the other three are options. Now, the difference,” she swiped a couple of controls, causing small space ship animations to start attacking all four rocks, “is what can create an unstable dissonance in the core of each asteroid. You will notice that Asteroid 21 has a dissonance frequency similar to Asteroid 88.” She pushed up the controls as Kevin watched, mesmerized.
“Granted, this isn’t the most likely event, but should someone attack 221B using two asteroids at points,” she lifted a hand to indicate, “A here, and B over there, the asteroid will crack. There is a small problem with it.” She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest. “We could engineer a method of reducing the risk.”
“But why take the chance,” Kevin finished. He was chewing on the inside of his lip, deep in thought. “Ok, you are saying it’s a small chance, and I agree. But,” he nodded to the asteroid she had listed as her first choice, “how are we going to get that hunk of rock prepared in a timeline that works worth a damn?”
“En route,” Stephanie told him.
“En route?” Bethany Anne asked, startling the two in front of her.
“Damn,” Kevin put a hand over his heart, “don’t scare a man like that, Bethany Anne. He’s likely to have a heart attack and need mouth-to—ooof.” Kevin finished, Stephanie having punched him in the ribs.
“If you don’t focus, I’ll give you mouth-to-mouth.”
“That was my intent,” he interrupted.
“You didn’t let me finish!” Stephanie eyed him.
“That’s right,” Kevin agreed, “and that is because whatever you have to say will be infinitely less enjoyable than my version.”
Bethany Anne wondered how, after all of these years, these two maintained both a working and a personal relationship. Stephanie preferred to keep the two separate, and Kevin preferred to annoy her.
Bethany Anne would have thought the ex-Army man would have been all prim and proper, but not so much.
“En route.” Stephanie ignored her husband. “My thought is we figure out the best solution for the external design for the mobile ESD and then emplace a field like we have here on the Meredith Reynolds to push attackers into a defined funnel, moving them away from locations we are concerned about.”
“To some killing fields.” Kevin nodded. “How long would that take?”
“Depends on how many and where,” Stephanie temporized. “If we can agree where the ESD beam will be set up, then we can—”
“Have we have heard enough?” Lance asked the others. “I know these two can continue like this for a while.”
“I’m good,” Admiral Thomas admitted. “I think they will have a satisfactory solution…sometime.”
Kevin put up a hand to pause Stephanie and turned to the three. “Give us three days.”
“Two,” Stephanie added after him. “He’s padding our effort here. We will have the core worked out by tonight.”
“The morning,” Kevin corrected. “She won’t be sure about her answers until she has slept and confirmed she agrees in the morning.”
Stephanie paused a moment before nodding. “Yeah, he’s right. Assuming I’m good in the morning, we’ll do the calculations and have our temporary solution to you before noon.”
Bethany Anne nodded. “How long until we are functional?”
Kevin and Stephanie looked at each other. “Twenty-four months?” he asked, and she nodded her agreement.
“Good.” Bethany Anne smiled. “You have eighteen.” Reaching out, she grabbed the two men and they disappeared.
A moment later Stephanie broke the silence. “We didn’t need twenty-four months.” She eyed her husband. “Why did you tell her that?”
“Because,” Kevin replied, “I know Bethany Anne. We really need what, about twenty months?”
She nodded.
“If we had told her twenty, she would’ve given us fifteen,” he finished.
FROM MICHAEL >>> we are one (1) day away from releasing Might Makes Right! WOOHOO 🙂
One of my sons is now ensconced at University of Texas (Arlington) and the second will be at Texas A&M (Texarkana) on Thursday…
Then, the nest is empty.
It’s feeling very weird, and very melancholic at times. I’m glad I’m not trying to write at the moment, because the emotions are are pretty up and down.
However, I’m not the first parent feeling these things, nor will I be the last I’m sure (and I hope – I’ve no desire for mankind to go down the tubes right now.)
Busy with boys birthday today, but we will be releasing to Amazon tomorrow (US – For my Australian fans 😉 )
Michael
Terry Henry Walton Short Story
Wednesday Terry Henry Walton Short Story
Terry’s Personal Journal – Waiting
I’m sitting here cooling my heels while Akio is searching for Michael, joining him to clear the riff-raff from the Earth, something that I was supposed to be doing. Then again, from what I heard of Denver, he’s conducting more of a scorched earth kind of thing. I’m not sure I could ever go that far.
But the Dark Messiah can. I’ll let him take care of that part. Me? I am happy with what we did with what we had.
It’s been so long, but we have such good people. I think they hold me up as much as I hold them.
We heard from Sarah Jennifer. She met Michael Nacht. I’m glad I hadn’t heard that until later. She survived the encounter and even earned his respect. I could not be more proud. She said she’s also getting married.
I’m not sure how I feel about that. It turned out well for Cordelia. Ramses is a good guy, but he didn’t mourn the loss of his parents as I expected. In fact, he never said a word, not at the funeral or afterwards. I need to talk to Cory about that, see if there is anything I can do. He got lost in the shuffle.
Do for others as you wish they’d do unto you, or something like that.
Kaeden and Marcie are still torn at the loss of Mary Ellen. William is not doing well either. It rips my heart to see them crushed as they are. It is the tragedy of life as seen through our eyes, the eyes of the seemingly immortal. Mary Ellen and William refused to go into the pod doc and get nanocytes. They wanted to live a natural life.
I respect their decision, but I don’t have to be happy about it. Kae and Marcie have carried me over the years, giving me reasons to keep trying to do better. Char and I both. We could not be more proud of our kids. I need to tell them that more often.
I get caught up in stuff, focused on the next mission. In the past one-hundred and fifty years I have learned some patience. I won’t tell Char this, but I can’t wait. We’re going to space!
I never dreamed of being an astronaut. I like keeping my feet on the ground, but the complexities of space combat! I have zero knowledge of that stuff because there is nothing written on earth that is based on actual experience. I can’t wait! Huzzah!
Shhh. Don’t tell Char.
I’ve been making the rounds since I’m here and not in space…
Kailin is the apple of his mother’s eye. Kimber and Auburn are happy that he was boosted. They won’t have to watch him grow old. Sylvia came by her nanocytes naturally and is helping Kailin with Walton Industries.
It’s kind of embarrassing that they called it what they did. Sure. I have an ego, but I’d also like to think that I’m more humble than that. At least it isn’t painted on the sides of the dirigibles in letters fifty feet high.
Ted and Felicity seem to like their new life as patrons of sky travel. They move about the country in luxury with servants and local goods, banquets and parties. Had I lived back then (I’m old, but not that old!), it would remind me of the Great Gatsby era. I would have never thought that Ted would like it, but his engines are making things happen.
I wonder when they’ll go to Europe? Things are still a little hot out that way. Michael is there, somewhere. Just follow the trail of destruction. I wonder if I’ll get to meet him?
I’d also love to see those pistols he’s carrying. Jean Dukes specials? Adjustable power with five-thousand rounds? Sumbitch! I gotta get me some of that!
If he lets me. I wonder what one of those would do to a spaceship? Vacuum has a way of leveling the playing field. All you have to do is make a hole and let space take care of the squishy things inside the ship.
I can’t wait to go to space! Shit, sorry. Don’t tell Char.
Where was I? Sylvia. I think she’s going to go her own way. She is a free spirit. Maybe she’ll steal that young man from Portland. Not so young anymore, but the pod doc seems to be back up to speed, although Akio and Yuko aren’t in Japan right now. They are looking for Michael. I expect they’ll find him soon.
I don’t know if Magnus Tolliver would consider getting boosted or not. I’d support it, if that’s what Sylvia wanted.
All my children and grandchildren are precious to me. I would do anything for them.
Except their dishes. Where did we go wrong in that we raised kids who will do anything to save the world, but they’re slobs? How could I raise a slob? I’m not. Char’s not, although she does leave her clothes laying around. I can’t complain about that. The hottest woman on the whole planet is in love with me and is perfectly happy to walk around our home naked.
Baseball. Ice Water. Cricket.
I miss Gene. He acted like a goof sometimes, well most of the time, but damn, he was such a good guy. We tore him away from his life alone, forced a solitary creature into being a member of the pack. He was always an outsider until Fu came along.
Fu! She saved him. Thank God she got boosted. And then those kids of theirs. Anastasia is cute as a button, but her strength is in her community of spirit. Her and her mother are bringing peace to a violent world. Gene and Bogdan are pacifying all of the Crimea. From the name, one would think that crime would run rampant, but not with Gene and his family there.
Criminals be warned. Your days are numbered. Here’s to you my massive Werebear friend! I’d love to clink a glass of beer with you, but you don’t appreciate it like I do. You have a tendency to chug it and then make a face.
Water for you. I know you don’t want to go to space with us. Hold the fort for when we get back. Do the best you can, and we will see you again.
Aaron and Yanmei are more open to going. I hope they decide to come. They help bring peace to Char and me. Just like Cory. How did we get blessed with people who are so well grounded?
And there’s nothing like sparring with a kung-fu Weretiger! They got skillz!
I like that Kurtz guy. He’s solid. Reminds me of Boris. I miss those guys. All of them, but it is the torment of the immortals. Be careful what you ask for, you may get it.
I don’t want to die! And Mother Earth replies, “Okay, but you’ll have to watch everyone else die instead.”
I digress again. You can see what’s on my mind. I think Sue, Timmons, Shonna, and Merrit are ready to go. I wonder about Ted. He would love the challenges of interstellar engineering. What would Felicity do trapped on a spaceship?
That will be an interesting conversation.
There’s no way I’m asking those two vixens, Annika and Meta. They are plying the bars as the most popular dancers in all San Francisco. I think they’re trying to single-handedly take on the entire male population of San Francisco. I heard Werewolves had voracious appetites, but these two are wild.
I’m not sure who else to ask to go. Cory and Ramses aren’t sure, but the other kids are. Kim, Kae, Marcie, and Auburn refuse to be left behind. Auburn is in for a shock, I think.
No beef in space.
That sucks for me, too, and Char. I hope they have beer. Or at least cookies. How to make space travel suck most heinously – no cookies. Or beer. Or steak. What are we going to eat? Rehydrated food packs? Soylent Green?
I guess it doesn’t matter. We’ll eat whatever they offer us, because, SPACE!
I can’t wait.
Don’t tell Char.
Find out more about Craig Martelle, his books, and his life in Alaska at http://www.craigmartelle.com
Might Makes Right – Snippet 03 of xxx
UNEDITED
CHAPTER TWO
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Guardians’ Office
Peter looked at his two subordinates, and then at Todd and his two. “Guys, we need more recruits. We can’t just shanghai people willy-nilly into the Guardians.”
He leaned back. “It’s time we started accepting others if we are going to implement our own version of Death Dealers to another planet.”
The sucked-in breaths from around the table amused Peter as they realized who he was talking about. “She isn’t that strange, Tommy,” Peter told him.
“Sir,” he nodded, “all due respect, she is fucking frightening.”
“Well then,” Todd told them, “I guess it’s a good thing she’s on our side, isn’t it?”
The four men and two women nodded their agreement.
“Ok,” Peter asked the group, “who’s volunteering to ask Gyada if she is ready to take point again?”
“I think that kind of risk belongs at the top.” Todd smirked, looking at Peter. “Besides, you heal quicker.”
He eyed his friend. “Yeah, I figured as much. Just seeing if I had any abnormally courageous individuals here.”
“Sir, she isn’t going to hurt you, right?” Tina , his second, asked.
Peter shook his head. “No, she’s actually very pleasant. However, I can tell you she is Walking Death and I’m the one who is going to potentially be sending her down a road that is going to cause her pain. And frankly,” he looked at them all, “I hate to ask a friend to go there.”
“But needs must when the devil is driving,” Todd quoted.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Open Court, Level Seven
Sarah recognized the three who appeared in front of her office and a whisper escaped her lips. “Empress?”
She was surprised when the Empress turned towards her. “Sarah!” She wore a smile.
Sarah’s internal voice was screaming, Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! She’s coming in here!
Sarah stood up from her desk and stepped out from behind it, calling to her son over her shoulder. “Johnny?”
Bethany Anne winked at Sarah as the little boy came out of the back of her office. He was playing with two model spaceships, using his hands to fly them around. “PEW PEW, TAKE THAT YOU SKAINE SLAVERS!” He twisted the first ship in his hand, then flew it into the wall and bounced it off, dropping it with a shouted, “KABLOOIE!”
He bent down to pick up the ship and stepped forward as he looked up. His mouth opened and he couldn’t speak.
He stared at the Empress, who was smiling down at him with a glint of humor in her eyes. “Hello, Johnny.”
Beside her, Sarah surreptitiously wiped her eye. This woman was everything she could ever wish for in a monarch, and then some.
About three months before, she and Johnny had been guests on a tour of the ArchAngel II, the preeminent ship in the Etheric Empire’s fleet, conducted by the head of the Empress’ Rangers, Barnabas himself.
Sarah was a single mom, and she hadn’t told Johnny much about the military side of the Etheric Empire. The fact that Johnny’s dad had been killed in an operation back in human space was all she could share before her heart folded in on itself. She didn’t hate the military; it was just too hard for her to talk about it.
Even to her son. Someday, she had promised herself, she would tell the young man all about his father—just not that moment. The someday moment hadn’t yet to occured.
Until Barnabas had stopped in front of her little business and rented a chair from her son.
The visit to the mighty ArchAngel il had captured Johnny’s attention, and she could see Earl’s, her husband’s, blood flow through her son’s veins as he soaked it all up. God, she felt like she had let Earl down.
But it was so damned hard.
Sarah had thought the tour would be a fast thirty minutes, but Barnabas seemed to know exactly what Johnny wanted to see and he found the right people each time to explain things to the young boy. Her heart broke as she realized Barnabas was providing the kind of detailed explanation Earl would have given their son had he been alive.
He had always been the teacher, no matter the subject.
About an hour into the tour Barnabas had turned to her and pursed his lips. “Sarah,” he had asked, “may I show Johnny a video we have on the corporal?”
Sarah’s mouth had hung open for a few seconds. “You have footage?” she had finally asked. She had quickly nodded her agreement before Johnny figured out whatever Barnabas had decided to surprise him with.
She noticed when Barnabas reached up to his collar and spoke softly. A full hour later the three of them entered a small theater with a table at the bottom. They took seats in the bottom row as a voice greeted them.
“This is ArchAngel. I have a video of your father, which ADAM compiled at the direction of the Empress for you to see, young Master Brunner.”
Johnny turned to his mom, his eyes glistening. “Dad?” he whispered, and she nodded.
“Would you like to see it now, or would you like to wait until you are older? The Empress says it is your choice,” the AI asked him.
“Please?” he asked. “Please, ArchAngel, Empress?”
It wasn’t a short video. It ran for over twenty minutes, showing Earl first as a young man going to college to be a teacher, before he received that fateful phone call.
One that informed him his friend Samantha had been killed in a terrorist attack in France. He had told Samantha’s mother that he understood and appreciated her call.
He slowly hung up the phone and grabbed his keys. He didn’t have class for another four hours, but his classes had become irrelevant to him now anyway.
He never went back to that college. Rather, he left his apartment and went to the Navy/Marines recruiting station. Standing in front of the two doors, Navy to the left, Marines to the right, he looked at their posters. Pressing his lips together, he realized he wanted…no, he needed to be on the sharp end of the stick.
He had turned right into the Marines’ office and never looked back.
Two years later, in a nowhere little dirt town protecting a group of civilians who probably didn’t appreciate his support, Earl’s vehicle ran over an IED and in the blast that tore up their vehicle, he lost a leg. When he woke up on a stretcher, he could see his sergeant’s face and knew something was wrong.
“All I want to know,” he ground out through the pain that the meds were nowhere near taking care of, “is can I go back?” A moment later he pressed his eyelids together as the sergeant shook his head.
A knock on his apartment door a year later changed his life. It was an invitation to visit TQB’s medical ship, which was based in France at that time. He hadn’t been sure it wasn’t a joke, but thank God he had taken them up on the offer.
When they told him he could get back into the game again against the foes of Earth, he couldn’t agree fast enough.
Sarah had been his physical therapist, and had gone with him to France. When he had healed, he asked if she would marry him.
She had questioned him before answering, and he had admitted that he wouldn’t have asked her when he wasn’t a whole man. She had told him he was beyond stupid for thinking something like that would matter, then given him an emphatic yes.
His story, including the tale of his lost leg, unfolded on the screen to their son’s rapt attention.
An eternity and a few seconds later the film ended and the lights brightened. During the film Johnny had slid out of his seat and sat on his mom’s lap as she wiped tears away, reliving the love she still felt for Earl.
Johnny had given her hugs during the video to comfort her, and she had returned them.
In the aftermath of the footage the two of them were blankly watching the white screen. The next second they both were shocked when the Empress and John Grimes appeared in front of them.
Johnny couldn’t figure out which of the two he had wanted to look at first as John walked towards him, “You can handle this, Johnny. Your dad’s story is incredible. You were damned lucky to have had him, both of you.” He nodded to Sarah, then stepped out of the room to take up his position outside.
That left only the Empress, who had once again smiled at him.
Just like she was smiling at him right now as he clutched the two forgotten spaceships in his hands.
“Are you playing Rangers?” Bethany Anne asked him.
Johnny nodded.
“Well, Barnabas is going to be happy to hear that,” she told him, then winked. “But I’ve brought two other people who want to make sure they get a word with you before you make any choices for your future, young man.” She stepped aside and waved to the two men behind her. “Let me introduce you to General Lance Reynolds, Military Commander of the Etheric Empire, and Admiral Thomas, Space Navy Commander of the Etheric Empire.”
Both men smiled and they playfully jostled each other to be the first to shake his hand.
Johnny stepped forward, moved the ship to his left hand and reached up. “I’m honored to meet you both, sirs. My name is Johnny.”
Sarah had groped to try and find some tissues as she watched. When someone handed her a handkerchief, she used it to wipe her tears. Realizing it was soft, she saw that it was made of silk. She turned to see a young-looking woman in a purple dress, wisdom in her eyes, smiling at her. “Keep it. I bought it for Lance, but I think maybe it would be an excellent marketing tool to offset Barnabas’ influence.”
And she was right.
FROM MICHAEL>>> Hello! This snippet was encouraged by Robert Tonkiss on the Facebook Page.
So, we have the 10th (and final) Terry Henry Walton Chronicles book written with / by Craig Martelle released yesterday, but actually on the Amazon servers early this morning for sale (click here if you want to grab it at $0.99 pricing).
It rather sucked, actually.
BUT, all of you fans who rallied to the cause helped us get through the mess with our own sanity in check, as well. So, thank you for helping a couple of us make it through the day. Martha Carr (Oriceran Universe) was re-releasing something on her own account and said she seemed to be stuck, as well.
So, it wasn’t just us.
Now, for those who were freaking out with Ell Leigh Clarke’s comment on her FB Page, she is totally just being mean 😉
So, go ahead and go back and release the kraken on her 😉
Days away from releasing Bethany Anne!
Revolution Audiobook Release!
Revolution: The Rise of Magic, Book 4 Audiobook
“No matter what,” she said, “tomorrow ends with blood.”
Adrien’s master plan has been revealed and the battle lines are drawn. With the ashes of the Boulevard still hanging in the air, Hannah and team must race to prepare their ragtag army before the full might of Arcadia descends upon them.
While Karl works to whip his troops into shape, Parker invades the belly of the beast, and Hannah and Ezekiel head on diverging paths to seek help.
They’ve made a stand, but can they win the war?
Revolution brings the first arc of The Rise of Magic series to an explosive end, finally setting right decades of old wrongs and answering the question of good versus evil.
It’s an action-packed story, filled with heart, humor, and the never-ending pursuit of justice.
Rebellion Audiobook Release!
Rebellion: The Rise of Magic, Book 3
We’re thrilled to announce that the audiobook of Rebellion: The Rise of Magic, Book 3 is now available.
When you sow tyranny, you better be prepared to reap the rebellion.
Hannah and Ezekiel dig deeper into the corruption of the Noble Quarter, and the sick truth of Adrien’s master plan becomes clear. They need to call upon the diverse group of those loyal to the cause in order to stop the Chancellor’s reign of terror – before any more innocents die by his hand. Meanwhile, Karl and Parker enlist a powerful ally to help them battle against the Prophet’s lies, and Gregory prepares for something far more dangerous than battle – a formal ball at his parent’s house.
Sometimes, rebels have all the fun.
Might Makes Right – Snippet 02 of xxx
UNEDITED
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Guardians’ Workout Area
Ashur dodged to his left, jaws clamping on the wolf’s hind leg. The two of them arrested their momentum as Ashur kept his jaws locked, and it felt like his teeth were about to be ripped out of his jaws.
The two canine bodies slammed to the floor. Over at the side, Peter winced at the sound.
“That had to hurt,” Todd commented, followed by Peter’s nod of agreement.
“Hold!” Peter called. “Change, Tim,” he ordered the wolf. A moment later, a very large man replaced the wolf on the ground. The white German Shepherd barked.
Tim turned towards Ashur. “No,” he told him. “I’m fine, but that was a hell of a grab.” He flexed his rapidly healing leg, stretching it out and back a couple of times. “See? Good as new, buddy!”
Peter tossed a pair of sweat pants to Tim, who slid them on after he stood up. “For a dog, you’re wicked fast.”
Tim raised an eyebrow as Ashur barked to him, “Yeah? No fucking wonder. Glad it’s your ass that has to work out with the Empress, not mine!”
Ashur’s chuff caused all of them to laugh in sympathy with the canine. With everyone having the latest updates and upgrades in their implants, they could understand both the parents and the pups easily, plus any other alien languages the Etheric Empire ran into.
“Ok, Ashur.” Peter smiled evilly, looking at the German Shepherd. Ashur cocked his head sideways.
OH, DAMN! he thought.
Tim looked at Peter as he turned and yelled, “Jian!”
Over on the far side of the workout gym, a Chinese man turned to look in their direction. “Cat time!” Peter called and Jian nodded, starting to jog over to their position.
Ashur whined as both Peter and Tim chuckled.
Someone please get me the body armor! Ashur chuffed.
Peter smiled as he headed toward the wall. Bethany Anne had told him Ashur was trying to get away with working out without his armor, but he needed to learn that while it was constricting, it was necessary. It had taken Ashur exactly one match with Jian to learn he didn’t enjoy healing from cat claws ripping through his side.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Mark Billingsley Park, Four Months since First Battle of Karillia
Samuel walked over to the three adults standing by the tree. Richard turned to him, “Anything?”
“Like there would be anything going on in the middle of the Meredith Reynolds!” Sia told the two of them.
The brief flash of pain across Richard’s face caused Sia to remember. To Richard, Mark’s death hadn’t been that long ago. The vampires remembered, and they still felt the pain.
Especially Richard. Why, Sia had yet to understand. She had tried to talk with him about it, but he had been reticent. She then cornered Samuel instead and he admitted that Richard had seen a piece of himself in Mark and had liked him much more than any other normal human in a century or more.
Plus, at his core Richard was a romantic and he had wanted to see the two of them hook up. Or Mark and Giannini; Richard wasn’t particular.
“So,” she had asked Samuel, “he’s like a blood-drinking Cupid?”
Samuel’s eyes had lit up at that, and Sia put her hands on his chest. “Don’t you dare tell Richard I said that!” She’d eyed his mischievous grin. “I swear I’ll think of something to cause you…” Here, Sia had to stop talking a moment and think the threat through. Samuel had been trading practical jokes with people for centuries.
What the hell could you do to embarrass someone who wouldn’t care if he walked naked through a book-reading event held by a bunch of nuns?
She’d narrowed her eyes. “I’ll tell Gabrielle a complete lie that will cause her to come looking for you.”
That had caused Samuel’s smile to disappear. “Sia,” he sniffed, looking down at the young woman, “I applaud your Machiavellian ways. You have graduated to sophomore status.”
At that he had turned and walked away, and Sia’d realized she was proud of herself. That feeling lasted for about a second, until she realized he had never promised her he wouldn’t say anything to Richard.
Dammit!
Sia came back to the present and offered a smile to the two men. “We appreciate you signing up to help us with this project.
“You aren’t just reporting here, are you?” Richard looked between the women.
Giannini answered, “No, I think this is going to open everything up for the Etheric Empire. For the last few years everything has been about internal issues, specifically the Yollin assholes or the other polities which have attacked us. This time we are sending ships to another planet.”
Samuel shrugged. “We’ve sent out our ships before,” he told her. “What’s different this time?”
“Pirates,” Sia answered as she turned and started packing away the drones. “All those other times pirates that caused the Empire’s military to leave our little area. Now those who feared we would start expanding are going to flail their arms.”
Sia paused, then clarified, “Or tentacles or claws or whatever sort of appendages they have.”
Richard pursed his lips. “You two have experience with this?” He flicked his eyes to Samuel, who nodded
“Humanity has,” Giannini told them. “Sia and I have spent a good while on Yoll and Straiphus tracking down stories, and we have come to realize that the universal glue that holds us together isn’t genetics.” She noticed the look that said, “Go on already” from her two friends. “It’s self-interest.”
“Which,” Sia picked up her drone case and stood, “if it is a hive-mind-type alien, just means the self-interest is on a larger scale.”
Samuel took a second to sweep his eyes through his sector. “Hope we don’t see any large creatures with a hive-mind attitude.”
The two ladies stared at him. “You know,” Sia told him, “I had forgotten how you could take a somewhat normal thought and make it far worse.”
Samuel shrugged. “When you live hundreds of years, you experience a lot of bad things.”
“Only to have life demonstrate it really was fucking with you,” Richard finished. “Which is why we continue to watch for threats, even on the Meredith Reynolds.”
Sia and Giannini stepped toward the men, who were surprised when the girls gave them each a hug. “I wouldn’t feel any safer with John Grimes around, Richard,” Sia told him, her words muffled by his jacket.
She could feel his body relax slightly, and then his arm pulled her tight as he hugged her back.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Main Military Meeting Room
Bethany Anne nodded to her advisors and stood. She turned to the audience, which was made up of second- and third-line management and operations personnel. “You have tasks, challenges and opportunities ahead. We came out here to find and stop the Kurtherians, if at all possible.” She stepped away from her chair and walked toward the front of the long table, looking up at the rows of faces gazing back at her.
“Unfortunately the Leath are stronger than us, and frankly are on a better war footing. Right now, them being anal-retentive about timing is giving us a chance to restrict the fight to the Karillian System. The Yaree are pulling their people home, those they can take away from trade. That means we have the monumental task of training a race who needs to grow a little backbone. We are that backbone, for the moment.”
Bethany Anne looked around. “It’s time to kick our efforts into overdrive, people. I encourage all of you to go back to your jobs, kick ass, and work with your staffs. We need you to come up with new ideas and new solutions. Find ways we can close the distance between our expected delivery times, and yesterday. Am I understood?”
“YES, MA’AM!” the crowd yelled back.
She smiled at them all. “Dismissed!”
She stood at the front and spoke to the few who came up to talk to her. She listened to a few ideas and smiled, sending them to the appropriate person in the organization who would be addressing that problem.
Lance walked up to her. “Bethany Anne?”
She turned to him. “Yes, Dad?”
A couple of the people around her nodded and stepped back. They could tell when it was official business because the General would refer to her by her title, and she would reply in kind. They walked away with smiles on their face; just the little moment of the Empress calling the General her dad made her more human.
Less of a figurehead.
“Patricia was wondering if you would have time to stop by this week, maybe touch base on some of her thoughts about the war packages?”
“Of course,” she told him. “Do we have the archives set up to print the books and comics?” She thought for a moment. “And the cards for the games?”
“Yes, yes, and yes,” he told her. “Plus, we have limited the print run with scarcity in mind so that they will have something to gamble with.”
“Can you go right now?” she asked him.
He checked the time. “I’ve got a conversation with Kevin about the new mobile Reynolds he’s building in ten minutes.”
Bethany Anne checked her schedule.
ADAM, move my meeting with Jean until tonight before dinner. Tell her I’m tagging along with my dad to see about the new Reynolds.
>>Done. She says that works out better for her anyway.<<
There was a pause…
>>Sorry, I wasn’t supposed to admit that last part.<<
Humans have been copping out on stuff more than a thousand years. We are all busy.
“Why don’t we swing by, see if Patricia is around, then I’ll go with you to see Kevin?” she asked him.
He nodded. “Works for me.”
“Hey!” The two turned to see Admiral Thomas walking toward them. “Give an old man a lift?”
Bethany Anne reached out to them both as he neared them. “You don’t look a day past thirty, Bartholomew.” She smiled when just the tiniest part of his lip curled in annoyance.
Hey, it wasn’t her fault his parents named him something he didn’t care for. She wasn’t about to call him Bart, for fuck’s sake.
ADAM, where is Patricia?
>> Shopping, fourth floor, men’s section.<<
Seconds later the three of them popped out into the large shopping area, seventh floor, in front of a shop.
They all heard the indrawn breath.
“Empress?” A woman’s voice inquired softly.
FROM MICHAEL >>> I was asked by a fan to put up another snippet…and I had expected to do it 2 days ago. Sigh, ask me for anything but time 😉
I’m keeping up with my counts for words (mostly) and have over 54,000 words into the book, and the target date for release is Wednesday, August 23rd.
Hope to say ‘Words Complete’ Soon!
Michael
P.S. – Need some Kurtherian? Check out our latest releases on Amazon!