QBS Polarus – Mid Atlantic Ocean

Bethany Anne nodded to the two female Guardians as she and Ashur walked to her suite.  Just a little earlier, she had told John that he and the Guardians needed to go blow off some steam.  She would be a ‘good little Queen’ and stay here on the ship with Gabrielle and a bunch of protection until they got back the next day.

Well, so long as they got back by noon New York time.  When she said ‘noon,’ John made her say where noon was being counted from as he didn’t want her to change the time zone on him.

She flipped him off while she laughed and decided New York would work.

When she stepped into her meeting room, Ecaterina was already there, speaking with Barb in a hushed tone.  She wanted to roll her eyes as she stepped over to the small fridge.  She grabbed a glass bottled Coke and dipped down to check no Pepsi’s had made it back into her fridge.  She heard Ecaterina snort behind her.

She placed a finger nail under the cap and popped it off like a bottle opener.  She caught the cap and tossed it into the trash before sitting down at the head of the table, “So, when are you going to fess up to being pregnant?”

Ecaterina’s mouth opened and shut a few times as Barb snickered.

Bethany Anne smiled, “I get it, you think you are not making me face what is missing with Michael but realize that hurt will heal with time.  Well, it should fucking heal with time,” she agreed, “but it hurts a little that you wouldn’t trust me to be happy for you even as I go through my own grieving.”

Ecaterina put her hands on her slightly expanded stomach, “I’m sorry, I can’t say I’m thinking properly anymore.” She allowed, “For what it is worth, Nathan argued that telling you would be better.”

“Don’t you hate it when men get things right?” Gabrielle stated as she walked into the room, “Not that we can let them know they are right.”  She looked over at Ecaterina, concern clearly written on her face, “You didn’t tell Nathan he was right, did you?”

Ecaterina rolled her eyes, “I said I wasn’t thinking properly, not that I wasn’t thinking at all.”

“You haven’t seen him in three days,” Bethany Anne added.

“Well… there is that, too.” Ecaterina blushed.

Gabrielle sat down with a notepad and a pen, “You were so going to throw women under the bus.  Dammit, centuries of training men are going to go down the tubes.”  She threw her hands up in the air, “what are we going to do with you Ecaterina?”

Barb interrupted, “You mean besides playing with the new baby?”

“Well, of course!” Gabrielle’s eyes lit up, “I get to be Auntie Gabby and spoil him rotten!”

“Her.” Ecaterina corrected.

“Great!” Gabrielle rubbed her hands together, “The first rule of woman’s club is we don’t admit there is a woman’s club!”

Ecaterina rolled her eyes.  Her daughter was going to be the most twisted child in history.

“Any names?”  Bethany Anne asked, a smile after watching Gabrielle’s antics.

“We are agreed on the middle name, and we think that we have decided on the first name,” Ecaterina said.

“Well, don’t sit there and make us wait!” Gabrielle said, “I’ll tell Nathan about your continued working out if you don’t spill the beans!”

Ecaterina looked around, “Uh…”

Barb looked at her, “What?  You think we are worried that you are working out?  Hell, my mom was seven months along, skiing while pregnant and smoking with my brother as well,” she mused.

“Really?” Ecaterina asked, “He is ok?”

“Well, he turned out a writer, so I don’t know if we can say ‘alright’, but he isn’t mentally deformed.” She allowed.

“Ma’am?”  The four ladies turned to the Guardian at the door.

“Yes, Jasmine?” Bethany Anne asked.

“Captain says a call is coming in from Tabitha?”

“I’ll take it here,” Bethany Anne agreed.  Gabrielle reached over and pushed the phone towards Bethany Anne, who waited for the first ring before lifting it up, “Tabitha.  Yes, hello.  Wait, hold on one second.  I get that. You have more dead people but this time inside the house.  What did you do?  Mmmhmmm, oh, got a little blood-thirsty, did you?” She paused as the ladies all looked at her with curiosity on their faces.

Bethany Anne continued with Tabitha, “Ok, it sounds like you need action to get something off of your chest.  If you want to take care of business, you need more people which I will supply. No, it comes with strings, of course… Do you want to take care of South America Tabitha?  It’s a big undertaking and to be blunt, you may be killed.”  Bethany Anne paused to listen.

Gabrielle got Bethany Anne’s attention and whispered, “Does she need me?”

“Do you need Gabrielle with you? No?  Then Hirotoshi and Ryu have to be doing a hell of a job I take it?”  She said with a little humor coloring her voice, “Mmmhmm, however, if you are going to do this then you will come here for a discussion. You will be required to take martial lessons from your team, and you will be expected to grow and be the leader for those of my elite you have with you.  Realize, they are not allowed to serve any but who have given their allegiance to me, Tabitha.”

Bethany Anne listened for a moment, “We will send a Pod to pick you up in thirty minutes, you can join us here then you, and I will talk after.  Very well, make it happen, Tabitha.  Good, see you shortly as well, bye.”  Bethany Anne hung up, “Seems Tabitha is also going through a life changing situation.”

“I wondered why we did not see her in Australia?” Ecaterina asked.

“She couldn’t handle the ceremony.” Bethany Anne replied, “She doesn’t believe Michael is dead.  She is holding out hope that he turned to myst and is going to come back to us.”

“Isn’t this what you hope?” Ecaterina asked.

Bethany Anne breathed in deep and released it.  “Yes, but I cannot plan the future on that hope.  God knows this universe owes me a fucking break, but I don’t have the luxury of stopping our progress to rip through every conceivable option to see if he is there…somewhere.”  She ended on a quiet note.

The three other woman wanted to reach out but realized there was a gulf of responsibility between them as followers and Bethany Anne as the leader.

TO BE CONTINUED

From Michael >> So, today I’m mentioning one of my most re-read series in the past two years.  I am ‘one-degree of separation’ from this author because Kat Lind, the wonderful lady who has stepped in to help while my Production Editor Stephen Russell was recuperating, has not only helped the author – Laurence Dahners – but is also friends with him and I guess they get together for drinks from time to time.

That’s pretty cool to me.

His book series is Ell Donsai, and it starts with Quicker.  There are all sorts of ideas that authors grab from book we read or stories we hear, or other ways. One of the things I searched for for the year I was puttering around with the story of Bethany Anne in my head and re-reading stories I liked, was the enjoyment I received when reading of Ell and her guard team.

I figure you know what I did with that, right? Bitches?  (Ok…cracking myself up again.)

When a new book comes out, I grab it to read.

Quicker (an Ell Donsaii story #1)

 Quicker is a near future SciFi/Thriller whose young heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation that makes her much quicker than a normal human. She becomes an intrepid athletic phenom who reminds one of David Weber’s Honor Harrington.

Like Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) Ell is also a mathematical genius who, instead of counting sheep, works on her own theory of quantum mechanics to help her drift off to sleep. At once shy and concerned about her social skills, yet well loved by those around her, she finds herself at the center of a terrorist plot at the Olympics.

The terrorists never considered the difficulty of holding a hostage with the unbelievable quickness and athleticism of Ell Donsaii!

A tradition of young, strong, brilliant, female heroines like Honor, Lisbeth, and Katniss Everdeen is continued…   LEARN MORE ON AMAZON HERE

Excerpt 

“Oh, come one. Just one little kiss.” Phil said.
She leaned back with a shy grin on her face and looked him in the eye, “Nope, maybe we’ll get to know each other better if we both get into the same academy?”
That reminded Phil that he was never going to see her again, so he got a firmer grip on her shoulder and turned her toward him, leaning in harder. “Oh, come on.”
“I said no!” Ell felt her heart pounding and her world started to slow down. Her gut clenched as she realized what was happening to her. She was falling into the zone and something bad might happen.
Phil mistook her tone for intimidated fear and thought she was about to buckle. He exerted just a little bit more of the power that had won him so many wrestling matches, drawing her closer.
“Stop!” Her hand swung back with a little handbag in it.
He pulled a little harder, laughing inside at the thought of being hit by a purse – right up to the moment it exploded against the side of his face. He staggered back and, though he never saw it coming, a second blast of agony came from his crotch. To his dismay he found himself writhing on the ground, curled about his ravished groin, holding his face, unable to breath. Waves of agony pulsed slowly through him.
Dimly, he expected her to jump in her car and leave. Instead, she leaned down next to him saying, “Oh my God! Phil! I’m so sorry! But you scared me! Oh! You look pretty bad.” he heard her talking and realized she was calling for an ambulance! His first reaction was that that was ridiculous; he’d just been slapped in the face with a purse and kicked in the nuts! By a girl! He’d be fine. Surely, he’d be fine? But his body was telling him differently. To his dismay, he felt like he really did need a doctor. He rolled to his side and threw up his coffee. He was in so much pain he didn’t consider the fact that the police would be interested in the events leading up to his injury. When the ambulance arrived, he tried but couldn’t stand up by himself and to his humiliation; they loaded him on a stretcher like a sack of potatoes. Before the ambulance left for the hospital, the police had arrived and relieved him of his AI. Dimly he heard Ell telling them, “I’m so sorry. He just wanted a kiss. But he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer! I’m so, so sorry. He just seemed so strong. I was really scared.”
“So what happened then?”
“I hit him with my purse.”
“You hit him with your purse!?” The voice was bemused. “And that laid him out like this?”
“Well I hit him really hard. I didn’t want to hit him that hard, but I overreacted. Then when he stepped back, I kicked him in the crotch. I really, shouldn’t have done that ‘cause he’d already let go of me. But he was so strong – I was afraid that he might keep coming after me.”
“You hit him with your purse and you kicked him in the nuts? – Then you called him an ambulance!?” The man was astonished now.
“Well, I’d kicked him awfully hard and he seemed to be having trouble breathing and he threw up. Really, I think he’s a nice guy who just got a little out of control.”
“A nice guy who was a ‘little out of control’? I can’t wait to download.

LEARN MORE ON AMAZON HERE

Manufacturing Facility 01 – Asteroid Fields

“There is the frame,” William said to Bobcat as the two came closer to the large manufacturing area which Jeo Deteusch as Lead of IOS Mining and Manufacturing and Bandile Annane his lead of Mining had focused the teams to build.

“Damn, they really have got their shit together out here.”  Bobcat replied.  He tapped the glass in front and spread his fingers to zoom in on a location in front of them, “I see they’ve used Jeo’s design to build platforms between the ships for staging and additional manufacturing areas.”  He moved the camera area, “Shit, they’ve completely enveloped an area with that canvas stuff and inflated it.  Rigid, lots of space under it.”

William was looking at the aft area of the ship, “That is going to be a sweet ride when it finishes.”  He reached down to pull up his tablet and switched to another app, “Looks like the latest design calls for a hundred and twenty-one different gravitational engines.  Sum-bitch that’s a lot.”

“Yeah, they added some up to the front and sides for rapid manuevors.  Another Jeo idea.”  Bobcat responded.

“Kid’s been around too many video games,” William muttered.  “He should have focused on shooters.”

“That’s cause your just embarrassed you didn’t think of it first.”  Bobcat retorted, “Give yourself a little credit for the tweaks you suggested.”

William shrugged, “That’s from the modifications we did to Shelly and how she handled,” he admitted.  “However, I’m completely taking credit for the ‘stopping on a dime and giving you nine cents change’ breaking option.”

“Gott verdammt dangerous, if you ask me.”  Bobcat said, “If the gravity modifications don’t work out, someone is going to impale themself on the bulkheads if they ever have to stop quick.”

William put up a hand and waved just two fingers up and down, “Someone get me out of this wall!”  He chuckled before he put them down, “Yeah, we will test the gravity to push against forward momentum and inside the protective shell as well to hold items in place against their momentum.”

“Fuck all, I don’t want to be riding during the first test of that feature.” Bobcat admitted.

“Yeah, that one does give me a few concerns, I’ll admit.”  William said, then thought for a second, “But I can think of a few ways that would help a lot.”

“That’s because you watched Top Gun.  It isn’t like this ship is going into a dogfight.”

“What if you come out of high speed right into a asteroid belt?”  William asked.

“I’d suggest you don’t come out at speed, then!”  Bobcat argued, “That’s why TOM’s people always engaged the engines from standing still.  It meant they were still wherever they popped up.”

William watched a moment as the massive production area grew in size, “Bobcat, all kidding aside.  This is going to be Bethany Anne’s ship for the foreseeable future.”

Bobcat looked at the almost complete shell and thought a moment, “We’ve better make sure that gravity idea works and while we are at it, see if we can do a flipping manuever.”  He sighed, “And whatever else we can think up because sure as shit she’s going to want to do it.”

“Worse than that, she’s going to get into some situation where she NEEDS to do it.”  William retorted.

“Fuck,”  Bobcat replied.

TO BE CONTINUED

From Michael >> Morning Bitches!  <I make myself chuckle typing that…  I wonder how many I’ll piss off?  Hopefully no one, I mean it as “Morning Queen’s BITCHES!” … See!  I get to do it TWICE 😉 … I crack myself up.

Either way, I’m researching here in New York and also freaking sick…damned stuff started in Texas due to Allergies and it has gotten worse while up here.  Not New York City’s problem, it has been stupidly beautiful for us while here.  It was raining on Thursday when we flew in and now the skies are just fantastic.  The weather is fantastic…Most of the people (except my food waiter Thursday night) have been Fantastic!

Well, mostly fantastic. It seems NO ONE knows anything around here.  Like, I ask the police officer right outside our hotel where the best pizza is?  Not a clue.  I figure that officer was WAY too skinny to answer the question.  My bad, wrong body type.  But my wife and I’ve noticed the same response a lot, no one wants to venture an opinion.

So, I’ve gone to my handy forum where people are placing ALL SORTS of opinions on what to read next, and authors dropping in to say Hi and pulled up this one for your review (I’ve also enjoyed the first books in this series, just FYI).

Rookie Privateer (Privateer Tales Book 1)

When you are old enough to finally become an Earth Mars citizen, everything should be perfect. Right? Not for Liam Hoffen. He’s stuck on a mining asteroid called Colony 40, helping his father work a claim that is never going to pay out. His best friend, Nick James is set for life in James’ Rental business and Liam just discovered that the girl he’s known forever thinks he’s pretty great and now she’s leaving for the Mars Naval Academy.

Liam dreams of sailing the stars. Whenever he gets the chance, he jets into space and floats, wishing to be free of the asteroid that has claimed him. What he doesn’t realize is that fate is about to change everything.

Sometimes you have to lose parts of yourself to gain the stars, and Liam discovers that while it isn’t easy to literally lose parts of yourself to the pirates who attacked your home, gaining the stars is worth everything.

He and Nick are about to find out what the real world has to offer and they end up meeting exciting people along the way.

If you’re looking for free science fiction ebooks, this will be a great addition to your library.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Pre-edited Version

QBS Polarus – Mid-Atlantic Ocean

Stephen walked into the office which Barnabas was using as his judge’s chamber. While the massive amount of data Bethany Anne’s team was throwing at him was more than enough to assuage his curiosity, he had never felt this way in the last one hundred and fifty-two years.

He wanted a vacation.

He pulled the top manilla-folder and took a look at the name, “Clarissa Bernier, CEO.” He opened the folder, and it was now in the agreed upon fashion. There was one page with the typical information of name, age, location, and a two paragraph background and the requested punishment. It was a type of joke now between Barnabas and Bethany Anne. No matter the requested punishment, she would strike it out and write “DEATH” and put a happy face on, with fangs.

It let him know that she was not letting up on her desire to make a lot of people pay for Michael’s death.

The team had already executed six individuals across the world in the last three months. Sean Truitt was just the first one.

Stephen interrupted him, “You look tired,” he spoke as he took a seat in one of the two blue chairs facing Barnabas’s desk.

Barnabas leaned back, keeping the folder open, “Is she serious?” He pointed to the document, “Even ADAM, using our agreed punishment matrix is calling for this lady to be punished financially.” He closed the folder, “She walks the line towards Michael all the time, brother.”

“No, I think what she does is point out to you that your desire to be thorough when the data is all there and available is silly. You want to be lenient, and she is offsetting it with requesting death.” Stephen shrugged, “How many times do you fail to arrive at the same conclusion and punishment as what is suggested in the folder?”

Barnabas thought about it, “Twice. Both went to death when new information was found outside of what they had been a part of that got Michael killed.”

“So, they weren’t guiltless, then?” Stephen pressed.

“Hardly.” Barnabas agreed, “I’ve read so many of these stories, that I think it would have been better to stay in my madness.”

Stephen pursed his lips, “You know, you’ve never explained that experience to me.”

Barnabas weighed the folder with the hundred sheets of paper in it and tossed it to the side of his desk so he could place his elbows on the top and clasp his hands. “That’s because I’m not proud of that time, Stephen.” He looked out the small window across the water, “I was insane for six months and six days.” He turned back, “A woman I had loved had been taken from me…” He sighed, “And I broke.”

He leaned back and put his hands over his eyes, “Stephen, I completely robbed the world of over three thousand souls in the space of that short time between satiating my anger and sleeping. I researched my disgrace some years later. I destroyed fifty-two families. They have been completely erased from the earth. None of their lines exists because they lived in the area where I lost my mind. The only reason I awoke was I had apparently been tracking something and got caught up in a log while in a river. That log took me downriver and over some falls. I mentally awakened from my madness when the sun started burning my skin. I needed my mental faculties to survive.”

“That’s when everything became a question to you?” Stephen asked.

“Yes. If intellect could pull me out of the Time of Disgrace, then I focused on it since.” Barnabas agreed.

“Are you fighting Bethany Anne or your memories brother?” Stephen asked.

“Now, now I’m not so sure.” He sighed. “I have to agree that she did not destroy everything in a violent rage as I expected she would.” He crossed his arms and looked back to Stephen, “Is this where you tell me ‘I told you so’?”

“For what?” Stephen replied, “For saying I trusted Bethany Anne?” He shook his head, “No. I know her well enough to know she is playing the long game, Barnabas. She is a woman, and they can all hold on to anger and release that years later. She is showing you respect, far more than she needs to, in my opinion.”

“Yes, I get that now.” Stephen replied, “We’ve cleared maybe twenty names. Did you know,” he asked, “that she had ADAM not only ruin one of the men financially, but she also ended up owning his company in the process? Then, she found malfeasance in his books and she had the company bring about a lawsuit, and he is now in prison.”

“I might have heard about that,” Stephen admitted, “I think she mentioned something about being about to find his ass when she needed it.”

“That’s powerful hate, Stephen,” Barnabas cautioned, “It can eat at a person.”

“You won’t get me to argue she has a massive amount of emotions, Barnabas. But, you need to see that she is usually passionate in all things, not only injustice.”

Barnabas lowered his eyes, “Why is it I cannot believe as you, Stephen? Why is it I cannot just trust and then…then all of this,” he waved at the massive amount of folders on his desk, “would become so much easier!” He tried to grin but quit as he considered what he just said. “You don’t think she would be so devious as to be dangling that possibility to me, would she?”

Stephen laughed, “Yes!” he swung a hand, “I’m not suggesting she is doing what you suggest. I’m answering your question that she could be devious enough to be doing what you fear.” he continued chuckling, “But, let’s ask the question that you want to know, shall we?”

Barnabas drew his eyebrows together, “Why do I sense that you are about to ask something that I’m not sure I want to be questioned?”

“Because it is time, old friend.” Stephen answered, “You need to realize that intelligence and neutrality are not the paths forward.”

“Oh? And what is?” Barnabas retorted.

“Forgiveness, Atonement, Belief, and Action,” Stephen answered in a calm voice.

TO BE CONTINUED

From Michael >> Ok, I’m about to go on a trip tomorrow to NY for research purposes.  I’ve been informed by one of our fellow Kurtherian Gambit readers (Hari Rothsteni) that the following is a kick-ass series to read.  He messaged me saying, “While you’re recommending books check out the Nightlord series by Garon Whited. Very long books and very addictive. The audio books are very well done too.”

I happen to have been introduced to the author in a group I’m in, so I’ll reach out to let him know that we are mentioning his book during our Release The Dogs Snippet Fest ’16.

Let me know (if you read it) what you think!

Nightlord: Sunset

Eric didn’t ask to be a vampire. In fact, he didn’t even believe in them. Then he hooks up with a hot babe, wakes up with a hangover, and bites his tongue with his own fangs.

Which pretty much settles the question.

Now he’s trying to hold down his day job while learning the rules of the Undead — the most important being that bloodthirsty urges and predatory instincts are a real bitch.

Upside; Eric has the beautiful Sasha to teach him the ropes, including the magic he’ll need to survive.

Downside; they’re being hunted by members of the Church of Light, who are determined to rid the world of vampires.

Then Sasha is killed, and Eric is thrust into an alternate world in his quest to avenge her death. There he becomes a Nightlord, fights a dragon with the help of his magical steed, Bronze, and upchucks a sword named Firebrand.

But things get really interesting when Eric finally finds Tobias, head of the Church of Light. Soon Eric finds himself at the center of an epic battle at the literal edge of the world in a fight to keep a terrible darkness at bay.

In other words, just another day in the life of the Nightlord.

“When you fall off the Edge of the World into hordes of demonic Things from the Outer Darkness, you really start to wonder if you haven’t made some mistakes.” 
–Eric, part-time undead, expectant father, and short-term astronaut.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT NIGHTLORD: SUNSET

“The Sith have nothing on us.”  Damon mused.

“Fucking pussies, those two.”  Johann agreed as he switched voices to mimic an old person, “Always two, there must be. A master and an apprentice.”  He switched back to his voice, “now that we have you in the right place in the FBI, we can start our efforts to figure out the blackmail material on those above you.  If that shithead Sean Truitt hadn’t gotten himself killed, I would have had enough to own his fucking ass.”

Johann allowed himself a moment to feel the frustration of that situation.  He had been so close when that ass had allowed his plane to bring in that backpack nuke.  Then, he got back on track, “How is blaming the explosion on TATP going?”

There was a small knock on the door with a female’s voice, “Food sirs.”

Johann reached over to push the button that released the magnetic lock on the door and it opened to reveal an attractive brunette in a red and white blouse and black mini-skirt bringing in a cart.  It took only a moment for her to refresh the drinks, the bread and lay out the food before retreating.

Damon picked up their conversation, “Really well.  We were able to blame the size of the explosion and the plume on the walls in the canyon.  Since the canyon layout did screw up the typical explosion and the explosion was so small, it wasn’t a big deal.  We still have it completely blocked off as domestic terrorism against TQB.  We are all ‘poor bastards’ about someone attacking such a valuable company, and how powerful but hard to handle TATP is.  They had a lot, but there is a reason the terrorists nickname it ‘the mother of Satan’ and it got away from them to blow close to the base.”

“You would think the Chinese or Russians would mention something,”  Johann mused.

“I thought you guys might be involved in that?” Damon asked as he started on his second manicotti.

“Not us, I think someone in one of the black organizations might be doing something.  Keeping the information we had a even such a tiny nuke explode inside the U.S. out of the regular news.  That shit would scare the sheep all over the place.”  Johann answered.

“Well, somebody is putting a hard lock on the news.  Fucking people in Denver would shit a brick if they knew anything ’nuke’ went off, no matter how small it was.” Damon said.

“Probably,” Johann agreed.  “We are already having to deal with the whole sympathy problems with TQB being attacked by domestic terrorists using the TATP.  If I can, I’m going to switch that to some new technology they have actually exploded, but I’ll let this die down, first.  So, since the terrorists blew themselves up, the worst we feared didn’t come to pass.”

“What happened to the merc bodies?”  Damon asked.

“Mostly all gone.  What wasn’t blown up was spirited away before any first responders arrived as near as we can tell.  I’m not sure why TQB doesn’t want stuff known, but they only left a handful of bodies shot outside to discuss with the police.  It could be because their weapons made fucking hamburger of some of those guys.  Plus, we heard something about a ‘bear’ at the very end.  I’m sure Stephanie Lee isn’t sharing everything, but Phillip down in South America had extra stuff, and he picked most of it up.”

Johann looked up from eating and used his fork to point, “I can tell you one thing, those signs that talk about wolves that the newscasters mentioned are right.  There were certainly attacking wolves, and we have no idea what the fuck happened there before we lost communications.”

Johann went back to eating, “The weirdest fucking shit is on those recordings.”  He muttered.

Half to Damon, half to himself.

TO BE CONTINUED

From Michael >>  Nothing today!  I’m hard at work writing and if you need something to read, just a reminder to hit the previous snippets for a few suggestions.  If it works for you, Great!  If not, Great!  Just me highlighting some authors to read.

Take care!

Washington D.C., USA

Non-Edited version.

The blond man pulled off his sunglasses as he stepped through the door into the little Italian restaurant.  He nodded to the hostess and then told her ‘going to the back.’  He walked past the fifteen or so tables and half a dozen cozy booths around the main room as he made his way to the rear of the restaurant.

He came to the main hallway and stepped past the two doors which went to the restrooms and continued to the last door on the right and opened it to step through.  There were two doors on each side of the twenty-foot hallway.  He knocked on the first door to the right, and when he heard the lock click, he stepped into the room.

Inside was a nicely appointed meeting area with a couch and two chairs, a coffee table and bar and a kitchen table for six in the back where one man waited.  He stepped past the coffee table to pull out a chair, “Hey Johann, got your message, we are claiming TATP — triacetone triperoxide.”

Johann reached across the table, “Damon, damned glad to talk.  Do you want anything different?  I ordered tea, but I can get anything.”

“No,” Damon replied as he pulled off his sports coat to place it over the chair next to him. “You ordered the cheese manicotti, right?”

“Yes, of course.  That was the best dish we had last time,” Johann agreed. “Even better than the lasagna which I didn’t think possible.  I’d marry the sauce if I could.”

“If I could take it to bed, then it would be a match in heaven,”  Damon continued, “but, let’s get back to talking about Colorado.”

“Yes, isn’t TATP the shit the terrorists used in France?” Johann asked as he pulled a piece of roll and some butter, “At least that’s what I remember.”

Damon reached across to snag Johann’s bread when he went to put down his knife and wipe his hands on his napkin, “Delicious!”  He grinned as he chewed his bite.

“Ass!” Johann said before reaching for another roll, “For that, I’m taking the meal cost out of your consulting fee.”

“Done.”  Damon agreed, “Whatever your guys did to get me out of that hot water back in Georgia and pulled into this cush assignment here was fantastic.  I thought the idea that real friends help you bury the bodies was just a funny joke.”  He reached for his tea and took a sip, “God, you even remembered to tell them I like it sweet.”

“Sweet?”  Johann chuckled, “You and your sister had to have used half the sugar at the table to sweeten your teas. That was what, our first study group we had back before finals our freshman year?”

“One for all…” Damon smiled.

“And all for us!” Johann smiled as he reached across the table to bump fists with his college friend.  “I’d like to claim it was a bitch to accomplish, and you owe me your first born but for two issues.”  He said.

“What are those?” Damon asked.

“I hate kids.” Johann started as Damon started chuckling, “And the female in the other car was so high that the discussion with the judge was easy.  The lawyer showed how fucked up on cocaine she was, and it became a moot point.  Judge saw it our way and tossed it.  Then, one of the main leads pulled strings, talked with a friend a little higher in your organization and you became the appointed contact.”

“I’m the cut-out if it all goes to hell?”  Damon considered.

Johann picked up his drink to clink with Damon’s, “That’s our assignment, my man.  Until we figure out how to overthrow our masters and take their places we ride the risk,” he spoke with a shrug.

TO BE CONTINUED

FROM Michael >> Boyd Craven (below) is one of the nicest authors I’ve met.  He’s soft spoken and doesn’t point to anything he does to help other authors, he just goes about doing it privately.  In preparation for ‘The Second Dark Ages’ series (starting with Dark Messiah) I’m going to read some of his works as I think it will help me understand some of the issues that my protagonist is going to encounter.  Here is one of his series that is hot right now.  He has something like 50-60 titles under his belt.

(Note, for research, he did go to the Chicago tunnels!)

Devil Dog: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller (Out Of The Dark Book 1)

Dick, AKA Devil Dog’s world changes drastically when the EMP takes out the power grid. The loss of electricity brings out the darker side of human nature across the city. A homeless Marine veteran living in the abandoned tunnels beneath Chicago, he’s far better prepared than most people. Good folk have survived, but they are often outnumbered and outgunned. Only the tunnels provide the safety he needs.

Devil Dog becomes the reluctant savior of women and children from the worst of the gangs that now rule topside. Doing the right thing makes him new enemies, driving him ever deeper into the tunnels that keep his charges safe – until he runs across a young woman who might be his daughter.

Nonstop Action, Gritty, Prepper Type ‘O Stuff.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ON AMAZON

The door behind the driver in the SUV opened up, and Bethany Anne stepped out.  She had on large dark sunglasses and ruby-red lipstick.  With a short and tight leather jacket and red pants and mid-height white topped leather  red-soled shoes.

She could hear the photographer snapping images.  That was all right, right now Sheldon had held up his end of the bargain, and this was the first of her plan to give the finger to everyone who wanted her technology.  She stepped over to Sheldon and held out her hand. “Thank you, this is exactly the type of service I was hoping to receive.  You’ve done your profession well.”  She turned to smile at the photographer, “Mr. Keoff, how are you?”

Mark looked up from his camera in surprise, “Fine?”  He answered before smiling, “Ok, I’m a little sleepy from the red-eye and this atrocious timezone, but other than that?”  He shrugged, “Fantastic!”

Bethany Anne walked over to shake his hand, “I’m excited that Sheldon was able to procure your expertise.  I’ve reviewed a lot of your work under your Mark Jordan name and approve.  Excellent work, beautiful eye.”  She looked back at the three beautiful cars, “Where do you want me?”

“Ahhhhh,”  Mark studied the beauty in front of him and the cars.  He turned to the largest of her guards, “Is there any way I can get some sunlight in here?  The flourescents are going to wash out her skin color.”  The big guy snorted, and she pointed a finger at him, but it didn’t cause him to hide his grin.

“Sure,” John answered Mark, “Let’s get the paper work done real quick and that way if anything happens we can leave quickly.”

Mark spent the next ten minutes taking a lot of photo’s of Bethany Anne as she signed the paperwork and then with all of the guys who had worked to prep her cars through the night.  When they each had their time, the men were respectful.

Bethany Anne walked over to Marcus and leaned into him, “Smart phone cameras?”

Marcus grunted with a smile and said, “Not a chance.”

She nodded her appreciation and turned back to the team, “Hey, is there anyone who would like to make a thousand bucks this morning?”  Two of the guys who had worked on the cars threw their hands up in the air. “Great!  We have an SUV outside and need it to be driven back to our home in Key Biscayne.”  This cause Darryl, William, and Marcus to turn to her, “We have six bodies, and six seats guys.  You think I wouldn’t take you all with us?”

Darryl looked over to John, “You ass!”  John just chuckled and turned around to face the opposite way.

Then, it was time for Mark to get busy with his camera and it was magic.  The light streaming off of her light skin against the beautiful blood red color of the Ferrari’s was going to get him engagements from around the world if he was willing to travel from Southern California again.

>>I’m picking up chatter that there is an APB request to stop you in the SUV.<<

Why?

>>Request to find out your whereabouts during the disappearance of Sean Truitt.<<

That ass?

>>Yes.<<

What do they think?

>>I have no data of any real evidence, it is just a request to apprehend.<<

Well…shit.  I’d be more annoyed, but I did kill him.  Bethany Anne mused as she winked at the camera.

No remorse?

Hell no, TOM.  When have you known me to bother with the death of the deserving?

I haven’t, but they usually don’t require APB’s on you.

Politics, probably.  Oh well, Let’s get this done. Where are they?

>>Down on the 913.<<

Well, that would have worked ok about an hour ago.  Tell you what, let’s do this and have some fun.

“Mark?” She interrupted the picture he was taking.

“Yes?” He asked, not putting down his camera as he worked.

“You want some pictures that will rock the world?”  She asked.

“You mean more pictures?  Because I’m pretty sure I have some already.”  His voice came from behind his camera.

“I mean pictures never before occurring outside of Photoshop.”  She told him.

This time, Mark put down his camera and looked back at her as he considered what he knew, “Where do I need to setup?”

“Back seat of the SUV as it goes back to our home in Key Biscayne.  You will have to be quick, but if you do it right, these shots will be in the papers in the morning.”

“No one hurt?”  He asked.

“Nope,” She agreed.

“When?”  He asked.

She turned to Sheldon, “Ready for your video?”  He nodded and after she gave him an enthusiastic recommendation she stepped back to her car and grabbed the keys.  Her guys were already in their cars, with their driver windows down as she slipped into hers.

John.

Yes?

How long has the SUV been gone?

Maybe two minutes, why?

They are going to be stopped on the 913 causeway to apprehend me.  We are going to be right behind them.

You aren’t stopping, are you?

No, but I want them to point to our cars before we pass them by.

Bethany Anne, there are only two lanes on the road, what if they block the causeway?

That’s what I’m counting on, John.

Where are we going?

Back to Colorado, I guess.  I need to store these in something to take them to Australia.  Too hard to place them on the Ad Aeternitatem and I’m not having them suffer the wind buffering all the way to the other side.

You good with this?

I’m going to have to deal with these feelings sometime.

I got your back, Bethany Anne.

And I got yours, Mr. Grimes.

Thirty minutes later, two police vehicles pulled out on the causeway to stop a window tinted, black SUV with license plates.   The vehicle used to spot them had followed them on the bridge and blocked the SUV from leaving.

Four officers quickly stepped out of their cars and stepped over to pull the doors open and asked everyone to step out.  Including the photographer who had his camera around his neck.  The police officers were in the middle of questioning the three men when the roar of supercars could be heard coming their way.  Two of the men pointed to the three identical F12berlinettas screaming towards them when a hundred and fifty feet away they all took to the air and turned as if on invisible roller coaster rails and headed back towards land…across the water.

Well, one thing was right.  Mark’s pictures were seen all over the world the next morning.  By the time Bethany Anne and her team needed to land, her legal counsel Jakob Yadav had the APB already rescinded, and more than one counter-suite fired off in her defense.

Not that it mattered, while the three Ferrari’s might be in residence at TBQ headquarters in Colorado, the six people had already left.

TO BE CONTINUED

From Michael >> Michael-Scott Earle, how do I out the ways you are different?  Well, let’s not count and leave it alone.  Michael-Scott is a fun and interesting author hailing from California kind of near where my older brother lives.  He and I are going back and forth on whether ‘free’ in first series is a better marketing method, or go ahead and charge and push hard with adding new books.  So far, I’m ahead but I think that is more dependent on the fact I have a more popular series, and Michael-Scott’s plan (and book size) is different.  He definitely writes more than I!

Be aware, more sex scenes in this series than mine, or so I’m told ;-).

 The Destroyer (4 book series – book 1 is free)

After untold centuries of absence, the evil Ancients have returned. Their magic appears unstoppable and their hunger for conquest is insatiable. To protect the country of Nia, Duchess Nadea and Scholar Paug make a desperate journey to find a human legend: A man known to have destroyed these Ancient foes with a powerful army.

But legends can lie.

When Paug and Nadea revive their hero from sleep, his virtue is far from clear.

Is he really their Savior or their Destroyer?

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE ON AMAZON

Fort Lauderdale, Florida – USA

When those three arrived, Sheldon felt a bit intimidated.  At first, it wasn’t a big deal as they had just ‘arrived’ and knocked on the door.  It wasn’t until Darryl checked out the cars and confirmed they were clear that it became apparent just how they had arrived.

By air.

Darryl had Sheldon open the door into the darkness.  When it was fully opened, a black…something… came down from above and then glided into their area.  Tim was quick enough to start the door closing as William had opened the pod and started pulling white boxes about a foot square and six inches in height.  There were a total of eighteen of those, and then three larger boxes.  Sheldon found out that six were installed underneath the car and then one large device in the trunk.

It took William twenty-three minutes a car.  When he finished with one, then Marcus would start talking to himself and typing furiously on a laptop he had with him.  They had pulled up a rolling table to place the laptop on top of so he could type and then take a few measurements and then type some more.

“Sheldon?” Marcus had called over to him.

Sheldon was watching William working on one of the cars high on a lift and had to jog back over to where Marcus was working, “Yes?”

“Can I get something destructive?”  Marcus asked.

Sheldon was confused and slightly alarmed, “Desctructive? Not to be too concerned, but these are really, really expensive cars, and I’d prefer they didn’t get hurt while they are still in our garage.”

Marcus looked over at the sales guy for a second, “Oh, nothing like that!  I just need something like a long metal rod or something like a bat.”

Sheldon’s eyes opened a little wide, “Still not liking where this is going…”

Marcus dipped his head down to look over his glasses, “Young man, these cars will not be scratched.”  Sheldon looked at Marcus for a moment before turning to search for a long metal bar.  “I expect,” Marcus finished.

A minute later, Sheldon came over with a long metal bar used for full-size car jacks.  Marcus touched a couple of buttons on the laptop and then typed in a sentence and waited for a reply before holding his hand out to grab the bar.  It dropped some when Marcus caught it since he wasn’t expecting it to be so heavy.

“This will do nicely,” Marcus said.  “Here goes nothing!” To Sheldon’s immediate horror, the man grabbed the bar in both hands and swung it over his head to land on the hood of the first beautiful F12.

“What the HELL!”  Sheldon asked as he jumped to pull the metal rod out of Marcus’s hand who let it go and stepped over the hood.  He rubbed the location where the bar had slammed down.

Marcus looked up to the suprised salesperson, “See, nothing!”  He waved a hand for Sheldon to come and take a look.  Sheldon rubbed over the location he knew he had seen the rod hit, but it was spotless, and more importantly, dentless.

He continued rubbing the spot while turning his head to look up at Marcus, “How?”

The man smiled back, “It’s a feature of the engines we installed.  We aren’t changing the glass like we would on her SUV’s, so we are making damn sure it has a protective field enveloping her.  Mind you; I’d prefer you didn’t tell anyone.”  Marcus admitted after a moment.

“I’m not,” Sheldon agreed, “This whole piece except the pictures and whatever she decides to video for me won’t be talked about by me.”

“Good…good.”  Marcus said, “now for the second part.”  He turned back to the rolling table and stepped back a few more feet pulling the table with him, “Ah, you might want to come over here with me.”

Sheldon quickly stepped closer to Marcus.

He typed on the laptop another time and then Sheldon watched as the F12berlinetta lifted off of the ground six inches, “What the hell,” Sheldon murmured.  He stepped closer to the car and went down on his knees to confirm all four wheels were off the ground.

“See any problems?”  Marcus asked, concern in his voice.

“Problems?” Sheldon asked, looking back up at the scientist, “If by problems you mean a wheel is touching the ground, then no.  They all seem to be at the same height.  The problem,” he contined as he turned back around to look under the car, “Is that we shouldn’t be watching a Ferrari floating.”

“You get used to it,” Marcus admitted.

“No,”  Sheldon whispered, “I’m pretty sure I’m always going to find this cool-as-shit.”

—

Sheldon waited at the front door at fifteen minutes past seven when a darkend SUV turned into the dealer parking lot.  The morning sun was reflecting off the white dealership walls highlighting the palm tree’s that were around the building.

He started jogging towards the back of the parking lot and the red garage door started rising allowing the SUV to drive into the garage area as Sheldon followed them in and the garage door started closing behind them.

There, in front of the SUV were three F12berlinetta’s all in the beautiful dark red Rosso Fiorano color Bethany Anne had requested.  The three were slightly ahead of each other like they had been staged for a calandar picture.

Which, interestingly enough, they had been.

Sheldon nodded to Mark Koeff, who had been setting up his camera and lights for the last few hours.  When Mark arrived, Sheldon gave him the news just who he was photographing, and even Mark was impressed.

That was saying something for a man who had photographed luminaries such as actor / governor Schwarzeneggar to Astronaut Buzz Aldrin and met others such as Christie Brinkley, Raquel Welch, Ringo Starr and Michael Caine in his many requests to come and shoot exlcusive events in LA.

Mark turned out to have a story for just about everything but was kind and soft spoken.  If there was ever a more down to earth person who had survived working in the glitz and glamor of LA and Orange County in California, Sheldon was hard pressed to figure out who it could be.

When Mark admitted he had done a project for a friend for an Orange County MINI Cooper dealership with their cars, Sheldon thought it was perfect!

So, Mark setup the cars and explained how he wanted to setup the shots with Bethany Anne leaning on the first car, and her security on their own.

The front doors of the SUV opened, and John, then Eric stepped out and nodded to everyone.  “Morning guys.” John grunted.

Sheldon had his team of three guys off to the side and TQB’s three people Marcus, William and Darryl were standing with them.

Darryl broke from the ranks and walked over, “They are clean, and they are ready.  Although, I have to call bullshit on you two getting this ride first!” He grinned.

“Kiss my,” Eric started before changing his sentence, “tell me you didn’t make sure it went up and down correctly as a ‘security’ measure.”  He challenged Darryl, who shrugged but didn’t answer the question directly.

“That’s what I thought,” Eric continued, “Besides, you get to take the SUV back to the house.”

“Woohoo!”  Darryl squeeled as he twirled his finger around in a circle up in the air. “Be still my bleeding heart.  SUV or Ferrari with flight capabilities.  Gee, I wonder which one I would pick?”

“The one you’re told to.”  John interrupted the two, “Let’s make sure we get out of here correctly guys.  Enough horseplay.”

Eric mouthed ‘sorry’ to Darryl for getting them off track.  The two of them broke up, and Darryl went to step to the back of the three cars.

TO BE CONTINUED

Michael >> I’m in a small Facebook group with a few authors and one of their books I’ve read recently is Jason Cipriano’s CURSED  from his Thrice Cursed Mage series.  Jason’s author story is completely different from mine in that he has a BUNCH of books out (including writing in the JET world…which is pretty damned cool to me).  BUT, CURSED is his major break-away hit.  He has now followed this book up with the FOURTH in series “SEIZED” out a week ago.  This makes four books in the series out in something like five months.  That’s awesome to a fast reader such as myself.  

Cursed: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Thrice Cursed Mage Book 1)

My name is Mac Brennan and that’s the only thing I can remember about myself. Not why I woke up in a dumpster. Not why my right arm is as black as pitch and covered in glowing red tattoos, and certainly not why a vicious death cult is after me.

Actually, that last part isn’t true. I know why the death cult is after me. It’s because I saved that damned girl from them. I didn’t know who she was at the time, but I’d have done it anyway. I just don’t like it when girls get beat up, call me old fashioned.

Still, I can tell she’s hiding something behind those devilish eyes, and if I want to find out what it is, I’ll have to help her.

My name is Mac Brennan. I have no memory, and I’m a werewolf-hunting, hellfire-flinging version of Faust himself.

CHECK CURSED OUT ON AMAZON

—

Sheldon had worked on the deal for an hour before he got his first dealership to give up their F12berlinetta.  It deal was at a twenty percent premium, but the sales person didn’t ask any questions, so he was going to call it a win.

The second, however, wanted to know who it was for, so Sheldon hung up after a polite good-bye.  The third choice, over in Las Vegas, didn’t care about who it was for either.  It was all about the money to her.

The dealership had just received their car, and it wasn’t prepped yet.  Sheldon promised that not prepping it was going to be perfect, and if they did not do anything further and got it ready for pickup, he would give them an additional two grand on top of the deal.

The final agreement arrived via email and Sheldon whooped!

With eighteen minutes to go, he sent the information to the temporary contact email address and had an immediate reply.  Who to talk to regarding money transfers and any other legal information to pick up the cars were delivered to his email immediately.  There would be two trucks with twenty-foot long shipping containers to pick up the cars at the dealerships within two hours.

Sheldon was going to reply that there would not be a way to drive the containers over to Miami quick enough and then remembered who his client was.

He snorted to himself and started following up on all requirements.  He told his boss that they had two hours to finish any paperwork because trucks would be arriving to pick them up, he was damned sure.

Not surprising, the financial information went through immediately.  Sure enough, Sheldon called both dealerships at the end of two hours. Both had trucks with big, black shipping containers on the trailers ready to load the vehicles.

One even mentioned that ever since the ‘TQB’ company put black shipping containers on the moon, everyone now painted their shipping containers black.  As if, he said, they could all fly.

Sheldon kept his mouth shut.  His contact would just have to find out about it some other time.

He received an email that said the cars would arrive at ten pm so most of the crew would be gone, would that be a problem?

Sheldon had already pulled three of the absolute best people from the back and told them he would pay them each three grand to help him prep his three sales that night, or they could trust him, and if everything stayed quiet, they would get something worth far more than three grand.

All three guys agreed that their lips were sealed, and it became a small spy scenario for the four men.  Their manager shrugged his shoulders and handed over the keys.  He knew what was going on and after being in the business for twenty-two years, he had worked with very big names.  So, not being involved in the lady CEO’s purchase wasn’t a big deal.

Sheldon was pretty sure his boss didn’t pay too much attention to the celebrity news and apparently hadn’t put two and two together.  Too much time on the golf course with the elite around this town was his best guess.

Oh well, it wasn’t Sheldon’s job to make sure his boss understood who they would be delivering a million dollars worth of automobiles to in the morning.

He considered the massive opportunity to take pictures and picked up the phone.  He had a family friend back in Orange County, California that had done some pictures for many Los Angeles and Orange County / LA luminaries such as Gene Simmons of KISS, President Reagan and had International Photograph Hall of Fame & Museum recognition.  If he could spend whatever it took to get Mark to arrive by seven the next morning, Sheldon was going to spend it.

After a few minutes talking with Mark, he finally was able to convince him that it would absolutely be worth his time, but no – he really couldn’t tell him who it would be.  Just that he would have exclusive shots that would be on the bylines of most of the world’s news sites within forty-eight hours.

Sheldon hung up, and then looked to see if he could book Mark a ticket from John Wayne International in OC to Fort Lauderdale, but they had no non-stops.  He was able to go LAX to Fort Lauderdale, so he grabbed those tickets and sent the information immediately to him.

The ‘spy posse’, as they had named themselves, were working to get the first car ready and laying out the plans to make sure they could bring the other two F12’s online as fast as possible when they finally arrived.  Everyone was going to take naps and make sure there were no screw ups.

Now, it was going to be a waiting game until ten PM that evening.

TO BE CONTINUED

Suggestion for ‘while you are waiting’ and ‘please don’t get out the pitchforks!’

THERE ARE REASONS WE FEAR THE NIGHT. HE’S NOT ONE OF THEM.

Bill Ryder was a dateless geek, but then he met a girl to die for. So he did. Unfortunately for him, that was just the beginning of his troubles. He awoke as a vampire, one of the legendary predators of the night. Sadly, fangs or not, he was still at the bottom of the food chain.

Now he finds himself surrounded by creatures stronger, deadlier, and a lot cooler than he is … and they all want to kick his teeth in.

Bill isn’t exactly average, though. A vampire like him hasn’t been seen in centuries. He’s got a few tricks up his sleeve, unlikely allies, and an attitude that makes him too damn obnoxious to quit.

Join him in this hilarious tale of immortal monsters and the unlikely hero who’s not afraid to tell them off, even if it gets him killed – permanently this time.

CLICK TO SEE ON AMAZON