31 May 2013

Merchantman, Snippet II


Welcome to another edition oSciFi Fantasy Saturday - our little web-ring of fab SciFi & Fantasy writers and posters. Check out snippets from other SFFS authors here: scififansat.blogspot.ca.

Posting from my WiP
THE GIRLS FROM ALCYONE: MERCHANTMAN
(a novelette from the world of Alcyone)

The Girls From Alcyone is the continuing story of two very special girls who find themselves at the heart of a conflict spanning more than forty worlds.

THIS WEEK: Last week we left Sigrid tumbling through space with a little less than nine minutes to live. This week, let's roll back the clock forty-eight hours.




read part one here

Part Two of Merchantman (48 hours earlier):

White light gave way to the blackness of space; like snow melting away, large white droplets scattered forming into billions of individual stars. Her warp jump complete, the Ōmi Maru swung around, blasting toward the heart of the alpha Phoenicis system and her destination, the Konoe Transfer Station. Few ships were in orbit; the small outpost appeared a cold and lonely place, a dull metallic disc drifting alone in the barren wastes of deep space.
     It was here that they would find the only people outside Federation space still willing to trade with them; the Merchantmen.
The Chief nudged Sigrid directing her attention to another ship moving into a berth off their port beam. She was a freighter, but far grander than the likes of the Ōmi Maru. She looked close to one hundred and fifty meters, roughly the same size and tonnage as their ship, but she had a stately flair to her, her thrusters painted in bright gold and red, her long hull featuring distinctive red piping. Sigrid scanned her markings; she registered as the Merchantman.
"Our contact," the Chief Engineer said. "Right on time."


24 May 2013

Science-Fiction Fantasy Saturday


Welcome to another edition oSciFi Fantasy Saturday - our little web-ring of fab SciFi & Fantasy writers and posters. Check out snippets from other SFFS authors here: scififansat.blogspot.ca.










Posting from my WiP
THE GIRLS FROM ALCYONE: MERCHANTMAN

The Girls From Alcyone is the continuing story of two very special girls who find themselves at the heart of a conflict spanning more than forty worlds.

THIS WEEK: I had this chapter in Book II that just didn't fit. Rather than scrap it (cuz I love it), I realized it would make an awesome (I think) standalone prequel to Book II. So, here it is, the opening of my new short WiP, Merchantman.

Twisting, turning; arms spread out or tucked in, nothing Sigrid did made any difference; nothing could stop her as she tumbled out of control, moving deeper and deeper into the blackness of space. Stars spun by her fractured visor; every point-four-six seconds she saw the blinding binary stars of alpha Phoenicis flash past. It was only the fact of Sigrid's enhanced physiology that halted the rise of bile in her throat, kept her from losing consciousness completely. But she had greater worries to consider.
Debris from the explosion had penetrated her suit, damaged her oxygen feed; the mixture was far too rich. A quick calculation determined the weakened faceplate would soon succumb to the pressure, shatter in less than nine minutes.
A more stinging calculation vexed Sigrid; the Merchantmen had never intended to deliver their supplies; Sigrid doubted they ever even had them.
They were liars, thieves, and yet she hadn't seen it.
Another wave of debris blew past her; twisted bits of metal, body parts, all that was left of the Merchantman.
Small mercies, Sigrid thought.

3 May 2013

Science-Fiction & Fantasy Saturday

Welcome to another edition oSciFi Fantasy Saturday - our little web-ring of fab SciFi & Fantasy writers and posters. Check out snippets from other SFFS authors here: scififansat.blogspot.ca.










This Week: Posting from my WiP
THE GIRLS FROM ALCYONE II: FREELANCER

In The Girls From Alcyone there is a character we have come to know as Harry Jones (aka Smith). Very little is known about Mr. Jones. In fact, should I tell you anything about him, I do fear Mr. Harry Jones would have me killed.


The taxi made its final turn into the Hospital parking lot, depositing Harry at the Visitor's entrance. His wife would be waiting for him, as she had been, as she always would. Harry bypassed the nursing station; there was little purpose in investigating her status. It would remain unchanged. 
Harry checked his watch as he entered the elevator. In a little less than four hours a lone suborbital transport would lift off from a small atoll in the pacific. Its cargo, two wealthy business men; two men who would be left to wonder what had happened to Harry Jones, and why he'd been foolish enough to remain behind.
"Poor Harry," they would say as they savored unconscionably-priced brandies, marveled at their stock quotes. "He was a good man—useful in his day."
That transport would not reach its destination.