Cary Caffrey

31 July 2013

RISE OF THE FREELANCER

As I'm on the last stretch of prepping FREELANCER for launch, I'm hunkering down in the bunker, so I won't be posting or interacting much (too distracting) until this book is "in the can."

In the mean time, enjoy this awesome bit of concept art from the cover (hey, come on! It's Suko!). If you're in need of more of a fix, I've posted the first three (unedited) chapters here: Freelancer.

Cary

26 July 2013

UP AGAINST IT (posting from Freelancer): SciFiFanSat

THIS WEEK: I've decided to forgo the usual setup and just post the snippet. Sure, it's out of context, and, sure, you won't know what's going on, but this way there's no evil spoilers! And, hey, it's Sigrid. :)

They were troop carriers, Thunderhawks, and they were moving fast, closing on their position, and the rooftop offered little in terms of cover. Twin cannon mounts extended from their sides, swinging into firing position and taking aim.

"Ms. Novak—Sigrid," the agent implored, pulling on her sleeve. "We need to move!"

Sigrid scanned the area quickly; they were outnumbered and the situation was deteriorating quickly, but the CTF agent was wrong about one thing. These mercenaries might not be the men she was looking for, but they were still men, and they still hunted them.

"If you have a plan," Suko said, her eyes fixed on the incoming carriers, "now's the time to share it."

"Plan?" Sigrid unholstered her twin 18 mm sidearms. "We kill them all."

Oh, and don't forget to check out snippets from other SFFS authors here: scififansat.blogspot.ca! SciFi Fantasy Saturday is a web-ring of fab SciFi & Fantasy writers and posters. All are welcome to join and participate. In fact, join and participate! Ten sentences every Saturday is all it takes.

Cheers, Cary!

12 July 2013

OF SWORDS AND SUKO II (posting from Freelancer): SciFiFanSat

Carefully, Sigrid withdrew the blade. The steel was now fully restored by Suko; oiled, polished and powdered, it gleamed in the dark. Suko had taken care to repair the leather handle and restore the gold inlay that had worn away, returning some of its lost majesty. She swung the sword now, felt its weight in her grip, and marvelled at the balance. It was a weapon that begged conflict, deadly in the hands of one trained to use it.

"Now, there's something you don't see every day."

Sigrid spun about, nearly dropping the sword; Suko stood behind her, leaning in the doorway--Sigrid realized how silly she must appear swinging Suko's sword about dressed only in her undergarments.
Walking toward her, Suko took the sword from her hands and placed it back on the shirasaya.

"You want to be careful with that. My girlfriend gave it to me."

5 July 2013

OF SWORDS & SUKO (Posting from Freelancer): SciFiFanSat

Posting from my WiP
THE GIRLS FROM ALCYONE: Freelancer

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

THIS WEEK: I'm leaving Merchantman behind. Many of you have read the whole story by now. If anyone else is curious to see what happens, you can read the whole thing here.

So, I'm moving back, or forward, into Freelancer. Here, Sigrid has just arrived back at her home on New Alcyone. It's late, she's very tired, looking forward to seeing Suko, and she's still very preoccupied with what happened with the Merchantmen.

Sigrid undressed in the quiet of their sitting room, removed her holsters and pistols and placed them on the weapons rack next to Suko's. Suko's collection of katanas sat mounted on the shirasaya above the mantle. Two of the swords were new, unsullied, pristine in their composite scabbards. But it was the other blade that caught Sigrid's eye. She reached for it, caressing the smooth lacquered surface of its simple wooden saya. This weapon seemed odd, out of place, an antique lost in the sea of advanced armaments that littered their home. The katana was very old, that was certain; some might consider it obsolete, only worthy of being discarded.

But Sigrid knew better. For this was the very same katana she had found on Vincenze, bought for Suko with the first of her earnings as Mercenary. The sword and Suko would not soon be parted.

28 June 2013

BAT OUT OF HELL: Freelancer. SciFiFanSat!

Posting from my WiP
THE GIRLS FROM ALCYONE: Freelancer

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

THIS WEEK: I'm skipping way ahead. Here, Sigrid finds herself back on board the Ōmi Maru, and in pursuit of the fleeing Merchantman. The Ōmi Maru is an unarmed freighter. With no weapons or torpedoes on board they need to find something else to launch at their enemy.

Of course they choose Sigrid.

Sigrid zipped up the pressure suit; every light blinked green. She had pressure; she had air. She also had a plan.

"Help me with this, Chief."

Together, they slid the freshly stolen joy-rocket on a skid toward the cargo airlock. This one seemed a particular nasty piece of engineering. The hybrid rocket motor had clearly been salvaged from a thruster pylon from a much larger vessel. Two meters wide and five long, it took up much of the space in the hold. A simple acceleration couch had been laser welded onto its fairing; her only controls were a throttle lever and a kill switch.

Once launched, she knew it would have one basic maneuver—straight ahead.

23 June 2013

GREEN SHIFT COVER REVEAL

To celebrate the cover reveal for Greenshift, the e-book will be temporarily 99 cents at Amazon!

A tale set within the world of Ambasadora.

Mari's rare eye color makes her a pariah within Upper Caste society, which is why she prefers plants to people...except David, the former Armadan captain who shuttles scientists around on a refurbished pleasure cruiser.

But someone else is interested in Mari and her distinctive look--an obsessed psychopath who tortures and murders women for pleasure.

When the killer chooses Mari as his next victim, the soldier inside David comes alive, but it is Mari who must fight for her own life and prove she isn't as fragile as the flowers she nurtures.

Greenshift by Heidi Ruby Miller

Cover Art by Bradley Sharp

Foreword by Dana Marton

Space Opera/Science Fiction Romance paperback coming from Dog Star Books in August 2013

21 June 2013

A PROPOSAL: Week Five of Merchantman/Freelancer. SciFiFanSat!

Posting from my WiP
THE GIRLS FROM ALCYONE: Freelancer

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

LAST WEEK: Sigrid shared a drink with the trader, Corbin Price. This week, the Merchantman offers something to Sigrid: a job that will make use of her unique talents.

"There is a man arriving at the station tomorrow - he has stolen from us. I want to see that he is hurt in return."

Hurt.

Sigrid considered the simple command, and inferred the meaning behind it. All her life she had been trained as a mercenary, as a soldier, and yes, an assassin; she had taken lives and done so without hesitation. But that had been her choice, her duty. Until this moment she hadn't truly appreciated how it would feel to have someone ask her to kill another. What was it the mercenaries said? For coin and contract?

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