Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

And we’re picking up where we left off last week with the opening lines of HERO’S END, due to be released on September 12. Inner Circle Agent Larianne Varo is receiving her orders from General Gad Rameus, the head of the First Sector Inner Circle.

***

“Agent Varo, what I’m about to tell you is to go no further than this room,” he said, without preamble.

Larianne nodded. “Of course.”

That was always the story. No one ever called Predators to clandestine meetings to give them intel that could be broadcast on the Commonwealth News Service. Fewer still ever bothered with the standard greetings and pleasantries.

“An agent has gone rogue,” he said. He tossed a portfolio on a table to the side of the door. “We have to handle this carefully. He’s become a threat to the security of the Commonwealth and to Lord Marin.”

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

And we’re picking up where we left off last week with the opening lines of HERO’S END. Last week, Larianne Varo was running late for an appointment on Chiron Station.

***

Damn the Artelian freighter that had to bump the docking ring just as her transport was coming in! No one had been able to disembark from either vessel until the airlock seals and hull integrity could be certified safe. Damn bureaucracy! Nothing to be done about that now. She’d just have to deal with the censure when she got to the pleasure suite.

You could rent a pleasure suite on a space station by the hour and rest assured no one would eavesdrop, either electronically or otherwise. Sure, there were some that specialized in such, but Scarlett’s on Chiron Station wasn’t one of them. If it were, it would lose its license. The owners of Scarlett’s prided themselves on their discretion. That was one reason it was so popular with the swells.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Just because…here are the opening lines of HERO’S END.

***

Larianne Varo strode briskly down the wide promenade on the spacer’s level. Ignoring the admiring looks and lewd propositions thrown her way, she slipped through the crowd, careful not to touch anyone as she passed. Taller than most females, her height gave her an advantage in a crowd. A quick head turn and her chin-length black hair brushed her jaw. Still no sign of anyone following her. Her pace slowed as the battered flashing sign advertising Scarlett’s Pleasure Suites came into view just over the heads of the crowd. She glanced down at the chrono on her wrist.

Early is on time. On time is late. She was very late.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

 

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

It’s great to be back after several weeks away. At long last HERO’S END is finally finished and waiting on the deft hands of my editor Laurel Kriegler to beat it into submission. Since I’ve been on vacation and still basking in the post holiday glow as well as the novel completion high, I thought I’d change things up a little this week with a trip to Kah Lahtrec, that exotic paradise Blade likes to call home. This time, Bo is the one in need of a safe place to recuperate from injury, so Blade takes her to his sanctuary. His friends are so pleased to meet her that they throw a little party for them.

***

The warm, night breeze gently swept across the wide terrace overlooking the gardens. Lights flickered in the trees and hovered in the air over the crowd like so many starbugs. Lush, beautiful flowers, their colors surprisingly vivid in the dim light, spilled over onto the cream-colored stones of the terrace, filling the air with exquisite fragrance. Tables, draped in richly colored and elegantly textured fabrics ringed the area, around the dance floor. The treasures of the Lahtrecki people dominated the décor and delighted the guests, the prominent, the wise, and the influential of Kah Lahtrec. Live musicians played lighthearted, airy tunes as optimistic and energetic as the people who listened and danced.

Despite her initial misgivings, Bo was thoroughly enjoying herself.  With a sigh of contentment, she snuggled deeper into Blade’s chest as they swayed together in time with the music.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Last week we met Inner Circle agent Ian Kendall who was called in to investigate the hovercycle accident that put Blade on a med ship orbiting a backwater planet. Kendall has given orders that Bo (in her guise as Marissa, Blade’s Joy Babe Companion) cannot visit Blade. When Bo sought him out to confront him on it, he was waiting for her and has led her into an exam room where he sealed the door shut.

***

She lifted her eyebrow expectantly. When he didn’t reply, she took a few tentative steps around the table, but halted when he didn’t move.

Bo glanced towards the sealed door. Her chances of getting through it before he caught her were nil. On her person, she had two compact throwing knives, one stinger and a pair of stiletto heels she could use as a weapon in a pinch. He outweighed her by a factor of two, was likely armed to the teeth and probably ate sparring partners for breakfast. The direct approach wouldn’t get her anywhere. That only left her wits.

She was screwed.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Last week we met Inner Circle agent Ian Kendall who was called in to investigate the hovercycle accident that put Blade on a med ship orbiting a backwater planet. Kendall has given orders that Bo (in her guise as Marissa, Blade’s Joy Babe Companion) cannot visit Blade. When Bo sought him out to confront him on it, he was waiting for her and has led her into an exam room where he sealed the door shut.

***

The air crackled between them with unspoken tension. There was more to it. He was only waiting for her to respond, to make a mistake, before he went for the kill. The two of them stared at each other patiently waiting. It was like trying to navigate a plasma storm with a damaged sensor array. One miscalculation and she’d fry.

Bo trailed her fingertips along the edge of the exam table. “You think I had something to do with it.”

He nodded. “The thought occurred to me.”

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Last week we met Inner Circle agent Ian Kendall who was called in to investigate the hovercycle accident that put Blade on a med ship orbiting a backwater planet. Kendall has given orders that Bo (in her guise as Marissa, Blade’s Joy Babe Companion) cannot visit Blade. When Bo sought him out to confront him on it, he was waiting for her and has led her into an exam room where he sealed the door shut.

***

Shrugging off Kendall’s attempted mind game, she circled the small room, placing the exam table between them. It wouldn’t exactly stop him from lunging for her, but it would certainly slow him down a little.

Incremental victories – she’d take them where she could get them.

“What’s this about, Agent Kendall?”

“I’ve had a team going over the crash site,” he said, slowly stalking her. “Devon’s hovercycle was sabotaged.”

Bo misstepped, her ankle wobbled on her high heeled shoe.

He opened with a direct hit. She had to give him points for that.

“Sabotaged?”

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Last week we met Inner Circle agent Ian Kendall who was called in to investigate the hovercycle accident that put Blade on a med ship orbiting a backwater planet. Kendall has given orders that Bo (in her guise as Marissa, Blade’s Joy Babe Companion) cannot visit Blade. When Bo sought him out to confront him on it, he was waiting for her and has led her into an exam room where he sealed the door shut.

***

His lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach his dark eyes. He studied her with an unblinking, soulless stare. It sent a chill down her spine. She’d seen the same predatory look on Blade’s face plenty, but it had never been aimed at her.

Her brow furrowed. She felt like a glumrat, just waiting for the felidaen to strike. She didn’t care for it. Her uncle Royce’s words echoed in her ear.

“Whenever you find yourself cornered, keep your head, show no fear, and don’t get defensive. A cool head will let you find your way out of any situation.”

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Yeah, I was getting bored with the game with the drink.  I found another scene I wanted to share. This one goes back to the inciting incident in HERO’S END. An Inner Circle Agent named Kendall is investigating  Blade’s near-fatal hovercycle accident. Aboard the medical ship, Kendall has issued orders preventing Bo (in her alias as his Joy Babe) from seeing him. An angry Bo goes looking for the high-handed agent to give him a piece of her mind and to get to the bottom of the situation. She suspects there is more to this than simple prejudice against women in the comfort trade.

***

He lay in wait for her outside of recovery. He bared his teeth by way of a greeting.

“I’ve been expecting you,” he said, uncoiling from his chair. “Come with me.”

Her every sense on sudden alert, Bo glanced towards Blade’s door. No help from that quarter – not this time. She followed the agent into an empty treatment room. The door hissed shut behind them. He pulled a scrambler from his pocket and pointed it at the door.

“That should take care of any interruptions,” he said.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

When last we met, Blade started a very public game with Bo over a drink. We pick back up with it as they both play out their roles of holofeature bad boy and his elegant and refined Kiara mistress under the unblinking eye of both his adoring public and the unforgiving media. Bo is bristling at the game already.

***

“You know I can take that thing away from you if I wanted to.”

He shook his head. “You’d only spill it, and then where would you get another?”

Bo turned in his embrace. “I’m not going to play your little game, Blade.”

“Yes you are,” he whispered in her ear. He held the glass between them and waved it under her nose. “You’re going to be undercover for a long while yet. I’ve got to debauch you publicly if you ever want to be able to drink what you want. Remember the server on Altair?”

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!