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

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ HERO’S END.

By this point, in the book, Blade’s back is against the wall. There have been several attempts on his life, one nearly successful, and he’s been ordered to give up his holofeature career and the woman he loves to take a safe desk job, complete with high security and body guards to protect him ~ a situation akin to life in prison with no chance of parole. He’s only just barely shaken the men assigned to protect him. His window for disappearing is rapidly dwindling. This scene is one last big gamble where he’s throwing all his chips into the pot and hoping he can pull out a winning hand.

***

The young man muttered a curse and turned his attention back to the firefight. After a few seconds he turned back to Blade.

“Wait… did you say you’re Blade Devon?” he asked.

Blade nodded. “In the flesh.” He sat down beside the man in blithe unconcern and stripped off his riding gloves. “So what’s my motivation? What’s the conflict? Who are those guys?” He nodded towards the eight gunmen.

***

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!

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ HERO’S END.

This is a difficult scene to take out of context. By this point, in the book, Blade’s back is against the wall. There have been several attempts on his life, one nearly successful, and he’s been ordered to give up his holofeature career and the woman he loves to take a safe desk job, complete with high security and body guards to protect him ~ a situation akin to life in prison with no chance of parole. He’s only just barely shaken the men assigned to protect him. His window for disappearing is rapidly dwindling. This scene is one last big gamble where he’s throwing all his chips into the pot and hoping he can pull out a winning hand.

***

Blade studied the ongoing firefight, moving steadily towards a better vantage point. As near as he could tell, three gunmen faced at least eight with a half-dozen innocent bystanders trapped in the crossfire. The civilians were his first priority. He moved towards the nearest of the gunmen.

Surprisingly young, he crouched down behind a partition and fired over the civilians’ heads at the eight men who had taken positions along the stage and wings. He didn’t sense Blade’s approach until Blade was nearly on top of him. He turned quickly and leveled his blaster at him. Blade stopped and held out his hands to his sides.

“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to startle you… I’m Blade Devon.”

***

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!

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ HERO’S END.

Blade heads into a firefight in a theater, and his life is about to change forever.

***

He glanced at the darkness that filled the open door of the theater. Colorful flashes lit the shadows. The unmistakable whine and hiss of blaster fire punctuated the shrieks and howls of civilians unaccustomed to live fire.

Maker help him. If he didn’t find a way around Marin’s orders, this could well be his last firefight, too, and that simply wouldn’t do. They were too damn much fun.

Blade strode up the walk to the open door, unfastening his jacket as he went. If he needed the blaster nestled in the shoulder holster under his arm, he wanted to be able to reach it. If he played his role right, he wouldn’t need it. Nothing short of a squad of IC-trained Predators would provide much of a challenge.

***

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!

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ and a short story DEATH OF A HOLOFEATURE HERO.

This is a life-altering gunfight for Blade, and it takes place in a theater. Hell of an audition, right?

***

“You’re not going in there!” She cried, throwing her arms around his neck again.

Swallowing his annoyance, he pried her loose. “Don’t worry about me,” he said with a grin, slipping easily into the holofeature hero role he’d played ever since he walked away from his Inner Circle career five years earlier. “I’m just going to take a look in the door and see if I can help anyone else get out before the authorities get here. I’m not a hero, I only play one in holofeatures.”

He shrugged her off. Now wasn’t really the time.

“Call it research for my next role.” He nudged her towards the security office. “Go get help.”

***

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!

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ But it may find release as a short story called DEATH OF A HOLOFEATURE HERO.

This week’s snippet comes from a scene that is one of the oldest parts of my story canon. The idea for this scene dates back to 1984. Though it had been referenced many times over the years, it had never even been written until NOW!!

This is the scene in which Blade Devon finds himself involved in a gunfight theater, and if he makes it through the audition, it could change his life forever.

***

She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder.

“Oh Blade! Thank the Maker it’s you!”

“Nyla, what’s going on?”

“We were getting set up for auditions and these men came in! They had guns! Real guns!”

He cast a speculative eye towards the open theater door. A tiny spark of hope flickered to life. After weeks of compliance and submission, going through the motions of tying up the loose ends of his life in holofeatures, this could be the break he’d been waiting for. Men with guns often had means of getting off-planet quickly. If he played this scene right, he might be able to make his escape once and for all.

***

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!

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ Taking a week off from title worries.

This week’s snippet comes from a scene that is one of the oldest parts of my story canon. The idea for this scene dates back to 1984. Though it had been referenced many times over the years, it had never even been written until NOW!!

This is the scene in which Blade Devon leaves the perks of his Inner Circle affiliation and his holofeature career for the seedy galactic underbelly of the Sub-socia. A gunfight at an audition in a theater on the studio lot provides Blade just the right opportunity to change careers and escape the IC security detail sent not only to protect him from attempts on his life, but to drag him kicking and screaming back to a desk job on Trisdos at the end of a month’s time.

***

Blade switched off the engine and dismounted the cycle then reached for the straps holding his helmet in place. As he pulled it off, he heard the faint sounds of a commotion from the theater as one of the emergency doors flew open. Blade’s head snapped around. A young actress, burst through, running as if the terrors of hell chased her.

Nyla Losh was too beautiful to be real — which was a good indication that her beauty was surgically enhanced — but she had all of three expressions and a completely monotone line delivery. She was only marginally better in bed. The only reason his affair with her had lasted through principal shooting of the one holofeature they’d made together had been because the producer begged him not to end it until they’d wrapped. It had been the only way to make their onscreen love scenes believable.

***

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!

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ Thinking of going with REQUIEM FOR THE BROKEN WING to make it sound less fluffy.

This week’s snippet is from one of the first scenes written for this book which may not make it to the final draft. After the hovercycle accident is determined to be sabotage, Blade is assigned an IC security detail for the premiere of his latest holofeature, The Watchtower. He’s also got extra security that the IC isn’t aware of in the form of his Joy Babe — none other than Bo Barron herself. Despite the danger to Bo, she’s joined him on Cormoran so she can watch his back. If she’s recognized, she’ll be arrested and executed on the spot. She’s taking position and waiting for Blade to run the media gauntlet down the red carpet.

***

Bo found her way to the VIP entrance and took up a position that gave her a clear view of both the crowd and the new arrivals. She shifted her weight so she could more quickly reach the compact palm blaster strapped to her thigh. That tiny energy weapon in its shielded holster was a huge risk. It was illegal for Joy Babes to carry energy weapons of any kind. If someone took another shot at Blade, she wanted to be ready. She would deal with the consequences later.

Blade’s cruiser pulled up to the gate and stopped. Bo took a deeper step into the shadows. Her amber eyes flicked over the crowd and the surrounding buildings.

***

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!