Mission Improbable (Carrie Hatchett Space Adventures, Book 1) by J.J. Green

Release date: December 15, 2015

Subgenre: Space Opera

About Mission Improbable: 

 

In the deepest reaches of the galaxy there are places and beings that aren’t impossible, just very, very improbable.
Carrie Hatchett is a low-achieving daydreamer, and the last person on Earth who should be resolving disputes for the Transgalactic Council. After providing a good home for her butt-ugly dog and psychotic cat, her biggest challenge in life is to avoid being fired, again.

But a strange green mist sucks her beneath her kitchen sink, and an unusual clerical error leads to an offer she foolishly doesn’t refuse.

In settling a conflict between the mechanical placktoids and the mysterious oootoon, Carrie reveals a threat to the entire galaxy.

Mission Improbable is Book One in the light-hearted, fast-paced Carrie Hatchett Space Adventures series.

Excerpt:

All the cardboard boxes in the kitchen were empty so Carrie went to check the rest of the flat. She saw a small unopened box in the bedroom. Toodles’ claws flashed out as she passed the bed, but she sidestepped just in time.

“Toodles, sweetiepie, did you miss Mummy?”

Carrie opened the box. Inside were a bottle of washing up liquid, scourers, a plunger, washing up brushes, spray cleaner and cloths. Everything that should go under the kitchen sink. She would have to force that door open.

On the way back past the bed Toddles caught her, raking three long scratches through her tights.

“Ow! Toodles, that really hurt. Don’t be cheeky.” Carrie squatted and peered under the bed. Baleful orange eyes glowed in the shadows. “You’re a very cheeky girl sometimes, Toodles, did you know that?” As Carrie reached towards the cat, Toodles’ claws made another lightning-fast appearance and Carrie snatched her hand away. A hiss was followed by a guttural, whining growl.

Squinting into the darkness Carrie said, “Okay, so you want to be alone for a little while. I can see that. It’s a new place and you’re feeling vulnerable. I get it.” She picked up the box and stood. “Barry doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I do listen. I do hear what people have to say, don’t I, Toodles?”

After returning to the kitchen, Carrie pulled with all her might at the stubborn cupboard door, but it would not budge. She opened the other cupboards, but they were all full. She frowned at the box of kitchen stuff. It was so annoying. It was the last box, and if she could just put the contents away she would be finished.

Rogue clattered into the kitchen, barking, his paws slipping on the tiles. Carrie smiled. Her lovely handsome dog was feeling better already.

Then she noticed what he was barking at. The cupboard door under the sink was glowing, a green pulsating light. Carrie’s hand went to her mouth. “Oh no. Rogue, what is it?”

Toodles’ catty whine from the bedroom joined Rogue’s deep-throated woofs, creating an escalating cacophony until, with a bang, the door flew open. Carrie jumped and Rogue whimpered and fled, his tail between his legs. Toodles’ whine stopped. A vivid green glow shone from Carrie’s under-sink cupboard, bathing the kitchen in an eerie light.

Her heart in her mouth, Carrie stumbled back towards the kitchen door, intending to follow Rogue’s hasty retreat, but after a moment she hesitated. Her breathing slowed and her head tilted to one side. She took a step towards the cupboard, and another. Bending down, she peeped inside.

Green mist swirling in a lazy spiral filled the space. Carrie crouched closer, gazing at the mist. It looked like an emerald Milky Way set in motion, its centre disappearing into infinity. She could not figure out what it was. A gas leak? Something supernatural? She stuck out her nose and sniffed. The mist had no smell. A sudden thought occurred to her—maybe she could ask for a rent reduction? Swirling green substances in cupboards were definitely an inconvenience, especially when they frightened her pets.

As her hair began to lift and pull towards the open cupboard, Carrie wondered briefly what it might mean before she was sucked, head first, under her kitchen sink.

Amazon

 

About J.J. Green:

Fascinated by the unusual and unknown since childhood, J.J. Green first departed the U.K. as a young adult and has lived in Australia and Laos as well as her current abode, Taiwan. Her choice of writing genre reflects her interests and includes science fiction, fantasy, weird, dark and humorous tales.

 

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