Release date: March 14, 2019
Subgenre: Space opera
About Clarion's Call:
The SLS Excelsior has a million credit bounty on her, and pirate captain
Christopher Raleigh leads his crew to claim the prize. But with the
Digital Assassin and the Tetrarch's daughter onboard, no plans can ever
be safe.
When Space Marines recapture Jillian in the midst of battle, Raleigh and his crew have to find a way to get to Clarion and take her back. Or die trying . . .
Don't miss the second installment of this action-packed space opera adventure!
When Space Marines recapture Jillian in the midst of battle, Raleigh and his crew have to find a way to get to Clarion and take her back. Or die trying . . .
Don't miss the second installment of this action-packed space opera adventure!
Excerpt:
Chapter 1
“Come on, you two. You can do better. Wotta bunch of
weenies.”
Granny put both fists on her hips and looked down on the mat where
Skylar and Raquel lay panting. They were all barefoot and wearing
gym shorts below their t-shirts.
“I don’t get it,” Skylar said between breaths. “How can someone so
petite be strong?”
“I don’t get how someone so old can be in such good shape,” Jillian
said, equally winded.
“Okay, that does it missies. Get up so I can kick your butts
again.”
Both younger women sprang up from the mat and rushed Granny at the
same time. She sidestepped and tripped Skylar, then swung around
and grabbed Jillian’s arm, turning her forward momentum into a
flip.
Jillian fell end over end and landed on the mat again with a
loud, Splat!
“Who looks old and petite now?” Granny said. She cackled and walked
over to offer the women a hand up.
They were a week into the voyage to Pegasi Station aboard the
Ultima Mule, and already the three roommates had formed a bond
while sharing quarters.
Skylar and Jillian, closer in age, had more to talk about with each
other. In previous voyages, Skylar kept mostly to herself,
interacting with her brother Samuel and rarely spending time with
others. Now that he was gone, she turned to these two for
companionship.
Granny served in a matronly role, freely offering advice. She also
willingly served as the odd person out for the other two to gripe
about.
Granny said, “Two women are friends. With three women, someone is
going to become the target of the other two. So I’ll be you gal’s
target. If you can hit me!”
Indeed, Skylar and Jillian found themselves griping about the older
woman frequently. Part of it had to do with their inability to take
her down during these sparring sessions.
“What do you call this again? What’s this style?” Jillian said.
Granny said, “The flips are from Aikido. It’s a type of fighting
that uses your opponent’s weight against them. It’s particularly
useful for women because the fellas are usually bigger than we are.
“Now, my other techniques are based on Krav Maga. That’s for close
quarters combat. You girls need to learn some fundamentals, first.
Like how to roll when you fall, for instance. If you were to have
gone down on a hard floor like that, Princess, you might have
busted your neck.”
Granny grinned at them and pulled out a cigar she had hidden on her
person somewhere. She stuck it in her mouth, unlit, and kept
smiling.
“I’m gonna hit the shower and have some lunch. See you gals at
mess!”
She walked out of the gym, leaving the younger women alone.
Skylar said, “She must have some anti-aging nanobots in her system
or something. I swear she can’t be 73 years old. Nobody that age
can move like that.”
Jillian cracked her neck and rubbed the small of her back. Granny
was right. Without the mat her fall would have hurt much worse.
Plus she was beginning to wonder if her long hair was going to
become a problem. It certainly did not seem conducive to
fighting.
She said, “Chris says that’s her real age. I think she just stays
very active. She’s certainly limber enough.”
Skylar gave her a lopsided grin. Nobody onboard the Ultima Mule
called Captain Christopher Raleigh by his first name, except
Jillian Thrall.
Skylar said, “Come on let’s go back to the cabin. After lunch we
can resume your shooting lessons.”
-+-
The elevator door to the flight deck corridor opened. Skylar and
Jillian stepped out, now well fed, showered, and dressed again in
grey slacks and brown boots below fresh white t-shirts.
The corridor looked ribbed, with metal protrusions sticking out of
the wall every couple of meters, each stretching from ceiling to
floor.
“I meant to ask, Skylar, what are these for?”
Jillian pointed at one of the extensions.
“These are barricades to hide behind if someone tries to board us.
They would land on the flight deck and try to shoot their way
through to the elevator. Our people would take cover behind the
barricades and try to keep them holed up at the doorway. It’s a
fairly common defensive measure. You should have seen the size of
the entrance corridor on the Aquamarine, they had something like a
hundred soldiers waiting for us. Of course, Samuel and I took care
of things.”
Skylar put her palm on an armory panel near the elevator and it
hissed open, showing rack after rack of rifles and pistols.
“Can anybody open the armory?” Jillian said. “Seems like it would
be more secure.”
“The Captain, Quartermaster, and First Officer can open it without
question. When a regular member like you or me tries, Lootie makes
a decision. If she needs to, she’ll query the Captain directly. In
this case, she knows we are about to practice shooting, so she’s
not overly concerned. No doubt she’ll keep an extra eye on us while
we have the guns out, though.”
She handed Jillian a rifle and took one for herself, then closed
the panel door.
Jillian said, “At least we don’t need Granny for this.”
Skylar said, “Yeah, this is my preferred method of fighting. A gun
levels the playing field, you know? It doesn’t matter how big they
are, you can always take them down with one of these.”
She patted the rifle affectionately. Jillian shivered. She knew
that Skylar and her brother had killed a lot of people.
They slung the rifles on their backs and walked out on the flight
deck. They weaved between fighter drones, heading for the large
hexagonal opening with a force field on the side of the ship
serving as the flight deck entrance. The opening shimmered red and
they watched the stars wink by as the ship teleported once every
second.
Skylar said, “Give us two moving targets, please Lootie. And a
score counter.”
Round holograms the size of dinner plates appeared in front of the
force field, moving in random patterns. The number zero showed on
the top left of the hexagonal opening, and another one on the
right.
“You always beat me at this,” Jillian grumbled.
Skylar said, “I’ve just got more practice.”
“I know. Before I joined the company, I never even touched a gun
before.”
“You’ve come a long way, girlfriend.”
Skylar raised her rifle and shot the first hologram circle. The
number on the left turned into a one. Jillian shot at her circle
and missed, She fired three more times before finally hitting it.
Skylar shot two more during that time.
Half an hour later, they called it quits. Skylar had shot 111 discs
while Jillian managed to hit 82.
“You’re getting better,” Skylar said as they walked back toward the
corridor.
Jillian rubbed her arm where it cramped from holding the big gun
for so long. Despite her muscle pain, she was happy with her score.
It was a new personal record.
They heard a Ding!from the distant elevator and a moment later Rodrigo
Diego-Rodriguez, the ship’s pilot, stepped out of the corridor. He
looked around, but failed to see the two women among the fighter
drones out on the tarmac. Instinctively Skylar pulled Jillian down
behind one of the small crafts, and they remained hidden.
Satisfied of his privacy, Rodrigo pulled out his portable radiation
absorber from a pocket and pressed the button on top. A cloud of
silver pixels formed, quickly coalescing into the beautiful blonde
and silver shape of Raquel Kirkland.
He handed her a plate of food from the mess hall then stuck his
hands in his pockets while she wolfed it down in front of him.
When she finished, she stepped very close to him and looked up into
his face.
“Thank you for taking care of me, Roddy. I’m so sorry about what I
did before. I don’t know what came over me. But I am so glad you
are my bondholder now. You’re the best bondholder I’ve ever had.
And I mean that with all my heart.”
The plate crashed to the floor as he took her into his arms and
kissed her passionately.
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About Jaxon Reed:
Jaxon Reed is a science fiction and fantasy author. Amazon's digital imprint, Kindle Press, selected his book The
Empathic Detective for publication through Kindle Scout. Recently
the sequel, Ghostsuit, was also awarded a publishing contract
through Kindle Scout. He is the author of Thieves & Wizards, an
epic fantasy, and The Redwood Trilogy, a science fiction series.
Jaxon is an Aggie, living in Texas on a ranch with his wife and
boys, several cats, and one pound dog.
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