by J D Huffman
“I believe we were going to leave that up to you,” Eleanor said.
________________________________________
That scene rose up again in Sasha’s mind as she watched Earth rotate down below, through the window in her office aboard Retribution. The Order were about to execute William, and while it wasn’t her sole purpose here, she felt obligated to stop it. When she asked herself “why?” the answer didn’t seem so complicated. He’d come for her when Cylence took her prisoner. He could have moved on and abandoned her, but he didn’t. In some sense, he gave his life to save her. She owed him. But everything that had happened between them since complicated matters. She still had a favor to repay, but would he appreciate having it repaid, or care for the manner in which she did it? That, she did not know—and was on the edge of not caring, given everything else she had to contend with these days.
As she thought it over—just what she would do once she came face-to-face with William again—the door to her office chimed, signaling the presence of a visitor. It was a much gentler sound than the kind the Totality used on their ships. Not a jarring buzz, but a soft tone that politely made itself known, then faded away. “Come in,” she accepted, hearing the door slide open a moment later.
She didn’t turn to see who it was, identifying her visitor by the sound of their footsteps. She knew who it was immediately. Letting her right hand drop to her side, she held it open, fingers apart. Another set of fingers entwined with them and squeezed her hand.
She looked to the woman now standing beside her.
“What brings you up here, Linda?” Sasha asked, pretending she wasn’t glad to see her.
“Same thing that’s kept you up all night.” She stared out at the planet below. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Beauty can hide so much ugliness,” Sasha countered. “If there’s anything we’ve learned about the Order, it’s that.”
“I’m way too tired for philosophy,” Linda joked. Her tone then became serious. “Where do you think he is down there?”
“There are several possible sites. I have people working on narrowing down a location. He’s not my only concern, either.”
“What if they kill him before you can find him?”
“I won’t be very happy about it.”
Linda smirked. “I hope you worded it more strongly in your letter.”
“You might say that,” Sasha grinned. “But the main thrust was the Avalonians.”
A few moments of silence passed between them before Linda spoke again. “What are you going to do when you find him?”
“I don’t know. After all the trouble he’s caused, just keeping him alive might be a struggle on its own.”
“I’m a little more optimistic about that,” Linda shrugged.
Sasha gave her hand a firm squeeze, turning her gaze back to the gleaming orb outside. “It’s strange, to think we came all this way, to the birthplace of humanity, only to arrive as enemies. To come in violence. Where does it stop?”
Both of them held that thought in silence as they beheld the gleaming planet outside. Sasha could’ve sworn that, somewhere along the terminator between day and night, she saw a green shape with an impossibly black slit in it, like a hateful eye staring back at her from some place not entirely of this universe.
Playing the Hero
Book 1 of the Natan Fleet Show
K. E. Ireland
Chapter 1
Taking Lisha in hand, Vathion twirled her to face him before dipping her low. Lisha’s long blue hair hung just inches from the floor. He gazed down at her as she slowly closed her eyes and puckered her lips.
She had fought him every step of the way to get this, and he was still pissed about being forced to. He had already destroyed one of her other scenes and destroying this one too would bring down the wrath of the entire class that had helped modify the play.
Deciding that he had waited long enough, Vathion closed in - for the sloppiest kiss on record before abruptly releasing her. Lisha collapsed to the floor in an undignified heap and sat bolt upright, hands balled into fists. Quickly, he swept out his baton and grinned at the audience.
“Onward mates! For the Empire!”
The crowd went wild.
Finally, the curtains closed.
If he had been given the choice, Vathion would have remained behind stage. If denied that option, he would have picked someone else to be. However, he had been firmly overruled by the female contingent of his class. His own best friend, Mirith, had started it too, which was the real kicker but she knew how to get him to go along with her schemes. Vathion enjoyed acting, but it was mildly insulting to have to play the part of his own father, Ha’Natan, the charming daredevil Hero of Gilonnia.
The problem was that he hated Natan.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. He hated playing Natan.
Giving that irresistible Natan grin, Vathion offered his hand down to Lisha. She accepted his hand with a dark look as the curtain opened for the bows. Lifting their joined hands as he and Lisha stepped forward, Vathion bowed in unison with his co-star, retreated as the other actors came forward to bow, and finally all of them took a final bow and the curtain closed again. His pinned-on grin fell from his lips.
“What was that?” Lisha demanded, jerking her hand loose. She was slender, with fairly large breasts for a Gilon girl, stuffed into a skimpy blue dress that left little to the imagination, her dark blue hair tied in a tail at the back of her head.
Shrugging, Vathion said, “Hey, you got the kiss like you wanted, and that drop was in character. Which hurts more, your butt or your pride?” He sheathed his baton in a practiced move as he turned away from her. Giving a nonchalant wave of his hand, Vathion strode off the stage and out into the hall that ran beside the school’s auditorium. Lifting his hands, he began to pull his blue contacts out, putting them away in the case he had snuck into his coat pocket. Natan had blue eyes, not green. They had forced him to paint his Bondstone too, since Natan’s bond, Paymeh, had blue eyes too. All of this had been just so that he would look like the real Ha’Natan. He scratched at the paint on the glassy coin-sized organ in the center of his forehead.
:That was pretty funny,: Jathas, Vathion’s Bond, sniggered mentally, :You didn’t do bad with the ad-libs either, they were a lot funnier and more natural than the lines you forgot. Sorry I wasn’t quick enough with them for you.:
Giving a slight shake of his head, Vathion thought back at his Hyphokos friend, :Not your fault, I can’t rely on you to remember everything for me. Otherwise tests would be a measure of how much you retained rather than how much I did.:
Jathas laughed softly. :Okay.:
The audience filled the hall near the doors to the auditorium, blocking easy exit. Vathion paused as he pondered how he was going to find his mother and get out before Lisha caught up to him; or worse - Paire, her boyfriend.
“Vathion,” a voice called out. He looked back to see Paire, the drama teacher’s pet and the one who had been stuck with the unfortunate role of Ma’Gatas, coming up behind him. Paire was nice enough when not provoked, but Vathion was glad that in another week Paire would be graduated and gone.
Grinning, he dropped an arm around Vathion’s shoulders, which only he could do, since they were of comparable height; somewhere around five feet and seven inches. “You did a great job!” Paire said with a glint in his eyes. They were cousins on Vathion’s mother’s side, but that didn’t mean they had to like it, or each other.
Vathion shook his head slightly. “I think you would have done better,” he said honestly.
Paire removed the amber wig and fluffed his sweaty cyan hair, some of it falling into his sleepy ocean blue eyes. The stage makeup, simulating Ma’Gatas scars, gave him a slightly older look for the moment. He picked at it, “This stuff smells terrible,” he muttered, then turned back to the
topic at hand. “I just don’t fit the part of Ha’Natan. He’s rather energetic.” He prodded Vathion’s ribs. Vathion squirmed, uncommonly ticklish. “Besides, you look just like him - and do that line so well,” Paire concluded.
He rolled his eyes. “You’re a passable look alike too, and senior in the class. I shouldn’t have gotten the role.”
“You’ve got the hair, though.”
Vathion shoved his dark violet hair out of his face. He’d had it cut just before the play into the shaggy, slightly wavy mop that Natan had made quite popular. The twin locks framing his Bondstone were the most annoying part about it. “Quite by accident, I assure you,” he deadpanned.
The Natan Fleet Show
K. E. Ireland
Playing the Hero
For thirty years, Gilonnia has been in the grip of a civil war, throwing a once peaceful empire into chaos. Vathion has never known peace and doesn’t expect to see an end to the fighting in his life-time. His entrance into the theater of war comes sooner than expected when his father, the dashing hero of the Empire, Ha’Natan, is assassinated. Pulled from his seemingly ordinary life, Vathion must hide his father’s death, discover the killer, and retain control of his inherited privateer battle ships or risk losing the entire war before he’s even gotten the chance to fight in it.
Symbol of Hope
Having thought the Natan Fleet was out of commission, the Empire’s enemies begin making their move to win, but Vathion is too stubborn to give up and too naive to know when to back down. His mistakes are costly, but when faced with the opportunity to simply quit or get revenge… Vathion chooses to fight and he’s out for blood.
Phoenix Emperor
Even when he thought it was over, the nightmare just keeps going. Stripped of his friends and old life and his desire to fade into obscurity denied, Vathion must take over the empire, succeeding where his enemies failed. Drawing on his acting skills, he grips the reins of power with an iron fist and no care as to what he will be remembered for once he’s dead.
The Natan Fleet Show series is available on Amazon
Spar
Randi Perrin
When trust is lost, the fight is on to win it back.
Chloe Darue lives in a sleepy, conservative Southern town challenging every norm she can. She’s a triple threat—she can program computers, kick someone’s ass, and she’s confident in her self-image. In fact, she only has two fears: her ex and her family finding out that she’s bi.
Enter Locke Headley, who is new to town and popping up everywhere she goes. He’s got deep blue eyes, an accent she would willingly drown in, and that amazing package is tied up with a fourth-degree black belt. Swoon.
She’s single. He’s single. This should be easy, right?
Not when her trust issues get in the way, particularly when it comes to Locke’s bedroom behaviors. Every time he makes a step forward, she shoves him two steps back. He’s not going to give up or go away. He’s a man who knows what he wants and won’t stop until he gets it.
Then again, maybe she can use it to her advantage. Anticipating her mother’s impending you’re-almost-thirty-and-not-married-yet conversation, she recruits him to be her fake boyfriend. Problems solved.
That’s great until real feelings start getting in the way of the ruse. But can they have anything lasting when it’s built on a foundation of deceit and foolish pride?
Touched by Death
Lilye Kerryna
Death is usually the end of a story, but for Dinah it is only the beginning.
When Dinah dies in a car accident, her faith in the Greek gods of myths brings her to the Underworld. She faces judgement and discovers she died before she was fated to, leaving the Judges uncertain and unable to reach a decision. Hades, the God of the Underworld, offers her a chance to impress them and earn a place in the underworld.
As a romantic, Dinah is drawn to the story of Persephone and Hades and wholeheartedly believes it to be one of true love. When she learns that Persephone is missing she decides she will try her best to find the Goddess, hoping that a mortal’s perspective might be enough to uncover a lead the gods had failed to notice.
Complications arise as she finds herself falling in love with the missing goddess’ husband. Convinced he still loves Persephone, she struggles to keep her feelings from interfering with her mission. She must also learn the ins and outs of palace life and find allies to aid her – all while coping with the loss of her life and soul-threatening dangers in her path.