Preservation: Age of Expansion - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Ghost Squadron Book 7)

by Sarah Noffke

  “Fletcher can handle Ghost Squadron,” Eddie interrupted.

  Julianna looked around, like she was searching for an answer to this riddle Eddie was proposing. “What if Hatch needs our help with something?”

  “He has Knox, and you know that if those two are working on something, they don’t want us spying.”

  Julianna shook her head, her eyes distant in thought. “I’m just not sure if—”

  Eddie turned, striding away. “Nevermind. I’ll be in the lounge, if you’re looking for me.”

  Julianna looked down at Harley, who gave her “that” look. She sighed. “Eddie, wait.”

  He halted, turned his chin over his shoulder, and regarded her with a serious look. “What?”

  “I’m just not the vacationing type,” she explained.

  He pivoted, pointing at the dog at her heels. “You weren’t the dog type before, either.”

  “It’s just that vacations seem like something you do when there’s been a happy ending, and I never want to delude myself into thinking the fight is over,” Julianna explained.

  Eddie strode over, a meaningful look on his face. “Vacations are what you do when you want to relax and spend time with someone, unobstructed by the distractions of everyday life.”

  “I like those distractions,” Julianna argued, peering out the bay windows at stars that didn’t have names.

  Eddie laughed. “And I love that about you.”

  “You know I’m a workaholic who overdoes everything. I may never get my shit together and learn how to relax,” Julianna admitted.

  Eddie smiled. “I don’t believe that for a minute. I’m the fuck-up, but do you know what we are together?”

  Idiots, Pip offered.

  Julianna shook her head. “What are we?”

  “We’re perfect,” he said. “You keep me balanced, and I tell you when it’s time to take a vacation. So what do you say, Jules? Ricky Bobby told me about a perfect place to unwind.”

  “He is good with picking destinations,” Julianna said, allowing an excited smile.

  “And this is not a happy ending,” Eddie said, motioning between the two of them. “It’s better. It’s a happy beginning.”

  Once more, Eddie extended his hand to Julianna. This time she took it, allowing him to lead her away as the ship headed deep into space where the adventures were limitless.

  The End

  Author Notes - Sarah Noffke

  May 12, 2018

  Coming to the end of a series is always acidic syrup. Why yes, I did thesaurus the term “bitter sweet” because although it’s inevitably what I mean, I didn’t want to be cliché. Anyway, when I completed this book I was all like, “Yay! I finished my first space opera!” And at the same time, I was all, “No! Give me back my friends!” Please don’t tell my “real” friends I said that or they’ll again try to make me leave the house and have “authentic” interactions. So overrated.

  Speaking of talking to real people. I did that recently. I found myself in a hotel bar. The reasons are inconsequential. A few of us lonely travelers were picking over our salads and pretending that eating at a bar with strangers wasn’t weird. So one guy asks the lot of us, “What does everyone do?”

  One guy said, “I’m an accountant.” Everyone ignored that guy. Who even let him in here?

  Another guy said he worked for a droid company. You know I picked that guy’s brain later for fodder. And that’s how you expense a dinner.

  Then after a few generic answers, I entered the convo. “I write sci-fi, fantasy space opera.” And just like that I became the person of interests. You see, I already know that I have the coolest job. We’ve discussed that in the author notes before. But it was in that moment that I realized everyone else also thought I had the coolest job ever. Okay, more on strange convos I have with strangers later. Maybe in the next book.

  Also, I was joking about the accountant. Some of my best friends are accountants.

  Did I tell you all that I allow my 6-year-old to name pretty much whatever she wants in my books? It’s a perk of the job. She’s responsible for naming the snake race called the Saverus. I also asked her to name the utopian planet that Ricky Bobby takes the crew to in this book. Noircun may seem like a random string of letters and that’s because it’s unicorn rearranged. Bam! You never saw that one coming, right?

  So the ark on Savern was a ton of fun to create. I can’t take all the credit though. Again, I asked for inspiration from readers and they came through big time. The genius that had the idea for blood sucking humming birds was Kristoffer Pyle. Tracey Byrnes was the mastermind behind the vegetables that put Eddie to sleep. And not only did Lisa Frett offer up the name for the book, which won the popular vote on Facebook, but she also had lots of other brilliant ideas. For instance, that whole Pip and Eddie joyride in the car was one of her suggestions. Oh, and she’d mentioned something about a vegan craving chicken wings and I was like, say no more. I need all the opportunities I can get to make vegan jokes. I hope you all don’t mind. I live in Southern California, right next to Malibu. Everyone here is too cool for school and have their H2O protein shakes at tea time while snacking on seaweed crumpets and talking about Pilates. I LOVE where I live, but man these people are weird. So this is my outlet. As an aside, one of my friends told me her husband was selling bootlegged whiskey to pay for her Pilates classes. I was like, I fucking love this place!

  Why yes, I’ve digressed. Moving on. Nicole Emens was the smarty-pants who gave me the idea for the adorable creature who tried to bite Eddie’s hand off. Love that. Lori Hendricks also encouraged me to finally bring Jules and Eddie together. She also offered up a lot of awesome ideas that I’ve thrown into many of the books. And it was Ron Gailey and Diane Brenner who gave me the ideas for the weapons. So good. Last, but never least it was Alastar Wilson who had the suggestion for the Corvette Stingray which Pip wrecks into a nuclear missile, because we go big or we go home.

  I hope I’m not missing anyone, and I’m sure I am. Sorry. I’m so grateful for all the suggestions. You all really encourage me. Thank you to JIT for making each book better. I wished I could spend all day chatting with everyone on Facebook but then there would be no books.

  Speaking of butterscotch and dimples, I’ll turn you over to the guy you all came to see. Here’s Michael-Fucking-Anderson.

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Written 15th, 2018

  Seriously, Noffke? Anderson?

  So, first (or second, depending on how you look at things), THANK YOU for not only reading our stories, but reading all seven in this series, and now reading our Author Notes at the end!

  Sarah is already working hard to the next adventures, and I am going to surprise her (eventually) with a logo for a coffee mug. (Editor’s note: Um, MA, maybe not so much of a surprise now?) More on that in her next book!

  Now I’m going to give you a little inside scoop and discuss another series we are working on.

  More specifically, I’m going to tell you a bit about how collaborating with Sarah worked out to modify the angle of the series.

  One of the interesting aspects of collaboration has to do with inspiration. We can often talk back and forth and go down various rabbit trails and holes until we come up with a concept we both like. Me, I often feel out what my collaborator likes and go from there.

  Except with Sarah. Sarah’s take makes it a bit different…because she likes the bad guys.

  I know it takes a good bad guy to carry a story, but I’m kind of a good guy (or girl) type of author. I like to dream up neat protagonists we get to spend time with and go from there.

  Sarah, on the other hand, likes to think of slavering teeth connected to bodies that turn your dreams go upside down and make you want to call your Mom although you’re forty-eight.

  Just kidding, I’m not forty-eight.

  However, this time she was waxing poetic about a monster type and I was like ‘huh?’ then, “Hey, I have something to show you! Are yo
u near your computer?”

  She was.

  If you have spent any time in our Kurtherian Gambit series, you have probably come across a monster or alien drawn by Eric Quigley.

  Eric is responsible for making my lazy alien descriptions come alive.

  A long time ago (well, “long” in Indie Publishing Time, or IPT), Eric was messing around with some drawings for LARGE aliens…and I wanted them. They weren’t based on any of my descriptions, but I liked them and I could afford to purchase four (4) of them and hold them “for later.”

  But later never came.

  Except…now I pulled them up on the computer and sent them to my monster-loving collaborator to see what she thought of them.

  And of course, our little Eat the Humans loved them all!

  We spit-balled concepts back and forth for a series that might include LARGE-ASSED MONSTERS (LAMs)—or I guess they could be LARGE-ASSED ALIENS (LAAs)—and be (for me) a lot of fun.

  It took us about fourteen minutes to hammer out the bones of the idea, and we are pretty damned excited to move the series along. Unfortunately, it won’t be out in a few weeks like most of our efforts, since we have the aforementioned AOE series starting up soon.

  But we WILL get to it…I promise!

  Now, back to Michael-fucking-Anderson…

  Sarah and I were talking a little yesterday about this new series and she mentioned that she was going to give me a softball toss to help me with my author notes.

  How nice that the softball toss was a purposeful mistake with my last name.

  There goes the branding.

  Here I could say something about Sarah’s (very) slow slide down the slippery slope of her mental faculties for making such a simple mistake (but I won’t.) Or I could discuss my last name as being easily mistaken (it usually isn’t, believe it or not.)

  What I will say is that I find my collaborator too damned nice to say anything ugly and leave it at that.

 

  When Sarah and I spoke a couple of months ago, she told me the story that if we die without sharing that song, that music, that story in our mind, then it dies with us. I still think about that to this day.

  Because of that little story—and a lot of time thinking about stories dying with us—LMBPN Publishing (my company) is going to do something pretty DAMNED ballsy for a small indie publishing house.

  We are going to try and hit four hundred (400!) book releases in 2019.

  Four Hundred!

  To give this number some context, that is a release every day of the year plus a few more.

  There are the “Big Four” trad pub houses, and I believe the fifth largest is Kensington (family-owned) and they have been around for decades (since the 70s, maybe?)

  I read yesterday that all five publish seven hundred (700) stories a year.

  LMBPN is just two and a half years old, and if we come close to hitting four hundred books in 2019 we will be in the top five percent of all fiction publishing companies (I believe).

  Whether we make it, or not, I’m very proud to know that Sarah will be with us, trying like hell to help us hit our numbers!

  Please join us in our quest and see just how many LMPBN books YOU can read, and perhaps we will have Jeff Bezos asking…

  “Who the HELL is LMBPN Publishing?”

  Ad Aeternitatem,

  Michael Anderson Anderle

  Check out Sarah Noffke’s Sci-fi Paranormal series:

  Check out Sarah Noffke’s Paranormal Thriller:

  Ren Series:

  Get it here

  He is the most powerful man to ever live, and therefore doomed to misery.

  Born with the power to control minds, hypnotize others, and read thoughts, Ren Lewis, is certain of one thing: God made a mistake. No one should be born with so much power. A monster awoke in him the same year he received his gifts.

  At ten years old. A prepubescent boy with the ability to control others might merely abuse his powers, but Ren allowed it to corrupt him. And since he can have and do anything he wants, Ren should be happy. However, his journey teaches him that harboring so much power doesn't bring happiness, it steals it.

  Once this realization sets in, Ren makes up his mind to do the one thing that can bring his tortured soul some peace. He must kill the monster.

  Read Ren: The Man Behind the Monster.

  Acknowledgements

  Sarah Noffke

  Thank you to Michael Anderle for taking my calls and allowing me to play in this universe. It’s been a blast since the beginning.

  Thank you to Craig Martelle for cheering for me. I’ve learned so much working with you. This wild ride just keeps going and going.

  Thank you to Jen, Tim, Steve, Andrew and Jeff for all the work on the books, covers and championing so much of the publishing.

  Thank you to our beta team. I can’t believe how fast you all can turn around books. The JIT team sometimes scares me, but usually just with how impressively knowledgeable they are.

  Thank you to our amazing readers. I asked myself a question the other day and it had a strange answer. I asked if I would still write if trapped on a desert island and no one would ever read the books. The answer was yes, but the feeling connected to it was different. It wouldn’t be as much fun to write if there wasn’t awesome readers to share it with. Thank you.

  Thank you to my friends and family for all the support and love.

  About Sarah Noffke

  Sarah Noffke, an Amazon Best Seller, writes YA and NA sci-fi fantasy, paranormal and urban fantasy. She is the author of the Lucidites, Reverians, Ren, Vagabond Circus, Olento Research and Soul Stone Mage series. Noffke holds a Masters of Management and teaches college business courses. Most of her students have no idea that she toils away her hours crafting fictional characters. Noffke's books are top rated and best-sellers on Kindle. Currently, she has eighteen novels published. Her books are available in paperback, audio and in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. http://www.sarahnoffke.com

  Check out other work by this author here.

  The Soul Stone Mage Series:

  House of Enchanted #1:

  The Kingdom of Virgo has lived in peace for thousands of years…until now.

  The humans from Terran have always been real assholes to the witches of Virgo. Now a silent war is brewing, and the timing couldn’t be worse. Princess Azure will soon be crowned queen of the Kingdom of Virgo.

  In the Dark Forest a powerful potion-maker has been murdered.

  Charmsgood was the only wizard who could stop a deadly virus plaguing Virgo. He also knew about the devastation the people from Terran had done to the forest.

  Azure must protect her people. Mend the Dark Forest. Create alliances with savage beasts. No biggie, right?

  But on coronation day everything changes. Princess Azure isn’t who she thought she was and that’s a big freaking problem.

  Welcome to The Revelations of Oriceran. Check out the entire series here.

  The Lucidites Series:

  Awoken, #1:

  Around the world humans are hallucinating after sleepless nights.

  In a sterile, underground institute the forecasters keep reporting the same events.

  And in the backwoods of Texas, a sixteen-year-old girl is about to be caught up in a fierce, ethereal battle.

  Meet Roya Stark. She drowns every night in her dreams, spends her hours reading classic literature to avoid her family’s ridicule, and is prone to premonitions—which are becoming more frequent. And now her dreams are filled with strangers offering to reveal what she has always wanted to know: Who is she? That’s the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out. But will Roya live to regret learning the truth?

  Stunned, #2

  Revived, #3

  The Reverians Series:

  Defects, #1:

  In the happy, clean community of Austin Valley, everything appears to be perfect. Seventeen-ye
ar-old Em Fuller, however, fears something is askew. Em is one of the new generation of Dream Travelers. For some reason, the gods have not seen fit to gift all of them with their expected special abilities. Em is a Defect—one of the unfortunate Dream Travelers not gifted with a psychic power. Desperate to do whatever it takes to earn her gift, she endures painful daily injections along with commands from her overbearing, loveless father. One of the few bright spots in her life is the return of a friend she had thought dead—but with his return comes the knowledge of a shocking, unforgivable truth. The society Em thought was protecting her has actually been betraying her, but she has no idea how to break away from its authority without hurting everyone she loves.

  Rebels, #2

  Warriors, #3

  Vagabond Circus Series:

  Suspended, #1:

  When a stranger joins the cast of Vagabond Circus—a circus that is run by Dream Travelers and features real magic—mysterious events start happening. The once orderly grounds of the circus become riddled with hidden threats. And the ringmaster realizes not only are his circus and its magic at risk, but also his very life.

  Vagabond Circus caters to the skeptics. Without skeptics, it would close its doors. This is because Vagabond Circus runs for two reasons and only two reasons: first and foremost to provide the lost and lonely Dream Travelers a place to be illustrious. And secondly, to show the nonbelievers that there’s still magic in the world. If they believe, then they care, and if they care, then they don’t destroy. They stop the small abuse that day-by-day breaks down humanity’s spirit. If Vagabond Circus makes one skeptic believe in magic, then they halt the cycle, just a little bit. They allow a little more love into this world. That’s Dr. Dave Raydon’s mission. And that’s why this ringmaster recruits. That’s why he directs. That’s why he puts on a show that makes people question their beliefs. He wants the world to believe in magic once again.