Short Story Excerpt: FOR THE BIRDS

 Culver took position behind M'kar, one hand gripping her shoulder, ready to offer psi energy to brace her if necessary. The fact that she didn’t feel that humming sense of his presence and psionic strength encouraged her. It meant he trusted her to handle this without his help.

Greetings in Enlo’s peace, she called, making it a prayer as well as a gesture of friendship, and slowly lowered her outer mental shield.

Her first impression was of rising fury and terror in the birds, conflicting waves of icy, jagged teeth and scorching thorns. All that jangled and twisted sideways when the subliminal clang of the airlock opening vibrated through the ship. Taking a deep breath, she reached for memories of the floating sensation that came from entering the mind-circle with her Infrenx classmates, to spread through the mental contact and calm and sooth the birds. She needed them to accept her alien touch as friendly before she could penetrate their panic and jealousy and convince them it was good for Shay and his people to return to their own nests.

Her mental barrier sifting out the negative "blips" from the birds shuddered when it slipped, just for a moment, allowing more than their emotions through. The stench that reached her through the birds' noses was thick and gritty and pungent. The birds considered it normal, and even liked it. She fought not to let her initial nauseated reaction slip and undo all the good she was somehow managing. A friend who was sickened by their ordinary, comfortable world wasn’t a friend. Birds were especially sensitive to those who camouflaged themselves; bodies, scents, sounds, and minds.

Liars.

M’kar knew right then the ambassador hadn’t revealed even a fraction of a percent of the situation. These birds were too highly aware and intelligent, if they could grasp the concept of lies and liars and betrayal.

And still that stench thickened and coated her throat and reached down to her stomach. She tasted the fetid thickness and grit in the air.

Her throat ached with the effort not to gag and heave.

A single sharp thread wove through her brain, threatening a strain headache. M’kar reached into the center of calm she had learned in Infrenx class and pushed it out to share with the minds swirling all around her.

The churning of the bird minds smoothed out and calmed in spreading ripples. 

They were listening to her. They were aware she was something new.

This story is available as an ebook download from Ye Olde Dragon Books.

Short Story Excerpt: FOR THE BIRDS

 

M’kar was stunned when Captain Hollis revealed she was part of the reason the Defender had been assigned to assist the ambassador’s party. Shay had sent to the Academy, requesting the immediate assistance of a strong animal-focused Talent, able to endure difficult and uncomfortable environments, handle large numbers of strong-willed animal minds simultaneously, and impress a culture that admired agility, strength, and skill with knives. He didn’t ask for a recommendation, however. He wanted verification that the Talent he was requesting could handle the task.

“I don’t understand, sir,” she said, when Captain Hollis revealed that information in the privacy of his ready room. “It’s a migrant fleet, with people living on ships for decades, generations. I’ve seen some of the stats and specs for the fleet and –”

“How?” Her captain closed his eyes and shook his head. “Dumb question. Forget I said that. Of course, Lore is going to have his connections and get data that isn’t supposed to be released for general knowledge yet.” He sighed and opened his eyes. “I imagine he was babbling when he got hold of the report, and you were there with Treinna and overheard more than you wanted to.” 

“Pretty much.” M’kar decided her captain didn’t need to know that Lt. Genys Arroyan and Medic Tahl were present as well. They were visiting Treinna when Jasper returned to their quarters after duty shift, babbling pure exasperation and disbelief at the engineering impossibilities present in the Banscraqi fleet. 

Off the Bookshelf: WITCHES GET STUFF DONE, by Molly Harper

 

Audiobook, Audible Exclusive

Narrated by Amanda Ronconi and Teddy Hamilton

First book in the Starfall Point series

Guilty pleasure time! Molly Harper comes through yet again in a fun, slightly scary, slightly steamy romance.

This time, our heroine finds out she's got a somewhat creepy magical heritage, and it's a learn-on-the-job situation. 

Riley heads to an island in Lake Michigan to meet an aunt she never knew she had, who only contacted her after her mother's death. After a miserable, seasick ferry boat ride, she has a series of shocks, one after another, that would send a less tough chick running for her life. Or at least her sanity. First, her aunt died while she was on her way to the island. Second, she's inherited a mansion full of ghosts who need to be wrangled. And third, she's a witch, with powers that come uncomfortably to life when she sets foot on the island.

And oh yeah, Edison, the hot guy who hogged the ferry's bathroom so she had to heave over the side of the boat, has a lot of issues of his own to deal with, while Riley is learning how to handle the ghosts, starting with a snooty butler, work through a scavenger hunt set up by her late aunt, and face a threat from evil nemeses of her ancestors. But of course you know they'll get together -- Riley and Edison -- because this is Molly Harper, queen of humorous, steamy paranormal romance. 

Word of caution: if you have an overactive imagination like me, you might not want to listen to this one late at night, in the dark, during a storm ... just saying ...

Short Story Excerpt: FOR THE BIRDS

 Usually, the details of why exactly the Defender had to get involved, and the expertise of a specific member of the crew was needed, came while the ship was still gaining speed on its new heading. This time, however, the details didn’t arrive after two hours. Then a full day on the new heading. Then two days. Once the ship crossed over into unfamiliar territory, the missing details made Captain Hollis’s personal alarms ring louder than ever before.

When the delayed details finally came, he was dangerously close to being numb from the tension. According to his personal log:

 

Three lines into this assignment briefing, I started thinking I was the reason for the change of course. As soon as I saw my old friend Declan’s name as leader of the team, I got that sick certainty. Friendship debts make it impossible for me to cash in any of the favors my crew and I earned from the last few skin-of-our-teeth missions to get another ship and captain to switch places with us.

Then a paragraph later, my feelings of guilt toward my crew, who certainly deserve a longer break between crises and puzzles, turned to absolute head-twisting confusion, and then the awful suspicion that someone, somewhere, is laughing at me. And still hiding details.

Don’t any of those arrogant, know-it-all paper-pushers at HQ know how to read? Can’t they remember from one dec to the next that I and my ship don’t do diplomacy? No, correct that – we shouldn’t do diplomacy. How many brain-twisted, delusional diplomats do we have to rescue from their own arrogance and stupidity? And then instead of a little well-deserved appreciation they try to foist all their stupidity and bad choices on us instead of acting like the adults they pretend to be. Can’t they keep it straight in their bureaucratic heads that the farther my crew stays away from diplomats and ambassadors and negotiators and bureaucrats, the better for the entire Alliance? Because I’ve warned them nobody threatens my crew when they’ve risked their lives for arrogant buffoons who won’t admit they don’t know down from up. Forget the Alliance – for the universe in general.

Yet here we are, being assigned to assist a diplomatic mission.

Because despite my documented allergy to diplomats and ambassadors and people who insisted on using thirty fancy words where four simple, clear words – and too often, preferably a good right hook – will do, old friends and their requests for my help always overrule common sense and the rules of survival. My oldest friend since my first term in Basic needs me. Ambassador Declan Shay. Well, not just me. My ship. Specifically two junior members of my crew. I have to wonder, reading the specifics, if it’s just more of the Defender’s misfit luck at work here, and if they were on another ship if I wouldn’t be involved at all.

Somehow, that suspicion doesn’t give me any relief.

Because here’s the crux of the ugly knot sucking us in to tangle the Defender in another flustergating situation: I’m afraid my old school friend has finally met a culture and a negotiation he can’t unravel and untangle and find some sense in it, somewhere, somehow.

This short story is available for sale at Ye Olde Dragon Books.

Short Story Excerpt: FOR THE BIRDS

 

The Early Years in the adventures of the AFV Defender, before Genys was captain and M'kar was Chief of Talents, and Treinna was head of Linguistics/Communications.

M'kar's royal status on Nisandros, her psionic training with Master Reydon and Infrenx class, and teaching self-defense and Nisandrian culture classes at the Academy resulted in her leaping ranks when she graduated from Basic and went to her first ship in the Fleet. Instead of ensign, she was a lieutenant junior grade. Her Talent, a strong animal-focused psi rating along with the ability to sense emerging psionic Talents in others, was rare enough that the top-line E&D ships had first priority in requesting her. This high ranking also gave her some freedom in requesting her first posting. She knew exactly where she wanted to go.

Genys Arroyan and Treinna and Jasper Lore were all serving on the Defender by this time. They petitioned Captain Rob Hollis to request M'kar. Fleet had learned decades ago that the most efficient crews had strong personal relationships, preferably with some history between them before being assigned to the ship. Having friends already on board went a long way toward granting M'kar's request to be assigned to the Defender, with direct report to Chief of Talents Lt. Cmdr. Culver.

Fleet was coming to depend on the ship and crew's misfit luck to pull off miracles and find answers that everyone else felt sure had been blown to stellar dust. So when the Defender got orders taking them far from their assigned exploration-and-patrol route to assist a diplomatic team, no one immediately questioned the change in orders. It was becoming standard practice. 

This story is available for sale as a short story ebook at Ye Olde Dragon Books, and on Nook, Kindle, iTunes, and most other ebook sites.

Get Ready For Storytelling!

 

We're almost ready to launch!

Coming in January, you'll be able to hear weekly installments from a current work-in-progress, and have a chance to offer input right here on the blog.

Look for the Ye Olde Dragon's Library podcast appearing soon in most directories.

We'll also soon have a Patreon page, where you can help support this podcast (because it's not free to produce or distribute) and in return have a chance to claim free short stories, exclusive audio bits that result from your input, and access to ebook, audiobook, and print copies of the finished book before they're available in stores and online. Plus other goodies such as maps of the lands the characters will be exploring, and maybe even character sketches. And how about a limited edition hardcover book, with the  maps and sketches included?

Details will be announced at the end of each podcast, so don't skip an episode!

Please?

What's first on the agenda?

If you've read any of the stories in the Fairytale Anthologies and Classic Monster Anthologies from Ye Olde Dragon Books, then you've probably met 'Na, Ambrose, and Fang the bunny, and traveled through the enchanted forest and the enchanted castle. This story, tentatively titled Liar's Quest, starts the story of how 'Na's parents came to the enchanted castle, got trapped, freed themselves, became legends in their own rights, defeated evil Prince Ruprick (father of rather goofy Prince Ruprick in the 'Na stories), and became magic de-tanglers and fixers.

The story is written, but I'll be making revisions as I narrate each episode -- and you'll get to weigh in, right here, when I ask for input on different parts of the story. And if I use your suggestions, you'll have your name on the acknowledgements page!

Ready for some fun?

Keep watch, and subscribe when you get the chance!

Short story excerpt: THE SHORT-LIVED ESCAPE OF JORONO CYNES, an AFV Defender story

 The small buildings were nearly uniform, all cubes three meters high and maybe eight meters wide and ten meters deep, with a door on the right side, and a slit across the remainder of the front of each building. M’kar watched through several sets of drac eyes as people opened the door to step into a building with their burdens. They came back out a few moments later empty-handed, and pushed up on the top portion of the slit in the front wall. Support bars dropped down as the top half lifted upward, and it turned into an awning, extending out into the clearing.

It's an open air market, Thyal said, after M’kar watched a dozen more buildings be opened, and bundles and crates unloaded and shared the images with him.

It’s an illegal market.

I still don’t understand why Tress thought she smelled hooples, though, he said, after they watched a few proprietors set about assembling racks outside their shops.

M’kar didn’t respond. She focused on a heavy-set figure that had emerged from the jungle. She sent the dracs up for reconnaissance and backtracked him, discovering a path through the jungle. That path led down past the place where Tress had caught the scent of hooples. M’kar held still, watching the figure who was little more than a dark silhouette.

Then he stepped into the light and paused, turning from side to side to study the bustle of the half-assembled market.

Is that --? Thyal made a mental sound that equated with choking.

Jorono Cynes. Only the need for silence kept M’kar from spitting. That explains the hoople smell. Tress either caught a glimpse of him, or she heard him -- he talks to himself constantly, he’s talking to himself now. She didn’t know what she heard or saw, but it translated into hooples in her head.

How had Cynes escaped custody and the sentence that guaranteed he stay under strict watch and unable to travel the galaxy for the rest of his days? Had he gotten his hands on hooples, despite all the precautions taken to keep hooples from falling into anyone’s hands, much less his?

What are you going to do? Is it going to be fun? Thyal’s chuckle held all the mischief of their childhood adventures and exploits.

I certainly hope so.

M’kar left the dracs patrolling the sky while she headed back up the slope. The first thing to do was let Tress and Jorgan know they had done very good, then send them back to the camp. She sent Barroo back to Decker, requesting he send Spitfire to escort the children. M’kar paused a moment to be grateful Treinna hadn’t yet sent Moonrise back down to the camp to spend the night with Tress. Explaining what her daughter was doing right now might be tricky. Especially if she had to calm a panicky drac who only knew that this situation wasn’t what her Human parent expected. M’kar swore she could hear Decker bellow when he read the last part of her message, which she had scratched into the plasti-strip, because there was no code to stand for the most important words in the message: Cynes here.

Spitfire popped in, spitting and snarling, but quietly. Barroo brought M’kar a plasti-strip with two words code punched into it: Wait. Coming. 

“Thought you might want to join the fun,” she whispered, and gestured for Tress and Jorgan to obey Spitfire and go. She settled down where she could comfortably sit and close her eyes and really concentrate on what the dracs were showing her of the market as it opened. She saw enough details that she had a plan by the time Decker marched up the slope to join her, seething and yet somehow silent with his intensity.

Short story excerpt: THE SHORT-LIVED ESCAPE OF JORONO CYNES, an AFV Defender story

 

With Spitfire cleared and set free to go back to playing, hopefully wiser and willing to follow instructions, the two of them could turn back to helping Decker attend to the children in the post-dinner lesson and storytelling time. Currently they were sitting in a clump on the other side of the camp from the medical tent. Their adoration-mixed-with-terror for the Security Chief ensured that when he snarled and marched back and forth in front of them, hands clasped behind his back and shoulders hunched, they listened. Even more important, they remembered what he told them.

Currently, Decker regaled them with one horror story after another about ensigns and new graduates of the Academy who messed up big time. They thought they were experts in wilderness survival, but took two steps beyond the sensor field protecting their camp on their first dirtside mission, and immediately faced disaster.

“And don’t you forget, you smelly lumps of walking bait, we got no sensor fields or even those sissy vermin repulsion fields, so everything’s zooming in on you right this second, drooling over the snack they’re gonna make out of you!”

M’kar noted that Decker at least had the sense to vary the many and messy disasters the arrogant, careless idiots encountered. So far, while she hadn’t really been paying conscious attention, she had heard about three arms, six legs, and various hands and feet that were lost, either swallowed whole or mangled so badly they couldn’t be regenerated before various disgusting flesh-eating bacteria set in or venom melted flesh off bones, along with large chunks of flesh bitten away so various organs were revealed. When that happened, usually the companions of the said careless idiots had weak stomachs and were too busy losing their last four meals to apply medical aid. Someone always died in each story.

The children loved it, even as they cringed and squealed and made gagging noises. M’kar hoped she and Brea could find something suitably silly to entertain them before they curled up in their sleeping bags, to dilute the images in their minds and deflect nightmares.

“I’m thinking the older ones should get guard duty tonight. Wear them out, have them available during the period when nightmares usually hit, so they can help quiet down the ones who are noisy when they wake up crying.” She pitched her voice soft enough only Brea heard her, as they settled down between the fire pit and Decker’s audience. 

“All of them get guard duty. Prove to them that the shadows aren’t going to solidify and swallow them whole,” Brea countered. They locked gazes a moment, nodded, and turned back to listening to the end of Decker’s story.

Short story excerpt: THE SHORT-LIVED ESCAPE OF JORONO CYNES, an AFV Defender story

 M’kar stood at ready to use her animal-focused psionic Talent to assist Brea. The ship’s medic currently was bent over Spitfire, who obediently lay on her back, wings spread, legs splayed, while the woman ran a medical scanner over her. M’kar had to admit the little drac did an admirable job not swiping at the distraction of the flashing lights on the scanner. She hoped that was a result of Decker impressing on her how important it was to lie still for the make-feel-good-again-lady. The only alternative was that Spitfire’s calmness was a sign of just how sick she got from overindulging in some local berries that hadn’t been cleared by Brea’s medical scanner yet.

“How is she?”

“Better.”

“Honestly, I told her multiple times, but as soon as I turned my back, she cleared off half the bush so fast, half of what went down her gullet was leaves and bark.”

“I’m not blaming you.” Brea set down the scanner and brought out a strip of spiced goho jerky. “If I’m going to blast anyone for the situation we’re all in, I’ll go after the dee-ee who cursed us all by asking what could go wrong on a planet with no permitted technology.”

“You heard about him, huh?” M’kar shook her head at the obliviousness of one of the newer members of the crew. He hadn’t learned yet that asking such questions usually invited Fate to drop an entire garbage scow of trouble on the crew of the Defender. She hadn’t had to do anything to correct the dead-head. His friends standing around him at the display in the visitor welcome center had turned on him quickly enough and tried to hush him. But too late. She was just glad he wasn’t in her department, and had no Talent or potential whatsoever. That meant she had very little responsibility for correcting his thinking and training him not to jinx their current mission.

The two women shared a grin as Brea waved the jerky in front of Spitfire, then tossed it high overhead. The little pink drac squealed with delight. That proved she had been obedient, rather than lying at death’s door. She leaped straight up, popped out, then popped back in at the top of the arc, just as the piece of meat started to drop. She snapped it out of the air and popped out again. Spitfire was no dummy. She knew better than to linger around the campsite, where the other dracs might get a whiff of her treat and try to persuade her to share.

Besides being a reward and a signal that the medical examination had ended, the goho jerky had an added ingredient, to purify her blood and finish the recovery process. M’kar thought about how droopy and clumsy Barroo had been for several hours after he woke up from an allergy-induced hibernation when he indulged yesterday. She thanked Enlo once again that her crewmate enjoyed experimenting with and studying natural compounds and discovering new healing potions and powders.

Short story excerpt: THE SHORT-LIVED ESCAPE OF JORONO CYNES, an AFV Defender story

 

A story between novels.

 

The crew of the Defender had run afoul of the irritating, silly little con man Jorono Cynes one time too many. He was supposed to be in custody for the rest of his life, but somehow Cynes showed up in the middle of a shore leave that was anything but relaxing.

 

Lt. M'kar and Security Chief Decker were supposed to be guiding some of the ship's children through a wilderness survival experience, but even though they were on shore leave, they knew their duty. They had to deal with Cynes and get him back into the hands of the authorities ASAP.

 

And if they could have some fun and frighten the irritating little troublemaker while they were at it, all the better.

Novella ebook available at Ye Olde Dragon Books and any online vendor.

“I’ve got an idea,” Chief Linguist Treinna Lore said, coming into a meeting of the drac parents and other command crew who had gathered after the latest intrusion.

The big draw of the planet Mendax was also a factor in the problems the crew of the Defender were facing. The government was desperate to become accepted as a member of the Alliance. They had thrown out the welcome mat to prove their world would be a good tourist planet, overflowing with natural resources. They treated Alliance diplomats and Fleet personnel like royalty. That meant the Defender crew who were on shore leave were given entire compounds for shore leave quarters, guaranteeing privacy and palatial accommodations. However, that generous welcome mat included refusing to screen anyone who wanted to come down to the planet, no matter how much of a perpetual ruckus was caused by people who wanted to get their hands on a drac. The “guaranteed privacy” of the compound they were currently meeting in sometimes failed through sheer force of numbers seeking out the presence of Fleet personnel. Even the most bumbling hunters could get lucky if there were enough of them stumbling around.

“Does it include making friends with that ship full of Ankuar that’s hovering at the outer orbital, and putting Security uniforms on them until the crisis is over?” Med Tech Brea asked.

Her lemon-yellow drac, Boomer, let out a series of chirps that certainly sounded like he was still irritated over the latest attempt. A group of loud, garishly dressed tourists (Captain Arroyan referred to them in her incident report as terrorists disguised as tourists) had broken into the sprawling compound the Defender crew had been staying in until two hours ago. This group of people worked on the assumption that if the dracs couldn’t see, they couldn’t teleport. They had tried to throw large boxes over the dracs. Boomer had shrieked fury and offended feelings. He had refused to be separated from Brea ever since then, and she complied eagerly. Fiercely.

“No, but I’ll hold onto it as a secondary plan.” Treinna gestured at M’kar but wouldn’t meet her gaze. That was a bad sign.  “The children have been begging M’kar to take them on a training campout,” she continued. “Ever since we returned to Mendax. That’s the easiest solution -- send them all away, send our dracs with them as guards, and impress on the entire ship’s complement of teacher dracs that they can’t come back to the ship until all the children come back. They might ignore us a lot of the time, but the teacher dracs are devoted to the children.” 

“I would love to head out into the wilderness and investigate some of the local wildlife, try those rapid-riders, do a little bow hunting,” M’kar said. “Some of the older children need a really tough wilderness survival session before they head to Fleet Academy. Just one little problem. We’d be heading off with a huge group of children and all the gear we’d need to feed and shelter them for a dec of camping. What’s to stop the wannabes from realizing what we’re doing and just swooping down with a shuttle and doing some kidnapping?” She pointed at the white noise device sitting in the center of the room, which made it impossible for people with listening devices to hear their discussion.

Ready for some STORYTELLING?

 

We're less than a month away from the launch of the YE OLDE DRAGON'S LIBRARY: Storytelling Podcast.

In December, I'll be revising the first book in the series about Ashlyn and Zared, and how they became the Beastly Beauty and the Disenchanted Prince, and just how Fang the bunny became a semi-vampire. You'll learn about the enchanted castle and the enchanted forest, and just why it's easier to get inside than get out!

Ready to sign up for the Patreon group and get exclusive content and voting rights on revisions and other details in the series?

I'll post that link soon, if I haven't done so already right here. (Yeah, I create these posts as much as a month ahead of time, so I haven't done this in November, but I hope to do that so you aren't reading this -- but if you are reading this ... I've fallen behind. Well, what do you expect, if I'm concentrating on writing and polishing the story for your listening pleasure?) Please consider signing up for the Patreon group, just a small monthly fee to help cover the expenses of uploading and distributing the podcast to nearly every available platform, so you can subscribe and listen each week, and not miss a thing!