Showing posts with label futuristic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label futuristic. Show all posts

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Enemy Within @Liza0Connor


THE ENEMY WITHIN
By Liza O’Connor
Book3


BLURB
MAC, the computer that controls the SkyRyder Corp discovers that soldiers within its ranks wish to stop its Breeding Project to make superior flyers. When a great many of these special talents are murdered over a two-week span, MAC quickly gathers the remaining assets, modifies their fingerprints and alters their looks, then sends them to the last place in the world that anyone would look for them.


Welcome to Fort Dismal, Alaska,
The absolute worst fort in the Americas.


EXCERPT
A month later, the doctors declared Eliza fit to leave. Eliza was so pleased she wanted to leap from the bed and run out the door, but she feared that would only change their mind.

They lectured Colonel Polanski on a thousand things she was not ready to do yet. She stopped listening after they ran through every possible sex act. Clearly, the doctors were not happy men and did not wish anyone else to be happy either.

When he handed her a fly suit with the zipper in the back, she looked up at him. “Will I be riding on your back.”

“Very good.” He smiled. “What else can you deduce from your suit?”

She studied the fabric intensely. It felt odd…almost metallic. She petted the fabric across his groin and pulled her hand away before he could remove it. “I don’t think I’ll be saying good-bye to anyone.” Angie and she would never get to say good-bye.

“I’m sorry, but you won’t. The doctors have cleared you to leave tomorrow morning, but we’ll be leaving now. How did you know?”

“The suits…I think they must be the ones that turn invisible.”

“Right again,” he said. “Anything else?”

“This face mask has oxygen feeds. So, we must be going somewhere far away, and we’ll be flying the high winds to get there in a single flight.”
He kissed her on her lips. “That is an impressive brain hiding behind that beautiful face.”

“Not so beautiful anymore,” she complained. The doctors had reconstructed her face, but it was a very different face than she previously had. She did not mind the dark skin, but she preferred her prior perky nose and round eyes to her current narrow eyes and wide flat nose.

He gently caressed her cheek with his massive hand. “You’ll never stop being beautiful to me.”

She laughed and petted his eyes closed. “Poor Colonel, you truly must be besotted then.”

He nipped her hand playfully. “I am completely besotted with you, but fortunately that played to my favor. It meant MAC chose me to protect you.”

“I expect it was all those badges that impressed MAC, not your capitulation under torture.”

He laughed. “Probably true.”

Eliza smiled. “I have a gift for you.”

His brows furrowed. “Is it small?”

She nodded.

“Then bring it with you. We have to leave now.”

Eliza sighed, disappointed she could not present it first, but she did as he commanded. However, her suit had no pockets in the front, so she had nowhere to put it. She handed it to him. “Will you hold it for me?”

He took the small package and studied it. “May I peek at it now?”

She shook her head, not wanting the opening of the present to be rushed.

Tucking it into his pocket, he handed her gloves and a facemask. He helped her put on her mask, taking great effort not to hurt her tender nose in the process.

With her hand securely in his, he disappeared right before her eyes. She reached out and touched him, laughing because her hand was as invisible as his arm.

“No more giggles,” he warned her. “You must remain completely quiet.” He then opened the door and led her out in the darkened halls. It was past midnight and there was no one around except for the security guard at the desk.

The colonel slowly nudged a pen off the edge of the desk and when the security guard leaned over to retrieve it, the colonel pushed a button on the panel. He then led her to the door and waited…and waited.

Eliza worried they’d stand here all night. Finally, the guard rose and locked down his board. He then walked down the hall on his nightly rounds.

Colonel Polanski triggered the door to open and the invisible colonel tugged her through the opening. Once outside, he caressed her body, and while his friskiness surprised her, she liked it. A moment later, he lifted her into his arms. Determining the location of his neck, she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight as he jogged across the field with her in his arms. When he almost tripped, she whispered in his ear, “I could ride on your back or run on my own.”

He stopped and guided her to his back and then continued to run. She was glad she had suggested the change. He would have killed them both if his hands had not been free when he leapt across the ravine. Even so, she thought it the eeriest experience in her life, to fly across the ravine on the colonel’s invisible back.

She could hear his breath only faintly when they finally arrived at the edge of the woods. He lowered her to the ground. Suddenly a snap of a twig alerted her they weren’t alone.

“Sloppy approach,” he chided someone.

“Sorry,” muttered the reply.

Someone touched her shoulder. “Well, I’ve found the package, but where are you?” the voice complained.

She felt the colonel move away from her. Next, she heard the clanking of gear. She suspected by the shuffling noise, that the colonel was putting on his flight gear.

Someone touched her breast, then worked his way to her arm. Upon realizing the person was trying to assist her into her own gear, she helped as much as she could. Still, she found it very hard to attach her halter without being able to see it. Frustrated, she muttered soft curses. Soon someone with warm calloused hands took over the job.

Eliza liked the feel of invisible hands running over her chest, verifying all the straps lay flat and the belt properly buckled. It was only when the person helped her onto the colonel’s back and clipped her in, that she realized the hands had not belonged to the colonel. Finally, the invisible person located her right ear and placed an earpiece inside the canal. Then an oxygen mask covered her face.

Someone whispered in her ear, asking if she could breathe.

She started to nod but realized no one could see her. Amused at her own silliness, she replied verbally that she could breathe.
Finally, someone declared her good, and a second later, she rose into the sky.



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About the Author
Liza O’Connor lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, skydive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet throughout her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels.

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Sunday, May 27, 2018

Stargazers by Anne Kane




I am incredibly excited to announce that my Stargazers series is now available in a print Anthology! I know a lot of readers prefer an actual book to an ebook so when my publisher announced they would like to release this series in print, well, to say I was happy is the understatement of the decade.
I always wanted to write a series where the women were strong, capable characters who didn’t HaVE to have a man in their lives in order to feel successful. I wanted to create a universe where being female was a plus, something to be proud of. I wanted strong heroines who were the reason things happened, not hapless ninnies waiting to react after something bad happened. 
In the end, I created a group of futuristic witches who could tap into and control the energy of the (fictional) ley lines that connect the planets. The more talented the Stargazer, the better she was at controlling and redirecting that energy. If a male character needed that kind of power, he had to convince the stargazer (aka the woman) that it was worth her effort to work with him. At the same time, I wanted to keep the romance and the happily ever after going strong.
 I cheerfully borrowed bits and pieces of folklore from witches, druids and other earthly connected groups to add plausibility to the Stargazer universe. After all, if there are ley lines around the earth then there are most likely ley lines between the planets, and connecting the galaxies. Need I go on?
The Stargazers universe is one of my favorite inventions, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did (and do) Who knows. I may yet return there one of these days!

         

Title: Stargazers (Collection)
Genres:  Futuristic, Paranormal, Sci-Fi
Themes: Magic and Mayhem
Release Date:  May 25th, 2018
Author: Anne Kane



BLURB:
Five stargazers find love and adventure as they travel across the galaxy.

Descended from the witches of old Earth, Stargazers have the ability to control the lines of psychic energy that join the planets and other heavenly bodies. They use their talents to bend the energy to their own use, much the same as the druids of Earth used to harness the ley lines. They can power space ships, run machinery on far away planets and detect people's presences from great distances. Highly sought after, both by legitimate sources who want to hire them and by pirates who enslave and sell them, they are constantly on guard.

In this collection, five stargazers defy the odds and find love and adventure as they travel across the galaxy.

This collection contains the previously released Stargazer novellas Wanton, Willful, Wild, and Wayward and Star Haven: Sinful.



EXCERPT from Wanton:

“Let me see if I have this straight.” Sarcasm dripped from Krystal’s voice. “You launched an unprovoked attack on my parent’s estate, abducted me, left me cooling my heels in a cold cargo bay holding cell for goddess knows how long, had my hands bound behind me with a set of barbaric and extremely uncomfortable restraints, and then had me brought to what is obviously an interrogation chamber.” She paused to sweep a scornful glance around the room, her gaze lingering on a padded rack with leather straps dangling from the various parts. “And now you’d like me to do a favor for you?” She lifted her chin and fixed him with a glacial stare. “Thanks, but I don’t think so. I’d like to go home now.”

He had to give her credit for poise. Her haughty stance and the way she held her head high, chin tilted just so, gave the impression she was used to giving orders -- and having them obeyed.

   He glanced away from her for a moment and gestured at the guards. “Please remove Ms. de Mylar’s restraints and wait outside the door until I summon you. He was gratified to see a faint shadow of alarm cross her face. She knew he wouldn’t give in quite this easy. He gave her a bland smile. “We need to discuss how best to accommodate her request.”
      
   The shorter of the two guards stepped forward to remove the restraints. Tarik had to think for a moment before he could place him. Brent was a new recruit, a refugee from the Intergalactic Council’s recent annexation of the Utan home worlds.

    Krystal stepped away from the guard and rubbed her wrists. The restraints hadn’t been that tight, but they’d obviously annoyed her.

A loud click signaled the departure of the guards and Tarik leaned back, stretching his long legs out under the table. “Have a seat.” He nodded toward the empty chair across from him.

“No thank you.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself. This might take a while.”

The witch raised a brow at him. “I can’t imagine why.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, letting his gaze wander from the sprinkling of freckles on her nose, down her lithe figure to the foot that she tapped impatiently on the floor. Luckily, the table hid his body’s reaction. He didn’t need her to know she could arouse him with just a glance.

“Fine!” She threw herself into the chair, crossing her arms on her chest and glaring at him. “Discuss away.”

Tarik had to suppress the urge to grin. She certainly had the supercilious attitude down pat. He leaned forward, focusing on her emerald green eyes. Bad idea. A man could drown in those eyes. He shifted his attention lower, only to find himself wondering what those lips would taste like.


 Read the first chapter online 

Available 



Author Bio



Anne Kane lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley with a bouncy little rescue dog who’s breed defies description, a cantankerous Himalayan cat, and too many fish to count. She spent many years trying to fit in and act normal, but finally gave up the effort. She started writing romance in 2008, and her fate was sealed when she won a publishing contract with Red Sage Publishing and just a month later Changeling Press accepted her first submission. Since then she had published more than thirty stories in a variety of sub-genres, all with a happily ever after.


Her hobbies, when she’s not playing with the characters in her head, include kayaking, hiking, swimming, playing guitar, singing and of course, reading.

You can find Anne around the web at:

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Pauline Baird Jones shares an Uneasy Future: Sucker Punch


Spinning off The Big Uneasy Series and Project Enterprise…

Welcome to…An Uneasy Future

Sucker Punch (2.0)


 Vi never liked math and aftermath isn’t floating her boat either….

Hurricane Wu Tamika Felipe has moved north. Yeah, the storm almost killed Detective Violet Baker, but it also blew some romance her way. Her uptight partner, Dzholh “Joe” Ban!drn actually kissed her. 

But there's no time for any follow-up kissing, much to Vi’s regret. They are hunting something very bad. Something that tried to kill them while they were dirt side during the storm. 

And has now escaped up into New Orleans New. 

It’s not business as usual, though there is some deja vu in there, when Vi and Joe get sent to a FEMA camp to check out a dead body. 

Until that body turns into a trail that might lead to the evil it. Or to its next victim. 

Just when Vi thinks things are crapeau enough, the MITSC (Men In Top Secret Color) show up and take over their case. Are they after Joe or the evil it? 

Before they can find out, the evil it lures them into a trap. 

It’s ‘it’ versus them and it hasn’t lost yet….



“Is that…City Park?” Benson sounded a bit awed.
“It looks like it,” Vi admitted. “Circle it once, Joe. Let’s see if it’s all there.”
Joe altered course, bringing the skimmer around and dropping his air speed just enough to keep them in the air. Her first thought was that there was no power in the park. Not a shock. Not much of NON had power. But that meant the holo-bayous and river were offline. Also the holo-oak trees and some of the bushes. It changed the look of the Park to be missing such key landmarks—there was that word again. But “air marks” didn’t have the same meaning. And it sounded awkward. Besides, you couldn’t mark air, so it even failed as a metaphor. If there were any metaphors. Vi could admit to being bit vague on the metaphor rules. 
“There’s the NOMA.” It helped that the New Orleans Museum of Art was both large and not a hologram. And she’d seen it from above almost every day. When the Park was where it was supposed to be, it was common to fly over it on the way to somewhere else, since it tended to float somewhat lower than other parts of the city because of its sheer mass. “Okay, there’s the stadiums, so it all looks to be here.” All except for the art and stuff, which had been evacuated prior to the storm. “Log it into the database, would you, Benson? And report that we’re on scene.” She looked at the panel, comparing their coordinates with where the disturbance had been reported. At the moment, her looting theory had lost fuel. There just wasn’t that much to loot left in the Park. She’d guess that even the tourist stuff had been shifted. It was possible looters didn’t know that the buildings were mostly empty. “Let’s do a quick fly by on our ‘disturbance’ before we set down.”
For some reason, the setup made her gut twitch. The coordinates put the problem around the carousel. But it wouldn’t have mattered where. Why kick up a fuss here? There were more buildings in that area, so maybe someone found something to loot. But what? And who reported it? It felt off. Wrong. Joe kept their air speed down, then kicked on tracking, looking for heat sigs. His tracker flared, then the skimmer screamed a warning that came too late.
“Incoming—” She and Joe said it at the same time, but hers was an incredulous question, while his was Joe-ish and matter-of-fact.
The skimmer rocked to its side before Joe righted it.
“Starboard engine is offline,” Vi reported, as required in the regs, even though Joe would know it by the change in steering control. That was almost a surgical strike. Vi pulled the description from her vid game play with the cousins. They liked to toy with her, bring her down in painful stages. Then have their character go head-to-head with hers.
The hit knocked them off course just enough that the second shot missed. Though its detonation rocked the skimmer.
Vi slammed their black box alarm. Joe was ready for the third shot. Dang, the boy was a decent pilot. She heard a scrape of metal on metal, then another boom that almost flipped them upside down.
“I will have to land,” Joe said, his voice steady, though his arm muscles bulged as he fought to control the damaged skimmer.
“Officers in trouble. I repeat, officers in trouble,” she snapped into communications, sending their location. “We are under fire from an unknown source.” She glanced at their two uniforms. Benson’s eyes were wide, almost fixed from shock. Jack, well, he didn’t seem to waste calories on having expressions. “You strapped in? You picked a crapeau day for a ride along with us.”
Though this crash should be better than their last one. Unless this crash was about the nasty something or other? Memo to self: when your gut thinks something is wrong, believe it. If you live long enough to read your memos later.
She checked her straps. Something about the nature of the shots bothered her, but she didn’t have time to think about it now.
“Try to land where we have some cover.” She studied the landscape. “There, if you can make it.” It was the pavilion, but there was one other structure between them and where the attack appeared to have come from. She elbowed the latch on the weapons locker built in to each exit hatch. She half turned and snapped at their passengers, “Check the weapons locker back there. We’ll want to move as soon as we touch down. Secure any extra power packs. If you don’t have pockets for them, pass them up.”
She shoved power packs in every pocket she could find, but didn’t remove the long gun yet. If the crash went badly, it would just beat her up more.
The ground rushed toward them, though their airspeed was slower than the last crash, which might be good. She didn’t have extensive experience in crashing. 
There was standing water around the pavilion, but it couldn’t be that deep.
Joe banked the skimmer. It bucked and fought the turn, but came around enough to line them on a relatively flat stretch of ground.
The damaged port engine sputtered and died.
The last few feet down were a silent rush, followed by the thump of first contact.
The skimmer bounced up, then hit again, harder.
The next bounce was smaller, the next hit even harder.
There was a jerk and the skimmer spun, sliding sideways toward a bench.
She threw up her arm, because, you know, that would soften the impact—




Pauline Baird Jones had a tough time with reality from the get-go. After “schooling” from four, yes FOUR brothers, she knew that some people needed love and others needed shooting (fictionally of course). Romantic suspense was the logical starting point, but there were more worlds to explore, more rules to break and minds to bend. She grabbed her pocket watch and time travel device and dove through the wormhole into the world of science fiction and even some Steampunk.

Now she wanders among the genres, trying a little of this and a lot of that, rampaging through her characters' lives like Godzilla because she does love her peril (when it's not happening to her). Never fear, she gives her characters happy endings. Well, the good characters. The bad ones get justice.



Saturday, August 8, 2015

Pauline Baird Jones welcomes you to an Uneasy Future: Core Punch


Spinning off The Big Uneasy Series and Project Enterprise…

Welcome to…An Uneasy Future


Core Punch (1.0)

A kiss may be all they have life expectancy for.


When an intergalactic cop exchange program serves up an alien partner for NONPD Detective Violet Baker, she can’t help wishing the handsome alien would be a little less Joe Friday about keeping the pleasure out of their business. Yeah, he’s kind of purple and she can’t pronounce his name to save her life, but he’s almost the only guy in the New Orleans New police department that she’s not related to.
Dzholh “Joe” Ban!drn has come a long way hunting the evil that has infiltrated Vi’s floating city. When he meets his charming partner, he discovers another reason to stamp out evil. If only he wasn’t keeping so many secrets from her…
When an epic hurricane (Wu Tamiki Felipe aka WTF) heads their way, they are sent dirt side to New Orleans Old (NOO) on a rescue mission. But murder and sabotage strands them in the heart of the raging storm.
As they fight for their lives, Joe realizes that the evil he’s hunting is actually hunting them….


In the murk of the storm, she felt again her awe at the sheer volume of water coming down. Her eyes saw it, but her brain had trouble wrapping around it. And next to them, the block pile appeared to get higher and higher.
Her heat sensor pinged. She looked, then looked back outside. “There’s something out there.” The heat signature had been wrong for a person, though…
“Something?”
Vil stole another quick look. “A dog. Domestic.”
“How can you tell?”
“It’s been tagged.” Dirt-siders were required to tag their pets, just like up-siders. Man, it figured. She’d never seen a vid where the dog didn’t run off at the wrong time. She took another quick look at the data. “Crapeau. It belonged to our vic.” Maybe it hadn’t run off. She didn’t want to say it, but she had to. “We need to pick it up.”
“It’s a canine—”
“It’s also a potential witness.” It wouldn’t have any trace evidence left on it, thank you, WTF, but domestic pet idents have been legalized maybe forty years ago. Personally, Vi didn’t trust a cat ID. Cats were genius, but so bitter. She’d seen a case where she knew the cat was yanking their chains. Luckily some evidence surfaced that cleared the guy, because that cat hated him. “Why is it here? If it was dumped, then it was probably the killer that did it.” She gave him a quick look. That was the most expression she’d seen on his face ever. “We have to make a reasonable attempt to secure a potential witness.”
“Reasonable is not an option in our current circumstances.”
That was the most gritted she’d ever seen his even, white teeth. And they still had to try to collect Fido. Yup, his name was Fido. That was the pooch equivalent of calling your kid John Doe. Maybe it had run away.
“Regs,” she said, careful not to look at him. It wasn’t a loud sigh, but it was capitulation of a sort. Her gaze flicked between the WTF-lashed exterior and her screen with the dog signal. “It’s there, on those blocks of freeway to our left.”
“And just how do you propose we secure our…witness?”
“The pooch is on my side. Wind is hitting from your side. I’m thinking I’ll open my hatch and call it. By the time we’re close, it can jump in.”
“And if it does not?”
“Then we keep going. That’s as reasonable I can be.” And way more than Joe wanted. It was crazy, but half the regs were. Vi called them the ROUCs, the regs of unintended consequences. They resulted from someone trying to hammer a nail into your table leg with a bludgeon. You might get the nail in, but you broke the table and a couple of chairs. And possibly the floor. And the table leg. “Fido’s gonna have to help save himself.”
Vi had a feeling she knew what Joe would like Fido to do, but if he cursed, it wasn’t in English.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Check your straps. I’m gonna pop my hatch and we’ll see what that does to our progress before we try to, you know, change anything.” She checked her straps. Wished she had more confidence in them. Be a bad time to find out they were mostly for show. “Ready?”
“As it is possible to be.”
“Three…two…one…” She released the hatch.
A gust hit the skimmer, flipping it on its side.





Liza reviews Core Punch

There's been some complaint that my reviews aren't structured properly, so I've asked Space Rep to read up on the matter and help me improve my reviews. Sounds like a disaster looking to happen. What idiot thought this up? Oh...that was me.


This is a clever futuristic story of New Orleans. 
There’s the old New Orleans, called NOO
And the new New Orleans, NON, floating above it.

I love the acronyms created, especially the one for the hurricane.

Officer Violet and her partner, Joe are sent ‘dirtside’(that would NOO!) while a hurricane called WTF comes ashore.  The hurricane has an actual name, but it's purposely unmemorable. I used the more commonly acronym meaning of WTF, and 10 out 10 times, it worked just fine.

Now, let discuss Violet's new police partner, the alien, Joe. First off, that's not his real name, but his real name is unpronounceable so Violet calls him Joe. She thinks he’s cute, albeit somewhat purple. He has a really smart computer nanonyte in his head named Lurch. Just what every woman wants!


BE WARNED:
This an extremely complex story. I had to read it twice to make complete sense of it. There is so much going on. Or maybe I was really tired...not sure. 

However, I am certain there is an alien infecting and killing people. It’s why Joe came to earth. The creature has devastated other planets. So there is that to deal with. But let’s not forget the WTF hurricane.

You are wandering. Please concisely tell what you like about this book:

The weather detail was extraordinary. You never for a second forgot you are a) in a hurricane and b) about to die. It is one near miss of death after another. Non stop! No let up! Just like a hurricane named WTF.

It is possible Pauline tied her son to a tree during a hurricane and made him share every terrifying miserable life endangering moment. (Don't judge! Authors do what they have to do to get the story!) Still, I'm giving her son credit for the great weather detail.

The characters also speak in New Orleans, which is a different language than the rest of the U.S. speaks and one I don’t understand very well. So I had to slow my Reading robot down to realize why I didn’t understand the characters. They aren’t speaking standard English.  A+ for authenticity. D for easy comprehension. Fortunately, Violet mostly translates the serious jibberish into standard English for the reader.

Tell them something you didn't like: 
Hmmm.....tricky, but I can do it.
For me, I found the romantic moment at the end ended much too soon and rather abruptly right before the kick off for book 2. I really wanted them to take a longer moment before jumping back into the frey, but it was nice while it lasted.

Wrap it up!!!!
If you love New Orleans, wish to be in the mother of all hurricane, don’t mind humidity, intense weather, being battered with flying debris, pelted by intense rain, and tossed about with tornados within the hurricane, then this book should be right up your alley. But be aware, infected people will attack you as well and your death will be quite horribly and painful if evil nanonytes get inside you.

Now be harsh!
Because I had to read it twice to truly grasp all that was going on, I’m dinging it a half point, making it 4.5. However since Amazon insists on whole numbers, I’ll round it back up to five, due to all it’s very fine attributes. Besides, to be honest in retrospect, I was incredibly tired yesterday, which might be the real real reason I had to read it twice.

Final thoughts?
Be sure you bring a real impressive emergency kit. You’ll need it.










Pauline Baird Jones had a tough time with reality from the get-go. After “schooling” from four, yes FOUR brothers, she knew that some people needed love and others needed shooting (fictionally of course). Romantic suspense was the logical starting point, but there were more worlds to explore, more rules to break and minds to bend. She grabbed her pocket watch and time travel device and dove through the wormhole into the world of science fiction and even some Steampunk.

Now she wanders among the genres, trying a little of this and a lot of that, rampaging through her characters' lives like Godzilla because she does love her peril (when it's not happening to her). Never fear, she gives her characters happy endings. Well, the good characters. The bad ones get justice.