Patricia Green's Blog, page 16

Free Short Story: The Scent of Sondja, Part 4 (of 4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Scent of Sondja

by Patricia Green

Copyright ©2015 Patricia Green

All Rights Reserved

This is the 4th and final chapter.

Part 1 is here.

Part 2 is here.

Part 3 is here.

Chapter 4

Jack was tired, grouchy and worried when he got up the next morning. He’d hardly slept at all, waiting for Sondja to get back to him. She still hadn’t. As he straightened his jacket, he looked into the mirror and gave himself a steady glare. If he had to push aside her retainers and barge into her quarters, he would see her.

It was possible—unthinkable—that Sondja had somehow become unattached to him overnight. Maybe the pheromone attraction wore off after a while. He still loved her, but maybe the feeling was no longer reciprocated. Maybe he was going to have to go to Krate, in love with its leader, but unable to reach her except professionally. The idea was crushing.

As it turned out, getting in to see her was easy. She was sitting in her reception area, wearing her helmet and her dark blue body suit when he was shown in. The helmet was confusing. Weren’t they past that?

“Jack!” she cried, standing. “I am glad to see you. Very glad.”

He took her in his arms, or tried to, but she resisted. “I don’t understand, Sondja. Why didn’t you return my comm? Why are you wearing the helmet again? What’s going on?”

She strode away and gestured to the couch. “Please sit down. I have news for you.”

“And I you,” he said, sitting. She sat across from him, her posture stiff and formal.

“You go first.”

“We found the culprits behind the bombing. They are two of your delegation, plus someone on Krate. We don’t know how many populate the Krate homeworld, but identifying one will probably lead you to the others. When the bombing failed, the terrorists made a plan to kidnap you and hold you hostage until you reneged on the deal with Seeter.”

“Mimika?”

Surprised, Jack nodded. “Yes. How did you know?”

“We suspected all along, so intercepted his messages. I am not afraid of him or his cohorts. I did not know who he was working with, however, so I wanted to trace his communications back to Krate. We were able to do that and the terrorists on my homeworld are safely removed. They will be charged with treason.” The downturn of her lips showed her sadness.

“I’m sorry.”

“It is troubling, but it had to be done. You have Mimika?”

“Yes.”

“You will release him to me? He’s with the diplomatic corps, so has immunity from your crimes. He will be tried on Krate and confined for his treason.”

While Jack sincerely wanted to try Mimika and his co-conspirator in the Commonwealth courts, he knew he had no jurisdiction. “Of course. But, Sondja, why are you helmeted? We’ve come so far.”

Her head tilted down. “I did not wish to infect you further. Things have changed.”

“Not with me, they haven’t.”

“I had a long meeting with some of my scientists on Krate, last night. We talked until very late.”

“That’s why you didn’t comm me back?”

She nodded. “Yes. It was late, and I was troubled.”

Jack leaned forward and tried to take her gloved hands. She resisted. “What’s the matter?”

“There is a cure.”

“A….what?”

“A cure for the infection. I told my physician what had happened and he told me about an experimental drug my health scientists have been working on. I had been unaware of it before. Apparently, it can remove the infection and reverse the symptoms in several species, humans among them. An inoculation for human males will soon follow.”

Jack sat silently. Did he want to return to normal? What would his life be like, dispassionately dealing with Sondja on a professional basis and none other.

“I did not know,” she said, a note of pleading in her voice. “I am so sorry.”

He stood and walked a few paces away. Did he love her for herself, or only as a result of the pheromones? “I have to tell you, I’ve been promoted to become the Commonwealth ambassador to Krate. It’s a position I want, but perhaps you’d rather I wasn’t there.”

“Oh, Jack,” she said, her voice shaky. “You would be so welcome on my world.”

“Welcomed by whom? Your people, or you?”

“Both. You see, the cure is only for humans. It does not apply to Kratian females, so the love and attraction I feel for you, although caused by the infection, would not be removed. I will remain in love with you for my entire life. But, Jack, I do not wish to obligate you. Please take the cure and be free from this curse.”

The fact that she was willing to suffer unrequited love for him was stunning. The emotional pain would be heartbreaking. And, really, how much of his love for her was the pheromones talking and how much was caused by her good qualities: intelligence, wit, wisdom, confidence, and beauty. She was worthy of love in so many ways.

“I will take the cure,” he told her, and watched her shoulders droop. “But I will also become ambassador to Krate, because I know my love will not fade. I love you for you, Sondja. I would love you without the pheromones. I’ll prove it to you. How do I get this cure?”

She still looked forlorn. “For your sake, I had the molecular formula sent to your chief of medicine on the ship. I would imagine synthesizing it would take very little time.”

“I’ll go to sick bay right away,” he told her. “We’ll have our answer before you leave tomorrow.”

“Jack,” she said, then paused. “Jack, I have no hope for us. You will lose your love for me. It was false.”

He went to her and took her hands, squeezing them in his. “There’s more to me than that. Trust me.”

She nodded, but wouldn’t meet his gaze. Jack hoped he was right about his feelings. They’d only had a few days together. Could he really be genuinely in love with her? They’d laughed together, conversed, worked through difficult negotiations, and even more difficult danger. Although she was powerful, she was also vulnerable. Taking the cure would risk wounding her deeply and forever. Nonetheless, he had to prove his love to himself and to her. Taking the cure was the only way. He hurried off to see his chief medical officer and tried to keep an open mind and heart.

He couldn’t return to her until the next morning. The cure had been painful, excruciating. He was told that the inoculation for uninfected people wouldn’t be as bad, but as he’d already been exposed to the pheromones, he couldn’t be inoculated. After some truly awful hours, they’d put him to sleep, and hadn’t awakened him until the ship was on “day” shift. His joints still ached, and his head swam as he sat up. The dizziness soon passed, and the doctor called him cured. How he knew that the drug had worked was a mystery to Jack, but he’d seemed confident with his scans, so Jack was cleared to be exposed to Sondja.

Her guards were no longer at her quarters, and no one met him at the door which was unlocked. He began to have the impression that he’d missed her, that she’d gone back to Krate, when he heard movement behind her bedroom door. He knocked sharply and she called to him to enter.

She was dressed in a diaphanous garment that glittered subtly, swaying over her sweet body like gold-shot silk. She had no helmet, and her eyes told him nothing when her gaze met his.

He breathed deeply, not knowing what to expect. She stood there, as if paused while pacing, staring at him. He breathed deeply again, but he didn’t have that feeling of sensual attraction, the nearly overwhelming itch to make her his own. Instead, he felt a subtle sense of coming home. Of seeing a loved one for the first time after a long absence. Relief, pleasure, longing for an embrace all swelled in him. He took a step closer, now within a meter of her, and watched her anxious expression turn desperate. He couldn’t relieve her worries yet; it would be unfair to be premature. He wanted to kiss her. She was beautiful and exotic. Her fragrance was like button flowers from Zion, sweet, floral, gentle. Another step and he was close enough to feel her breath on his face. Her breathing was rapid and shallow. Fear.

“Kiss me,” he whispered.

“I am afraid.”

“We need to try, but I don’t want to force you.”

She nodded and he touched her cheeks, tilting her head toward his. As she leaned up toward him, his hands slid into her silky hair and the red stripe there shifted like a corona around her head. When her lips touched his, he knew. The answer was clear as could be.

He loved her.

There was no hesitation in him as he stole his kiss. It was tender and yet confident. She responded eagerly, returning the thrust of his tongue and the firmness of his lips.

They broke and stood forehead-to-forehead, breathing heavily. He drew in air like an almost-drowned man. “You smell incredible, my love,” he told her.

Her head popped back and her gaze was panicked. “It did not work.”

“Oh, it worked. I don’t want you the same way I wanted you yesterday or before. I want to talk to you, to know you, to laugh with you and build something. I don’t want to overwhelm you and demand that you feel as I do. I want you to give your love to me, but not in desperation. I want a merging. The kiss sealed it for me. I love you.”

“Are you certain?”

“With everything fiber of my being.”

“Will you come to Krate with me, Jack Hamilton? Will you make it your home? Will you make me your mate?”

“Yes, Sondja. Yes to all of that. Yes to building a life together. Yes to exploring each other and learning every detail of our thoughts and emotions. Good, bad, boring, exciting, and wonderful, I want you.”

She threw her arms around him and kissed him again, with even more enthusiasm. Once again, he was embraced by the scent of Sondja.

The End

Thank you for reading “The Scent of Sondja.” I hope you enjoyed this short story. Eventually, I’ll put all my short stories in a book and share them with the world, but for now, these are for my blog readers, all of whom I cherish. If you want to be among the first viewers of my short stories, or any of my posts, sign up for my mailing list (over at the top, right column). I sometimes give things away there as well. Next prize: Saturday, May 23, for mailing list members only.

 

Free Short Story: The Scent of Sondja, Part 3 (of 4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Scent of Sondja

by Patricia Green

Copyright ©2015 Patricia Green

All Rights Reserved

Part 1 is here.

Part 2 is here.

Chapter 3

The conference room set aside for negotiations held the two Seeters and Sondja plus one Kratian aide named Mimika. The red-eyed Mimika, who sat behind his leader was quiet, making notes on a hand-held device that was unfamiliar to Jack. Sondja did all the talking. She was respectful and reasonable. She wanted to sell the moon, not give it away, but the Seeters felt it was theirs to begin with, despite the long history of the Krates having charge of it.

“That treaty is outdated and no longer relevant,” the swarthy Seeter said to Sondja. His Interstallar was marred by a thick accent, and Jack had to carefully parse each word that came out of the Seeter’s lipless mouth. Sondja, on the other hand, looked focused but relaxed despite wearing the helmet with the breather quietly humming. There were slight differences between the Krates and Seeters, but it was clear that their races came from the same genetic stock, albeit a long time split off.

“We disagree,” Sondja said firmly. “Krate is willing to accept an offer of six billion bets for Dolaris, plus royalty rights to the minerals there.”

“Six billion! Outrageous,” the Seeter exclaimed. “Dolaris’ mining is worth less than half of that.”

“Are you offering three billion bets?”

“We will go no higher than two, and no royalties.”

It had been going on like this for hours, with neither side budging. Jack thought it reasonable to step in. “Have you considered going with an all-royalties scheme rather than the purchase of Dolaris?”

The Seeter frowned, dark eyebrows beetling. “We want to own the moon and all its minerals.”

“There is a compromise here,” Jack told him. “If Krate is willing to accept royalties for the mining, and perhaps the water, maybe it would be equitable.”

Sondja shot him a wary look and a tiny smile. “We would be willing to discuss royalties only, Minister of Seeter.”

“You would?”

She nodded.

“What rate would that be?”

They negotiated for another two hours, but finally settled on a royalty scheme whereby Krate would receive a percentage of the mining and water profits, in exchange for the use of the surface of the moon for anything but projects deleterious to the environment there. The moon would remain the property of Krate, though Seeter could populate it in whatever fashion they chose. Since the Setter population was booming, outgrowing its small planet, it was a good deal for all parties. It also had the benefit of both worlds forming an alliance as each wanted something tangible from the other, something that could only be had through good behavior.

Jack tried to be unbiased during the negotiations, not encouraging either side to misbehave. Sondja pushed the limits more than a few times, but so did the Minister from Seeter.

Sondja left the bargaining table first, and Jack wrapped up with the Seeters and then left as well.

There hadn’t been time or opportunity to tell Sondja about the promotion to ambassador, but Jack had wanted to get through the negotiations without influencing her or creating the impression that he was siding with her over Seeter. It was her job to get the best deal, and Jack’s job to point out places where there was potential agreement and move the process along. But the negotiations were over, and Jack’s obligation for impartiality along with them. He could hardly wait to give Sondja the news.

Unfortunately, he was told that Sondja was in conference when he arrived at her quarters. He left her a message and headed back to his office. As he was walking along, he got a comm from Tatum.

“We think we’ve identified the two Kratians behind the terrorism, Captain Hamilton,” Tatum told him.

“Come to my office. I don’t want to discuss this over the comm.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

Jack settled into his chair and was reading messages on his vid screen when Tatum came in. He was the picture of a calm and collected, efficient and stiff security chief.

“Sit down. What have you got for me?” Jack began.

“Thank you,” he replied, taking a seat in front of Jack’s desk. “We traced the chemical signatures, and then correlated them to potential black market dealers for those chemicals. We narrowed it down to a single dealer in this quadrant, and had a…chat…with him.”

Jack arched his brow.

“He was actually fairly easy to convince. We used a combination of muscle and money. He responded well to both.”

“I see. Go on.”

“We showed him pictures of the Kratian delegation and he identified two faces.”

“And?”

“One was Mimika, and the other was a Kratian female called Artis.”

“Mimika! He was in the negotiations today. He didn’t say a word.”

Tatum shook his head. “No surprise there. After the interrogation, when we were sure he was in the conference with you, we intercepted his transmissions off the Dreadnaught and decoded them. He was sending messages back to Krate, planning to kidnap Hefalia Sondja and hold her hostage unless the Hefalia breaks the contract and keeps the moon.”

“Political suicide for her,” Jack pointed out. “The new deal would be lucrative to the Krates, easing up their economy and leading to greater prosperity. I’m sure Sondja would rebel against killing it.”

Shrugging, Tatum went on. “I only know what I read on Mimika’s messages. But we’ve got him red-handed.”

“And the Kratian female delegate?”

“We arrested her immediately. She’s in the brig.”

Jack sighed. The situation was awkward, but there weren’t too many ways to resolve it diplomatically. “All right. Grab Mimika and get ID on whomever he was communicating with on Krate. The Hefalia needs to know about the plot and her security at home depends on knowing who is behind it at home.”

“Agreed,” Tatum said, standing. “I’ll get right on it.”

Jack watched him march out of the office and immediately went to work recording an urgent message to Sondja. Hopefully, she’d get it as soon as her conference was done.

Part 4, the final chapter, on Wednesday.

Free Short Story: The Scent of Sondja, Part 2 (of 4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Scent of Sondja

by Patricia Green

Copyright ©2015 Patricia Green

All Rights Reserved

Part 1 is here.
Chapter 2

Jack felt himself grinning like an idiot.

She scrambled to put the helmet back on, but the latch was broken and it was too late. Jack was nearly overwhelmed with feelings of deep attraction to Sondja, feelings so earth-moving that he nearly wept with longing for her. She was too far away. He needed to feel her close to him, tight against his body. Gently, he removed the useless helmet.

“Sondja…” he said softly, taking her into his arms.

She trembled beneath his hands, and pushed weakly to release herself from his hold. But her efforts were feeble, halfhearted, barely pressing her hands against his chest. When Jack pressed his lips to hers, she stopped her shaky struggles and added her kiss to his.

Jack ran his fingers through her soft hair, cupped her face between his hands, kissed her deeply and long. Although he felt lust for her, he mostly felt a deep emotional attachment, as though he’d found the love of his life and could finally be complete.

Only Tatum’s voice through his comm unit pulled his attention away from the woman Jack loved. “Captain? Captain Hamilton?”

“Yes,” Jack responded, his temper short. “Have you contained things?”

“Aye, sir. We’ll need to assess the situation more carefully, but it looks like a bomb blast.”

“Great…” Jack muttered, concern pushing his desire for Sondja aside for a time. He rose from behind the planter and looked around. There were scorch marks on the walls, one planter with a tree in it had toppled, and Kratians and humans, alike, were beginning to stand and ask questions. His security men were there to calm the situation, but it required a Captain’s direct influence to keep the crowd under control.

Jack moved among the people, seeing to it that the Kratians were immediately escorted to their quarters. Sondja talked to her people, using the lilting Kratian language to soothe them. They stumbled off, dazed, with his security people.

Jack made sure the bomb squad was at work before he escorted Sondja to her suite. Once inside the quiet room, they kissed again.

“You know this can never be, Jack,” she pointed out, resting her head against his shoulder.

“We’ll make it work. We have to.”

“I cannot mate with a human. My people would never understand.”

“Give them credit for being understanding.”

She pinned him with a serious look. “How can we mate when you are here, aboard this starship, and I am back at Krate? I cannot lead my people from here. They depend upon me.”

Jack couldn’t make any promises. He knew he was to be reassigned, but he didn’t know where. It could be light years away from Krate, light years away from his love. The thought made his stomach plummet and his heart grow heavy. Intellectually, he knew his feelings were only a chemical reaction, but his will to fight it was weak.

He had to agree with her assessment, but it was so hard to do. “I know. There must be a way, though. There has to be.”

His comm chimed. It was Tatum again. Jack had to go see to the emergency repairs. Like Sondja, his people depended upon him.

* * *

It was hours later that the bomb squad and Jack’s security people made their report. The bombs had been set by Kratian reactionaries. The signature on the chemicals could only have come from two places, Krate or Seeter, and the Seeter people—a delegation of only two—had been securely in their cabins from the time they were escorted there, to the time of the explosion. A security detail had been out in their hallway, keeping them safe from potential harm the whole time. Neither of them was responsible.

Jack had to tell Sondja, but he dreaded it. She’d be hurt, worried, angry.

Instead, she was apologetic when he came to her and explained.

“I am so sorry, Jack. I knew that some of my people are against any potential trade of our moon with the Seeters. I never expected violence over it. Apparently, my people have not evolved as far as I had hoped since the last war.”

He touched her face, skimming her soft cheek with his fingers. Within her cabin, she didn’t need to wear the anti-contamination suit, and instead she wore a loosely flowing gold and blue robe that moved with her, gliding around her body like a breeze, molding itself to her with every step she took, and then teasingly flowing away.

“I must go home,” she told Jack, a mournful note in her voice.

It took every bit of will in his body not to tell her that she mustn’t go. “I’ll go with you.”

“Jack! You cannot! Your career!”

“I’ll give it all up. I can’t live my life apart from you, Sondja.”

“This is foolish. We must not do this. We must resist. We are adults, not to be driven by our hormones.”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. “Can you do it?” he asked her, whispering in her ear.

“I must. You must.”

“But, can you, Sondja?”

Her voice cracked when she said, “No. My spirit is broken.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“What will you do there, Jack? I have my duties, but what will you have?”

He wanted to scream with frustration. It was true; he’d have nothing. Perhaps he could be a military advisor to help Sondja with her internecine problems. “I’ll ask my Admiral.”

“What do you have in mind?”

He raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. My mind is spinning. I want you so badly.”

“I desire you as well.”

“I’ll go comm my Admiral. I’ll come up with something.” He kissed her deeply again, and then dragged himself apart from her, hating every step he took away.

It turned out that the solution was at hand.

* * *

“You what?” Jack quickly amended his comment to make it more respectful. “I mean, I’m very surprised, sir. How long has this been planned?”

The admiral had raised an eyebrow at Jack’s initial tone, but soon relaxed his face into something less irritated. “For about six months, Hamilton. Your career has progressed. You never slow down. Besides, we really need your common sense and resilience on Krate. It was the perfect job for you.”

“I wish I’d known. I might have handled the Krate delegation differently.”

“Which is why we didn’t tell you. We wanted your impartiality.”

“Well, you got it up to a point.”

“You do have choices, Hamilton. We can put you on Telus. They need an ambassador as well.”

“No! I mean, no thank you, sir. I want to learn more about the Kratians, explore what that world has to offer. There are many things that attract me to the place.”

The admiral was nodding from his place behind his desk, looking at the vid conference panel. “Then it’s settled. We’ll be transferring you to the diplomatic corps. You’ll be ambassador to Krate. Get the moon issue resolved, catch those terrorists, and off you go.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll do my best.”

“Of course you will, Jack. You would never do less.” The screen went blank as the admiral logged off.

Jack leaned back in his chair, somewhat stunned. They’d picked him and the Dreadnaught for the Kratian/Seeterian negotiations because the plan had been to promote him into the diplomatic corps. It was quite a change from space operations, but Jack could see why they’d look to him to do the job. He’d hosted a number of these negotiations, acting as arbiter and coordinator, and they’d been quite successful. The bonds between the arguing parties had been forged well and with seeming permanence. He was good at what he did.

However, he had two problems to solve before he could go. Two big problems.

Part 3 on Monday.

New Free Short Story: The Scent of Sondja, Part 1 (of 4)

As part of my ongoing series of short stories in five minutes, I’m bringing you a rather longer story, told in four parts (to keep it down to five minutes each). It tells the story of Captain Jack Hamilton, and the exotic otherworldly Hefalia Sondja, from the planet Krate. This is a pure romance story with a sci-fi twist. There will be a poll after this segment, because I’m curious about your reaction to this type of story. So, here is “The Scent of Sondja, Part 1.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Scent of Sondja

by Patricia Green

Copyright ©2015 Patricia Green

All Rights Reserved

Chapter 1

“That’s right, Hefalia, but after this week I’ll be the former Captain of the Dreadnaught. Yes, this is my last week. What am I moving on to? Why, I don’t really know what the Commonwealth Spacefleet has in store for me. They appear to be keeping it for a surprise.”

Jack toweled off his face after lotioning off the whiskers around his goatee and moustache. As he did, he talked to the face in the mirror, trying to practice a calm and controlled response to the questions he’d inevitably face during the upcoming VIP visit from the Hefalia of Krate. He didn’t know too much about her beyond her position and the fact that she’d be on the Dreadnaught in order to cut a deal with a neighboring world for a habitable moon nearby. It was likely that her advance team had alerted her to the fact that Jack was a short-timer. Undoubtedly, it would undermine his authority as her host while on his ship. That could be an issue as the deal that was to be brokered was between hostile states. Security had been stepped up in order to protect the principals.

Sighing, Jack took one more look in the mirror and stepped away. He put on his uniform and slid his hand up the jacket placket, locking the fabric in place in a neat seam. He wondered what it would feel like to wear a Rear Admiral’s pips on his collar, one more than he had at present. All he knew was that he was being promoted. He didn’t know to what command, where, or for what purpose. His impression was that the service was making room for some up-and-coming Commander who had enough connections to take over command of a ship, and the Dreadnaught was the most prestigious ship in the fleet. Jack had captained her for nearly five years, and had expected to do so for at least another five years. The changes were all rather disturbing, but when one took on military life, one had to plan to do what the higher-ups required, without argument.

He made his way out of his cabin and through the hallway, heading toward the elevator that would take him to the visitors’ reception area, and his meeting with the Hefalia.

Once in the large embarkation lobby, he met with his security chief, Ralph Tatum. Tatum gave Jack a nod and stood quietly with his security team, waiting. As they waited, Jack accessed his electronic communications implant and read the streaming news behind his eyeballs. He particularly was interested in the current state of Krate affairs, and he found out that the hostilities between the Krate and their rivals the Seeters, were heating up and becoming dangerously close to war. It was even more important that these negotiations go well.

The Hefalia’s ship was delayed for a while, but eventually it docked and her entourage came aboard the Dreadnaught.

The Kratians were a handsome people, the males smaller than the females, though powerfully built. They’d come through several civil wars through their history, and the males had been the ones to fight, while the women were the negotiators and propagandists. Krate’s history was much different from Earth’s, but they did have civil wars in common. A few of the Kratian women were in the Hefalia’s party, but not very many. They wore full anti-contamination suits, completely swaddling them from the top of their helmeted heads to the tips of their shod toes.

Jack had expected that. The females had a pheromone that reacted badly to male Earthers’ hormone profiles, setting off a chain reaction that ended up with both parties becoming emotionally attached, whether that was practical or not. It would be a terrible dynamic for his personnel, so it was just as well that the females were wrapped up. They managed it on Krate with genetic modifications, but Earthers weren’t prepared.

A male Kratian approached Jack and made a small, respectful hand gesture. He was about 165 centimeters tall, so Jack had to look down to meet his deep red eyes. His skin was swarthy, and his bone structure was humanoid. He had short, white hair with a horizontal blue stripe ringing the crown of his head. He did not smile, but he did ooze competence and precision. The lack of a smile, Jack thought, was purposeful rather than unfriendly.

“I am Modham,” the small male said, his voice gravelly and his Interstellar perfect. “I am the honorable Hefalia’s assistant.”

“Welcome aboard,” Jack said, bowing his head. “I am Captain Jackson Hamilton. It’s my pleasure to have you as my guests. Where is the Hefalia?”

Modham looked over his shoulder as a tall, lanky female debarked the Kratian ship. Her dark blue airtight body suit was tightly fitted, outlining some very humanlike curves. Like the other females in her party, she wore a helmet with a breather unit, which would let air in, but nothing but cleansed air out.

“Here is our leader, Hefalia Sondja,” Modham said, adding a flourish to his reverential hand gesture.

Jack smiled and bowed as she approached. “Hefalia, it’s a great pleasure to meet you. I’m Captain Hamilton. Welcome to the Dreadnaught.”

Her smile was bright through the tall, clear helmet. Up close, Jack noted that she was as lovely of face as form, her face heart-shaped, leading to a small, chin with a gentle cleft at its center. Her eyes were red, as all of the Kratians, but they were gently turned up at the outer corners, giving her a slightly Asian appearance. He could see part of her hair; it was black, and appeared to have the customary horizontal stripe, but hers was red. According to Jack’s briefing notes, she was the only one allowed to have the red stripe.

“Thank you for accommodating us, Captain. Although I am the Hefilia of my people, for you, I am only Sondja.”

“As you like, Sondja. Please call me Jack. I hope the talks will be fruitful. The Seeters have already arrived and are ready for your meeting tomorrow morning.”

“That is well,” she said. Her voice was soft, gentle, low-throated and slightly gravelly, like Modham’s.

“Please follow me,” Jack told her, leading her and her entourage out of the lobby and deeper into the ship. He gave her a brief tour of the facilities, including an introduction to his staff on the command deck. Used to greeting dignitaries, they were all quite respectful and made him proud. He’d miss his crew; he’d made some good friends among them.

During their tour, he appreciated her intelligent conversation and her bright sense of humor. She was witty, wry, sometimes a little teasing, almost flirtatious. He returned her good-natured comments with jokes and conversation. Jack very much enjoyed her company, which was a bit of a surprise. Generally, heads of state were reserved and aloof. This one was down to earth and a pleasure to be around. He thought that if they only had more time to get to know each other, they might have some fun interactions, trading stories and learning about each other’s cultures. But the negotiations were set to happen over just two or three days, and then Jack would be who knew where shortly after.

Their last attraction before taking her to her cabin, was the recreation deck, where there was a large mall with a variety of shops and eating establishments. It was a facility that catered to the myriad types of aliens and humans aboard the Dreadnaught, offering home-style foods and trinkets from all over the galaxy. Sondja politely acknowledged all the features of the ship and made inquiries that showed that she was paying attention. Their last stop on the rec deck was at the Venarian shop, a place that, according to the briefing materials, would be of personal interest to Sondja. Indeed it was. She was delighted to be introduced to the shop owner and to peruse the various Venarian items on display. She seemed reluctant to exit the shop, but there were preparations Jack knew she’d have to make before the meeting in the morning, so he found an opportunity to ease her out of the shop.

They started down the aisle way, through a row of potted trees, when all of a sudden there was a small blast from nearby. Immediately, Jack yanked Sondja to one side, pushing her to the deck behind a planter, and covering her with his body. His security team raced around, and another explosion crashed through the aisle. Smoke and flame shot from panels along the walls, and people in the rec area screamed and scattered. The security detail had all it could handle keeping the Kration party from harm, but more security personnel ran in from the rec deck and elsewhere, fighting the fires with chemical wands, and gathering up people to lead them to safety. It was general mayhem for a few minutes, but soon things calmed enough for Jack to take stock.

He moved off Sondja and helped her to sit upright. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, her silky black hair flowing smoothly over Jack’s hands on her shoulders. After a moment, her eyes widened and she started casting about, searching for something. “My helmet!”

Jack spotted it a meter away and handed it to her. It looked unharmed. It was then that Jack noted a sweet, floral fragrance. It was rich perfume, teasing his nostrils and making him breathe deeply.

Sondja’s expression went grim. “Oh, no.”

Part 2 on Saturday. Please take the one question poll below. Thank you.

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Do you sometimes enjoy stories with romance AND sci-fi?




I'd prefer one or the other.






Mostly romance, some sci-fi






Mostly sci-fi, some romance






An equal mix of both






I don't enjoy sci-fi romance.



















Tally My Opinion

Weekend Writing Warriors – The Butt of the Joke

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors on Patricia Green Books! (Follow the link to more fun excerpts.)

On May 23, my 31st book will be released: Striker. It’s a contemporary crime/mystery erotic spanking romance based in Glendale, California. I’m trying to focus on crime/mystery-based stories as I move along in my career.

This segment, from the first few pages of Striker, illustrates how abrasive Jase Striker’s new police partner is. She’s played a practical joke on him at their first meeting.

Laughing, she nearly doubled over with mirth. My face heated, not with embarrassment, but with blazing irritation. Who was this Angelica Piccolino, and how was I going get rid of her?

“Cute,” I said. “You sent me a high school student to work on a homicide. Why would I ever think you were putting me on?” If my tone was gruff, I had a right. No one likes to be the butt of a joke.

Here’s the blurb for Striker — due out May 23.

Detective Jase Striker doesn’t want a partner on the job, and when he’s saddled with Angelica Piccolino—a rookie in the homicide division—he’s more than a little annoyed. But his irritation with his sexy new partner soon morphs into a blistering passion, and though he fears what mixing work with pleasure will do to his crime fighting abilities, she soon proves irresistible.

Despite her diminutive size, Angelica is no stranger to the streets, and at twenty-six years old she’s tired of being treated like a kid. Yet somehow, when her attitude pushes Striker too far and he takes her over his knee for a bare bottom spanking, it merely leaves her desire for him burning even hotter.

Forced to work together as a team, Striker and Piccolino must race against time to hunt down a serial killer whose only calling card is a white rose left with each victim. Can they bring the white rose murderer to justice before another victim turns up?

Publisher’s Note: Striker is an erotic romance novel that includes spankings, sexual scenes, and more. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.

I will share an extended excerpt before the book hits the market. Stay tuned!

A Personal Note From Trish: Where’s the Next Book?!

Hi, everyone. Lately, I’ve received more than a few inquiries about the current state of my writing. I’ve been sharing other people’s new releases over the last few months, but except for some eight-sentence excerpts for Weekend Writing Warriors, not a whole lot of my stuff. So where is it? What have I been spending my time on?

Well, first of all, I have not retired. Far from it. I’m way too young for that. But I did take an extended leave at the end of 2014, and didn’t start writing new projects until January. Once I started, the first thing I had to do was a whole lot of research for a change to detective romance. It’s something I’m transitioning into over the next two years, but I wanted to get into it with a detective spanking romance in 2015. (Spanking romance has been my specialty for about five years.) So I did a lot of research, reading both fiction and non-fiction books, and got up to speed. I’ve always been an avid fan of 1950s noire detective mysteries, ala Mickey Spillane and Raymond Chandler, but I wanted to translate that into something more contemporary, but equally gritty. The product of my studies and creativity is the book Striker. I finished it in March, and it is set to release on the 23rd of May, via Stormy Night Publications. (Cover on the left.)

Once I’d completed the drafts of Striker, I delved into my back catalog, digging up a set of two books I’d wanted to revise and re-release as self-published work. They were originally the “Daughter of the Moon” books, published by Renaissance eBooks (one of the earliest ebook publishers of all). After the contract term was up, I got the rights back and held them for the time I’d have to do thorough revisions, updating, and professional editing. They also needed new covers badly. So, over the last month, I’ve been working on Sonata’s Moon, Book 1: Surface and Sonata’s Moon: Book 2: Sanctuary. They are a serial set, which means that you’ll want to read book one before book two or the story will seem incomplete. There were a lot of reasons why I broke the story into two, but the primary one was book length. It tops out at over 400 pages, which I felt was too long for a romance novel. Some people can get away with that (Diana Gabaldon comes to mind), but I didn’t think I could, not at the price point I thought was fair. So they’re divided. Hopefully, people who read the first one will be driven to read the second. I expect them to be released in June/July. They have to pass muster with the professional editor before I can have them professionally formatted for sale. I do not skimp on my self-published works. It takes an industry to build a good book.

Next on my agenda will be another mystery/detective romance, but one without spanking. It will still be erotic, because that’s the hallmark of all my books, no matter the genre. I don’t have a release date for that novel, but its working title is “Spike and the Socialites.”

While I’m working through the writing projects, I’m also branching out into teaching. Striker is my 31st book contract. Although I started off slowly in 1993 (I was also holding down a full-time job and had a set of twin daughters to look after), I ramped up to the point where I wrote eight books in 2014 alone. I know a lot about writing, including planning and production. So, I decided that in 2015, I was going to teach. My first class was with Savvy Authors in early April, and was the Writer’s Business Plan. The roster was full, and I think some people even got turned away. I believe I imparted the information I intended, and I got some good feedback and excellent reviews.

Also with Savvy Authors, I’ve become a mentor. The mentoring program consists of one-on-one intensive training for three months (May 4 through August 2), and covers nearly every aspect of fiction writing and production. It’s open to beginners through advanced authors. I believe I can make a difference.

So, that’s what’s up with me. Please leave comments on this post or send me email. I’d love to hear from you and find out what you are up to this year.

Thanks for your continued support,

Guest: Have You Met MacDermot’s Bride?

I’m bringing back Stevie MacFarlane because she has a brand new book. This one is written with Keriann McKenna. If you like contemporary spanking romance, you’ll love MacDermot’s Bride (book 2 of the Fall River Ranch series). It’s a love story, full of humor and romance.

Stevie was kind enough to answer a question for me.

Patricia: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Stevie: Actually finding the time was, and still is the hardest part. I’ll be doing more research for Book 3 but I don’t anticipate it will be a major chore.

Here is the book summary:

As Mac fall deeper in love with Annie, his past haunts him. He failed to keep the woman he loved safe before and he vowed he’d never fail again.

Annie’s fierce independent streak doesn’t make it easy for him. She’s created a life for herself, certain she can make it on her own.

Filled with passion, suspense, and humor, their love story unfolds with twists and turns neither of them saw coming. Mac needs Annie, but will it be too late by the time she realizes she needs him too?

And here is an excerpt:

Annie rummaged through her suitcase for something to wear and nothing matched, but she did the best she could with what he had thrown into it.  She had just finished making the last piece of French toast when he ambled into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes and then stretching in an attempt to wake up.

“It smells good in here,” he said as she served him coffee and then set a plate of French toast and sausage in front of him.

“I hope you like it,” she replied as she started to eat.

“Mmm, I do like it, thank you.  Annie we need to discuss a few things and now is as good a time as any.”  In spite of her puzzled look, between bites he laid out all the problems Chuck had mentioned.  Then he added that her car might not be fixed until the middle of the week and he would have Duncan take her to and from work.

“Mac, first of all I don’t want to be an imposition and second, I can’t afford to have all that work done to my house,” she told him in no uncertain terms.  She knew full well he already knew her husband’s illness had run her so far into debt her credit rating might never be above 500 again.

“Darlin’, I’m not expecting you to be able to afford the work.  You agreed that you would try your best, and letting me take care of those things is part of it.  And, by the way, I don’t ever want you to feel as though you are an imposition on me or any of my staff.

Work with me on this will you please?”

“Okay,” Annie said and continued eating.

“Okay?  Just like that?  No arguments?”

“You’ll get no arguments from me.  Mac, I’m practicing.  Submitting is not easy for me; how am I doing so far?”

“You’re doing great.  I love it,” Mac smiled at her.

“Oh, it’s not easy.  I have a mouth full of things I want to say, not to mention the small piece of sausage that just landed on your plate while I was trying to talk and eat at the same time, but to please you; I’m keeping them to myself.”

“That works for me,” Mac said as he laughed out loud.  “Now, can we discuss something more serious?”

“Yes we can, we can discuss anything that’s on your mind.”

Here goes nothing, Mac thought as he began to speak.  “Darlin’, after what happened the other night, I can’t bring myself to allow you to live in that neighborhood.  You’re just not safe there.  I want you to consider moving in with me.  I’m not rushing you, I want you to take your time and seriously think about it.  You can give me your decision whenever you’re ready.”  There, he said it and she just kept eating as though he’d spoken about the weather.

“Okay, what’s the next topic?” Annie munched on another link of sausage.

Shocked beyond belief, Mac just looked at her.  “Hmmm, that’s all I have, I guess,” he said, wondering just who this woman had become and overnight at that.

“Well,” Annie said as she stood and started to pick up the dishes.  “I have a few things I’d like to discuss.”

Ah, the Annie he knew was back.  “I’m listening.”

As she loaded the dishwasher, she turned to him.  “Will you please take me home…”

“Absolutely not!” Mac stated emphatically.

“Hey, just a minute; I didn’t interrupt you when you were talking,” she scolded.  “I was trying to ask you if you would please take me home so I could get my clothes for work.  Nothing you threw in my suitcase matches and I can’t show up at work in shorts or jeans.”

“I’m sorry I interrupted you.  Yes, we can run into town this afternoon if you want.” Mac felt guilty for incorrectly anticipating what she was going to say.  “You said a few things, please go on.  I won’t interrupt you again.”

Annie thought about the metaphor Elise had used when she told her men were just like horses.  Opening the freezer, she took stock of the contents.  “What do you want for dinner?  The choices are pork chops or chicken.”

Still in shock, Mac answered.  “Either is fine with me.  I’d be happy to grill some chicken.”

“Sounds good, chicken it is.  Now, with your permission, I’d like to help Elise in the stables again.  Do you have any objection?”

“Annie, that’s a very thoughtful idea.  Now that she’s pregnant, I’m sure she would love the help and the company too.”

“Anything else you want to discuss?”  Mac was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Yes, just another couple of things,” she said as she put the chicken in the fridge hoping it would defrost in time.  “I’d like to stop at the liquor store and pick up a couple of bottles of white zinfandel.  Red wine gives me such a headache.  I’d also like a bottle of Frangelico; I noticed there wasn’t any in the liquor cabinet and I really enjoyed it.”

“No problem, we can do that when we go into town,” Mac grinned, liking what he saw.

“Thank you, Sweetheart,” Annie said as she planted a very tender kiss on his lips.

“I think I’ll shower after the stables if that’s okay with you,” Annie added, pulling away from his mouth.

Mac smiled as he sat there sipping a second cup of coffee.  Maybe my Dad was right; a sound spanking worked wonders.

You can buy MacDermot’s Bride right now from the following distributors:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes&Noble

Kobo

iBooks

All Romance

Scribd

Page Foundry

You’ll enjoy meeting Stevie. Here’s her bio, in her own words:

Hi Readers, I hope you enjoyed it MacDermot’s Bride and will leave a review.  Reviews mean a great deal to authors and even those that are critical help us to write better books.

I’ve been writing for most of my life. My first love was music and lyrics and my first song was a dreadfully simple little tune about a boy I was madly in love with at fourteen. I’m certain I drove my grandmother to distraction as I wailed this boy’s name from the piano in the living room at every opportunity…romance was in my heart even at a young age.

Later in life I developed my craft as a poet and published work in anthologies. I still write poetrybut am dipping my toes in the waters of romance, both sweet and steamy.

I was born in a small community in Upstate New York, but left as soon as I bought a decent car that didn’t require more oil than gas…I’m not kidding. I used to pull into a service station, hand the attendant five bucks for gas and tell him to fill it up with drain oil.

I lived in Canada and the Midwest for several years before settling in the Seattle area with the love of my life. I now live in the foothills of the beautiful Rocky Mountains near my family; I’m retired from the counseling field although I still work crisis intervention two nights a week. I consult with and edit for other authors into the wee hours of the night, and I rescue senior dogs and give them a forever home.

Keriann isn’t sharing a bio, but if you want to know more about her, check here:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/keriann.mckenna

Website:  keriannmckenna.com

Blog:  http://keriannmckenna.weebly.com/

Twitter: @keriannmckenna

 

Weekend Writing Warriors – Peg Pleads for Her Life

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors on Patricia Green Books! (Follow the link to more neat excerpts.) I’m fresh out of teaching a writing class, so I’m fired up about the business and the enormous potential we all have for entertaining readers and being successful. I also signed my 31st book contract last week, which makes me mondo happy.

There are only 5 days left to get Discipline Down Under for only $2.99. This is a top-grade, fun, and sparky spanking romance that deals with a spoiled heiress and her down-to-earth Australian bush guide.

Last week’s “episode” showed Peg on her back after falling from a tree. A mysterious stranger offers her a hand up, but then reaches for a knife. Here’s my Weekend Writing Warriors entry for this week.

“Oh, God. Don’t kill me.”

“Hush, sheila.”

Peg was aware that ‘sheila’ was a common term for woman here, so she didn’t think he’d gotten her name wrong. How could he know her name, after all? They hadn’t set eyes on each other before. And that reminded her that she still hadn’t set eyes on him. She had no idea how to describe her attacker, if he let her live.

Is he a good guy or a bad guy? (Hint: it would be a premature end to the story if he was a bad guy.)

Here are a blurb and excerpt. Remember, only 5 days left for the sale price.

Also, if you are interested in having a mentor for your writing career, I’m offering a mentored writing intensive through Savvy Authors. It’s an individual study program, three months long, useful for beginners through advanced students. I’ve been writing a long time and have pretty much “been there, done that” so I can help you be more successful. You’d get personal attention, one-on-one. There are only two spots left. See this post for more details or to sign up for the program.

Thank you for joining me here today!

Need a Little Help with Your Writing?

Hi, everyone. It’s Wednesday, so I have a little hump day get-to-the-positive-side-of-the-week news.

I’m a mentor with Savvy Authors now, which means I’m going to be teaching a three month writing intensive, for beginners through advanced students. The course runs May 4 – August 2. It’s a one-on-one program, covering the following topics, and focused on where you need the most help.

Setting goals;
Learning the tropes (genre fiction);
Character profiles;
Genre-specific structure;
Creating an outline for “pantsers”;
Creating an outline for plotters;
Great openings;
Writing the first draft, including pre-editing tricks and tips;
Word choice and sentence construction;
First round of editing;
Writing the second/final draft;
Final editing;
The importance of having a second editor;
The importance of proofreading;
Writing the synopsis (can be done at the outlining stage);
Choosing a publisher or agent or self-publishing;
Writing the one-page pitch;
Submission standards.

It is not a free class, but having someone help you be more successful in your writing career pays for itself over the short- and long-term as well.

Here’s where you go to find out more, and to sign up: Mentoring Program at Savvy Authors. If you’re not a writer, perhaps you know someone who is. If so, pass this on. There are only two spots left in the class. Remember: this is one-on-one, so you don’t have to vie for instructor attention.

My bio and list of credits is here.

Weekend Writing Warriors – Discipline Down Under – The Knife

Welcome! This post is part of the Weekend Writing Warriors blog hop.

My book, Discipline Down Under reached the All Romance eBooks Bestseller list this week. I’m celebrating by sharing a little of it for this hop. There are a summary and excerpt here on my site.

In this segment, our heroine, Peg, has fallen out of a tree while trying to get a good photograph during her Australian adventure. While down in the leaves, a strange man approaches. His face is in shadow.

“Don’t move.”

“What?” It was the first she’d spoken to him and her voice came out almost a squeak.

“Don’t bloody move. Don’t even breathe.”

He was reaching for something.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered, fear growing with each passing second. And then she saw the knife.

Discipline Down Under is on sale for just $2.99 through April. Check it out at these retailers:

Amazon Barnes & Noble Kobo and All Romance eBooks.

Thanks for joining me today!