Operational Costs
It's a thing. If I make one of my ebook exclusives free, chances are, I'm going to make another free soon afterward.
And so it goes with my novella, Operational Costs, which is now free to download through Amazon.com until Thursday, 7/14.
Operational Costs is the novella that starts a series about a mercenary in the far future who has been hired to steal a precious religious idol from a temple on an alien world. In the backstory, he has learned that the unions have a stranglehold over the small portion of the planet humanity has negotiated to occupy, and because of this, the mission has become more difficult. Why? Because the human's treaty with the planet's indigenous race, the Quell, stipulates that certain technologies can't be brought down from space. Much of that tech, like a chameleon suit, would make our hero, Achilles', journey much easier. He also finds that he can't bring the rest of his gear, the legal stuff, but must either buy or rent everything he plans to use on this op. In short, the mission is bleeding him dry even before he's begun.
To make matters worse, anyone not affiliated with a union must rent the B9-ED model robot for the length of their stay. The model is a walking vending machine of potentially useful items offered at a ridiculous mark up, yet another means the unions employ to punish independent contractors, or scabs.
However, Achilles' unit, who likes to be called Swiss, is no mere company store, designed to keep workers like Achilles poor. It is a fascinating, if often frustrating, being, dedicated to helping Achilles in his mission. Together the two plunge into an ancient forest, dodging Quell and battling creatures with horrific-sounding names (lots of x's and z's) on their quest for the idol. But it's when they reach the temple itself that the real adventure begins...
The Achilles & Swiss series is planned to be between four and six books, each of them collecting several adventures (some even novel-length). Operational Costs will eventually be collected with its sequel into a print edition called General Ledger, the series' first book, which will either be published later this year or early 2017. The novella is also scheduled to appear in my collection, Trouble My Bones. I'm offering it now to introduce readers to the world before the print edition hits the shelves. After that, it's likely that Operational Costs will no longer continue to exist by itself so I can offer General Ledger as an ebook.
On a side note, The Achilles & Swiss stories exist in a much larger 'verse, called Exo-Terra. Other stories of mine appearing there are the soon-to-be-published short stories, "The Crippled Sucker" and "A Mystery for a Mystery", as well as the novellas, "Five Out of Texas" and "The Big'un", and the novel, The Whore Had Bat Wings. So, keep an eye out for these stories, and y'all enjoy!
https://amzn.com/B00WFJO2CG
And so it goes with my novella, Operational Costs, which is now free to download through Amazon.com until Thursday, 7/14.
Operational Costs is the novella that starts a series about a mercenary in the far future who has been hired to steal a precious religious idol from a temple on an alien world. In the backstory, he has learned that the unions have a stranglehold over the small portion of the planet humanity has negotiated to occupy, and because of this, the mission has become more difficult. Why? Because the human's treaty with the planet's indigenous race, the Quell, stipulates that certain technologies can't be brought down from space. Much of that tech, like a chameleon suit, would make our hero, Achilles', journey much easier. He also finds that he can't bring the rest of his gear, the legal stuff, but must either buy or rent everything he plans to use on this op. In short, the mission is bleeding him dry even before he's begun.
To make matters worse, anyone not affiliated with a union must rent the B9-ED model robot for the length of their stay. The model is a walking vending machine of potentially useful items offered at a ridiculous mark up, yet another means the unions employ to punish independent contractors, or scabs.
However, Achilles' unit, who likes to be called Swiss, is no mere company store, designed to keep workers like Achilles poor. It is a fascinating, if often frustrating, being, dedicated to helping Achilles in his mission. Together the two plunge into an ancient forest, dodging Quell and battling creatures with horrific-sounding names (lots of x's and z's) on their quest for the idol. But it's when they reach the temple itself that the real adventure begins...
The Achilles & Swiss series is planned to be between four and six books, each of them collecting several adventures (some even novel-length). Operational Costs will eventually be collected with its sequel into a print edition called General Ledger, the series' first book, which will either be published later this year or early 2017. The novella is also scheduled to appear in my collection, Trouble My Bones. I'm offering it now to introduce readers to the world before the print edition hits the shelves. After that, it's likely that Operational Costs will no longer continue to exist by itself so I can offer General Ledger as an ebook.
On a side note, The Achilles & Swiss stories exist in a much larger 'verse, called Exo-Terra. Other stories of mine appearing there are the soon-to-be-published short stories, "The Crippled Sucker" and "A Mystery for a Mystery", as well as the novellas, "Five Out of Texas" and "The Big'un", and the novel, The Whore Had Bat Wings. So, keep an eye out for these stories, and y'all enjoy!
https://amzn.com/B00WFJO2CG
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