Ruby Lionsdrake – Embrace the Passion Author Guest Post
We are exactly one month away until the release of Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space 3 Anthology! And as mentioned, we’re sharing with you a guest post each Sunday leading up to release with one of the authors featured in the anthology. And today, we have Ruby Lionsdrake talking about her story, Quashi! (He’s totally cute!)
A couple of years ago, when I wrote The Tracker’s Dilemma for my Mandrake Company science fiction romance series, I thought I was done with those characters and that setting. I’d hooked up the three adventurous women (all right, Dr. Keys is far more bookish than adventurous) from the first novel and several others along the way.
But when I was asked to write a novella for the Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space anthology, I immediate thought of the mercenary ship and the large star system it flies through as a place where a quirky new alien animal might be located. Hence, the “quashi” was born.
Loosely inspired by my childhood love of Star Trek and tribbles, they’re cute furry creatures with antenna, feet, and a love for apples. Not content to merely be decorative, they can get in some trouble, and in the case of this new Mandrake Company story, one is determined to be the star and help thwart… oh, I’ll stop there. Spoilers and all. But here’s a snippet to give you an idea of what to expect:
“I don’t see a lot of grass in here,” Chanda observed to her charge.
It shifted and sat up in her arms. Sort of. Thanks to its short, squat legs, it was hard to tell the difference between when it was sitting and when it was standing. She wondered how much the creature could move about on its own. It reminded her of a rabbit without any of the speed. Or ears. Or eyes. It seemed that those dark, slightly fuzzy antennae did all of its sensing.
“Why don’t you hang out here, and I’ll bring a selection to you?” Chanda set the quashi down on the textured metal deck, wondering if she needed to worry about it leaving animal droppings around the ship. The captain might not appreciate that.
The quashi shuffled along the aisle next to the bulkhead, pausing now and then to investigate things with those antennae. They were almost a centimeter thick and could articulate at numerous points. Very versatile.
Chanda weaved through the potted banana and apple trees, rows of annual vegetables, and walls covered in pockets of herbs. The grow room smelled earthy, and it was more humid and warm than the rest of the ship. Some of the plants grew from soil mediums, but most seemed to employ aeroponics. She found lemongrass, snorting as she imagined the quashi gnawing on the large stalks. Did the creature even have teeth with which to gnaw? It had to have some kind of mouth, but the fur hid it and any other orifices it likely had. She cut off one of the stalks, deciding to offer it a selection of vegetables.
“Spinach?” she asked, though she was deeper in the room now and could no longer see the creature. Not that it would have responded even if it was right in front of her. “It’s the right color, at least.”
To her surprise, a dubious trill came from the bulkhead, a little farther along it than where she had left the creature.
“How about asparagus?”
The stalks appeared grass-like, but she knew Asparagus officinalis wasn’t in the grass family. Still, she might as well try it. She bypassed the purple stalks and cut a couple of the green ones.
“It’s not my favorite,” a male voice said from the entrance of the room.
High-pitched trills, almost shrieks, came from the quashi. Chanda glanced in its direction, then looked uneasily toward the entrance. She could make out a man’s figure through the leaves of trees. One of the crewmen popping in for some fresh fruit?
“I’m shopping for a friend,” Chanda said, not sure if a response was expected.
More alarmed trills came from the aisle, and Chanda jogged back to where she had left the quashi. A big man in a black leather jacket stood inside the doorway, frowning down at the quashi. It had made its way almost to the door, and Chanda realized it might have escaped if the automatic doors opened for such small beings. She wasn’t sure. She also wasn’t sure about the man glowering down at it. She didn’t recognize him. Not surprising. Nobody had given her a tour of the ship yet or introduced her to anyone.
“What is that?” the man asked. “And who are you?”
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You can find out what happens next in Quashi in Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space 3.
Find more books by Ruby Lionsdrake, and more in her Mandrake Company Series, look here! You can also follow her on Facebook!
Eleven original Science Fiction Romances. Eleven action-filled tales that mix pets in space with their two-legged companions. Supporting a great cause – Hero-Dogs.org. Don’t miss out on Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space 3! https://www.petsinspaceantho.com
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