Kalquor is Back! First Sneak Peek at Dark Empire Bood Six: Advance and Retreat

 

 

Hello again! Remember me? It's been a while.  

First off,semi-retirement is anything but relaxing. I’ve been crazy busy with my son’svarious programs as he embarks on adulthood as a special needs individual. Mom’sTaxi Service (along with many other hats I must wear) is a very real thing. I’mnot complaining though. Being Kiddo’s mother is the most fulfilling role I’veever had. 

In the midst ofit all, I have managed to get some writing done…a whole book’s worth, in fact. Who’s ready for a new Kalquor Dark Empire adventure? The sixth installment of Dark Empire is titled Advance and Retreat. Theebook will be out August 8 and is up for pre-order now (links below). The printbook, which doesn’t have a pre-order option, will be out August 1 for those ofyou who like to get your mitts on Kalquor early.

So withoutfurther ado, let’s enjoy a preview. First up, Emperor Clajak makes a proposalto the least likely of heroes: 

 

Kalquor

DramokRorix fought not to gape at Emperor Clajak. “A Coydidak fleet, myemperor?”

“Of asort.” The muscled Kalquorian royal, his shoulder-length, steel-sheened hairtucked behind his ears, offered a grim smile. “Fifty ships of varying design. Anew explorer-class flagship for you to captain, fifteen marauders, a hospitalship, several raiders, and various other decommissioned vessels we pulled fromstockyards. None except the flagship and marauders are new, but the oldervessels are being modified and updated for your use for deep space exploration.You’ve been lobbying the Imperial Clan and the Royal Council to allow yourgroup to do so for years.”

Rorix,for once in his life, found himself at a loss for words. He glanced at hiscompanion sitting next to him at the low table across from the Dramok emperor.

HisNobek clanmate of almost twenty years looked dumbfounded. It was an expressionRorix couldn’t remember seeing on Signis’ handsome but typically stoicfeatures. Signis’ gaze met his, his almond-shaped eyes damned near round inshock.

Rorixhad indeed campaigned for the Coydidak, a band of Kalquorian space wanderers,to be given the means to explore the outer reaches of the known galaxy. For thelast four years since being voted by the Council of Elders as the Coydidakleader, he’d made intermittent speeches to the three emperors and theirempress. He’d also appealed to the Kalquor’s Committee of Exploration,expounding how the empire had a ready means at their disposal…namely theCoydidak…eager to find new planets and precious resources for Kalquor tocapitalize on.

TheCoydidak, a name which loosely translated to “blown about,” were a faction ofmostly men who had no interest in putting down roots on Kalquor or any of itsmoons, stations, or colonies. For various reasons, they preferred to live on amotley ensemble of ships, visiting inhabited areas where there might be moneyto be made.

Merchants,entertainers…and opportunists, according to their detractors…the Coydidak werethe nomads of the Kalquorian Empire. Their members were incapable or unwillingto stay in one place for any amount of time. They lived by their own rules forthe most part and eschewed what they saw as the typical Kalquorian lust forrank and promotion.

Rorixhad been born among them. His mother’s parent clan had essentially stolen himas a toddler from her and the Coydidak to raise him as a “decent” Kalquorian.Unable to shake an inbred wanderlust and hatred for regular society’s rules,he’d emancipated himself and returned to the wanderers and his parent clan atthe age of fourteen.

He nowsat before one of the four Kalquorian rulers in Clajak’s official office,having been summoned as soon as his ragtag caravan of spacecraft had enteredorbit. They’d shown up on Kalquor in hopes of scoring supplies for the next legof their wanderings. Clajak had invited him to visit. It was a welcome changefrom Rorix begging for an audience to renew his plea for the imperialassignment that would grant his people sustained funding to live free as theywished.

He wasaware of the figure he cut before the formally purple-robed emperor, Clajak’slongtime aide Dramok Korkla in his impeccable blue uniform, and the red-armoredRoyal Guardsmen. The grim-faced Nobek guards surrounded the fine table wherethe visiting Coydidak pair sat on floor cushions. Rorix thought the cushionsalone probably cost more money than the Coydidak had seen in six months.

Rorix’sloose sapphire blue shirt, open at the chest, and his snug black pants werehardly business attire. Signis was less appropriate in a screaming scarletsleeveless tank top, which showed scarred and muscled arms. He was easily aphysical match for any of the royal bodyguards watching them with murder intheir eyes.

TheCoydidak pair were out of place amid finely carved furnishings, rich fabrics,state-of-the-art technology, and no doubt priceless artwork. As casual as theemperor’s corner seating arrangement attempted to be, it was still an opulentsetting.

“Whynow?” Rorix managed, suspicion lending him the strength to recover from hisshock. “After four years of me telling the empire how perfect the Coydidak areto search out resources and new worlds, why are you suddenly dumping ships andsupplies on us and telling us ‘Do it’?”

Clajakgrinned. Rorix was reminded of the stories of the emperor’s youth, when he’dbeen a prince running about the galaxy, getting into life-threatening scrapes.The Coydidak elders loved to tell of Crown Prince Clajak’s escapades, becausehe’d seemed so much like their people. He’d been a true adventurer, unable tosit still even for duty, honor, and empire.

Theemperor wore the smirk of such a man, his purple eyes glinting pure mischief.“I won’t pretend I don’t have an ulterior motive, Captain Rorix. Thanks to theDarks, the Coydidak are in the best position to become the empire’s insurancepolicy.”

“Youwant us to fight the aliens who took over the Galactic Council?” Signis didn’thide his disbelief or disdain. His tone was downright rude.

Clajakappeared to take no offense. “Hell, no. If you knew the odds we’re up againstand how unlikely it is our military fleet, the best in the GC’s membership, canpull us out of this mess…”

Theboyish smirk disappeared and Rorix was shocked to see how old Clajak suddenlyappeared. The emperor was only fifty-one years old, nowhere near Kalquorianmiddle age. His steel-colored hair was from a mutation, not the onset of years.

“Thisis why I called you,” he told the visitors. “The All, the entity dispatchingpieces of itself, which we refer to as the Darks, appears to be bigger than twoplanets. Because it exists between two dimensions, there’s no weapon wecurrently possess that can fight it off. It has the Galactic Council of Planetsunder its control. From all indications, it’s coming for the entirety of themembership. Even beyond, to the worlds unaffiliated with the GC. Not to defeator enslave, but to eradicate.”

* * * * 

Pre-order Now! Ebook releases August 8 

Amazon, AmazonUK, Nook, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo

Print version and link will be available August 1

  

Victories againstinvasion have been won, but the galaxy may be lost in the end. 

 

There may be no escape from the All’sextermination plans for the dimension. Emperor Clajak has one last card up hissleeve, however: a band of misfit renegade Kalquorians called the Coydidak.Only with their help and an impossible mission to beyond the known reaches ofthe universe can Kalquor hope to preserve life. 

A determined engineer is at the top of thelist of Coydidak leader Dramok Rorix’s least favorite humans. She’ll stop atnothing to board his ship for a one-way voyage that’s to last a lifetime. Isultimate freedom from the empire worth dealing with the beautiful but unrelentingLaughter Lorenz? 

As the clock ticks to the end of Dr. CassidyHamilton’s pregnancy and potentially life in the dimension, she worksfeverishly to find a way to destroy the All. A visit from an undiscoveredentity brings to light her greatest hope and worst fear. Only time will tell ifthis new being is friend or foe…but Cassidy’s time and that of hersoon-to-be-born child is almost up. 

Adventure. Danger. Intrigue. Romance thatoutburns the sun in any galaxy. It’s all here in the sixth installment of theDark Empire series.

Pre-order Now! Ebook releases August 8 

Amazon, AmazonUK, Nook, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo

Print version and link will be available August 1