WELCOME TO 2023!

I see it’s about time to post last year’s blogs to catch you up on what I’ve been doing this past year. Some months have very little in them, due to a series of fall I took in May and June.  I started going back to the Chiropractor again, and I’m doing much better, but I basically lost control of my ring and pinkie fingers on both hands, which makes me a slower typist.

On a good note I am able to deliver a free book to all my followers in thank you for supporting me this year. (See below) and click on the link: 

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/tlrw76mpn8

DECEMBER 2023

12 06 2023

I got most of milking scene done for Daughter of Shadows. It was funny, but not as funny as I intended. Grace being a city girl has never had any kind of contact with livestock before. So she is understandably squeamish about handling the goat’s udder. I might go in and add some dialogue to increase the comedy aspect of it. She is further horrified to discover they might be eating some of the pheasant chicks when they’re grown. So is Tracy, but that’s because she wants to make pets of them. 

Most of what I thought about using about preparing milk for human consumption were things that I remember my Aunt Genevieve doing when we brought in milk from the goats. She would strain the milk through a cheese cloth into a large pot and heat it to a certain temperature to kill any bacteria. 

I probably need to do some research to find out what exactly the right temperature is, as I recall she had a cooking thermometer she used. You don’t want to cook the milk just heat it enough to kill any bacteria. The stuff that’s left on the cheese cloth can be turned into either butter or use it as heavy cream. 

After a little research  I think it will be simpler, If I just have them use a small home pasteurizer; this would be something that would be essential for people who are producing their own milk and cheese, so I think I’ll go that route. And mention it as being standard issue for colonists on planets where they would be less dependent on our industrialized lifestyle.

12 4 2023

I’ve had a scene in Daughter nagging at me for two days, so I finally sat down and wrote it. It’s just a little short thing about Grace  finally discovering her mad at all the things that have been done to her. The family had gone to the monthly carnival to watch the Portal opening, and they’re confronted by Deputy Talent. On being told they knew she couldn’t have them audited for two years. She got angry, and reminded Grace that everyone knew she had been living with Baxter Trapp as his mistress. Grace finally gets angry enough to snap back at her and tell her what she thinks of the endured servant, law and Talent’s character in particular.

I’m using my usual practice of jumping around at the beginning of the book so that I can get all these little scenes in place. It makes kind of a choppy beginning, and I do have to go back in and smooth out the transitions, but it’s the way I work. For instance, I already jumped ahead and did Talent’s interview with the controller where she verifies that Grace and Tracy can’t be audited for two years since they just came off an Indentured Servant Contract. She’s not happy about it, which is probably why she took couple of wrong steps when she ran into them at the carnival. 

The next chapter is going to be fun. This is the one where Tracy finds the snake in the in the chicken coop or the pheasant coop. I don’t like snakes anyway so it’s never fun when I have to write a scene with them in it, but it does make for a good writing because I can put real feeling into it. Before that, I have the scene where Grace and Tracy learned to milk a goat, which I intend to write as a comedy scene. We’ll see if readers agree with me that it’s funny.

NOVEMBER 2023

2023 11 26 

I did some work on Daughter of Shadows this weekend. Since I’m introducing a new set of bad guys and two new conspiracy groups as well as building up the one hinted at in Babylon Shattered, so I did quite a bit of research and I spent some time on their back story as it concerns Tracy. I also wrote two of the chapters about them; the first one is in the prologue where they kidnap Tracy and talk about the fate of the others. The second one is where they discover rumors of where the ‘weapons’ have been taken. They also talk a bit about rumors of what goes on in Laughing Mountain and what the PA thinks it knows about it. I haven’t dealt with that aspect since I wrote The Portal Lawman, so I needed to do a bit of back reading. Lots of fun. 

2023 11 12 

I’ve decided I need to re-read Babylon Shattered again when I’m writing Daughter of Shadows. Hopefully then I won’t need to keep looking up things I’ve already written to keep the two stories consistent. So far I’ve written the prologue and the first chapter. It’s going to be a little difficult to write as I’ve already given Tracy’s age in the first book. And I still need to come up with a male MC. Of course, I could still use Clemintine and Mason and also keep Tracy and the new male lead too. I’ve done it before. In fact I used that scenario for Heirs of Avalon. I need to give it some thought… 

2023 11 11 

Cloned Ambition will release on time on November 11. This is the first time in a while I’ve had one go out without having to postpone it release date. I’m already working on the next book daughter of Shadows. I’ve set it on Shangri-La and I’m using Tracy lucent who is a minor character in Babylon Shattered. Like Babylon this is going to be a cozy mystery. I’ve got the prologue done which I started with just a little brief story about Tracy‘s arrival for the first chapter. I’m going to skip ahead to the present day. Since I intend this to be able to be read without having read Babylon, I need to include in the description of the planet society and the indentured servant program. I wish Tracy was a part and I still haven’t decided what I’m going to use for a male love interest. I also need to figure out what the group back on earth is trying to do about having their perspective operatives snatched away. I also need to come up with a really good reason why the group back on earth would try to recapture Tracy lots of potential there. In the prologue, I included a little teaser about the toddlers and the babies adopted by the couple from Arcadia and from Saint Antoni. I may develop that later which would probably be two more books, one in the Saint Antoni series, and the other one on the colony of Arcadia. We’ll see.

2023 11 01 

Today I have the After-book doldrums. Ambition is finished and I am in the throes of setting up my next book.( since I can’t decide whether I want to do city of deception or daughter shadows first I’ll probably end up setting up both and then writing them at the same time, which is always fun. The problem is I know where I want to go with both stories sort of, but I don’t have a jumping off place. Daughter has a nice premise. I swear I spit more time correcting this thing than I do dictating it. Oh yes Daughter well I have a Mysterious young woman with no idea where she came from or who she is before I can write the book and I have to figure out why she’s there and who she is and that’s a problem, because at the moment I don’t know. Terrible thing to admit I know, but there it is. 

I also need to figure out the love interest for Tracy. I’m leaning toward making him work in an unpopular profession like maybe he’s an auger or something which everybody tries to cheat the system so that makes them automatically the enemy but how do I make him sympathetic maybe I can make him a Wilder one of the people who don’t join society but hide up in the hills, but how does Tracy meet him? 

With Deception have a little different issue: I’m going to be regulating the four primary characters from the last book into secondary roles, so I have to come up with a really good personality, hook and stuff get the reader interested in the two new main characters which are going to be Judith‘s older sister and her boyfriend. Boyfriends  a criminal lawyer so he  has a chance to get mixed up into a lot of shady cases, I haven’t figured out an occupation for Ava yet; she had to be recalled back to the city with her father got arrested in the last book, so it needs to be something to take her out of town. I am considering making her a traveling artist, or something along that those lines. we’ll see. 

OCTOBER 2023

2023 10 27 

Sitting the art show today it’s a beautiful show. This will be our last together before next year. Ambition is finally an editing, thank you, Lord. Surprisingly, I’m not finding very many mistakes with it. I do see some rough spots that could do with some other with additional attention, so far, it reads, pretty smooth and coherent. And I do like the new cover, but I need to do some more work on some of the animals in Powderpuff gargle I just really don’t like what’s in there and I did find a puma that I can redo to make it to fit the description. I found a really cute a Chihuahua and I think I’ll use as a basis for the Powderpuff gargoyle . 

I tried out my marker pens that I got. OK but not as good as a paintbrush. So I guess I’m gonna have to try and use learn the paint brush using it with my disabilities. Going to be lots of fun.

I downloaded some weird westerns from Amazon They were fun, but I was about decided that my St. Antoni stuff just doesn’t quite fit in with that  genre. One thing is there a little comicbooky and my stuff isn’t. Actually, a little closer to—well I don’t know what it’s close to. I’ve also noticed the weird western genre seems to go for illustrated covers and I’m using real people on mine. I can convert them to drawing type stuff but I’m not sure I want to.

2023/10/08 

Only two chapters to go on Ambition, and then I can send it to Editing. Yay! Waiting for the computer to load Photoshop. For some stupid reason it has decided that program has to be ‘verified’. I hate it when it decides to verify a program because it takes so long. Really annoying! 

My earache still isn’t going away. Last night the entire right side of my jaw right under the ear was so sore I couldn’t chew anything because it hurt to work my jaw. I’ve used up all the antibiotics, so I’ll have to ask my doctor to refill it or proscribe something else. Not looking forward to that… 

2023/10/07 

I worked a little on the last recruitment chapter of ambition today. Nowhere near finished of course. I also did a new final (I hope 🤣) cover for it. The one here has been my working cover for the last year. I wasn’t happy with it even after tweaking it several times. I like the new one better. So, I’ll be able to start some cover reveals at the end of October. I originally intended to release this one at the end of this month, but I want to give myself time to do a good edit on it. Yes, that means the book won’t come out until Nov 30th. If I hadn’t run into heath issues, I probably could’ve made the original deadline. Unfortunately, having the use of only three fingers on each hand makes me a lot slower typist. I fear the days of 90 wpm are gone forever.

2023/10/01 

Vernon has another procedure tomorrow to blast more kidney stones. He hates them and has been like a bear with a sore tooth all week. The surgery center still has pandemic protocols in place so I can’t go in and wait with him. Not that I could do more than they can, but I could provide support at least.  

SEPTEMBER 2023

2023/09/26 

Its’s been an interesting sort of day. I had entered all 3 Magi books in a Black Friday promotion on Book Funnel and got one of them (Paladin) kicked back because the promotor said it showed too much skin (actually what was said was the promotion didn’t allow naked people on the cover! While I admit the clothes are a bit skimpy, she isn’t naked. But oh, well. It won’t get sent out with the general promotion, but it can go out on my newsletter. Yesterday, I discovered Amazon has blocked updates for the Magi Storm paperback. Not sure why. I can see I need to do some investigating. I wanted to have the entire day when I mess with Amazon’s KDP. 

However, I discovered the Word app for my iPad has a dictation feature, so I tried it out. It was interesting because some improvements have been made. There’s no spell/grammar check icon, but it does underline items it wants fixed, and it does have a learn+ feature That allows you to add new words. Today I wrote part of a chapter on Scarlet’s recruiting techniques when she goes to her first rodeo. (They need people who know how to capture and train riding animals to catch the Porcina herds). What are Porcina, you ask? Like all the colonies without an industrial base, Halcyon needs a self-sustaining form of transportation. Porcina are related to earth’s Suidae family. Unlike the ones found on Earth, these are herbivores, with exceptionally long legs to enable them to run fast. Like earthly elephants, the males (puecro) usually form separate herds and only get close to the females (puecra) with young (cobs) during mating season. 

2023/09/23 

Today is a book chore day, chore day for my books—the eBooks for the St. Antoni series have new covers, but I still need to make them for the paperback versions. Two of the books already have HB versions on Amazon, but I intend to put the other 4 on Ingram Spark. Unless that company’s formatting turns out to be more or as difficult as Amazon’s is, then I might re-think that thought. But I might use them anyways as they offer dust jackets for the books and Amazon doesn’t. I just think hardbacks look classier with a dust cover. The new style of hardbacks with the laminated covers looks a little tacky to me. I sure wish D2D did hardbacks… 

2023 09 21

I made a book trailer today for Spell of the Magi. Of course, it took me nearly 2 hours to do it. and then another half hour to get it loaded onto YouTube, and then put it on my website! so now it has a new cover and book trailer! 

Spell of the Magi 

Book 1 The Magi of Rulari

“An intriguing mixture of Fantasy and Science Fiction.” Nominated in the Sword & Sorcery Category in the 2019 EFFYs! 

In a world where Magic and Technology collide, an Amnesiac Merc and a sorceress hiding deadly secrets must team up to defy the most powerful wizards of Rulari. When Rebecca, a Magi born into a land where her talents mean slavery or death, meets Andre, an innocent man on the run, the two form a forbidden bond that will prove to be their greatest weapon in their fight for freedom. Will they be able to overcome the forces of evil that threaten their love and their lives? Find out in this gripping fantasy adventure, “Spell of the Magi”!  This book will take you on an unforgettable journey to a distant world where two powerful civilizations, Terrans and Sekhmet, have fled to the planet Rulari to escape a war-torn universe. although the laws of science still work here, more powerful forces govern Rulari: the power of Magic.  If you enjoyed the classic sci-fi and fantasy mashup of Steven Erikson’s Malazan, Book of the Fallen series, then you’ll love this book!

Learn More: https://www.books2read.com/GailDaleywriter-Spell-of-the-Magi

YouTube:  https://youtu.be/AQyFChnt3Tk?si=G_bAJk8FQ06D72SQ

2023/09/19 

October is fast approaching and with it comes spooky movies, shorter days and cooler weather. I’m looking forward to the cooler weather—spooky movies not so much. My wonder-working chiropractor has put me on maintenance, the constant headaches are gone (well except for the occasional migraine but that’s a per usual).  I’m still getting around using one of Andrew’s walking sticks, and that will probably be the norm for me from now on. I don’t know how much painting I will be able to do as the last two fingers on both of my hands are pretty useless, which makes typing difficult as well. But to paraphrase that old Doris Day song. What will be, will be… 

2023/09/12 

I took a good look at Ambition today. I thought I was almost finished. However, I think I’m going to need to add at least three more chapters. I need to cover Scarlet’s recruiting in more detail. I also need to cover Eyja contacting the other Clone Familia members to get ready to escape to Halcyon if they need to. And then I also need to cover the first Porcina round up. Then the shepherds need find some hooting dog pups while they are looking for some unicorn goats—that should be fun. The following is a sample of the kind of research writers do to write a novel! 

HOW TO TAME A GOAT

Many years ago, when we started to have a few too many kids and didn’t give them enough attention, we got a crash course in taming wild kids. We learned very quickly that you can’t just leave baby goats out in the pasture and expect them to be as friendly as the family dog.  Even friendly goats tend to run more when they’re in a big pasture, so start by putting an unfriendly goat in the smallest space you have in your barn. Our smallest stalls back then were 10 x 10, so I put two Does in there, and I started by simply going in there and just sitting with them. Goats are curious creatures and will want to check you out at some point. You could just take your phone and check email or something like that. Just hangout for at least 15 minutes a couple of times a day. After a couple of days, I go in there with a pan of grain or alfalfa pellets, although the grain might be more tempting to them. Set it on the ground about a foot in front of me. When they start eating it, reach out very slowly and pull it towards me very slowly. Then over the course of a few days — or faster if they’ll go for it — pull the pan of grain into your lap. When they are willing to eat from the grain in your lap, after a day or two, put your hand on their shoulder while they’re eating, then start petting them. It may feel like you’re taking two steps forward and one step back every day. Just remember that they’re prey animals, so the first thing on their mind is that you are going to eat them. They just have to get over that idea. The bottom line is that they don’t trust you. If these are does that you’ll be breeding, the other thing to remember is that once they kid, they tend to get friendlier when the oxytocin is initially flowing right after birth. So, that’s a great time to spend more time with them and also start to handle their udder. 

2023/09/07 

Wow, I haven’t had a chance yet to go in and redo the other two magi and books at Ingram spark. I did manage to make it to the Clovis Art Guild board meeting last night. Got to meet our new newsletter editor. He seems like a nice guy, and I think he’s going to do well In that position. I am getting better I just have to take it one step at a time. 

I got new covers designed for 4 of the St. Antoni series (the 4 that take place mostly on St. Antoni). Although I may see about adding more color to the Enforcers and Gaslight, because I think they look too similar. I left the two Dystopian books set on earth alone, because they look like they fit the Dystopian genre. 

WOW! Who would ever have thought I would write dystopian books? I certainly didn’t. Most novels written for that genre seem to be full of angst, and typify what I consider the “gloom, despair, and agony on me” syndrome. Frankly, a little bit of that goes a lo-o-ng way with me. Yes, I do think there is room in that genre for stories with a more positive outlook. I’m a HEA writer (happily ever after). We’ll see. I’ve just started exploring that particular sub-genre of sci-fi, so it’s yet to be decided if readers agree with me. As of this moment, I actually have two books in this sub-genre published, and I’m working on a third. 

2023/09/03

I’m considering moving any books I plan to issue in hardback over to IngramSpark.com because they offer something I’ve been wanting for a while—dust jacket covers for their hardbacks! They do charge a setup fee, but they also distribute wide—something Amazon doesn’t do… I’ve also heard their setup is easy, which Amazon’s isn’t. 

Since Vernon is through playing with the electrical (we had to replace the bathroom light switch as it’s little on-off toggle lever simply broke off). Since I can power the computer back up now, I may go ahead and get the other two magi books formatted for a hard cover… Formatting them for hard cover turned out to be more of a chore than I anticipated. And I worked all morning. I haven’t even gotten to the corrections that need done back then I wasn’t doing both books separately I was trying to keep it all in one book and then make another copy. It’s so much easier just to do them both at once with the e-book and the paperback book right up there in front of me and making the corrections on both of them at the same time. This has been  working out very well, (especially since they need to be formatted differently), but as I say, I’ve not had time to do that yet. I’m going to need to go in and adjust the margins a little too so there will be less pages. Before I removed the excerpt from Spell of the Magi, the book was almost  up to 700 pages; I’m  not sure if I’m remembering it right but I do believe they have a page limit on the print books.  

DEFINING DYSTOPIAN & POST-APOCALYPTIC FICTION—A SUB GENRE OF SCIENCE FICTION

Dystopian/Utopian: utopia and its derivative, dystopia, are genres exploring social and political structures. Utopian fiction shows a setting agreeing with the author’s ideology (Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek) and has attributes of different reality to appeal to readers. Dystopian (or dystopic) fiction (sometimes combined with, but distinct from apocalyptic literature) is the opposite. It shows a setting that completely disagrees with the author’s ideology. Many novels combine both, often as a metaphor for the different directions’ humanity can take, depending on its choices. Both utopias and dystopias are commonly found in science fiction and other speculative fiction genres and arguably are a type of speculative fiction. 

Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic are two sub-genres of Science Fiction although you will often find them mixed into the same stories. Dystopia is the opposite of Utopia. If Utopia is an ideal society, then dystopia is the opposite, or a flawed utopia depending on semantics. Of course, this depends on what the writer’s concept of the ideal society. I agree the description is vague. This is what makes the genre so much fun to write and read. As a genre, dystopian crosses a lot of other sub-science fiction genres as well. The Hunger Games (2008) brought the genre to THE fore again, but contrary to popular belief the genre has been around a long time.1 Dystopian novels often focus on societies and cultures that appear stable and well established. The post-apocalyptic genre with which it is often mixed, usually depicts an imbalanced or volatile cultures (Mad Max). Common Themes in Dystopian Fiction: Poverty, Technology being abused, Oppressive social institutions, abuse of power by governments, etc. Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction is a sub-genre of Dystopian Science Fiction covering the end of civilization, through nuclear war, plague, or some other general disaster. Post-apocalyptic stories are most often set in the aftermath of the collapse of civilization or society as we know it. Man’s attempt to regain control of his environment after an apocalypse is fertile ground for creating a totalitarian/dystopian society. Common themes in post-apocalyptic literature are loss of resources, global natural disasters including storms, earthquakes, rising oceans, pandemics, loss of technology, widespread radiation, etc. This sub-genre has been around a long time as well. In 1826 Mary W. Shelley (Frankenstein’s Monster) wrote The Last Man (a plague kills off most of the population). The time frame may be immediately after the catastrophe, focusing on the travails or psychology of survivors, or considerably later, often including the theme that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been forgotten or mythologized. Post-apocalyptic stories often take place in an agrarian, non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of technology remain. FYI there is a third genre associated with these two: An apocalyptic novel tells the story of the end of the world, which occurs during the timeline of the story.

AUGUST 2023

2023/08/30 

I had the blurbs re-written on some of my older books, (the Magi of Rulari series), along with some new cover designs for them. When I posted them on Draft2digital, to my surprise, I got back in an error code on one of them. When I asked for specifics, I got back to kind of gobbledygook answer, I usually get from Facebook when I ask for something specific answer whatever they squawked.  to say the least, I was disappointed because D2D has always had fabulous customer service, and this wasn’t it. Instead of answering directly, the way they usually do, whoever answered this question sent back a lot of information about something I already knew how to do because I do it all the time and said they already explained what was wrong which they HAD NOT. I have concluded therefore that D2D must have picked up some of Facebook‘s nonexistent customer service reps. They really need to use so they really need to be retraining them, To be more responsive. Anyway, that’s my vent for the day. Thanks for listening. 

2023/08/20 

I got the  e-book & paperback back covers up-dated with the new blurb information this morning. Then I came down with a migraine and slept the rest of the day 

2023/08/18

I decided I needed to push myself more, so I’ve been steadily increasing my activity over the past week.  Tuesday, I sat on the bed and helped Andrew sort our clean clothes. I was very tired afterwards, and my neck hurt, but I did manage. Thursday, I went with Andrew to do grocery shopping.  Very tired then too, but it’s working. I did manage a little bit of work on my books. I just need to get the new descriptions into D2D and book funnel. One of Vernon’s buddies is taking us out to dinner at Cool Hand Luke’s tonight, and I’m looking forward to that. 

2023/08/14 

I need to get off my duff and get Vernon’s invoices made. If I want my life back, I need to push myself more. I’m beginning to think more was going on than just a few simple falls. The headaches have been constant. Dr. Radke manages to relieve the pain for a while, but it keeps coming back, and I’m too  easily exhausted. I don’t like it. 

2023/08/12 

When My son, Andrew was  a baby, he was very Ill until his liver transplant at the age of two and a half, I remember a doctor telling us that we had to measure milestones in smaller increments instead of a foot do an inch.  I used to take things like basic hygiene for granted. Well today, when I managed to take a shower and wash my own hair without someone hovering over me, make sure I didn’t fall in the shower or come out of it so exhausted, I had to sleep for an hour it felt like a major accomplishment. I still hope to accomplish a little on my books today—I need to update the covers with the re-worked blurbs. I also have to put  in there. I did update all the all the e-books with the corrections you know misspelled words or dropped quotation marks, things like that. I also intend to update the changes on the PDF books for the paperback books, but I have to wait on that because those revisions cost $25 apiece so that won’t happen until after the 15th of the month, I figure I can budget in for a PDF changes a month that’s 100 bucks, that’s what I get for being such a prolific writer. It won’t do all of them, but it will do some of them. I just have to decide which ones are going to get its first update.

2023/08/07 

I’m quite happy with my recovery progress today—I actually managed to take a shower without becoming so totally exhausted I had to take a nap afterwards! I also wrote a little more on Ambition, and I pushed the release dates for the rest of the series forward. Ambition will be the next release, and I pushed the release date to Halloween. Hopefully that will give me time to finish it and do the editing and any rewrites.

2023/08/06 

Two of the authors I follow (Donna Andrew’s and Amanda M Lee) released new books yesterday, so I took a break from my own writing to read them. Sometimes you just need to recharge you own batteries. I do it by indulging in reading books by my favorite authors. 

2023/08/05 

I priced one of those auxiliary drives on Amazon yesterday. The least expensive one with sufficient storage is around $175.00.  Ouch! 😖 but I don’t want to put it off too long, so I guess I’ll just bite the bullet and order one… 

2023/08/05 

I did a little more work on Ambition today. I filled out the chapter where they first go to Halcyon. I realized I hadn’t been clear about the first group leaving from Laughing Mountain instead of the Phoenix Spa, so I covered that. I had to account for Tash going with them too, since in the timeline Devon hadn’t hired her as an assistant yet. I spent the morning yesterday on the chat line with Apple help trying to find out what had happened to my Notes folders on the desktop—they were still there on the i-Pad, so all isn’t lost. The tech did a recovery to try and get them back, but I haven’t checked them yet. 🐥   I do have one of those auxiliary drives somewhere. I need to do a backup on a lot of my files from both the desktop and the i-Pad. 

2023/08/03

I’ve been working some on Ambition this week. Mostly chapters I skipped over because other chapters were screaming at me “write me!” I moved the release date to the end of September because with the multiple falls and doctor visits I fell behind on my timeline. I like to have at least a month after I finish a book to do multiple edits and stuff…   I’ve also discovered that the Notes app on the desktop isn’t including my folders now which makes searching for something incredibly difficult. 

2023 08/01 

discovered Dragon Anywhere has a few flaws. For one thing, it’s very difficult to get the documents over to my desktop MAC. I finally ended up copying it to my Notes app, and then emailing it to myself. Apparently, the program only works with Windows now as the app quit supporting Apple products. The desktop version also costs about $99.00 a month, and as I said, the program doesn’t support Apple products. I did manage to get another chapter done on Ambition. What with the falls and medical tests, I’m way behind on my publishing deadline for Ambition. I had to push the release date to September 30th. That means the other sequels to the first books had to be moved as well. 

JULY 2023

2023 07 26

Spent most of the day with kindlepreneur’s free blurb A. I. Rewriting blurbs on my books, including the back list ones. It isn’t perfect—but the program will give you 4 different samples for the same book. What I do is take bits and pieces of each blurb and put them together to get the best one… 

2023 07 25 

Spent most of the day with kindlepreneur’s free blurb A. I. Rewriting blurbs on my books, including the back list ones. It isn’t perfect—but the program will give you 4 different samples for the same book. What I do is take bits and pieces of each blurb and put them together to get the best one… 

2023 07/22 

I’ve been experimenting with dragon software for dictation and I’m I am actually quite pleased with lt. All the things that I have issues with regular dictation on the iPad. They seem to have may have made provisions for it.  There is a learning curve, but as it as they do seem to cover all the things that I was worried about, I’m going to have  and take steps to learn it. Especially since my hands, don’t seem to be getting better. This morning when I woke up and took almost 5 minutes, my left hand, which was my good hand to un-numb. And I’ve noticed it’s got the shakes to so since it appears, I am going to be losing dexterity in my hands. If I want to keep writing , I need to learn it.

UPDATE

I did use dragon  and wrote several pages yesterday. It was OK. I did need to go in and put all of my characters in ambition in the  special words part. It’s amazing how much stuff apparently my speaking is not as clear as I thought it was. Anyway, I have great hopes for it. But I do need find out how to put it on the main on the main computer too. 

2023/07/18 

I confess I’ve been trying out the dictation app on my iPad. What with the trouble I’ve been having with my hands, if I want to keep writing I might have to try something different from typing a story into word.  So far, I haven’t been much impressed. The app is too helpful—it keeps attempting to second guess me and getting it wrong. When you factor in it not always hearing what I’m saying accurately, that makes for quite a few corrections that need made. 

JUNE 2023

2023 06/10 

3rd fall—although strictly speaking, it was more of a slide than an actual fall. I caught  my house Slipper on the edge of a broken tile in the hall and then stepped on the other one trying to catch myself, bounced off  the linen cupboard and slid down the bathroom door. We threw the slippers away and Vernon brought me home a pair of Sketchers Slip Ins. It’s a real pain trying to type because the last two fingers on my right hand aren’t working well. Not sure what caused it.

MAY 2023

2023/05/26 

Well, I’m nowhere near as stiff and sore as I expected to be today, after my second fall in two weeks.   Is it classified as a fall when you roll off the bed in the middle of the night? Banged the top of my head on the nightstand on the way down.  I. Can’t recommend it as a way to wake up. 

2023/05/25 

What a fun way to wake up in the middle of the night. I rolled off the bed and landed on the floor. Since I’m still working on recovering from last week’s fall—landing in  cat litter and banging my head against the  DVD  bookcases, another fall didn’t make me a happy camper. 

2023/05/20 

Well, I’m nowhere near as stiff and sore as I expected to be today, after my second fall in two weeks.   Is it classified as a fall when you roll off the bed in the middle of the night? Banged the top of my head on the nightstand on the way down.  I Can’t recommend it as a way to wake up. 

2023 05/05 

In case you hadn’t heard, the klutz queen of Fresno (me) took another fall Saturday. On the way down I managed to break the glass in one of our DVD Bookcases… 

APRIL 2023

2023 04 27

I didn’t get much writing done this month. I’ve picked up some type of chest inflammation (very painful to breathe). The doctor is running a bunch of tests. So far, they’ve ruled out cancer (thank you God!), heart failure, and apparently walking pneumonia. The cardiologist did say my blood pressure was out of sight, so he added two BP meds and doubled the one I’m on. Next step is the pulmonologist. Also, a handicap thingy to hang from the mirror of whatever vehicle I’m riding in. I had to borrow a wheelchair at the cardiologist’s office. 

2023/04/10 

books in my Outlawed Colonies series will be out by the end of April. I plan to write at least 3 books set on each colony.  Book 5 is Arcadia II. I’m still working on book 6 Cloned Ambition. It was supposed to be no 5, but it’s difficult deciding how much to include in Ambition and how much to save for book II… 

2023/04/08 

Well, I finished the chapter in Cloned Ambition where  Scarlet, Dagmar and the others first set foot on Halcyon. They also get their first site of a herd of Porcina, the animals they’ll be using for transportation and as draft animals. I ended the chapter with Hogun, Killian and Dagmar trying to learn how to rope.

MARCH 2023

2023 03 25 

Up all night with another migraine. I wonder if it’s those new antibiotics they gave me for the bronchitis. I remember the Cipro did that to me. Well, I’ve finished them so hopefully it won’t reoccur. Still too droopy to write on Ambition though. My next chapter is on Napoleon’s relationship with Jason and his growing fascination with Scarlet. Going to shift the locale to Laughing Mountain because the next two chapters are where they discover Halcyon. Dagmar and the others are sent to explore it. Napoleon keeps Scarlet in Phoenix by saying her classes to teach the clones to blend into Normal society are too important to interrupt. The exploratory crew discover the Porcina herds and Dagmar, Hogun, Yael and Killian discuss adapting native animals for transportation and riding. 

PORCINA 

PORCINA MAXIMUS

are Herd animals found on Halcyon and domesticated for transportation and for uses horses and donkeys were used for on earth. There are three main varieties: All have large heads and short necks, with relatively small eyes and prominent ears. Their heads have a distinctive snout, ending in a disc-shaped nose. Porcina typically have a bristly coat, and a short tail ending in a tassel. Legs are long to allow for fast running. The body is typically thick and round. A Porcina Equine can run about 30 miles an hour for short stretches. Porcina have a well-developed sense of hearing, and are vocal animals, communicating with a series of grunts, squeals, and similar sounds. They also have an acute sense of smell. Porcina are omnivorous, eating grass, leaves, roots, insects, worms, and even frogs or mice. The canine teeth are enlarged to form tusks, used for rooting in moist earth or undergrowth, and in fighting. Porcina are intelligent and adaptable animals. Adult females (sows) and their young travel in a group while adult males (boars) are either solitary, or travel in small bachelor groups. Males generally are not territorial and come into conflict only during the mating season. Litter size varies between one and four, depending on the variety. The mother prepares a grass nest or similar den, which the young leave after about ten days. Porcina are weaned at around three months and become sexually mature at 18 months. In practice, however, male Porcina are unlikely to gain access to sows in the wild until they have reached their full physical size, at around four years of age. In all varieties, the male is significantly larger than the female, and possesses more prominent tusks.

– About the size of a Clydesdale. They are Used primarily as a draft animal for plowing and pulling large loads. 

PORCINA EQUINE 

are about the size of a quarter horse. They are used Primarily as a riding or carriage animal

PORCINA PALAWAN 

are primarily used as either children’s mounts or to pull small carts.

PORCINA PALAWIN

The smallest of the three varieties, are primarily used as either children’s mounts or to pull small carts. 

2023/03/24 

Here it is the 24th and I haven’t posted anything this month! Well I do have some excuse; my guys shared their crud with me and naturally it turned into bronchitis. Vernon is working a Pool Association show this week, so Andrew and I are by ourselves. Unfortunately, Andrew still has it  too… Hopefully I’ll get more done on my blog this week.  The Arcadian web is due to be released on April 30, and I think it’s ready (Knock on wood—as soon as I say that I’ll find more errors that need to be corrected…) Anyway if you are interested in doing a review of this book:  The genre is  science fiction mixed with a cozy mystery and a little romance. I’ve included a copy of the cover. Here is the link to download the book: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/k30czrr2ah Goodreads Link to post a preview review:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123240684-the-arcadian-web If you do a review, please notify me of where and when it will be posted. Thank you for your consideration. I appreciate your time. 

2023/03/04

UPDATE: I’ve revised the release dates and sequence of my Outlawed Colonies series. Since I’m still struggling with Cloned Ambition, I’ve decided to release The Arcadian Web as book no 5, (Its already finished), and Cloned Ambition is now book 6. New Schedule is below: 

UPDATED RELEASE DATES FOR THE OUTLAWED COLONIES SERIES:

2023/03/01

I lost my phone in my new purse today. Brand new purse with these lovely 3 deep pockets in front so naturally I chose one of them for carrying my phone. It’s about 12”. Well, when I tried to take the phone out to charge it, it wasn’t there, so I asked my son to call it. I could hear it ringing and it was coming from my purse! So, we unloaded the purse, and I could see the shape, but couldn’t reach it. It turns out that lovely pocket has a hole in the bottom! The phone had slipped out the hole and was between the lining and the outer skin of the purse! You can be sure I checked the other pockets for holes!

FEBRUARY

2023/02/27

WOW! Antheraea Polyphemus… basically a tarantula with wings. Big surprise: this insect can be found everywhere in the continental United States except Arizona and Nevada, and in every Canadian province except Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. Unlike my Marabunta who are carnivorous, these insects are herbivores,

This goes to show that there is never anything new under the sun! I made up the Marabunta, and, lo and behold, there actually is an insect which looks like it! Much smaller of course. All it needs is a stinger and it could be one of the Marabunta in my latest Outlawed Colonies book The Arcadian Web. Of course, it would need to be a lot larger: about 18” tall and about 24” long… 

Release date for the Arcadian Web is set for 4/30/23.

2023/02/22

I got another chapter done on Ambition today. It’s the one where Scarlet and the others arrive at Phoenix. Doing more development on how the clone society actually works, as well as more character building on Yael and Napoleon…

2023/02/20

I need to get started on the dishes, but I’m being lazy this morning. My new glass teapot arrived yesterday—I can just put it in the microwave, which will save getting two things dirty whenever I want a pot of tea in the evenings. It also came with 4 thimble sized cups. They’re cute but they don’t hold enough for more than a swallow or two of tea. Not sure what I’m going to do with them—like the pot they are glass so easily broken. Guess I’ll either give them away or find a place to store them. Vernon and I are attempting to declutter the house, so saving then really isn’t a good option…

I tried to do a little more work on Ambition yesterday, all I succeeded in doing was rearranging some of the chapters through once I realized I needed more development in some places. This book is going to end with the clones arriving on Halcyon and starting to colonize it. I think. For the story to move the way I envision, I’ll need to do something drastic to Napoleon so Yael can take over, which means more character development on him…

2023/02/19

Today was a less than productive morning: thanks to my lovely Apple desktop, I lost a bunch of work. My computer ate my excel spreadsheet I use to keep track of the promotions I do for my books, so I spent the morning partly restoring my list of links to them and to each individual book.  The links for the entire Outlawed Colony series was gone. I retrieved the major ones from D2D, but I still need the others from BookBub, Book Funnel, Goodreads, and a slew of others. I’m considering adding a copy of the links to my book info sheets. At least that way I’ll have an extra copy of them. Thanks for listening to me rant. It does feel good to have a place to vent without someone thinking they need to “fix” things! 😂😂

2023/02/09

I haven’t done any writing today. One of my favorite authors (Amanda M Lee) released two new books in two of her series this week, so Instead of writing I’ve been binge reading them.  E. M. Foner also had a new book out. Occasionally, it doesn’t hurt to relax and not work. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy writing my new books, but sometimes I do run out of plot and need to recharge my creativity battery.

2023/02/05

Finished another chapter on Ambition today. I’m about to start the chapter on the fight at Uncle Bobs house. The more I look at it the more I think I might be splitting the book up. I’m also considering killing Napoleon off so I can slot Yael in as the leader of the clones on earth…somehow this always happens. I write a killer outline and about halfway through the book it starts running away with the story.

JANUARY

2023/01/28

Well, I got the chapter about Scarlet’s time at the Clone Farm done. I had to pull out that chapter of Clone Initiative to refer to it since I didn’t want to make any mistakes in it. I suppose I could have copied and pasted it and just added in the new POV, but I didn’t want to do that as I think it would have been cheating. I think I did okay with it. The next chapters involve settling in at the Phoenix Spa, and helping Tally, Liam and company foil Hatchers attempt to recover the infant and toddler clones. I also need to add in Scarlet’s trip through the portal to speak to Dagmar about Napoleon’s attentions.

I got the proof copy of Arcadian Web yesterday. It’s way too rough to let it stand. Fortunately, I have a couple of months for expansion and rewriting before its release date in July.

2023 01/24

The internet is incredibly slow this morning. I have things I need to do, but I left the office before I got frustrated enough to take a blunt instrument to my desktop. This is probably because Apple just did another software upgrade. I wish they would quit trying to fix stuff that isn’t broken!

I’ve been working on Ambition in bits and pieces. I need to write the chapter where Dagmar and the others (and readers) are introduced to the Clone Familia Doctrine. I just had them meet a wounded Abraham (the clone who wrote it). He had been approaching the PGA clone farms and making contact through the fences with clones trapped inside to tell them about the doctrine. He was wounded because some of Napoleon’s raiders mistook him for a normal and shot him.

I also need to write the chapters covering Scarlet’s escape and the abortive raid on Liam’s house. I think it would also be a good time to cover how the Phoenix cult works from the inside.

2023/01/21

I recently posted a question in one of my Facebook groups about artificial intelligence created book covers, and I was astonished at the amount of vitriol it generated. You would think I had advocated selling their first born into slavery! The admin locked the post, and I don’t blame them!

Mostly I was curious what all the fuss was about. I received a bunch of replies about how AI creations steal artists work, etc. none of which applies to me as I make my own covers for my own books and always pay royalties when I use parts of photos from reputable sites like Shutterstock, Pixaby, and BookBrush.

I wrote more on Cloned Ambition today. I got a couple of chapters done. Hopefully, I’ll get more done tomorrow.

2032/01/14

It’s a rainy Saturday morning. I remember those from when I was a child. It meant Daddy stayed home instead of going out to work, Momma didn’t do any housekeeping chores because she didn’t want to make him feel as he was in her way, and after cartoons went off I went to my room and read since I didn’t want to watch whatever football game was showing…

Today I tried to work some on Cloned Ambition. I say tried because since it was raining, my son decided to organize the medicine cupboard and get rid of outdated stuff and put extras in the office shelves so we could actually find the current meds. Don’t get me wrong, it’s needed done for months, but he wanted my input, so he interrupted me like every 5 minutes or so to decide on what to throw out. It’s this kind of stuff that makes writers lock their doors when the creative muse strikes! I could have done that, but then either Andrew or Vernon would have been pounding on it to see if I was okay…and then pouted because I locked them out. 

I’m three chapters (And a lot of bits and pieces) in and I realize this is going to be a longer book than some of the others. But I’m regaining my enthusiasm for it, now that I’ve gotten The Arcadian Web down in rough. I’ll be able to let that one cook a while and work on Ambition without it intruding.

2023/01/12

Such a lovely surprise: when I tried to open one of my books, I was told Word couldn’t be opened. I’m doing a hard reboot, so we’ll see if that restores the app to functioning.

I’m in here on Facebook so I won’t take a blunt instrument to my desktop.

I considered just opening the damn thing in Pages or Google Docs (which I might have to do), but neither of them have such excellent editing capabilities—when the bloody program works that is!

01/09/2023

I just got one of those basawakward compliments from my son (at least I’m hoping it was a compliment and not a subtle insult). I think I’m safe tho’ as he doesn’t do subtle. He said I was the kind who would go along on the quest to rescue the princess and then slap her for being an idiot.

I realized when he said it that I probably write my heroines like that too…

I just had a horrifying thought: They say that girls marry a man like their daddy and men a woman like their mother…

01/08/2023

It’s too late in the afternoon for coffee so I made a cup of Oolong tea. I couldn’t concentrate on my WIP (either one of them) so worked on the free reader magnet I’m doing: a workup of Confederation Planets and people in my Space Colony Journals Universe. I still need a cover for it. It’s short only about 90 pages.  I’d like to get the maps redone by someone who is really good at making them.  I did them using graphic tools from Word because I can’t seem to get the mapmaker software to work the way I want it to…

Eventually I plan to create one for Rulari, St. Antoni, and the Outlawed colonies too.

01/03/2023

I’ve been having a lot of trouble lately with the Microsoft programs for MAC. I am considering switching to Google Docs. I’ve never used it so I expect there will be a learning curve, but I’m tired of Excel either going bad or refusing to save my changes. I haven’t yet had too many issues like that with Word, but I’d like to have a backup on tap. Google docs also has a newsletter template (it would be nice to use a regular publisher program again for the local art events newsletter I publish. It can be done in either word or pages, but neither of them is really designed for desktop publishing. We’ll see.I also saw an e-book template. I might try it too…

Well, here we are again. I hope 2022 was productive and safe for everyone. I had a few challenges: My husband had to undergo open-heart surgery (he had a triple by-pass). I had to learn to cook without salt (his new diet). Our two Ford trucks bit the dust and we had to buy a new one for the pool service. My computer kept eating my tax documents…

However, I was blessed also: Vernon survived the surgery, and he is now doing well. (sadly, one of our pool service customers who was also a member of my local art guild, did not). Vernon is now keeping track of his own medicine, and in consequence doing a much better job of it. He is also learning to cook (although he is frustrated because he expected to immediately become a good cook). I finished the first three books of my new series, and they are now out and selling well, although I wish sales were higher.

My goals in 2023 are to learn how to record my books into audible format without it costing me an arm and a leg, to learn how to make video trailers that includes both voice overs and music for my books, create dust jackets for hardback books, and make each of my books into a hardback. 

I’m looking forward to completing the Outlawed Colony Series and publishing the last three volumes of it. I am planning to do at least one more book each on the new five colonies. Web of Arcadia is coming along excellently. Book 7 will be on Barsoom (City of Deception). I don’t yet have plots for the other colony books (Lemuria, Shangri-La and Halcyon), but I expect those will come to me.

EXCERPT The Designer People

Lucinda was a “designer child”. Given genius level intelligence in an embryonic Thieves Guild lab, she learned survival in a harsh world. At twelve, she was rescued and adopted into a loving family. As an adult Lucinda chose to fight her former masters by joining the police force. She works hard to earn her place among Vensoog’s law enforcement community.On her first assignment, compassion impels her to protect an alien mother and daughter fleeing off-planet bounty hunters. To ensure their safety, she must defeat a deadly Soturi warrior in hand-to-hand combat. Then she rescues a ‘designer child’ who is a younger double for herself from a sex trafficking ring. To solve this case and rescue the other children trapped by those same criminals, she must capture a vicious Thieves Guild assassin. But even with the help of the best private eye on Vensoog, these are tough cases for a rookie cop.

Sister, Sister

IT WAS MIDNIGHT and Lucinda nursed a cup of Cafka as she waited for the time to report in for her first shift on Port Recovery’s Security forces. Agra, her Dactyl, snuggled with her littermate Saura in the fur-lined nest made especially for them. Dactyls were six-limbed flying mammals native to Vensoog. They came in all sizes, from creatures large enough to hunt the Water Dragons living in the rivers and along the channels between the Equator Islands, to miniatures like Agra and Saura who were tiny enough to hold in your hand. Although tiny, they possessed all the characteristics of their species: limitless curiosity about the world around them, wings covered with long lint-like hair, a fluffy, down-coated body, talons on the rear feet, and arms with hand-like paws. Humans fell in love with them because of their soft coats, large ears, big dark eyes and pointed noses.

In the wild, Dactyls depended on their lightning fast flight speed to escape from predators. Like the Quirka, another native pet adopted by the settlers, Dactyls were empathic, bonding in love with their chosen humans.

Domesticated dactyls were rare; they were shy and seldom tamed unless taken as kits. Several years ago, Lucinda and her foster brother Rupert had been on a plant foraging expedition and found four orphaned, hungry Dactyl kits and adopted them into the family. The two males had bonded with the girl’s foster brothers, Roderick and Rupert.

Because she intended to keep Agra with her while on duty, Lucinda and the dactyl had undergone specialized training as to how the dactyl should behave during the times when she accompanied Lucinda to work.

Lucinda was not yet a full-fledged officer in the planetary police force; all cadets had to do a three-month stint under a trainer before transitioning to a qualified officer. Cadets like Lucinda, and Agra in this case, remained on probation until their trainer was satisfied with their on-the-job performance.

Lucinda was excited to begin, although she let none of her anticipation show in her face, not even to her sister Juliette, sitting across from her in a night robe. The sisters looked nothing alike. Juliette was tiny, with a thin body, green eyes and a long, curly mane of red hair, while Lucinda was tall and full-bodied. Her white-blond hair, cut to chin length, fluffed around a heart-shaped face with red, cupid bow lips, a short nose and light grey eyes.

When Juliette and Lucinda were twelve and their younger sister Violet was ten, Lady Katherine and Lord Zack had come to the center looking for Lord Zack’s orphaned nephews Rupert and Roderick.

Discovering the illegal nature of Grouter’s operation, the couple had made sure Grouter was arrested for his part in the child sex trade. They adopted Lucinda, Juliette, and Violet as well as Zack’s nephews. Although the three girls considered themselves sisters, they were ‘designer children’ who had been ordered to specifications. They had been born in a laboratory on one of the moons of Fenris and later lived on Fenris in a child placement center run by Hans Grouter. Grouter hid his identity as a lieutenant in the local Thieves Guild by posing as a dedicated government official, existing in an uneasy alliance with Jerry Van Doyle, who ran the Guilds prostitution business. Over Grouter’s protests, Van Doyle recruited much of his “new meat” for the child prostitution arm from the Fenris Child Placement center.

Grouter had plans of his own for the girls, so he protected them from being used by Van Doyle. However, their life was by no means an easy one. From the first day they arrived, they had been subjected to harsh training methods to enable them to utilize their programed genetics for the Guild’s criminal purposes. By the time Lady Katherine and her husband had rescued them, the girls were already an accomplished team of thieves who raided the rich of Fenris at Grouter’s request.

Five years after coming to Vensoog, Juliette and Lucinda were just a few months away from receiving their Match Lists. Under Vensoog law, receiving your first List made you a full adult. The Match Lists had been created to help preserve the biological diversity of the human population. Traditionally they were issued by the Makers and given to all young people who came of age during Festivals in the spring and fall of each year. Varying opinions as the usefulness of the lists abounded among natives to Vensoog. Some like Laird Genevieve thought them simply useless, others believed you always found your true love on your List. But that was for the future; right now Lucinda was more concerned with her present situation.

For the next three months she would be on her own in the apartment because Juliette was leaving later that morning on an expedition to the largely unexplored northern continent of Kitzingen.

As Lady Katherine’s First Daughter and direct heir, Juliette was learning her trade by shadowing her mother when Parliament was in session. Juliette was destined to be heavily involved in politics; Lady Katherine wasn’t only the next in line to rule Veiled Isle, she was Clan O’Teague’s Parliamentary Representative. However, Parliament only met three times per year, and Juliette was taking advantage of the free time to go out with one of the exploring expeditions to Kitingzen, the closest of the four largely unexplored continents.

“There is just one tinyfavor I need you to do while I’m gone,” Juliette said.

Lucinda eyed her suspiciously. Juliette’s designed genetics made her naturally manipulative, and while Lucinda’s had given her genius level intelligence, as a child she had more than once been tricked by her sister into doing something she hadn’t intended to do.

“What kind of favor?” she asked.

“I got tapped for helping with the plans for the Harvest Festival and I need you to stand in for me.” Seeing the refusal in her sister’s face, she rushed on, “it’s not a big deal; I’m not in charge of anything. It’s mostly showing up at a few meetings to vote on what the committee decides and going to the reception for the Free Traders when their delegation arrives. Please?”

Lucinda scowled at her. “I might be on duty when they have their meetings. Police work isn’t like a regular job; there’s a lot of unscheduled overtime.”

Juliette smiled winningly at her. “It’s okay if you have to miss a couple of meetings because of work. I cleared that with Duchesse St. Vyre, the head of the committee. She won’t mind, as long as you let her know.”

“What about this reception? Is it formal?”

“Well, yes, but you have that lovely new dress you got for Jayla’s wedding. It’s a shame to let it sit in the closet.”

Trapped, Lucinda gave in. “Oh, alright, just let me know when these meetings take place. You owe me though.”

Her sister jumped up and gave her a big hug. “I already uploaded everything to your calendar. You are the absolute, bestsister. Anything you want, I promise.”

“I’m the best patsy, you mean,” Lucinda snorted.

The house alarm chimed, signaling her it was time to leave for her shift. She hugged Juliette again and stood up to put on her jacket. “C’mon, Agra, it’s time to go,” she told the Dactyl, who reluctantly left the warm nest and fluttered over to her shoulder, yawning.

Knowing Juliette would have left for Kitingzen when she came back from work, Lucinda stopped and looked at her. “You be careful out there, okay?”

“I promise,” her sister said. “Besides, thanks to Dad, I’ve got Bridge and Terrence Mann along as minders, remember?”

Lucinda laughed, hugged her again, and left. She opened the garage section attached to their apartment and rolled out her air sled. Agra obediently settled into a made-to-order Quirka Seat attached to the dash. With so many Vensoogers having Quirka, the Quirka Seats, which resembled an upside-down helmet with a glass faceplate, had become popular.

Agra, being about the same size as a Quirka, fit into the seat just fine, her wings taking up the same space as a Quirka’s plumy tail. Mini Dactyls such as Agra and Saura came in all colors. Agra’s fur was a mixture of pale green, red and yellow, the skin on her face, feet and hands was a pale tan, shading to a darker shade outlining her eyes and on her nose. Dactyls were magpies and loved glittering jewelry, which Agra usually wore in the form of a bracelet around her neck. Tonight, Agra’s neck adornment was a braided tan and brown leather collar to match Lucinda’s Security uniform. Although plain, Lucinda had added several shiny flat metal bars etched with her badge number.

Settlers had adopted the Dactyls and Quirkas because both animals were small, affectionate and avid hunters of household vermin, which crept into human dwellings despite the best efforts of modern technology. The Quirka’s and Dactyls had returned the favor because humans provided a mutually satisfactory love bond, and a ready source of edible goodies.

Lucinda threw a leg over the seat, strapped on her own helmet and fired up the sled. There was still some traffic out because Port Recovery, the capital of Vensoog, never really slept, but this section of the city was quiet as most residents who lived in the girl’s neighborhood were in bed.

The apartment was located over a shop near their cousin Jayla’s in a high-end merchant section of town. The two-story domed buildings, a necessity because of Vensoog’s seasonal hurricane winds, were mostly dark because of the late hour but as she neared the center of town more lights showed in the windows. As she moved toward the core of the island where the city government offices were located, she could see the tips of shuttle noses at the spaceport peeking over the tops of the large government buildings.

When the Clans first landed on Vensoog, the huge city domes had been used as shelters. As the Clans moved to their permanent territories, the domes had been converted to government and commercial uses.

Lucinda parked her sled in the security employees parking lot, showing her brand-new ID to the gate guard, who nodded, grinning at her, and she and Agra went inside for roll call.

There was a mixed assortment of officers waiting in the roll call room: young, old, male and female. Lucinda took a seat by her trainer, Sgt. Mira Forest. She knew she had been lucky to draw Mira, a twenty-year veteran of the streets with a reputation as the best trainer in Port Recovery. One look at Mira and people immediately knew she was a cop from her short pepper and salt hair, tough, blocky build and most of all, the look in her eyes. She was a dead shot with both a pulsar rifle and pistol. Mira had been offered promotions to detective grade numerous times and refused. She preferred to stay on the streets and train young recruits.

Although she was the only one with a Dactyl, Lucinda was relieved to see that about a third of her fellow officers had a Quirka perched on a shoulder. About the size of a human fist, Quirka’s faces resembled an Old Earth hedgehog. Quirkas had a squirrel-like body, hand-like paws and feet, a pointed nose and small upstanding ears. Their primary defense against predators in the wild, venom tipped quills, ran along their spine from their shoulders to their plumy tails. Like the small Dactyls, they were omnivores.

Lucinda had been a little worried Agra’s presence might cause issues. Officers who were accompanied by Quirka or Dactyls were required to take special courses with them in how the animals should behave while on duty. She had been relieved when Agra easily passed the course. If she had failed, she wouldn’t have been able to join Lucinda on duty until she passed.

Lucinda glanced at her mini-porta-tab to ensure she had received the list of the latest B.O.L.O. (Be On The Lookout) updates. A rash of break-ins along the waterfront shops had been happening, some vandalism by persons unknown in a couple of commercial sled parks, there was a list of stolen air sleds, and a peeper had been reported in a couple of neighborhoods.

When she joined Mira in the locker-room, she found the older woman frowning at her own porta-tab.

“Is something wrong?”

Mira tossed her a crystal DNA key for her official sled. “That is for your sled. If you’ve got one of those fancy Quirka seats for—Agra, is it? You can snap it into place. I’m afraid you’ll have to use your personal one. Command hasn’t gotten around to issuing them for the rank and file yet.”

Lucinda caught the key easily and pulled the Quirka seat out of her locker. Tucking it under her arm, she followed her trainer out to the sled park.

“Why were you frowning just now?”

Mira shrugged. “Nothing really, I heard a few rumors there is some smuggling near the docks.”

“Isn’t that our area?”

“Uh-huh. This is your first night, so stick close. Don’t go chasing off when you see something without telling me first. I’ll do the same for you.”

Lucinda activated the key and pushed it into the waiting slot on the dash of her sled. The DNA encoding meant that from now on, she would be the only one who could start it. When she gripped the handlebars the sled purred into life. She followed Mira out the gate of the secure lot and the pair of them rode side by side toward the docks and warehouses. There were few homes in this area, just manufacturing, small shops serving the offices and the warehouses who needed access to the ships bringing in meats, fish, harvested crops, and other raw materials from the outer islands.

Lucinda and Mira stopped their sleds at the edge of the district and dismounted, parking the sleds in the designated area saved for official vehicles.

“A map of our patrol area should have been downloaded to your sled controls. Set the monitor to meet us at the warehouses in an hour,” Mira instructed.

Several storefronts selling paper, tools and a few all-night eateries serving simple, fast food and Cafka lined both sides of the street leading down to the docks.

“We do a foot patrol from here,” Mira told her. “Keep your eyes open for anything unusual.”

“That one looks as if there are workers inside,” Lucinda said, gesturing to a lighted warehouse with its own attached dock.

Mira consulted her tab. “That belongs to Medford textile. They are supposed to be getting in a shipment of dragon silk to ship off world. We’ll swing by there on our beat. We start here; we each take one side of the street. Check the windows and test the shop doors. If you find one open, tag me.”

 

Domestic Disturbance

The street was quiet. At first, Lucinda had been a little nervous, but her nerves soon smoothed out. At least until she found the open door on a shop specializing in small hand tools.

She tapped her shoulder com. “Mira, I’ve got an unlocked door here.”

“Okay, wait for me before you go in,” Mira instructed, calling it in as she crossed the street.

Once there, she shone her light on the lock. “Doesn’t seem to have been forced,” she said. “Okay rookie, this is how it goes down. Draw your weapon. We enter and check each side of the store for someone who shouldn’t be there. I’m going in high, you go in low. Try not to shoot any shop owners who just forgot to lock up.”

They were moving cautiously through aisles of small tools when they heard the hullabaloo start at the back of the store.

“You cheating bastard! I come down to bring you dinner because you’re working late, and I find you boinking this slut!” A woman’s voice shouted, and there was a splat as if something messy hit a solid object.

Lucinda turned the corner of an aisle in time to see a man with his trousers partially undone wiping the remains of a messy take-out box dripping sauce and noodles off his face. Just as she arrived, the woman who had obviously thrown it jumped on another woman sitting half-dressed on the low counter. The two went over backwards, pulling hair, kicking and biting.

‘Hey, no!” the man cried, and jumped in to separate them.

“PRS! Freeze!” Lucinda shouted. Seeing this had no effect, she holstered her gun and grabbed the nearest combatant, who happened to be the man, and pulled him out of the fight.

In the meantime, Mira had arrived and dived into the roiling mass of flying fists and kicks behind the counter. She separated the half-dressed woman from the pile, dragging her around the display case where there was more room to handcuff her. Climbing over the countertop the wife leaped to attack again, landing on Mira to reach her prisoner. The three careened around the area between the sales counter and a tool display, slipping in the spilled sauce and noodles, as they knocked over stands of products.

Mira ended up on her butt underneath the fighting women. The wife had the advantage now because of the younger woman’s cuffed hands, and she used it mercilessly, landing several fist blows and kicks on the other woman’s face and breast. She also managed to raise a lump over Mira’s eye when she missed her target and got Mira instead.

Shoving the husband down in a seated position against a wall, Lucinda told him sternly, “Stay there,” and rushed to help her trainer.

She grabbed the wife by the back of her hair and heaved her off Mira and her captive. She forced the woman down on her belly and pulled her hands behind her to apply restraints.

Disobeying Lucinda’s order to stay where he was, the husband got up to help his girlfriend. Agra flew at his face, talons on her hind feet extended. He ducked Agra’s charge, but he needed to get by Lucinda to reach Mira and her captive. Her hands busy restraining his cursing wife, Lucinda used her boot to shove him away. He slipped in the spilled dinner again, and ended up on his rump covered in sauce and noodles.

“I told you to stay where I put you! Go sit down!” Lucinda yelled.

Agra flew in his face again, this time hissing a threat.

Eying the Dactyl warily, the man dropped back down.

“You okay?” Lucinda asked Mira, who had staggered to her feet, dragging her captive with her.

“Just dandy,” Mira said, swiping a smear of sauce off her chin and then wiping her hand on her captive’s still undone blouse. “Welcome to patrol work, rookie.” She looked down at the sauce and noodles spattered on her uniform and scowled. “I ought to charge the three of you for my cleaning bill.”

“What do we do with them?” Lucinda asked.

Mira studied the three combatants. “Depends if they want to press charges or not.”

“I do!” the half-naked one said. “She assaulted me!”

Mira sighed. “Okay, that’s one. Anybody else?”

“Yes! I want to exercise Code Duello!” the wife snapped. “She’s attempting to break up my home.”

“Code Duellois a civil matter,” Mira told her firmly. “You’ll have to file that with your Clan Liaison.” She looked over at Lucinda. “Call it in rookie.”

Lucinda swallowed, and tapped her com, trying frantically to remember the codes for a domestic disturbance and assault.

The rest of the night was uneventful; sort of. They arrested three half-lit tourists serenading what one of them mistakenly thought was the home of a pretty girl he had met in a bar. They couldn’t carry a tune between them and the din roused the neighbors as well as the homeowner and his wife. The justifiably annoyed homeowners had called in the disturbance and the irate husband had dumped a bucket of water on them. The neighbors had come out to watch.

“Call the wagon,” Mira told her as they rode up, “and then shut them up.” She indicated the trio of drunken singers. “I’ve got the homeowners.”

“He didn’t need to call you guys; we didn’t know she was married,” the first singer protested, when Lucinda identified herself to them.

“I don’t think that’s her,” one of his friends whispered loudly.

“Yeah,” the third drunk opined. “Where did she change her clothes?” He pointed at Lucinda. “That looks like a uniform.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t get shot,” Lucinda told them in disgust while Mira calmed the irate husband. “This neighborhood has reported a peeper these last few nights. Sit on the curb and we’ll arrange a ride for you.”

“Just go back to bed, sir,” Mira told the husband. “We’ll handle it from here.”

“I hope they lock you up and throw away the key,” he yelled, before he slammed his window shut.

Apparently losing interest in the couple, the first singer complained, “I’m hungry. How come you smell like Chinese noodles?”

“We broke up a fight. One of the weapons was a box of take-out,” Mira said dryly.

“Hey, I’m hungry too. Can we stop on the way and pick some up?” asked one of his buddies.

“No,” Mira replied.

“Hey, where are we going anyway?” the third one asked. “What kind of party are you girls taking us to?”

“Oh, you’ll like it,” Mira said. “There’s lots of people in your condition there.”

“You guys are keeping us busy tonight,” Kneckie the Patrol sled driver, told Lucinda as they pulled up in front of the dome.

When he opened the door to the sled, the aroma of noodles and sauce wafted out, along with the miasma of vomit and sour booze.

“Don’t you ever wash this thing out?” Mira demanded, as she helped Lucinda herd the three drunks inside.

“Why? We don’t have to smell it. It’s sealed off,” the driver retorted. “What have you got for us Sarge?”

“Drunk and disorderly, disturbing the peace. The homeowner and his wife will be in tomorrow morning to sign a complaint. In the meantime, throw ’em in the drunk tank.”

“Sure thing. There you go, upsy-daisy,” he told the last man, as he boosted him up into the sled. When the drunks sat down, the sled’s bench cuffs snapped into place. “See you back at headquarters, Sarge.”

Mira rolled her neck. “Sure thing Kneckie. C’mon rookie, we’ve got reports to write.”

Returning home, Lucinda parked her sled in the unused storage space on the ground floor. She glanced at the empty storefront, wondering who Jake Reynolds, their new landlord and cousin Jayla’s husband, intended to rent it to. Because the girls were upstairs, he was being very picky about the tenants.

Opening the upstairs door to the apartment, she was struck by a sense of loss, as she realized she was going to be spending her first ever night alone. At Grouters, and later in Lady Katherine and Lord Zack’s home one of her sisters had always been near.

Agra chirped comfortingly in her ear, and rubbed her cheek against Lucinda’s, emitting reassurance and love.

Lucinda reached up and stroked the Dactyl, who purred at her. “Just us tonight sweetie. Let me get out of this smelly uniform and you and I’ll take a shower and get something to eat.”

Stripping off her uniform, which gave off a faint odor of soy sauce, she examined it for stains. Programing the clothes fresher for stain and odor removal as well as cleaning and pressing, she tossed in her uniform.

She had no fear of the stains not coming out; as a housewarming present, Jayla had sent Martha, her house-bot over to set up the house comp, which included programming the clothes fresher. Looking at the menu in the Robo-Chef, Lucinda realized the ever-efficient Martha had not only stocked it, but loaded it up with her recipes, which were far superior to the standard ones it came with.

Afterwards, Lucinda did a quick clean-up of the kitchen. The apartment came with a weekly cleaning service, but she hated the smell of dirty dishes. She and Agra tumbled into bed and slept dreamlessly.

It was late afternoon when she woke to the sound of her com chiming. Looking at the display, she saw calls from both her sisters. Setting up for a multi-vid call, she slipped on a robe and wandered out to the kitchen to program a pot of Cafka for herself.

“How was your first day?” Violet asked. That far south, the sun was just coming up over the horizon. She and Jelli, her sand dragon, were on the cliffs above the Dragon nests on Talker’s Isle. Lucinda heard the ocean waves crashing on the rocks in the background.

“You look like we woke you up,” Juliette commented. She was sitting outside her pop-up dome on Kitingzen, with Saura sleeping on her lap.

“You did,” Lucinda laughed. “It was different. We broke up a fight over a man, got slopped with Chinese noodles and arrested three drunken tourists. How was your trip?”

“A bit crowded, and Jorge isn’t happy to have me here. I think Dad must have threatened him if something happened to me.”

Violet nodded. “He did that at Jayla’s wedding. He was in full protective papa mode that night. I saw him talking with Tom Draycott too, and I know he laid down the law to poor Silas Crawford. It was kind of sweet really.”

Juliette snorted. “He thinks Jorge is a risk taker. That’s why Bridge and Terrence are getting a vacation on Kitingzen.”

“IsJorge reckless?” Lucinda asked, frowning.

Juliette shrugged. “I don’t have a way to judge. We haven’t really gotten started yet.”

“I thought you would be mapping the area outside the new village,” Violet remarked.

“Originally, we were going to do that, but apparently, Jorge saw something resembling buildings further along that mountain range on the vids the first-in scout made. He thinks it’s an old city, and the council gave permission to go and look, so that is where we are heading.”

“Did Mom and Dad know about this?” Lucinda asked.

“I don’t know. I just heard about it in the shuttle on the way over to our first base camp. Today we unloaded our stuff out of the shuttles and set up for the night. Tomorrow most of us will spend the day going through our equipment to make sure we have everything we are supposed to have is here and organizing it for the trail. Jorge will be taking our mapmaker and the geologist up into the hills to try to scout out the easiest path to that old road he thinks he saw. When he returns we head up the trail into unexplored territory. We will be out of com touch a lot of the time, and we could encounter anything.”

“Well, you be careful,” Lucinda said.

“I could set it up through the link for all of us to know if one of us is in trouble,” Violet offered.

“Judging by last night, mine could show trouble a lot though,” Lucinda protested. “Violet, I can’t have you two panicking whenever I have to chase someone or break up a fight.”

“It can be fixed so we can talk to each other through the link,” Violet promised.

“Okay, I guess,” Lucinda agreed. “If Juliette is going to be out of com reach we need it.”

“What are you going to be doing the rest of the day?” Violet asked Juliette.

Juliette made a face. “I’ve been told we will have a camp meeting after supper to arrange camp chores and go over the route and safety rules.”

“That doesn’t sound as if Jorge is taking unnecessary chances,” Violet remarked.

“I doubt if he is as careful as Mom on the trail though,” Juliette replied, and all three girls laughed. Lady Katherine had justly earned her reputation as an over-protective mother; she had once been tried for killing a woman who had threatened one of her children. The subsequent Clan trial had declared it a justifiable homicide, of course. Any attempt to harm children was taken very seriously on Vensoog.

“We do have a real greenhorn with us this time,” Juliette admitted. “Our map-maker, Isaac Jordan has never even been camping. I had to help him with his pop-up dome, and those things practically set themselves up.”

Picking up something in Juliette’s voice, Lucinda asked her, “Is he cute?”

“How old is he?” Violet seconded.

Juliette’s fair skin flushed a little. “He is about our age. A year older than Luce and me.”

“You didn’t say if he’s cute or not,” Lucinda pressed.

“Oh, there’s the dinner gong,” Juliette said hastily. “I’ve got to go. Later guys.” She dropped out of the link.

“She didn’t answer you,” Violet said.

“I noticed that,” Lucinda agreed. “She likes him though.”

“Attracted,” Violet corrected. “Couldn’t you feel it through the link?”

“I felt something,” Lucinda admitted. “Did you manage to do that while we were talking? You are getting really good with this link stuff.”

Violet nodded. “Drusilla is a good teacher. I’ve learned so much since I’ve been studying with her.”

Home Alone

When Lucinda turned off the vid com, she was feeling restless. Looking at the time, she decided her cousin Jayla was probably getting ready to close her shop about now. “C’mon Agra,” she told the Dactyl. “Let’s take a walk over to Whimsical.”

Wayne, Jayla’s sales-bot was up on the lift changing a light crystal when Lucinda entered. The sales-bot had been designed with a slim, toned body, light hazel eyes, and medium shaded brown hair. Wayne’s costume today was a black and white striped skin suit topped with a soft flat cap of brilliant red. He was always a hoot and had a wide variety of costumes he wore in the shop. Jayla allowed it because she claimed the bizarre outfits helped him make sales.

Lucinda found Jayla in the back room of the shop, checking inventory. Ghost, her white Quirka, bounced over to Lucinda, chirping happily, before she and Agra went into a complicated dance routine as they greeted each other.

“Did you get Wayne a new outfit?” Lucinda asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen that one before.”

Jayla grinned at her. “I told him to pick three out of the catalog. We did so well on sales this last month I could afford it. How was your first shift?”

Lucinda laughed. “Crazy, tiring, and fun. I talked to Juliette and Violet this afternoon. It turns out Juliette is going to be off the grid most of the summer. The Leader, Jorge Carmody talked the Exploration Committee into allowing them to try and reach the ruins of a city he found on one of the First-In Scout vids.”

“It sounds as if your dad knew what he was doing when he sent bodyguards out with her.”

“Yes, it does. We don’t like not being able to reach each other though so Violet set up a special link with the three of us, that way we will all know if one of us runs into trouble.”

“A sensible precaution,” Jayla agreed. “I don’t know much about this link thing. How does it work?”

“It’s a little like a combined Push/Pull,” Lucinda said. “Drusilla and Lucas discovered it when they opened a channel into that stone his grandfather gave him.”

“But you can talk to each other through it?”

“Violet says so, and she usually knows what she’s talking about.”

“Would have been handy to have when that idiot from Aphrodite kidnapped me,” Jayla said wryly.

“It sure would,” Lucinda agreed, remembering the panic that had ensued when Jayla disappeared on her way home from the last Harvest Festival.

“Would you like to stay for dinner? I think Jake should be home shortly.”

“Thanks, I will. I guess you can see I was feeling a little lonely when I got home; the apartment felt empty today,” she said ruefully.

When they arrived upstairs, the enticing smell of baked Ostamu wafted toward Lucinda. Ostamu were the large flightless birds bred by the Clans as a food source. “Umm, that smells good,” Lucinda said. “Hi Jake,” she said to Jayla’s new husband.

“Hey kid, how was your first day?” he asked, as he came over and kissed his wife hello. Shade, his Quirka, immediately bounced over to Ghost, joining in the greeting ritual. Unlike Ghost who was almost pure white, Shade was all shades of brown and grey.

“Tom was reporting to Uncle Max when I got there, so I brought him home for dinner,” he told his wife, indicating Tom Draycott, the Duc d’Orleans top investigator. Draycott was around Jake’s age, a little taller than Lucinda, with a hard-bodied, powerful build. He had dark brown hair and cynical brown eyes in a wedge-shaped face. A blaster scar ran across one cheek.

“And as you can see, I took him at his word,” Tom said. “I don’t live in the compound on Versailles Isle anymore, so I don’t get home cooking much.”

“As long as you don’t expect me to be the one who cooks it,” Jayla replied, laughing. “That is why we have Martha.”

“Jake said you were reporting to the Duc,” Lucinda remarked. “Can you tell us about the case?”

Draycott shrugged. “It isn’t a secret. Max thinks there is some smuggling going on. I spent the last five days working on the docks. If smuggling is going on, I didn’t find out who was doing it. I’ll move on to the spaceport workers next.”

“What if someone from the docks recognizes you?” Jayla asked.

He grinned at her. “I wore a disguise on the docks. My own mother wouldn’t have recognized me.”

“Do you always wear a disguise when you go undercover?” Lucinda asked.

“Most of the time. A couple of years ago I spent some time establishing some unsavory cover identities. They come in handy for undercover investigations.”

Lucinda was fascinated. “How many do you use on a single case?”

“As many as I need. Want to learn how to set one up?”

“Yes, I do. It sounds like a lot of fun.”

The four of them spent a pleasant evening talking over old times. When it turned nine o’clock, Lucinda noticed Jayla yawning.

“Guess I’d better let you get some sleep,” she told her cousin as she got up. “I forget not everyone is on the same schedule I am.”

“Me too,” Draycott agreed. “Why don’t I give you a ride? I’ve got my sled here.”

Lucinda collected a sleepy Agra who had snuggled into Shade and Ghost’s nest, tucking her inside her windbreaker before mounting behind Tom on his sled.

When he dropped her off, they arranged for him to stop by and give Lucinda the basics of creating a disguise.

Makee-Learnee

Unlike a few of the more technological oriented societies that made up the Confederated Worlds, the Clans of Vensoog preferred to teach their children a profession by having them apprentice under a more knowledgeable mentor. Lucinda spent most of her first month on the job on patrol and answering calls under Mira’s supervision.

“We switch shifts next week,” Mira told her after she had been on the job a month. “Starting tomorrow, we will trade areas with Sargent Murtaugh and his trainee. Philps, I think is his name.”

“Oh,” Lucinda said. She had begun to feel proprietary about the area near the docks and was surprised at her reluctance to switch. “What area do we get?” Lucinda asked her.

“We’ve got the spaceport. Sorry I know it’s going to disrupt your sleep cycle after you’ve just begun to settle in it, but we switch times too; They have Swing Shift. Things are slow right now,” Mira told her. “We need to take advantage of it to get you rookies as familiar with every part of the city that we can before the Harvest Festival starts and we get swamped with drunken tourists. During the Festivals, we get almost 100,000 extra tourists coming in to celebrate with us, plus the visiting merchants and Free Traders.”

The Planting and Harvest Festivals were held each Spring and Fall, and everyone who could get free usually tried to attend. During the festivals, some events like the Introductory Balls, where newly recognized adults received Match Lists, were only open to the Clans, but there was plenty of other entertainment for visitors. Port Recovery, because of the spaceport, was thrown wide open to off-planet visitors and merchants and the city took steps to entertain them royally. The Clans brought in native-made goods and Free Traders from all over the Confederation came to buy and sell their wares.

Lucinda rolled her eyes. “We can barely keep up now,” she protested. “How do we handle that many extra people?”

Mira shrugged. “A lot of us work double shifts; or extra half shifts. The Clans send a portion of their home security forces to help out as well.”

Dawn was breaking, and the sky had started to lighten when Lucinda heard the screaming.

“I think it’s coming from down by the boats,” she told Mira, and the pair took off running. Agra fluttered over Lucinda’s head, making excited noises. Even tiny Dactyls like Agra could fly faster than a human could run, but she kept by Lucinda as she had been taught.

Mira had turned on her headlamp and used it to look around. “PRS!” she shouted. “Where are you?”

It was still dark enough that the moored boats cast dark shadows on the wharf. Long plastacrete ramps extended out over the channel. Agra’s acute eyesight spotted something at the base of the farthest ramp, and she gave a shrill keen and dove toward it.

“Over here Mira!” Lucinda called.

When she arrived at the ramp, she found Agra hovering over the body of a woman. “Good girl,” she praised the Dactyl, who preened in response, perching herself on her mistress’s shoulder and looking down with interest. Dactyls were inherently curious, and part of the training she and Lucinda were given had included not touching a body without permission. Lucinda ran her Porta-tab over the body, scanning for life signs. She found none.

“She’s dead,” she reported looking up at Mira.

“Damn!” the other woman said. “Well, call in our sleds, and let’s get this crime scene sealed off. Then we should inspect the area around the body while we wait for the coroner to get here. Document anything you find that looks as if it doesn’t belong, but don’t move it.”

Their sleds arrived just as Mira finished calling in to report the body. Agra watched as Lucinda opened the side of her sled and pulled out the compressed privacy screens. Jamming one end into the ground near the ramp, she pulled on the loose end and made a wide circle around the body as the screens decompressed and grew to full size.

It was about a half hour before sunrise but they had drawn a few spectators from a nearby warehouse.

“Hey, what’s going on kid?” An older man with an air of authority asked.

“What is your name?” Lucinda asked him.

“I’m Jesse Sanders. I’m the supervisor over at Maclin enterprises,” he said, gesturing to the only lit-up warehouse in the area.

“I’m Officer Lucinda O’Teague,” Lucinda told him. “Did you or any of your workers see or hear any noises out here tonight?”

“I sure didn’t,” Sanders answered. “It’s pretty noisy inside though. We wouldn’t have noticed if Dori hadn’t stepped outside for some fresh air. She came running back in, screaming about dead people. Took me a while to calm her down. Do you want me to ask my men?”

“Thanks for the offer,” Mira answered him, “But I’m afraid we have to do it.”

“What happened?” he demanded again. “Dori ran into the warehouse yelling about dead bodies.”

“Yes, there has been a death. Would you mind going with Officer O’Teague to see if you recognize the body? In the meantime, I’ll need to start interviews with your people.”

“Uh—well, okay,” he said, reluctantly.

When he saw the state of the body, he turned green, and covered his mouth with his hand. Recognizing the signs, Lucinda hastily got him away from the immediate area around the body before he barfed, and held out an evidence bag for him to up-chunk into.

Handing him a wipe for his mouth, she waited until he had settled a bit before asking, “Do you know her?”

“No,” he said, swallowing. He looked around for somewhere to dispose of the wipe, and she held out the open evidence bag.

“Thanks,” he said. “It looked like she was wearing a ships uniform of some kind. What was left of it.”

“Did you recognize it? Do you know what ship?”

He shook his head and swallowed again. “Can we move further away? I can still smell–”

“Sure. Why don’t you come and sit down over here? The detectives may have more questions,” she suggested.

The detectives arrived at the same time as the coroner’s big sled.

Lucinda was glad to note that this time Gorsling wasn’t one of them. When she had been interning in the Coroners’ office, he had investigated the murder of Sara Lipski and there had been an unpleasant encounter, ending with Dr. Ivanov throwing him out of her lab.

“I’m Detective Jeness, and this is my partner, Detective Wilson. What do you have for us? It’s officer O’Teague, isn’t it?” The elder of the two, a tall, full-bodied woman with dark, curling grey hair asked.

“Yes,” Lucinda answered the first question. “This is Jesse Sanders. He’s the foreman in charge of the warehouse. One of his crew went out for a break, and came back in screaming about dead bodies, so he came out to investigate. My partner Mira and I heard the screams and were already on site by the time he came out.”

“How did you locate the body?” Wilson asked.

Lucinda smiled. “Agra did that. A dactyl’s smell and night vision are much better than a humans, you know.”

“Ummn,” Wilson looked Agra over speculatively. “Did she touch the body?”

“Of course not,” Lucinda said, offended on her pet’s behalf.

The Dactyl made the small snorting noise Lucinda knew meant she was irritated, and Lucinda reached up and stroked her soothingly. When the Coroner’s sled pulled up she was surprised to see Doctor Ivanov hop out. She turned to her with relief. “Hey, since when do you work the night shift?” she asked.

“Lucinda! It’s good to see you again.” The Coroner gave the girl a hug. The doctor was a short, dumpy little woman, the top of her head barely reaching Lucinda’s shoulder.

When Agra fluttered over to her, demanding her share of the attention, Dr. Ivanov laughed. “Yes, Agra it’s good to see you as well. Your new collar and badge look very good on you. Dr. Glassen called in sick,” she responded to Lucinda’s question. “One of his kids is running a fever and he’s quarantined his house until they figure out what it is. We’ve missed you in the lab. The cadet who replaced you isn’t nearly as good. How are you liking your first weeks on the job?”

“It’s been interesting,” Lucinda admitted.

“Do you need her for anything else?” Dr. Ivanov asked the detectives. “If not, she can come and help me with the body. I’m short-handed tonight.”

Wilson made a shooing motion with his hands. “By all means go with her officer.”

Lucinda followed her, and while the Doctor was checking time of death, she bagged the hands under Agra’s critical gaze.

“Humm,” Ivanov was talking to herself. Lucinda knew the spoken notes would be logged on her department recorder, and given for transcription to the hapless cadet who had taken her place in the lab.

“Female, lying face down, approximate age late twenties, with multiple lacerations on her upper torso. Clothes are partially shredded, looks like the remains of a ship’s uniform. DNA sample running through the Planetary database for ID. Mixed Race, thin, scan shows bones typical of someone who spends a lot of time off-planet. Death approximately four hours ago. Corpse is just going into rigor. Help me roll her Lucinda.”

They turned the body over. “Same lacerations on her front. Lacerations would have hurt, but none of them are deep enough to cause death,” Dr. Ivanov continued. “Death most likely was caused by the garrote around her neck. I’ll know more when I get her on my table. I see you bagged her hands. Good girl. You’re always thinking ahead. Get the body bag out of the sled, please.”

When she returned, Lucinda lowered a specially made lift, shaped in a rectangle with rounded edges and straps to hold the body bag. She helped Dr. Ivanov move the body into it. She fastened the straps to hold it in place and towed it behind her to the Doctor’s sled. Agra perched like a small gargoyle on top of the bag during the ride. Once inside the sled, she snapped the fasteners holding the lift in place.

“C’mon Agra, get off there. I need to turn on the stasis,” she told her pet, holding out a small treat. Spying the cookie, Agra flew off the bag and eagerly took it. “You did great tonight girl,” Lucinda crooned to her.

“You always talk to her like that?” inquired Wilson. “Like she’s a person?”

“She is a person,” Lucinda told him, her voice cool. “Not human so she can’t speak our language, but she understands it very well. She can pick up feelings from me, but my tone of voice reinforces it.”

“I’ve never worked with a Dactyl,” Wilson observed, “but I’ve worked with detectives who had Quirkas. They didn’t take to me, the Quirkas, I mean.”

“I see,” Lucinda nodded politely.

“You don’t seem surprised,” Wilson said. “Why is that?”

Lucinda hesitated, then said, “Quirkas and Dactyls read emotions the way a Dragon Talker does. They probably sensed that you don’t really like them.”

She was relieved when Dr. Ivanov returned to the sled with her kit. “Mira’s looking for you, Lucinda.”

“Thanks, Doctor Ivanov,” she said. “C’mon Agra. We need to get back to work.”

“Wilson giving you a hard time?” Mira asked when she returned.

“Not exactly; he had a lot of questions about Quirkas and Dactyls. Lab protocol says I couldn’t leave the body unattended until Doctor Ivanov got back to the sled anyway. Sorry, I didn’t get back sooner.”

Mira nodded understandably, “One of the penalties of being uniform, I’m afraid; everybody and his brother gives us orders. Now our next job is to try to get names and addresses from everyone in the crowd for the detectives.”

Lucinda had just about finished her share of this chore when she thought she recognized Tom’s familiar stance on one of the men watching the crowd. She was so surprised she stopped and stared,

Tom, if it was him, was wearing one of the disguises he’d told her about. The man in question had black, slicked back hair, and a neatly trimmed beard. He was also wearing a black skin-suit and high heeled black boots.

“Something the matter?” Mira asked, joining her.

Lucinda jumped in surprise. “Not really. I just thought I saw someone I knew over there. He’s gone now though.”

The Sun was well up by the time they finished getting ID information from the warehouse crew. Lucinda dictated her report into her com on the way back to headquarters. When they arrived, she read through it, initialed her DNA signature, made two copies, one for her personal file and one that she sent on to the detectives after Mira looked through it.

Agra had fallen asleep in her Dactyl seat when Lucinda drove into her storage area. Gently she pried the little creature out of it and carried her upstairs where she set her in her comfy sleep basket. Stripping off her uniform and Agra’s collar, she tossed them into the clothing recycler before slipping into a loose shirt and shorts. She tumbled into bed already half asleep.

She had set her alarm to wake up a little early, so she was up, dressed and enjoying a second cup of Cafka while Agra sulked over her breakfast of chopped nuts, fruit and fish flake, when Tom knocked on the door.

“Let him in,” she told the House Comp getting another cup out of the cupboard.

“Cafka?” She asked, holding up the cup.

“I’d love some,” he told her. “I’ve been up all night. Good morning, girl,” he said to Agra, who ignored him. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s missing Saura, her littermate,” Lucinda explained. “Saura went out to Kitingzen with Juliette.”

“Do you have sweetener?” He asked. “I need the boost.”

“Well at least you’ve taken off that lounge lizard disguise,” Lucinda remarked, handing him the sugar bowl.

“You didrecognize me. I thought you might have. What gave me away?”

She lifted her shoulders. “It was a good disguise, but I recognized the way you stand. You always stand like you’re ready for a fight.”

He stared at her, and slowly sat down in a chair. “I fooled both the Duc and Jake with that one once. You’re going to make a damn good cop someday.”

“Thanks,” Lucinda felt her face blushing. “I bet you haven’t had anything to eat either, have you? I’ll dial up one of Martha’s specialties.”

He caught her hand and kissed it. “Bless you, I’m starving.”

Lucinda watched, amused as Tom inhaled her food. “Don’t think you are going to get away without telling me why you were there,” she said. “I’m assuming this is a part of your investigation. How is that going by the way?”

He poured another cup of Cafka and sipped it before he answered. “Not as well as I hoped,” he admitted. “Did you identify her?”

“Not yet, but the Doc thinks she spent a lot of time in a ship and not on-planet. Why?”

He sighed. “If she is who I think she is, she was my first real lead in this case.”

She frowned at him. “What kind of information? Is the Duc running one of his private investigations again?”

“Him and the rest of the Security Council. After Jayla’s kidnapping, they decided they needed to do something about Thieves Guild activities in Clan territories. Max has several other operatives besides me working on this. All we’ve found out so far is that something worth big credits is being brought in and smuggled onto Free Traders here in port.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“Not a clue,” he said in disgust. “Jora was my first real lead. She was supposed to give me the names of the ships and captains who are a part of it.”

“Jora? You know her name?”

“Jora Loman off the Free Trader Saucy Suzie. She went into the Guild as a young girl and she wants—wanted out. The Council agreed to help her, give her a new identity and stuff.”

“Does Port Recovery Security know the Council is poking it’s nose into this?”

He shook his head. “Nope, and we’d prefer it not be spread around. We think we cleaned out all the cops on the Local Mob’s payroll, but we can’t be sure.”

“But Tom,” she protested, ” Her folks need to be notified; I need to tell them who she is at least.”

“Can’t you just say it was a rumor?”

She frowned thoughtfully. “I suppose I could say I heard about a missing crewman off that particular ship.”

By this time Agra had imbibed enough Cafka to recover from her sulks and fluttered over to Tom’s shoulder and nuzzled his ear.

“Oh, so now you’re talking to me?” he asked the Dactyl.

“She likes you for some reason,” Lucinda said. “Usually she’s a little more standoffish.”

He handed Agra a wedge of fruit he hadn’t eaten, and she gobbled the wedge of melon with delicate greed. “That’s because she knows she can bum food, isn’t it, cutie?”

The fruit Tom gave her had been very juicy. Since Dactyls were not nearly as fastidious as Quirka’s, Agra had managed to smear it liberally all over her face. She transferred the stickiness to Tom by nudging his jaw with her messy nose when she finished.

He got up and put his dishes in the recycler, wiping his face with his napkin.

“Thanks again for breakfast,” he said. “Do you think you could let me know if it turns out it is Jora?”

“I suppose,” she answered.

 

THE HANDFASTING SERIES (books 1 — 5) WILL BE ON SALE UNTIL OCT 1, 2019
or WHILE COPIES LAST. (Titles Included: A Year & A Day, Forever & A Day, All Our Tomorrows, From This Day Forward, and To Love & Honor)

SERIES WILL BE RETIRED ON OCTOBER 1, 2019

THERE ARE A LIMITED NUMBER OF BOOKS STILL AVAILABLE SO DON’T WAIT!

As an author I hate to say this but being able to write a great story doesn’t always mean that story will sell. My Handfasting series, although it is selling, isn’t getting the kind of response the quality of the books merit. I consulted some publishing experts and they informed me that although the stories are great, the titles are sending mixed messages. It was recommended that I target only one of the genres: Science Fiction by changing the titles of the books and the series to appeal to science fiction readers (the genre in which the books belong). In order to prevent confusion to my readers, on October 1, I will be discontinuing the Handfasting Series. In November, I will be repackaging all the books under a new Series title: Space Colony Journals, and each book has been given a title designed to appeal to readers of science fiction. The new series will come out on October 31^stin time to join the 6^thbook about the O’Teague Clan: Alien Trails.

In order to clear my inventory, I am putting the Handfasting series on sale at discounted prices. All books in the series are discounted. e-books are .99¢. However, because of some distributers differing price requirements, the Paperback book discount prices will start at $8.59 but may be higher depending on which site you choose to buy from.

Links:

E-Books: https://books2read.com/ap/n41KK8/Gail-Daley

or

Gail’s web site: http://www.gaildaleysfineart.com/book-buyers.php

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/author/gaildaley

 

EXCERPT The Designer People

Lucinda was a “designer child”. Given genius level intelligence in an embryonic Thieves Guild lab, she learned survival in a harsh world. At twelve, she was rescued and adopted into a loving family. As an adult Lucinda chose to fight her former masters by joining the police force. She works hard to earn her place among Vensoog’s law enforcement community.On her first assignment, compassion impels her to protect an alien mother and daughter fleeing off-planet bounty hunters. To ensure their safety, she must defeat a deadly Soturi warrior in hand-to-hand combat. Then she rescues a ‘designer child’ who is a younger double for herself from a sex trafficking ring. To solve this case and rescue the other children trapped by those same criminals, she must capture a vicious Thieves Guild assassin. But even with the help of the best private eye on Vensoog, these are tough cases for a rookie cop.

Sister, Sister

IT WAS MIDNIGHT and Lucinda nursed a cup of Cafka as she waited for the time to report in for her first shift on Port Recovery’s Security forces. Agra, her Dactyl, snuggled with her littermate Saura in the fur-lined nest made especially for them. Dactyls were six-limbed flying mammals native to Vensoog. They came in all sizes, from creatures large enough to hunt the Water Dragons living in the rivers and along the channels between the Equator Islands, to miniatures like Agra and Saura who were tiny enough to hold in your hand. Although tiny, they possessed all the characteristics of their species: limitless curiosity about the world around them, wings covered with long lint-like hair, a fluffy, down-coated body, talons on the rear feet, and arms with hand-like paws. Humans fell in love with them because of their soft coats, large ears, big dark eyes and pointed noses.

In the wild, Dactyls depended on their lightning fast flight speed to escape from predators. Like the Quirka, another native pet adopted by the settlers, Dactyls were empathic, bonding in love with their chosen humans.

Domesticated dactyls were rare; they were shy and seldom tamed unless taken as kits. Several years ago, Lucinda and her foster brother Rupert had been on a plant foraging expedition and found four orphaned, hungry Dactyl kits and adopted them into the family. The two males had bonded with the girl’s foster brothers, Roderick and Rupert.

Because she intended to keep Agra with her while on duty, Lucinda and the dactyl had undergone specialized training as to how the dactyl should behave during the times when she accompanied Lucinda to work.

Lucinda was not yet a full-fledged officer in the planetary police force; all cadets had to do a three-month stint under a trainer before transitioning to a qualified officer. Cadets like Lucinda, and Agra in this case, remained on probation until their trainer was satisfied with their on-the-job performance.

Lucinda was excited to begin, although she let none of her anticipation show in her face, not even to her sister Juliette, sitting across from her in a night robe. The sisters looked nothing alike. Juliette was tiny, with a thin body, green eyes and a long, curly mane of red hair, while Lucinda was tall and full-bodied. Her white-blond hair, cut to chin length, fluffed around a heart-shaped face with red, cupid bow lips, a short nose and light grey eyes.

When Juliette and Lucinda were twelve and their younger sister Violet was ten, Lady Katherine and Lord Zack had come to the center looking for Lord Zack’s orphaned nephews Rupert and Roderick.

Discovering the illegal nature of Grouter’s operation, the couple had made sure Grouter was arrested for his part in the child sex trade. They adopted Lucinda, Juliette, and Violet as well as Zack’s nephews. Although the three girls considered themselves sisters, they were ‘designer children’ who had been ordered to specifications. They had been born in a laboratory on one of the moons of Fenris and later lived on Fenris in a child placement center run by Hans Grouter. Grouter hid his identity as a lieutenant in the local Thieves Guild by posing as a dedicated government official, existing in an uneasy alliance with Jerry Van Doyle, who ran the Guilds prostitution business. Over Grouter’s protests, Van Doyle recruited much of his “new meat” for the child prostitution arm from the Fenris Child Placement center.

Grouter had plans of his own for the girls, so he protected them from being used by Van Doyle. However, their life was by no means an easy one. From the first day they arrived, they had been subjected to harsh training methods to enable them to utilize their programed genetics for the Guild’s criminal purposes. By the time Lady Katherine and her husband had rescued them, the girls were already an accomplished team of thieves who raided the rich of Fenris at Grouter’s request.

Five years after coming to Vensoog, Juliette and Lucinda were just a few months away from receiving their Match Lists. Under Vensoog law, receiving your first List made you a full adult. The Match Lists had been created to help preserve the biological diversity of the human population. Traditionally they were issued by the Makers and given to all young people who came of age during Festivals in the spring and fall of each year. Varying opinions as the usefulness of the lists abounded among natives to Vensoog. Some like Laird Genevieve thought them simply useless, others believed you always found your true love on your List. But that was for the future; right now Lucinda was more concerned with her present situation.

For the next three months she would be on her own in the apartment because Juliette was leaving later that morning on an expedition to the largely unexplored northern continent of Kitzingen.

As Lady Katherine’s First Daughter and direct heir, Juliette was learning her trade by shadowing her mother when Parliament was in session. Juliette was destined to be heavily involved in politics; Lady Katherine wasn’t only the next in line to rule Veiled Isle, she was Clan O’Teague’s Parliamentary Representative. However, Parliament only met three times per year, and Juliette was taking advantage of the free time to go out with one of the exploring expeditions to Kitingzen, the closest of the four largely unexplored continents.

“There is just one tinyfavor I need you to do while I’m gone,” Juliette said.

Lucinda eyed her suspiciously. Juliette’s designed genetics made her naturally manipulative, and while Lucinda’s had given her genius level intelligence, as a child she had more than once been tricked by her sister into doing something she hadn’t intended to do.

“What kind of favor?” she asked.

“I got tapped for helping with the plans for the Harvest Festival and I need you to stand in for me.” Seeing the refusal in her sister’s face, she rushed on, “it’s not a big deal; I’m not in charge of anything. It’s mostly showing up at a few meetings to vote on what the committee decides and going to the reception for the Free Traders when their delegation arrives. Please?”

Lucinda scowled at her. “I might be on duty when they have their meetings. Police work isn’t like a regular job; there’s a lot of unscheduled overtime.”

Juliette smiled winningly at her. “It’s okay if you have to miss a couple of meetings because of work. I cleared that with Duchesse St. Vyre, the head of the committee. She won’t mind, as long as you let her know.”

“What about this reception? Is it formal?”

“Well, yes, but you have that lovely new dress you got for Jayla’s wedding. It’s a shame to let it sit in the closet.”

Trapped, Lucinda gave in. “Oh, alright, just let me know when these meetings take place. You owe me though.”

Her sister jumped up and gave her a big hug. “I already uploaded everything to your calendar. You are the absolute, bestsister. Anything you want, I promise.”

“I’m the best patsy, you mean,” Lucinda snorted.

The house alarm chimed, signaling her it was time to leave for her shift. She hugged Juliette again and stood up to put on her jacket. “C’mon, Agra, it’s time to go,” she told the Dactyl, who reluctantly left the warm nest and fluttered over to her shoulder, yawning.

Knowing Juliette would have left for Kitingzen when she came back from work, Lucinda stopped and looked at her. “You be careful out there, okay?”

“I promise,” her sister said. “Besides, thanks to Dad, I’ve got Bridge and Terrence Mann along as minders, remember?”

Lucinda laughed, hugged her again, and left. She opened the garage section attached to their apartment and rolled out her air sled. Agra obediently settled into a made-to-order Quirka Seat attached to the dash. With so many Vensoogers having Quirka, the Quirka Seats, which resembled an upside-down helmet with a glass faceplate, had become popular.

Agra, being about the same size as a Quirka, fit into the seat just fine, her wings taking up the same space as a Quirka’s plumy tail. Mini Dactyls such as Agra and Saura came in all colors. Agra’s fur was a mixture of pale green, red and yellow, the skin on her face, feet and hands was a pale tan, shading to a darker shade outlining her eyes and on her nose. Dactyls were magpies and loved glittering jewelry, which Agra usually wore in the form of a bracelet around her neck. Tonight, Agra’s neck adornment was a braided tan and brown leather collar to match Lucinda’s Security uniform. Although plain, Lucinda had added several shiny flat metal bars etched with her badge number.

Settlers had adopted the Dactyls and Quirkas because both animals were small, affectionate and avid hunters of household vermin, which crept into human dwellings despite the best efforts of modern technology. The Quirka’s and Dactyls had returned the favor because humans provided a mutually satisfactory love bond, and a ready source of edible goodies.

Lucinda threw a leg over the seat, strapped on her own helmet and fired up the sled. There was still some traffic out because Port Recovery, the capital of Vensoog, never really slept, but this section of the city was quiet as most residents who lived in the girl’s neighborhood were in bed.

The apartment was located over a shop near their cousin Jayla’s in a high-end merchant section of town. The two-story domed buildings, a necessity because of Vensoog’s seasonal hurricane winds, were mostly dark because of the late hour but as she neared the center of town more lights showed in the windows. As she moved toward the core of the island where the city government offices were located, she could see the tips of shuttle noses at the spaceport peeking over the tops of the large government buildings.

When the Clans first landed on Vensoog, the huge city domes had been used as shelters. As the Clans moved to their permanent territories, the domes had been converted to government and commercial uses.

Lucinda parked her sled in the security employees parking lot, showing her brand-new ID to the gate guard, who nodded, grinning at her, and she and Agra went inside for roll call.

There was a mixed assortment of officers waiting in the roll call room: young, old, male and female. Lucinda took a seat by her trainer, Sgt. Mira Forest. She knew she had been lucky to draw Mira, a twenty-year veteran of the streets with a reputation as the best trainer in Port Recovery. One look at Mira and people immediately knew she was a cop from her short pepper and salt hair, tough, blocky build and most of all, the look in her eyes. She was a dead shot with both a pulsar rifle and pistol. Mira had been offered promotions to detective grade numerous times and refused. She preferred to stay on the streets and train young recruits.

Although she was the only one with a Dactyl, Lucinda was relieved to see that about a third of her fellow officers had a Quirka perched on a shoulder. About the size of a human fist, Quirka’s faces resembled an Old Earth hedgehog. Quirkas had a squirrel-like body, hand-like paws and feet, a pointed nose and small upstanding ears. Their primary defense against predators in the wild, venom tipped quills, ran along their spine from their shoulders to their plumy tails. Like the small Dactyls, they were omnivores.

Lucinda had been a little worried Agra’s presence might cause issues. Officers who were accompanied by Quirka or Dactyls were required to take special courses with them in how the animals should behave while on duty. She had been relieved when Agra easily passed the course. If she had failed, she wouldn’t have been able to join Lucinda on duty until she passed.

Lucinda glanced at her mini-porta-tab to ensure she had received the list of the latest B.O.L.O. (Be On The Lookout) updates. A rash of break-ins along the waterfront shops had been happening, some vandalism by persons unknown in a couple of commercial sled parks, there was a list of stolen air sleds, and a peeper had been reported in a couple of neighborhoods.

When she joined Mira in the locker-room, she found the older woman frowning at her own porta-tab.

“Is something wrong?”

Mira tossed her a crystal DNA key for her official sled. “That is for your sled. If you’ve got one of those fancy Quirka seats for—Agra, is it? You can snap it into place. I’m afraid you’ll have to use your personal one. Command hasn’t gotten around to issuing them for the rank and file yet.”

Lucinda caught the key easily and pulled the Quirka seat out of her locker. Tucking it under her arm, she followed her trainer out to the sled park.

“Why were you frowning just now?”

Mira shrugged. “Nothing really, I heard a few rumors there is some smuggling near the docks.”

“Isn’t that our area?”

“Uh-huh. This is your first night, so stick close. Don’t go chasing off when you see something without telling me first. I’ll do the same for you.”

Lucinda activated the key and pushed it into the waiting slot on the dash of her sled. The DNA encoding meant that from now on, she would be the only one who could start it. When she gripped the handlebars the sled purred into life. She followed Mira out the gate of the secure lot and the pair of them rode side by side toward the docks and warehouses. There were few homes in this area, just manufacturing, small shops serving the offices and the warehouses who needed access to the ships bringing in meats, fish, harvested crops, and other raw materials from the outer islands.

Lucinda and Mira stopped their sleds at the edge of the district and dismounted, parking the sleds in the designated area saved for official vehicles.

“A map of our patrol area should have been downloaded to your sled controls. Set the monitor to meet us at the warehouses in an hour,” Mira instructed.

Several storefronts selling paper, tools and a few all-night eateries serving simple, fast food and Cafka lined both sides of the street leading down to the docks.

“We do a foot patrol from here,” Mira told her. “Keep your eyes open for anything unusual.”

“That one looks as if there are workers inside,” Lucinda said, gesturing to a lighted warehouse with its own attached dock.

Mira consulted her tab. “That belongs to Medford textile. They are supposed to be getting in a shipment of dragon silk to ship off world. We’ll swing by there on our beat. We start here; we each take one side of the street. Check the windows and test the shop doors. If you find one open, tag me.”

 

Domestic Disturbance

The street was quiet. At first, Lucinda had been a little nervous, but her nerves soon smoothed out. At least until she found the open door on a shop specializing in small hand tools.

She tapped her shoulder com. “Mira, I’ve got an unlocked door here.”

“Okay, wait for me before you go in,” Mira instructed, calling it in as she crossed the street.

Once there, she shone her light on the lock. “Doesn’t seem to have been forced,” she said. “Okay rookie, this is how it goes down. Draw your weapon. We enter and check each side of the store for someone who shouldn’t be there. I’m going in high, you go in low. Try not to shoot any shop owners who just forgot to lock up.”

They were moving cautiously through aisles of small tools when they heard the hullabaloo start at the back of the store.

“You cheating bastard! I come down to bring you dinner because you’re working late, and I find you boinking this slut!” A woman’s voice shouted, and there was a splat as if something messy hit a solid object.

Lucinda turned the corner of an aisle in time to see a man with his trousers partially undone wiping the remains of a messy take-out box dripping sauce and noodles off his face. Just as she arrived, the woman who had obviously thrown it jumped on another woman sitting half-dressed on the low counter. The two went over backwards, pulling hair, kicking and biting.

‘Hey, no!” the man cried, and jumped in to separate them.

“PRS! Freeze!” Lucinda shouted. Seeing this had no effect, she holstered her gun and grabbed the nearest combatant, who happened to be the man, and pulled him out of the fight.

In the meantime, Mira had arrived and dived into the roiling mass of flying fists and kicks behind the counter. She separated the half-dressed woman from the pile, dragging her around the display case where there was more room to handcuff her. Climbing over the countertop the wife leaped to attack again, landing on Mira to reach her prisoner. The three careened around the area between the sales counter and a tool display, slipping in the spilled sauce and noodles, as they knocked over stands of products.

Mira ended up on her butt underneath the fighting women. The wife had the advantage now because of the younger woman’s cuffed hands, and she used it mercilessly, landing several fist blows and kicks on the other woman’s face and breast. She also managed to raise a lump over Mira’s eye when she missed her target and got Mira instead.

Shoving the husband down in a seated position against a wall, Lucinda told him sternly, “Stay there,” and rushed to help her trainer.

She grabbed the wife by the back of her hair and heaved her off Mira and her captive. She forced the woman down on her belly and pulled her hands behind her to apply restraints.

Disobeying Lucinda’s order to stay where he was, the husband got up to help his girlfriend. Agra flew at his face, talons on her hind feet extended. He ducked Agra’s charge, but he needed to get by Lucinda to reach Mira and her captive. Her hands busy restraining his cursing wife, Lucinda used her boot to shove him away. He slipped in the spilled dinner again, and ended up on his rump covered in sauce and noodles.

“I told you to stay where I put you! Go sit down!” Lucinda yelled.

Agra flew in his face again, this time hissing a threat.

Eying the Dactyl warily, the man dropped back down.

“You okay?” Lucinda asked Mira, who had staggered to her feet, dragging her captive with her.

“Just dandy,” Mira said, swiping a smear of sauce off her chin and then wiping her hand on her captive’s still undone blouse. “Welcome to patrol work, rookie.” She looked down at the sauce and noodles spattered on her uniform and scowled. “I ought to charge the three of you for my cleaning bill.”

“What do we do with them?” Lucinda asked.

Mira studied the three combatants. “Depends if they want to press charges or not.”

“I do!” the half-naked one said. “She assaulted me!”

Mira sighed. “Okay, that’s one. Anybody else?”

“Yes! I want to exercise Code Duello!” the wife snapped. “She’s attempting to break up my home.”

“Code Duellois a civil matter,” Mira told her firmly. “You’ll have to file that with your Clan Liaison.” She looked over at Lucinda. “Call it in rookie.”

Lucinda swallowed, and tapped her com, trying frantically to remember the codes for a domestic disturbance and assault.

The rest of the night was uneventful; sort of. They arrested three half-lit tourists serenading what one of them mistakenly thought was the home of a pretty girl he had met in a bar. They couldn’t carry a tune between them and the din roused the neighbors as well as the homeowner and his wife. The justifiably annoyed homeowners had called in the disturbance and the irate husband had dumped a bucket of water on them. The neighbors had come out to watch.

“Call the wagon,” Mira told her as they rode up, “and then shut them up.” She indicated the trio of drunken singers. “I’ve got the homeowners.”

“He didn’t need to call you guys; we didn’t know she was married,” the first singer protested, when Lucinda identified herself to them.

“I don’t think that’s her,” one of his friends whispered loudly.

“Yeah,” the third drunk opined. “Where did she change her clothes?” He pointed at Lucinda. “That looks like a uniform.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t get shot,” Lucinda told them in disgust while Mira calmed the irate husband. “This neighborhood has reported a peeper these last few nights. Sit on the curb and we’ll arrange a ride for you.”

“Just go back to bed, sir,” Mira told the husband. “We’ll handle it from here.”

“I hope they lock you up and throw away the key,” he yelled, before he slammed his window shut.

Apparently losing interest in the couple, the first singer complained, “I’m hungry. How come you smell like Chinese noodles?”

“We broke up a fight. One of the weapons was a box of take-out,” Mira said dryly.

“Hey, I’m hungry too. Can we stop on the way and pick some up?” asked one of his buddies.

“No,” Mira replied.

“Hey, where are we going anyway?” the third one asked. “What kind of party are you girls taking us to?”

“Oh, you’ll like it,” Mira said. “There’s lots of people in your condition there.”

“You guys are keeping us busy tonight,” Kneckie the Patrol sled driver, told Lucinda as they pulled up in front of the dome.

When he opened the door to the sled, the aroma of noodles and sauce wafted out, along with the miasma of vomit and sour booze.

“Don’t you ever wash this thing out?” Mira demanded, as she helped Lucinda herd the three drunks inside.

“Why? We don’t have to smell it. It’s sealed off,” the driver retorted. “What have you got for us Sarge?”

“Drunk and disorderly, disturbing the peace. The homeowner and his wife will be in tomorrow morning to sign a complaint. In the meantime, throw ’em in the drunk tank.”

“Sure thing. There you go, upsy-daisy,” he told the last man, as he boosted him up into the sled. When the drunks sat down, the sled’s bench cuffs snapped into place. “See you back at headquarters, Sarge.”

Mira rolled her neck. “Sure thing Kneckie. C’mon rookie, we’ve got reports to write.”

Returning home, Lucinda parked her sled in the unused storage space on the ground floor. She glanced at the empty storefront, wondering who Jake Reynolds, their new landlord and cousin Jayla’s husband, intended to rent it to. Because the girls were upstairs, he was being very picky about the tenants.

Opening the upstairs door to the apartment, she was struck by a sense of loss, as she realized she was going to be spending her first ever night alone. At Grouters, and later in Lady Katherine and Lord Zack’s home one of her sisters had always been near.

Agra chirped comfortingly in her ear, and rubbed her cheek against Lucinda’s, emitting reassurance and love.

Lucinda reached up and stroked the Dactyl, who purred at her. “Just us tonight sweetie. Let me get out of this smelly uniform and you and I’ll take a shower and get something to eat.”

Stripping off her uniform, which gave off a faint odor of soy sauce, she examined it for stains. Programing the clothes fresher for stain and odor removal as well as cleaning and pressing, she tossed in her uniform.

She had no fear of the stains not coming out; as a housewarming present, Jayla had sent Martha, her house-bot over to set up the house comp, which included programming the clothes fresher. Looking at the menu in the Robo-Chef, Lucinda realized the ever-efficient Martha had not only stocked it, but loaded it up with her recipes, which were far superior to the standard ones it came with.

Afterwards, Lucinda did a quick clean-up of the kitchen. The apartment came with a weekly cleaning service, but she hated the smell of dirty dishes. She and Agra tumbled into bed and slept dreamlessly.

It was late afternoon when she woke to the sound of her com chiming. Looking at the display, she saw calls from both her sisters. Setting up for a multi-vid call, she slipped on a robe and wandered out to the kitchen to program a pot of Cafka for herself.

“How was your first day?” Violet asked. That far south, the sun was just coming up over the horizon. She and Jelli, her sand dragon, were on the cliffs above the Dragon nests on Talker’s Isle. Lucinda heard the ocean waves crashing on the rocks in the background.

“You look like we woke you up,” Juliette commented. She was sitting outside her pop-up dome on Kitingzen, with Saura sleeping on her lap.

“You did,” Lucinda laughed. “It was different. We broke up a fight over a man, got slopped with Chinese noodles and arrested three drunken tourists. How was your trip?”

“A bit crowded, and Jorge isn’t happy to have me here. I think Dad must have threatened him if something happened to me.”

Violet nodded. “He did that at Jayla’s wedding. He was in full protective papa mode that night. I saw him talking with Tom Draycott too, and I know he laid down the law to poor Silas Crawford. It was kind of sweet really.”

Juliette snorted. “He thinks Jorge is a risk taker. That’s why Bridge and Terrence are getting a vacation on Kitingzen.”

“IsJorge reckless?” Lucinda asked, frowning.

Juliette shrugged. “I don’t have a way to judge. We haven’t really gotten started yet.”

“I thought you would be mapping the area outside the new village,” Violet remarked.

“Originally, we were going to do that, but apparently, Jorge saw something resembling buildings further along that mountain range on the vids the first-in scout made. He thinks it’s an old city, and the council gave permission to go and look, so that is where we are heading.”

“Did Mom and Dad know about this?” Lucinda asked.

“I don’t know. I just heard about it in the shuttle on the way over to our first base camp. Today we unloaded our stuff out of the shuttles and set up for the night. Tomorrow most of us will spend the day going through our equipment to make sure we have everything we are supposed to have is here and organizing it for the trail. Jorge will be taking our mapmaker and the geologist up into the hills to try to scout out the easiest path to that old road he thinks he saw. When he returns we head up the trail into unexplored territory. We will be out of com touch a lot of the time, and we could encounter anything.”

“Well, you be careful,” Lucinda said.

“I could set it up through the link for all of us to know if one of us is in trouble,” Violet offered.

“Judging by last night, mine could show trouble a lot though,” Lucinda protested. “Violet, I can’t have you two panicking whenever I have to chase someone or break up a fight.”

“It can be fixed so we can talk to each other through the link,” Violet promised.

“Okay, I guess,” Lucinda agreed. “If Juliette is going to be out of com reach we need it.”

“What are you going to be doing the rest of the day?” Violet asked Juliette.

Juliette made a face. “I’ve been told we will have a camp meeting after supper to arrange camp chores and go over the route and safety rules.”

“That doesn’t sound as if Jorge is taking unnecessary chances,” Violet remarked.

“I doubt if he is as careful as Mom on the trail though,” Juliette replied, and all three girls laughed. Lady Katherine had justly earned her reputation as an over-protective mother; she had once been tried for killing a woman who had threatened one of her children. The subsequent Clan trial had declared it a justifiable homicide, of course. Any attempt to harm children was taken very seriously on Vensoog.

“We do have a real greenhorn with us this time,” Juliette admitted. “Our map-maker, Isaac Jordan has never even been camping. I had to help him with his pop-up dome, and those things practically set themselves up.”

Picking up something in Juliette’s voice, Lucinda asked her, “Is he cute?”

“How old is he?” Violet seconded.

Juliette’s fair skin flushed a little. “He is about our age. A year older than Luce and me.”

“You didn’t say if he’s cute or not,” Lucinda pressed.

“Oh, there’s the dinner gong,” Juliette said hastily. “I’ve got to go. Later guys.” She dropped out of the link.

“She didn’t answer you,” Violet said.

“I noticed that,” Lucinda agreed. “She likes him though.”

“Attracted,” Violet corrected. “Couldn’t you feel it through the link?”

“I felt something,” Lucinda admitted. “Did you manage to do that while we were talking? You are getting really good with this link stuff.”

Violet nodded. “Drusilla is a good teacher. I’ve learned so much since I’ve been studying with her.”

Home Alone

When Lucinda turned off the vid com, she was feeling restless. Looking at the time, she decided her cousin Jayla was probably getting ready to close her shop about now. “C’mon Agra,” she told the Dactyl. “Let’s take a walk over to Whimsical.”

Wayne, Jayla’s sales-bot was up on the lift changing a light crystal when Lucinda entered. The sales-bot had been designed with a slim, toned body, light hazel eyes, and medium shaded brown hair. Wayne’s costume today was a black and white striped skin suit topped with a soft flat cap of brilliant red. He was always a hoot and had a wide variety of costumes he wore in the shop. Jayla allowed it because she claimed the bizarre outfits helped him make sales.

Lucinda found Jayla in the back room of the shop, checking inventory. Ghost, her white Quirka, bounced over to Lucinda, chirping happily, before she and Agra went into a complicated dance routine as they greeted each other.

“Did you get Wayne a new outfit?” Lucinda asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen that one before.”

Jayla grinned at her. “I told him to pick three out of the catalog. We did so well on sales this last month I could afford it. How was your first shift?”

Lucinda laughed. “Crazy, tiring, and fun. I talked to Juliette and Violet this afternoon. It turns out Juliette is going to be off the grid most of the summer. The Leader, Jorge Carmody talked the Exploration Committee into allowing them to try and reach the ruins of a city he found on one of the First-In Scout vids.”

“It sounds as if your dad knew what he was doing when he sent bodyguards out with her.”

“Yes, it does. We don’t like not being able to reach each other though so Violet set up a special link with the three of us, that way we will all know if one of us runs into trouble.”

“A sensible precaution,” Jayla agreed. “I don’t know much about this link thing. How does it work?”

“It’s a little like a combined Push/Pull,” Lucinda said. “Drusilla and Lucas discovered it when they opened a channel into that stone his grandfather gave him.”

“But you can talk to each other through it?”

“Violet says so, and she usually knows what she’s talking about.”

“Would have been handy to have when that idiot from Aphrodite kidnapped me,” Jayla said wryly.

“It sure would,” Lucinda agreed, remembering the panic that had ensued when Jayla disappeared on her way home from the last Harvest Festival.

“Would you like to stay for dinner? I think Jake should be home shortly.”

“Thanks, I will. I guess you can see I was feeling a little lonely when I got home; the apartment felt empty today,” she said ruefully.

When they arrived upstairs, the enticing smell of baked Ostamu wafted toward Lucinda. Ostamu were the large flightless birds bred by the Clans as a food source. “Umm, that smells good,” Lucinda said. “Hi Jake,” she said to Jayla’s new husband.

“Hey kid, how was your first day?” he asked, as he came over and kissed his wife hello. Shade, his Quirka, immediately bounced over to Ghost, joining in the greeting ritual. Unlike Ghost who was almost pure white, Shade was all shades of brown and grey.

“Tom was reporting to Uncle Max when I got there, so I brought him home for dinner,” he told his wife, indicating Tom Draycott, the Duc d’Orleans top investigator. Draycott was around Jake’s age, a little taller than Lucinda, with a hard-bodied, powerful build. He had dark brown hair and cynical brown eyes in a wedge-shaped face. A blaster scar ran across one cheek.

“And as you can see, I took him at his word,” Tom said. “I don’t live in the compound on Versailles Isle anymore, so I don’t get home cooking much.”

“As long as you don’t expect me to be the one who cooks it,” Jayla replied, laughing. “That is why we have Martha.”

“Jake said you were reporting to the Duc,” Lucinda remarked. “Can you tell us about the case?”

Draycott shrugged. “It isn’t a secret. Max thinks there is some smuggling going on. I spent the last five days working on the docks. If smuggling is going on, I didn’t find out who was doing it. I’ll move on to the spaceport workers next.”

“What if someone from the docks recognizes you?” Jayla asked.

He grinned at her. “I wore a disguise on the docks. My own mother wouldn’t have recognized me.”

“Do you always wear a disguise when you go undercover?” Lucinda asked.

“Most of the time. A couple of years ago I spent some time establishing some unsavory cover identities. They come in handy for undercover investigations.”

Lucinda was fascinated. “How many do you use on a single case?”

“As many as I need. Want to learn how to set one up?”

“Yes, I do. It sounds like a lot of fun.”

The four of them spent a pleasant evening talking over old times. When it turned nine o’clock, Lucinda noticed Jayla yawning.

“Guess I’d better let you get some sleep,” she told her cousin as she got up. “I forget not everyone is on the same schedule I am.”

“Me too,” Draycott agreed. “Why don’t I give you a ride? I’ve got my sled here.”

Lucinda collected a sleepy Agra who had snuggled into Shade and Ghost’s nest, tucking her inside her windbreaker before mounting behind Tom on his sled.

When he dropped her off, they arranged for him to stop by and give Lucinda the basics of creating a disguise.

Makee-Learnee

Unlike a few of the more technological oriented societies that made up the Confederated Worlds, the Clans of Vensoog preferred to teach their children a profession by having them apprentice under a more knowledgeable mentor. Lucinda spent most of her first month on the job on patrol and answering calls under Mira’s supervision.

“We switch shifts next week,” Mira told her after she had been on the job a month. “Starting tomorrow, we will trade areas with Sargent Murtaugh and his trainee. Philps, I think is his name.”

“Oh,” Lucinda said. She had begun to feel proprietary about the area near the docks and was surprised at her reluctance to switch. “What area do we get?” Lucinda asked her.

“We’ve got the spaceport. Sorry I know it’s going to disrupt your sleep cycle after you’ve just begun to settle in it, but we switch times too; They have Swing Shift. Things are slow right now,” Mira told her. “We need to take advantage of it to get you rookies as familiar with every part of the city that we can before the Harvest Festival starts and we get swamped with drunken tourists. During the Festivals, we get almost 100,000 extra tourists coming in to celebrate with us, plus the visiting merchants and Free Traders.”

The Planting and Harvest Festivals were held each Spring and Fall, and everyone who could get free usually tried to attend. During the festivals, some events like the Introductory Balls, where newly recognized adults received Match Lists, were only open to the Clans, but there was plenty of other entertainment for visitors. Port Recovery, because of the spaceport, was thrown wide open to off-planet visitors and merchants and the city took steps to entertain them royally. The Clans brought in native-made goods and Free Traders from all over the Confederation came to buy and sell their wares.

Lucinda rolled her eyes. “We can barely keep up now,” she protested. “How do we handle that many extra people?”

Mira shrugged. “A lot of us work double shifts; or extra half shifts. The Clans send a portion of their home security forces to help out as well.”

Dawn was breaking, and the sky had started to lighten when Lucinda heard the screaming.

“I think it’s coming from down by the boats,” she told Mira, and the pair took off running. Agra fluttered over Lucinda’s head, making excited noises. Even tiny Dactyls like Agra could fly faster than a human could run, but she kept by Lucinda as she had been taught.

Mira had turned on her headlamp and used it to look around. “PRS!” she shouted. “Where are you?”

It was still dark enough that the moored boats cast dark shadows on the wharf. Long plastacrete ramps extended out over the channel. Agra’s acute eyesight spotted something at the base of the farthest ramp, and she gave a shrill keen and dove toward it.

“Over here Mira!” Lucinda called.

When she arrived at the ramp, she found Agra hovering over the body of a woman. “Good girl,” she praised the Dactyl, who preened in response, perching herself on her mistress’s shoulder and looking down with interest. Dactyls were inherently curious, and part of the training she and Lucinda were given had included not touching a body without permission. Lucinda ran her Porta-tab over the body, scanning for life signs. She found none.

“She’s dead,” she reported looking up at Mira.

“Damn!” the other woman said. “Well, call in our sleds, and let’s get this crime scene sealed off. Then we should inspect the area around the body while we wait for the coroner to get here. Document anything you find that looks as if it doesn’t belong, but don’t move it.”

Their sleds arrived just as Mira finished calling in to report the body. Agra watched as Lucinda opened the side of her sled and pulled out the compressed privacy screens. Jamming one end into the ground near the ramp, she pulled on the loose end and made a wide circle around the body as the screens decompressed and grew to full size.

It was about a half hour before sunrise but they had drawn a few spectators from a nearby warehouse.

“Hey, what’s going on kid?” An older man with an air of authority asked.

“What is your name?” Lucinda asked him.

“I’m Jesse Sanders. I’m the supervisor over at Maclin enterprises,” he said, gesturing to the only lit-up warehouse in the area.

“I’m Officer Lucinda O’Teague,” Lucinda told him. “Did you or any of your workers see or hear any noises out here tonight?”

“I sure didn’t,” Sanders answered. “It’s pretty noisy inside though. We wouldn’t have noticed if Dori hadn’t stepped outside for some fresh air. She came running back in, screaming about dead people. Took me a while to calm her down. Do you want me to ask my men?”

“Thanks for the offer,” Mira answered him, “But I’m afraid we have to do it.”

“What happened?” he demanded again. “Dori ran into the warehouse yelling about dead bodies.”

“Yes, there has been a death. Would you mind going with Officer O’Teague to see if you recognize the body? In the meantime, I’ll need to start interviews with your people.”

“Uh—well, okay,” he said, reluctantly.

When he saw the state of the body, he turned green, and covered his mouth with his hand. Recognizing the signs, Lucinda hastily got him away from the immediate area around the body before he barfed, and held out an evidence bag for him to up-chunk into.

Handing him a wipe for his mouth, she waited until he had settled a bit before asking, “Do you know her?”

“No,” he said, swallowing. He looked around for somewhere to dispose of the wipe, and she held out the open evidence bag.

“Thanks,” he said. “It looked like she was wearing a ships uniform of some kind. What was left of it.”

“Did you recognize it? Do you know what ship?”

He shook his head and swallowed again. “Can we move further away? I can still smell–”

“Sure. Why don’t you come and sit down over here? The detectives may have more questions,” she suggested.

The detectives arrived at the same time as the coroner’s big sled.

Lucinda was glad to note that this time Gorsling wasn’t one of them. When she had been interning in the Coroners’ office, he had investigated the murder of Sara Lipski and there had been an unpleasant encounter, ending with Dr. Ivanov throwing him out of her lab.

“I’m Detective Jeness, and this is my partner, Detective Wilson. What do you have for us? It’s officer O’Teague, isn’t it?” The elder of the two, a tall, full-bodied woman with dark, curling grey hair asked.

“Yes,” Lucinda answered the first question. “This is Jesse Sanders. He’s the foreman in charge of the warehouse. One of his crew went out for a break, and came back in screaming about dead bodies, so he came out to investigate. My partner Mira and I heard the screams and were already on site by the time he came out.”

“How did you locate the body?” Wilson asked.

Lucinda smiled. “Agra did that. A dactyl’s smell and night vision are much better than a humans, you know.”

“Ummn,” Wilson looked Agra over speculatively. “Did she touch the body?”

“Of course not,” Lucinda said, offended on her pet’s behalf.

The Dactyl made the small snorting noise Lucinda knew meant she was irritated, and Lucinda reached up and stroked her soothingly. When the Coroner’s sled pulled up she was surprised to see Doctor Ivanov hop out. She turned to her with relief. “Hey, since when do you work the night shift?” she asked.

“Lucinda! It’s good to see you again.” The Coroner gave the girl a hug. The doctor was a short, dumpy little woman, the top of her head barely reaching Lucinda’s shoulder.

When Agra fluttered over to her, demanding her share of the attention, Dr. Ivanov laughed. “Yes, Agra it’s good to see you as well. Your new collar and badge look very good on you. Dr. Glassen called in sick,” she responded to Lucinda’s question. “One of his kids is running a fever and he’s quarantined his house until they figure out what it is. We’ve missed you in the lab. The cadet who replaced you isn’t nearly as good. How are you liking your first weeks on the job?”

“It’s been interesting,” Lucinda admitted.

“Do you need her for anything else?” Dr. Ivanov asked the detectives. “If not, she can come and help me with the body. I’m short-handed tonight.”

Wilson made a shooing motion with his hands. “By all means go with her officer.”

Lucinda followed her, and while the Doctor was checking time of death, she bagged the hands under Agra’s critical gaze.

“Humm,” Ivanov was talking to herself. Lucinda knew the spoken notes would be logged on her department recorder, and given for transcription to the hapless cadet who had taken her place in the lab.

“Female, lying face down, approximate age late twenties, with multiple lacerations on her upper torso. Clothes are partially shredded, looks like the remains of a ship’s uniform. DNA sample running through the Planetary database for ID. Mixed Race, thin, scan shows bones typical of someone who spends a lot of time off-planet. Death approximately four hours ago. Corpse is just going into rigor. Help me roll her Lucinda.”

They turned the body over. “Same lacerations on her front. Lacerations would have hurt, but none of them are deep enough to cause death,” Dr. Ivanov continued. “Death most likely was caused by the garrote around her neck. I’ll know more when I get her on my table. I see you bagged her hands. Good girl. You’re always thinking ahead. Get the body bag out of the sled, please.”

When she returned, Lucinda lowered a specially made lift, shaped in a rectangle with rounded edges and straps to hold the body bag. She helped Dr. Ivanov move the body into it. She fastened the straps to hold it in place and towed it behind her to the Doctor’s sled. Agra perched like a small gargoyle on top of the bag during the ride. Once inside the sled, she snapped the fasteners holding the lift in place.

“C’mon Agra, get off there. I need to turn on the stasis,” she told her pet, holding out a small treat. Spying the cookie, Agra flew off the bag and eagerly took it. “You did great tonight girl,” Lucinda crooned to her.

“You always talk to her like that?” inquired Wilson. “Like she’s a person?”

“She is a person,” Lucinda told him, her voice cool. “Not human so she can’t speak our language, but she understands it very well. She can pick up feelings from me, but my tone of voice reinforces it.”

“I’ve never worked with a Dactyl,” Wilson observed, “but I’ve worked with detectives who had Quirkas. They didn’t take to me, the Quirkas, I mean.”

“I see,” Lucinda nodded politely.

“You don’t seem surprised,” Wilson said. “Why is that?”

Lucinda hesitated, then said, “Quirkas and Dactyls read emotions the way a Dragon Talker does. They probably sensed that you don’t really like them.”

She was relieved when Dr. Ivanov returned to the sled with her kit. “Mira’s looking for you, Lucinda.”

“Thanks, Doctor Ivanov,” she said. “C’mon Agra. We need to get back to work.”

“Wilson giving you a hard time?” Mira asked when she returned.

“Not exactly; he had a lot of questions about Quirkas and Dactyls. Lab protocol says I couldn’t leave the body unattended until Doctor Ivanov got back to the sled anyway. Sorry, I didn’t get back sooner.”

Mira nodded understandably, “One of the penalties of being uniform, I’m afraid; everybody and his brother gives us orders. Now our next job is to try to get names and addresses from everyone in the crowd for the detectives.”

Lucinda had just about finished her share of this chore when she thought she recognized Tom’s familiar stance on one of the men watching the crowd. She was so surprised she stopped and stared,

Tom, if it was him, was wearing one of the disguises he’d told her about. The man in question had black, slicked back hair, and a neatly trimmed beard. He was also wearing a black skin-suit and high heeled black boots.

“Something the matter?” Mira asked, joining her.

Lucinda jumped in surprise. “Not really. I just thought I saw someone I knew over there. He’s gone now though.”

The Sun was well up by the time they finished getting ID information from the warehouse crew. Lucinda dictated her report into her com on the way back to headquarters. When they arrived, she read through it, initialed her DNA signature, made two copies, one for her personal file and one that she sent on to the detectives after Mira looked through it.

Agra had fallen asleep in her Dactyl seat when Lucinda drove into her storage area. Gently she pried the little creature out of it and carried her upstairs where she set her in her comfy sleep basket. Stripping off her uniform and Agra’s collar, she tossed them into the clothing recycler before slipping into a loose shirt and shorts. She tumbled into bed already half asleep.

She had set her alarm to wake up a little early, so she was up, dressed and enjoying a second cup of Cafka while Agra sulked over her breakfast of chopped nuts, fruit and fish flake, when Tom knocked on the door.

“Let him in,” she told the House Comp getting another cup out of the cupboard.

“Cafka?” She asked, holding up the cup.

“I’d love some,” he told her. “I’ve been up all night. Good morning, girl,” he said to Agra, who ignored him. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s missing Saura, her littermate,” Lucinda explained. “Saura went out to Kitingzen with Juliette.”

“Do you have sweetener?” He asked. “I need the boost.”

“Well at least you’ve taken off that lounge lizard disguise,” Lucinda remarked, handing him the sugar bowl.

“You didrecognize me. I thought you might have. What gave me away?”

She lifted her shoulders. “It was a good disguise, but I recognized the way you stand. You always stand like you’re ready for a fight.”

He stared at her, and slowly sat down in a chair. “I fooled both the Duc and Jake with that one once. You’re going to make a damn good cop someday.”

“Thanks,” Lucinda felt her face blushing. “I bet you haven’t had anything to eat either, have you? I’ll dial up one of Martha’s specialties.”

He caught her hand and kissed it. “Bless you, I’m starving.”

Lucinda watched, amused as Tom inhaled her food. “Don’t think you are going to get away without telling me why you were there,” she said. “I’m assuming this is a part of your investigation. How is that going by the way?”

He poured another cup of Cafka and sipped it before he answered. “Not as well as I hoped,” he admitted. “Did you identify her?”

“Not yet, but the Doc thinks she spent a lot of time in a ship and not on-planet. Why?”

He sighed. “If she is who I think she is, she was my first real lead in this case.”

She frowned at him. “What kind of information? Is the Duc running one of his private investigations again?”

“Him and the rest of the Security Council. After Jayla’s kidnapping, they decided they needed to do something about Thieves Guild activities in Clan territories. Max has several other operatives besides me working on this. All we’ve found out so far is that something worth big credits is being brought in and smuggled onto Free Traders here in port.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“Not a clue,” he said in disgust. “Jora was my first real lead. She was supposed to give me the names of the ships and captains who are a part of it.”

“Jora? You know her name?”

“Jora Loman off the Free Trader Saucy Suzie. She went into the Guild as a young girl and she wants—wanted out. The Council agreed to help her, give her a new identity and stuff.”

“Does Port Recovery Security know the Council is poking it’s nose into this?”

He shook his head. “Nope, and we’d prefer it not be spread around. We think we cleaned out all the cops on the Local Mob’s payroll, but we can’t be sure.”

“But Tom,” she protested, ” Her folks need to be notified; I need to tell them who she is at least.”

“Can’t you just say it was a rumor?”

She frowned thoughtfully. “I suppose I could say I heard about a missing crewman off that particular ship.”

By this time Agra had imbibed enough Cafka to recover from her sulks and fluttered over to Tom’s shoulder and nuzzled his ear.

“Oh, so now you’re talking to me?” he asked the Dactyl.

“She likes you for some reason,” Lucinda said. “Usually she’s a little more standoffish.”

He handed Agra a wedge of fruit he hadn’t eaten, and she gobbled the wedge of melon with delicate greed. “That’s because she knows she can bum food, isn’t it, cutie?”

The fruit Tom gave her had been very juicy. Since Dactyls were not nearly as fastidious as Quirka’s, Agra had managed to smear it liberally all over her face. She transferred the stickiness to Tom by nudging his jaw with her messy nose when she finished.

He got up and put his dishes in the recycler, wiping his face with his napkin.

“Thanks again for breakfast,” he said. “Do you think you could let me know if it turns out it is Jora?”

“I suppose,” she answered.

 

THE HANDFASTING SERIES (books 1 — 5) WILL BE ON SALE UNTIL OCT 1, 2019
or WHILE COPIES LAST. (Titles Included: A Year & A Day, Forever & A Day, All Our Tomorrows, From This Day Forward, and To Love & Honor)

SERIES WILL BE RETIRED ON OCTOBER 1, 2019

THERE ARE A LIMITED NUMBER OF BOOKS STILL AVAILABLE SO DON’T WAIT!

As an author I hate to say this but being able to write a great story doesn’t always mean that story will sell. My Handfasting series, although it is selling, isn’t getting the kind of response the quality of the books merit. I consulted some publishing experts and they informed me that although the stories are great, the titles are sending mixed messages. It was recommended that I target only one of the genres: Science Fiction by changing the titles of the books and the series to appeal to science fiction readers (the genre in which the books belong). In order to prevent confusion to my readers, on October 1, I will be discontinuing the Handfasting Series. In November, I will be repackaging all the books under a new Series title: Space Colony Journals, and each book has been given a title designed to appeal to readers of science fiction. The new series will come out on October 31^stin time to join the 6^thbook about the O’Teague Clan: Alien Trails.

In order to clear my inventory, I am putting the Handfasting series on sale at discounted prices. All books in the series are discounted. e-books are .99¢. However, because of some distributers differing price requirements, the Paperback book discount prices will start at $8.59 but may be higher depending on which site you choose to buy from.

Links:

E-Books: https://books2read.com/ap/n41KK8/Gail-Daley

or

Gail’s web site: http://www.gaildaleysfineart.com/book-buyers.php

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/author/gaildaley

 

Excerpt: Options of Survival

 

A Year & A Day

Spring 250 A.C. (After Colonization)

Clan Meeting – Glass Castle

THE EXECUTIVE ruling body of Clan O’Teague occupied the council chamber of the Clan’s main seat, known as the Glass Castle, on the Southern coast of Glass Isle in the Dragon Sea. There should have been four women and two men, but the two male members had joined the military forces drafted by the Confederation and killed in action on a distant planet. Their heirs were both too young to serve, and no one had yet been elected to take their places.

Lady Genevieve, the Laird of Clan O’Teague was young for the office. She was in her early thirties, with fiery red hair, large almond shaped grey eyes and a tall, slim build. Despite her age and appearance, during the attack Genevieve had showed both the leadership and strength required to be the Laird.

It could be seen by their coloring that the women seated around the table were related. The three varied in age from sixteen to around forty-five. Lady Corinne was the oldest of the three, and her red hair was showing white amid the auburn. Her short, clipped nails drummed a tattoo on the table as she considered the solution her First Daughter, Lady Katherine, was proposing. Lady Corinne was Katherine’s aunt, and as the designated heir to her property, Katherine had taken her place as the Clan Representative on the National Parliament when Corinne retired to pursue her interest in writing a planetary history. Katherine’s hair was not so fiery a color as Genevieve’s and her eyes had more green than grey, but she shared the same slim build although she was shorter than her sister. Sixteen-year-old Lady Drusilla had only just taken her seat on the Decision-making Council and she was clearly uncomfortable with her new duties. Her pixie cut hair, a much darker red than either of her sisters, gleamed dully in the muted light from the crystal powered wall sconces, and her eyes were so dark a grey they almost appeared black. Drusilla was tiny; she was half a head shorter than Katherine and only came up to Genevieve’s shoulders. She cuddled her agitated Quirka and glanced nervously from one sister to the other.

The four women were attended by Quirkas, the small native pets adopted by most of the settlers. Quirkas most closely resembled an Old Earth Squirrel with the pricked ears and pointed muzzle of a fox; they were furred, with a large bushy tail and front paws that looked like human hands. Soft flexible quills that could be ejected for defense ran along the backbone up to the top of the head. When attacked the quills would stiffen, and sharp, acid-tipped retractable barbs appeared. The poison couldn’t kill anything as large as a human, but it could make one sick. Quirkas were chameleons; their body colors could change with their environment, but their natural color seemed to be a soft mottled yellow. They were empathic and developed life-long friendships with some humans. Their small size (about the size of a human hand) made them ideal house pets and vermin hunters. They mostly hunted the variety of small rodents and insects prone to infest homes and businesses.

“You’re going to put the cat-fox in the hen house with this one girl,” Corinne remarked with just a hint of a laugh. “I think I’ll come to the next Parliament just to watch the fur fly!”

“I think it’s a horrible idea,” Drusilla announced. “It’s so cold, letting a—a—program pick your husband! What about love? Don’t you want that?”

“I know it sounds cold, Honey,” Katherine said. “And yes, I want my husband to love me just as much as I want to love him, but this solves our problem. If we don’t do something, this planet will be unpopulated in just three generations. If we want to preserve our way of life, we need fresh DNA sources. What works in our favor is there will be many male soldiers left homeless because their worlds were burnt off in the War. We have to make difficult decisions—”

“Don’t make a campaign speech for Heaven’s sake!” Genevieve protested. “I agree we have to do something, and this sounds like a practicable solution, providing the issues I see can be worked out.”

“What issues?” Drusilla finally found her voice.

“The most important one is that we are inviting grown men to become a part of our culture. Adult males who won’t have been raised with our traditions. Issue two is these will be men who are used to fighting and may not readily accept our traditions—”

“That’s why you’ve been working on that old emigration selection program,” began Corinne.

“A program! For what, pray tell? Please don’t say you’re talking about that crap the Makers use to set up marriage matches?” demanded Genevieve. Her Quirka chittered anxiously and she stroked her back, growing visibly calmer as she did so.

Katherine put two fingers in her mouth and gave a loud whistle. “Time!”

Everyone turned to look at her. “If I could be allowed to finish? As far as your first two objections go, yes, there is still a program for selecting emigrants. We haven’t used it since the first ships, but I do have a copy. The program analyzed genetic data and personality traits to weed out anyone unsuitable for our culture. We use a part of it in our Matchmaking system. Once we received the results of the bio-weapon used on us, I realized what would need to be done. I have spent the last year working on combining the two programs and I plan to offer them to any clan that wants them. Who knows Genevieve? Since I did make improvements to give more weight to personal compatibility, maybe we’ll get lucky and our dream man will be waiting for us on Fenris.”

Katherine smiled reassuringly at her younger sister. “It isn’t really that much different than the match lists given out by the Makers when we turn of age you know, and we already do that during the Spring and Fall Festivals each year. The couples just won’t have met each other beforehand. I think we can sell it to our young women if we put it out to them as being romantic instead of a cold business proposition.”

Genevieve pointed a finger at her sister. “All right Politician, write this up in a speech I can present to the Clan for acceptance.”

Drusilla hadn’t given up. “Why would any of these ex-military types come here? And where will you find them?” Drusilla asked.

“They’ll come because we will offer them a home to come back to. We were hit with a bio weapon but our world is still intact. Many planets weren’t so fortunate. Soldiers from those planets will need to find a new home. As to where they can be found, I intend to present this plan for accepting immigrants to the base commander on Fenris. Fenris was the staging area where most of the troop ships from this area departed. I’m sure he will cooperate in presenting our proposal, because he will appreciate that he can get rid of some loose cannons by sending them home with us. You see Fenris is where they are going to turn loose most of the military units who no longer have a planet to return to. Even if the base commander is reluctant, the planetary government won’t be. Housing thousands of ex-soldiers and finding work for them if they stay on Fenris will mean a big drain on planetary resources.”

“You will need money to operate. We used to do a lot of trade with Fenris,” Corinne said thoughtfully. “Might be a good idea to take along some trade goods to build up capital and rebuild relations. I think I’ll go with you.”

Genevieve jumped to her feet. “Go with her? Then who will sit in Parliament?”

“You are,” Katherine retorted.

“You are talking at least six weeks to get there and the same to get back! Not including the time spent on the planet setting this up. I can’t be away from our lands that long.”

“Sure you can. Parliament only sits three times a year. You name Drusilla as your deputy—”

“Me!” squeaked Drusilla.

“Yes, you,” Katherine replied. “Genevieve will be reachable for advice by message crystal. It has to be you in Parliament Genevieve. Drusilla is too inexperienced to deal with that den of vixens.”

Genevieve sat back down heavily. “Oh, God. I hate politics!”

Katherine nodded briskly. “Now here is what I propose we offer our new Handfasting partners; full clan rights, that is they can hold property for any daughters until the daughter reaches majority. If no daughter is born, they will have lifetime privileges on the property they occupy. Sons will automatically be full clan members; the women those sons marry will become holders. We will guarantee pension and dowry rights if they marry into another clan after the Handfasting period. Because we need to develop a viable population base as soon as possible, I would prefer to approach a unit from the same area; I think it will be easier to integrate them into the clan as a group. That way if there are older men in the group who don’t find a match or unit members who don’t want to be matched, they would receive the same benefits as those who do, and they would be available to supply sperm for the planetary banks. The other Clans will design their appeal as they see fit. The only thing I plan to bring up before the Parliament next week is that the program is available and that we intend to offer the Year and A Day Handfasting to these men.”

“What if your matching programs works so well the couples want to change the Handfasting to the Forever and A Day?” inquired Corinne.

“Then that will be up to each couple,” Katherine said firmly. “Not our business.”

Drusilla took a deep breath and then asked, “Okay, but what are we going to tell them about us?”

Her sisters and aunt just looked at her. “What are you talking about?” Genevieve asked.

“You know well what I’m talking about,” Drusilla said doggedly.

“I don’t see why that would be an issue,” Katherine said. “There have been rumors about Vensoog people and our ‘special abilities’ for years. It has always been up to each person what or how much she or he wants to tell spouses who come from off planet.”

“Most visitors to Vensoog conclude that some of us have psychic abilities and let it go at that,” Corrine reminded her.

“She has a point,” Genevieve observed. “These men won’t be visitors. They will live here with us. Sooner or later they’re bound to get our talents rubbed in their face. You will have to be careful not to let any religious fanatics who might want to burn witches past your screening.”

“Are you seriously suggesting I go to Fenris and invite battle hardened troops to come back with me to marry a witch?” inquired Katherine. “That is not the approach I plan to make and I doubt I will be alone in that. Can you see Clan Yang or Clan Caldwalder or DeMedici doing that?”

“Are you going to lie if they ask you about it?” Drusilla insisted.

Katherine sighed. Sometimes her little sister reminded her of a Quirka at a vermin hole. “No. While I won’t advertise our abilities, if I am asked directly I will tell them the truth. However, since time will be so short before we leave for home, our new clan members will need to do a lot of sleep learning to familiarize themselves with our customs and the dangers of the planet itself. I included acceptance of our ways into the subliminal programs about the planet, so I hope the issue won’t arise.”

Once assured that Katherine and Genevieve would be in the list of marriageable women to be handfasted, about a hundred unmarried women of Clan O’Teague between the ages of twenty and thirty-five volunteered for the plan and started to enter the answers to questions that would determine personality compatibilities for matchmaking into Katherine’s database.

Since no better solution could be found, the Vensoog Parliament adopted Katherine’s proposal. Several of the Clans were adamant about making their own decisions for dealing with the immigrants, but they all accepted Katherine’s computer matching program. It was finally agreed that each of the Clans would send their own representative to Fenris and the other planets hosting displaced Terrans.

Katherine, Corrine and delegates from DeMedici and Yang took ship for the planet Fenris on a recently decommissioned freighter. Now that the war had ended, spaceships and crews commandeered from civilian sources were being returned to their original owners. The Spaceman’s Dream had been a free trader and was glad to take on cargo and passengers in return for a percentage of the profit on the sale of the luxury goods stored on Vensoog for the duration of the war. Only three of the clans decided to approach the homeless soldiers on neighboring Fenris. Of the others, four would reach out to civilian refugees on the planets of N’Jamacia and Camelot, and the remaining three had agreed to take new applications from the Federated Worlds immigration services.

Making A Proposition

Planet Fenris A Month Later

 

Once the decision to use Katherine’s program was started, they lost no time. Clan representatives from O’Teague, Yang and DeMedici arrived on Fenris. The next day they met the base commandant, Admiral Noel Harris, who had been handed the unrewarding job of finding placements for thousands of returning soldiers whose planets had been burned off.

Fenris had set up re-location depots for the returning soldiers in the old military bases where combat ready warriors had departed for the war. A base met all the basic needs of anyone who stayed there; food dispensers and housing, which although utilitarian were clean and functional. The planetary government planned to convert these bases into low-level hostelries to attract tourists as soon as they could rid themselves of all the returning ex-military. Some of the Clan leaders preferred to stay in the resort hotels for which Fenris had once been famous. However, Katherine and Corrine had taken up residence in the main base so they could have easy access to the bases’ computers, which were an essential part of Katherine’s plan. She would need to set up her program to accept the chosen men’s information so it could match them with the Vensoog women.

Clan O’Teague had decided it would be best to find a unit or two willing to re-locate and met their requirements. Today Katherine would start her interviews with the officers in command of the various groups who had asked about finding a new home as a unit.

“Are you ready for this?” Corrine inquired.

Katherine blew out a breath. “I have to be, don’t I?” She treasured a private hope that among the soldiers she would find the soul mate she had almost given up hope of finding. Now that the end was in sight, she was a bundle of nerves.

For maximum impact, she had dressed carefully in the full outfit a Clan Lady of Vensoog would wear for an important meeting. A semi-transparent loose linen blouse and pants in bright colors, topped with a tight-fitting leather vest rounded to cup her full breasts and cinched at the waist with bright colored ribbons. The long sleeves and pant cuffs were gathered at the wrist and ankles. Her low-heeled shoes were meshed on top with crisscross ties running up the outside of her calves and tied off under the knees. A tall, flat crowned, wide-brimmed hat with a veil that could be brought down to cover her face completed the outfit. Although normally she would have taken the hat off indoors, she wore it now for the full impact. Sooka, her pet Quirka, leaped to her shoulder and clung to the straps on the padded shoulders of the vest. Katherine reached up and stroked her absently.

Corrine studied her and then made a twirling motion with her finger. Obediently, Katherine turned in a circle so Corrine could see the full effect.

“Well?” she asked impatiently.

Corrine chuckled, “Oh, Honey, they’re sure not going to have any trouble deciding marriage would be no hardship with you.”

Katherine frowned. “Too much?” she asked.

Corrine shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Remember we are asking them to make quite a few concessions about their way of life. They need a place to go, but it may be hard for them to discount the rumors about Vensoog women and to change how they view their rights under our laws. They need to see an attractive package to make that change more palatable.”

Katherine grimaced. “Especially when I inform them about the re-education and sleep learning you mean?”

By noon, Katherine had interviewed five Majors and one Colonel and she was thinking she would not find what she was looking for here. As yet, she had only one possibility, and that one was doubtful. She had yet to explain the full program to any of the potential candidates because her little inner voice kept saying “no”.

Smiling graciously at Colonel Tomas Lewiston, she thanked him for his interest in the proposal and sent him on his way. She couldn’t put a name to her reluctance, but she had absolutely no intention of considering him or any unit he commanded. On the surface, he was an impressive enough specimen. He was tall, with almost perfectly chiseled features, he had a well-built body, and a decided air of command. He also had a smooth manner verging on oily she found put her on edge. If she hadn’t had the underlying feeling he had another agenda, she might have given him more consideration. Besides, Sooka, whose judgment of character was usually excellent, had hissed at him and he couldn’t quite conceal his distaste of her pet.

Katherine was using one of the auxiliary conference rooms on the base. After he left, she rose and went to the wall of windows looking out over the city. The view was spectacular. To the left was a magnificent view of high snow-capped peaks, the tall spires of the city and a white strip of beach next to an azure ocean. The beach was sparsely populated compared to the thousands of tourists who had clustered there before the war made interplanetary travel dangerous. The empty beach was testament to Fenris’ urgency in getting their planet back to becoming a “destination” for tourists.

Fenris was named before explorers had set foot there and discovered how inappropriate it was to name the planet after the devouring wolf of Ragganok. The name didn’t call up an image of pristine, snow-capped peaks excellent for winter sports, bucolic countryside ideal for gentle activities or the white-sandy beaches with just enough waves for surfing or sport fishing. Fenris was woefully short of heavy metals, but the Fenriki had quickly overcome this disadvantage by developing the world into a vacation destination for the rich and famous of the Confederated Worlds. Fenris’ strategic location made it an ideal staging area for the military to collect and send out their forces for the war. Now that the war was over, The Fenriki were scrambling to return their world to its old status as the foremost resort planet and trade center in the depleted Confederated Worlds.

Katherine took a deep breath and set up for the next interview. Some of the commanding officers Katherine had interviewed had come alone, some with support personnel. It was obvious the three men who entered this time were a unit, and a military one at that. There was only a superficial physical resemblance between them; the oldest was tall and wide, with a pleasant face topped with a shock of blond hair streaked with white. In fact, Master Sgt. Vernel Thomas resembled a kindly grandfather until you met his eyes directly and saw inside to the tough soldier he really was. Colonel Gideon Michaels was shorter than Thomas but his smooth-shaven, square-jawed face held strength and determination. Although his loose civilian clothing helped to disguise the real muscle in his lanky body, it didn’t hide the smooth power with which he moved. His tanned face was in sharp contrast to his keen green eyes and pale blond hair and eyebrows set over a jutting beak of a nose. Lieutenant Zachary Jackson was around medium height and his brown eyes were on a level with Katharine’s. He had the wiry, powerful build of a trained hand-to-hand warrior built for speed and maneuverability rather than bulk. His smooth olive complexion and thick shock of brown hair was worn a little long and showed his Black Irish Old Earth ancestry. He too moved with the effortless ease of a man used to physical activity. What marked the three men as a unit was a similarity of expression and attitude. These men were used to depending on each other.

Katherine’s intuition, had given out a constant litany of No, or Never! at the other candidates. It suddenly shouted Yes! at her when she met Zackery Jackson’s eyes. She looked them over more carefully.

All three men bowed as they entered.

Colonel Michaels said politely, “How do you do Lady Katherine. I am Colonel Gideon Michaels, of the 10th Infantry volunteers, Planet Moodon. This is my 2nd Officer, Lieutenant Zachary Jackson and my leading Master Sargent Vernel Thomas.”

The window behind Katherine had put her face in shadow, but it gave her an excellent view of the three men’s expressions as they got their first good look at her. Stunned relief would have been appropriate. She smiled a little to herself. Corrine had been correct; the over-the-top outfit had been worth it. Rumors of why the delegation from Vensoog had arrived were already rife, and by this time Katherine had endured some less than respectful attitudes from some of the men she had interviewed. This was the first group who had used her title without being prompted. She detected none of the leering postures caused by her “husband hunting” displayed by some of the previous candidates.

“Please be seated gentleman,” she pointed to the chairs opposite her. “Allow me to present my condolences on the loss of your homeworld.”

“Thank you,” Michaels responded. “We offer our condolences on your losses as well, Mi’Lady.”

Just then, Sooka, who had quietly gone unnoticed by most of the other candidates, hopped off Katherine’s shoulder and bounced over to Lieutenant Jackson, springing up onto the arm of his chair. Startled, he jumped. “Well, now, who are you?” he inquired, with just the right note of amusement to please Katherine.

“That is Sooka,” Katherine replied. “She is a Quirka. Many of us keep them as companions. They are empathic. Apparently, she approves of you. You can pet her as long as you stroke downward on her fur.”

“Why she’s changing color!” exclaimed Vernal.

“Yes, they have chameleon-like qualities,” Katherine replied.

“You brought a pet along on an interstellar trip?” asked Zack incredulously.

“It was necessary,” Katherine responded. “She is not exactly a pet. A Quirka’s empathic attachment to their chosen human is very deep. A separation of so many months would have caused her to go into a depression and she would have starved herself to death in my absence. She was no real trouble on the journey; Quirkas are omnivores and with a box of sand in my quarters as a toilet, all I had to do was order the appropriate food from the dispenser.”

She watched Sooka carefully as the small creature leaped from one man to the other investigating each one carefully before returning to Zack’s lap.

“So tell me Colonel, what are your plans for the future?” she asked.

Gideon looked up from watching Zack play with Sooka. “Most of the men in my command are from Moodon, like me. As you know, Moodon was burned off by the enemy. I would like for us to find a new homeworld where we could all settle together.”

“And why is that?”

“Well, most of my unit entered the service as a group and we’ve served together so long we have become each other’s family. If we hadn’t been together when we heard Moodon was destroyed, I don’t think some of us would have made it.”

“How do you feel about taking orders from women?”

He shrugged. “I don’t see a problem. On Moodon we considered men and women to be equals; women as well as men give orders.”

Katherine turned to Vernel. “And you, sir, how do you feel about that?”

“I do my job. I take my orders and carry them out. Doesn’t make me any nevermind who gives them. I’m not a leader.”

“Lieutenant Jackson?” she asked.

Zack rubbed his nose. “Everyone has a different idea of how folks should behave.”

“I’m afraid that isn’t good enough. I require a full answer. On Vensoog, our men only hold property through their wives and daughters and they can’t hold an office except as a deputy for a wife or daughter. How do you feel about that?”

“To answer that question properly, I would need to see the text of the law so I can determine how fair it is,” he replied.

“That,” replied Katherine, rather pleased, “is a very good answer. I would have been disappointed if all of you had given me a flat yes. It would have shown duplicity.”

“Are you saying we would be second class citizens?” Michaels asked, “Because that is not something I find acceptable.”

“Not at all; you and your men would be full members of the Clan O’Teague. Traditionally most of our law enforcement and defensive offices have been held by men, but due to the war most of these offices are held by women, however Clan leadership, property and inheritance are held in the female line.”

Michaels nodded. “Okay, I think we all need to see the actual terms of the bargain you want us to agree to before we go any further.”

“I agree,” Katherine said. “But perhaps you would like to provide me with a text of what you desire for your new homeland, that way when we meet tomorrow, we can see if we want to take this any further?”

She stood and took three data crystals from her belt pouch and handed them to each man. “Here is the contract you and your men would be required to sign to become members of Clan O’Teague, and a text of our laws and privileges. May I hope you will send me your requirements by this afternoon?”

All three men had risen when she did. “I brought that information with me,” Michaels replied and offered her a data crystal in return.

Katherine took it, smiling. “I like a man who comes prepared,” she remarked. “Why don’t we agree to meet over lunch in the canteen tomorrow for further discussion? You can meet my chaperone and mentor, Lady Corrine then.”

The next day at noon, Corrine and Katherine programmed their meals in the robo-chef on the side of the canteen away from the windows and then took their food trays to an unoccupied round table in an alcove. They were joined a few minutes later by the three men. The canteen was in a bulky plastacrete building designed to feed large groups of people. It had privacy alcoves with large windows for officers and others who needed to discuss matters they didn’t wish broadcast wholesale. The portable chairs and tables could have (and had) served ten thousand diners at a sitting. Now it appeared to be only about a third full.

All three men were taken aback to realize the Quirka were apparently dining with them. Katherine and Corrine had provided small bowls of finely chopped raw meats and vegetables for each pet and a small finger bowl of water. The two Quirkas perched on their haunches on the table beside the women and waited patiently for the meal to begin. Unselfconsciously, Corrine bowed her head and said a quick Grace. There was a trifle awkwardness in the beginning of the shared meal, but Corrine and Vernal soon provided an opening for normal table conversation.

“Lady Katherine said you keep these Quirkas as companions?” Vernel pointed with his chin at the two Quirkas.

“Oh, yes,” Corrine replied, “but they are avid hunters of household vermin, and in fact prefer to hunt live prey. They are quite valued for their ability to keep homes and other buildings clear of pests.”

The rest of the dinner conversation concerned the animals and plants native to Vensoog. At the end of the meal, Vernal smiled in delight when the Quirka fastidiously washed their paws and muzzles in the fingerbowls.

Once the dishes had been removed and sent to the recycler, Katherine raised the subject that had been foremost on all their minds.

“I looked over your requests for accommodation, and I see no issues we would have difficulty filling.” She began, “as long as those of your unit who don’t wish to be a part of the matchmaking program are comfortable in providing sperm or ova for the DNA banks, they would receive the same full Clan rights as those who are handfasted.”

“From my viewing of the data you provided, I noticed you required everyone to take part in the compatibility testing even if they aren’t planning on being matched. Why is that?” inquired Zack.

“We use compatibility and personality evaluations extensively on Vensoog to determine choices for training and professions. Having your unit evaluated will help to place them in a profession they are best suited for. The evaluations help to bring to notice issues that might require counseling or re-training. This will be a difficult undertaking for us all. I want to catch any problem areas early before they grow.”

“If a problem shows up on someone’s evaluation would that be cause for not accepting them as an immigrant? Some of our men suffered extreme losses, and a few have PTSD issues and won’t show up as ‘normal’ on evaluations,” Thomas stated.

Corrine reached across the table and patted his hand. “Vernal, that issue isn’t what the evaluations are designed to weed out. It flags traits that would lead to pathological criminal behavior; you know serial killers, child molesters, and stuff like that. I’m sure none of your men have personas with those markers.”

“Soldiers are trained to kill,” Gideon pointed out.

“Yes, but there is a difference between someone who has been trained to kill for a reason and those who just do it for their own gratification. The personality markers do look quite different. If I find anyone who shows up with those markers, you may speak for them and we will then decide. Will that be sufficient?” Katherine asked.

“Well there is one more thing that puzzles me, why are we all being required to do sleep learning about the planet? Soldiers are trained to learn to survive in different environments quickly with no extra crutches like sleep learning.”

Katherine responded, “With all due respect Zack, we are attempting to integrate your men into our society smoothly and quickly. When you were dropped on strange planets to fight, you weren’t learning to adapt to a new set of laws and customs and at the same time learning to recognize dangerous plants and animals. It’s a lot to take on at once and we will only have about three months from the time I run the program until we arrive. I hope to have all the data entered so everyone who wants a spouse will know who their Handfasting partner will be before we take ship.”

“Are you part of the program?” Zack inquired.

“Yes. My sister Drusilla is too young for Handfasting; she is only sixteen, but both our Laird Genevieve and I have entered our data for Handfasting,” she responded. “My sisters and I feel it is important to show we believe in this program by taking part fully.”

The three men exchanged looks, and finally Zack and Vernel nodded to Gideon who said, “If it is acceptable to you M’lady, we will bring this to our men and have an answer for you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Gentlemen. I hope you will join us for breakfast with good news.” Katherine watched as the three left the canteen.

She looked over at her aunt. “Why do I feel as if I just stepped off the Glass Cliffs?”

“Cause we have,” retorted Corrine. Absently she ran a finger down her Quirka’s head. Divit responded by lifting up to meet her finger. “I’m pretty favorably impressed by those three. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but if they indicate the quality of the new clan members we’ll be getting, this will work. You did good, girl.”

Katherine grimaced. “I wish I could say that about my trip to the orphanage. They have unclaimed children, but don’t seem to want them to be adopted. And something smelled off, you know? Juliette, one of the children I met seemed to be afraid, and she tried to tell me something bad was going down but we were interrupted before I could find out what. I managed to find out the Administrator’s schedule while I was there, so I think I’ll make a return trip when he is out of the office.”

“Humm,” Corrine considered. “Well, just be careful. On a brighter note, I contacted Captain Heidelberg of the Dancing Gryphon. You may remember him; his family runs a free trade line out of N’Jamacia. His ship was commandeered as a troop transport during the war, but he is getting it back as soon as the military removes the weapons, and he is anxious to resume trade. He agreed to give us transport home at a reduced rate in return for a favorable trade contract with the Clan to supply power stones and Dragon Nest silks for the next five years.”

“And long term? What will he be bringing to trade for those items?”

Corrine shrugged a shoulder. “He has seeds, tools, techy items like computer quartz grinders, all kinds of stuff. The real profit is he agreed to give Clan O’Teague first crack at any items he brings in for trade for the next five years.”

Katherine looked in awe at her aunt. “Wow. How did you manage that?” She eyed Corrine suspiciously. “I remember Heidelberg as being a tough customer at the trade table. You didn’t pushto get him to agree, did you?”

“Of course not,” Corrine retorted. “He knows too much about Vensoog for me to try something like that with him. Besides, I didn’t need to. I did a little research on the way here and discovered that N’Jamacia suffered from a lack of trade during the Wars. Remember, they export mostly luxury and high-tech goods. The military commandeered or paid low-ball prices for the tech stuff during the Wars, and since most of the trade ships were converted to troop transports, the luxury goods sat in the warehouses. They need us.”

Sunrise on Fenris was certainly beautiful, Katherine reflected. Several days had passed since she had accepted Gideon’s unit for the program. The unit was busy entering and playing the shooter/treasure hunter game she provided. The game was an essential part of the program because it recorded each player’s reactions and decision making responses and integrated them into the personality profiles.

She and Sooka had cleared out of the apartment given to them by base command because Corrine was a late sleeper and complained they woke her moving around, no matter how quiet they tried to be. Since she and Sooka virtually had the dining hall to themselves this early, they had commandeered a table in an alcove that gave a view of the city and the pristine beaches. The rising sun turned the unspoiled beach to a ribbon of white edged by sparkling aqua waters. It made the multi-colored city buildings look as if they had been stained by a child’s bright crayon.

“May I join you?”

She looked up to smile at Zack. He was an early riser as well apparently, and had started joining them for breakfast.

She made a welcoming gesture to the chair opposite. “Of course.”

“Well, that’s a relief. After you turned down my dinner invitation last night—”

“Well, breakfast is much more informal and less likely to cause talk.”

He cocked his head at her. “Why are you worried about causing talk?”

“Lieutenant—how shall I say this? When we arrive on Vensoog, you will be handfasted with someone and so will I. This program is very important to my people; I need to show I believe it will work to convince them to try it. I would prefer there be no gossip about our relationship on Fenris if we are matched with other people when we arrive home. It will make everything much smoother.”

“I see. But breakfast is okay? How about lunch? I’m not giving up, you know.”

Katherine smiled in spite of herself. “Breakfast is fine. At lunch, we probably will have the others joining us.” She was surprised to find herself a little flustered by the obvious masculine approval she read in Zack’s eyes. When the war had started, she had been too young for any serious relationships, and later when she was old enough, most of the young men who would have courted her were off planet.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Zack remarked, nodding to the view out the windows.

“Oh, yes. It almost reminds me of home, except this doesn’t look quite real.”

Just then, Zack’s com chimed softly. He frowned at the telltale on the indicator and said, “I’m sorry, I have to take this,” and invoked the privacy mode. A shielding cocoon formed around him, making it impossible to see or hear to whom he was talking.

Katherine looked over at Sooka, industriously finishing a large helping of breakfast. The Quirka seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that was edging in the window. Katherine sniffed experimentally and immediately noticed a faint musky odor.

“Uh-Oh,” she grimaced. “It does come inconveniently for us girls doesn’t it Sweetie? I hope you and Divit like each other because I’m afraid you won’t have much choice when the time comes.”

Sooka made a whuffling noise as if she agreed. Katherine was never sure how much the little creature actually understood of her conversation. They were empathic but not telepathic. Quirka’s rarely made permanent bonds with their choice when mating unless their human partners were involved. However, both sexes cared equally for the pups until they were old enough to bond with a human.

Zack finished his conversation and shut down the privacy cone, but he continued to scowl fiercely and drummed his fingers on the table.

“Is something the matter My Lord?” Katherine automatically gave him the courtesy title he would be accorded on Vensoog.

“What? No. Yes, by the Void, there is. In the last battle, my best friend, Timon was killed. He died saving my life. He left behind two boys, twins, here on Fenris. Their mother is dead, and I promised him I would take care of them. I’ve been trying to gain custody, but I am running into roadblocks put up by the Placement Center. I just heard back from the Child Placement Center where they sent them. Now they’re claiming that another relative has come forward to demand custody of them. Damnit, Timon didn’t have any relatives! That’s why he asked me to take his boys.”

“Are you certain he didn’t have any relatives? What about the mother?”

Zack made a rude noise. “The mother’s dead. Some wasting disease I think. She only had one sister, and she was killed a few months before the war ended and no grandparents. That’s why the boys ended up in that Center. Timom was raised by the State.”

“Humnn. What is the name of the relative that came forward?”

“Jerrod van Doyle.”

Katherine looked sharply at him. “Are you sure that’s the name?”

“Yes, why?”

“Because I do think you have a problem. I had reason to check out the name of Jerrod van Doyle regarding three other children at that Placement Center I tried to adopt. He’s listed as their next of kin too. Juliette, one of the girls, told me she is afraid of him so I checked with a friend in the interplanetary police and I discovered he’s on a watch list for trafficking in children.”

Something cold rose up and died behind his eyes. “Well, he’s not getting Timons boys.”

“No. I agree with you and I think you and I might just be able to help each other out with this. Come up to my office where we can talk privately. There won’t be anyone around this early.”

As they left, neither of them noticed the expression of the tall woman who had started toward their table. She wore a Lieutenant’s uniform. Her white-blond hair, cut short in a style favored by the military, framed striking, well-cut features. Just now, her red, bow shaped lips set in an angry scowl.

Once in her office, Katherine pulled up the virtual screen and pointed to a line of code. “You see this? This shows where the children’s records were altered to show van Doyle as a relative. It’s not the only time he’s done it either. There’s a record of alterations of children’s records going back to before the wars. The only recent changes though are to these five records. Timon’s two boys and these three girls. I spoke to the oldest girl the last time I went out there. Her name is Juliette. When I congratulated her on finding a relative, she was the one who clued me in on what was about to happen. She is a very clever little girl. I promised her I would help her.”

“Help her? How?” Zack questioned.

“There are only two ways to remove a child from that Placement Center. They can be adopted, which we already tried and were turned down, or they can be claimed by a relative. It doesn’t have to be a close relative either. How would you feel about gaining two nephews and three girl cousins?”

“And when they find out you’ve altered the coding to show I’m related to them? I assume that’s what you are talking about.”

Katherine laughed. “Well, it is, but nothing as crude as what I just showed you. I assure you that I am a much better programmer than whoever designed this package. What’s more I can make theirchanges so obvious no one could miss them.”

He sat frowning at her. “Are you that good?”

“Yes, I’m that good. I may as well confess to you I was planning to do this anyway, but I planned to use the name of a clan member killed in action. The program has already been dropped in the database. All I need to do is substitute your name for his and activate the code.”

“Lady, you are piece of work,” he said, half admiringly, half horrified. “Let’s go for it.”

“Wonderful! Meet me in front of the gate at 1400 hours. We have a meeting with the City Mayor to discuss this issue this afternoon. Wear your uniform so you look heroic, and leave the talking to me. A live hero showing up in person is always harder to ignore than a dead one anyway,” she added.

Zack shook his head. “I hope I won’t regret this,” he remarked.

Gestuv Yance, The City Mayor, was short, round, and already going bald. He was overwhelmed to be rubbing shoulders with a member of the royal family of another planet, and thrilled to be invited to the Planetary Governor’s Ball given in honor of the exalted visitors from Vensoog and numerous other visiting dignitaries. It was obvious dreams of advancement and influence danced in his head. Zack watched with hidden amusement as Katherine not quite flirted with the Mayor. Today, she had dressed to impress; the outfit clung lovingly to her, and Mayor Yance was so busy trying to see through her transparent blouse and not get caught doing it, he signed and sealed the custody papers without even reading them.

The robocar that met them outside the Mayor’s office was built to carry at least ten passengers. Somehow, Zack was unsurprised to hear Katherine give the address of the Child Placement Center. Obviously, she had been prepared to move quickly.

“You had this plan already ready to go,” didn’t you,” he remarked. “I’m impressed”.

“The administrator is gone this afternoon,” she explained, “It’s his regular mid-week appointment in the city. That assistant of his is too used to rolling over for authority figures. I plan for us to have those children safe with us before he returns from his afternoon sex appointment.”

“And just how, may I ask, do you know he will be gone?” Zack inquired skeptically.

She shrugged. “Juliette seems to know everything that goes on in that place. I had quite a conversation with her when I saw her last week.”

She took out her com. “There is one more call we need to make. I want to let Commander Veratos know we are going to remove the children. She’s in charge of the IPP task force on human trafficking here on Fenris. She contacted me when I put through a query about van Doyle.”

Zack was gaining considerable respect for Katherine’s preparations. The entire operation was handled like a military campaign. Grouter’s Administrative assistant sputtered in distress when they collected the children, but Zack and Katherine were in and out of the facility, accompanied by five children, luggage and personal possessions inside of fifteen minutes.

As their car pulled away, Zack noticed that a bright red robocar pulled into the compound they had just left. “That’s van Doyle’s bus,” Juliette warned. “He’ll be having a fit when he finds us gone.”

Her voice was quiet, but Zack could read the underlying tension in it. She was a thin child, with bright green eyes and a shock of brilliantly red hair. Zack judged her age to be around twelve years old. Katherine patted her hand. “Don’t worry about that.” She handed Juliette a copy of the papers signed by the mayor, which Juliette scanned with every appearance of comprehension. Maybe she was older than twelve. It was hard for him to judge girl children’s ages unless they had entered puberty.

“Meet your new Uncle, “Katherine nodded to the boys, “and your third cousin girls, Zack Jackson. He now has custody of you five and as an accepted immigrant to Vensoog, he may take his family with him. I don’t think there will be difficulties; unless I miss my guess, Grouter and van Doyle are about to be up to their ears in trouble with IPP.”

“The program!” Zack exclaimed. “Will the changes you made stand up to a police inquiry?”

Katherine shrugged. “All I did was make their alterations more obvious. My changes will look like new information written into the database because of records entered after the war.”

She smiled at the children. “Juliette and I have met, but since the rest of you don’t know me, I am Lady Katherine of Clan O’Teague. Why don’t you introduce yourselves to your new Uncle and tell him a bit about how you came to be at the center?”

The twin boys, age twelve, looked at Zack with identical measuring stares. “Are you really our father’s brother, sir?”

“In a manner speaking. Timon was my blood brother and best friend from the time we were children. We were raised in a placement center after both of us were orphaned. We adopted each other, entered the service together and served together. I was with him when he died. I gave him my word to look after you and teach you how to become men.”

He looked at the bigger twin, “Rodrick, right? And you would be Rupert? Welcome home boys.”

They nodded silently. Katherine decided that the boys’ dark skin, eyes and hair from their mixed-race heritage would pass as a family resemblance.

The girls didn’t resemble Zack at all. Violet was the youngest, and she plainly showed her mixed Asian ancestry. Lucinda the next oldest of the girls, had a pale complexion, ash blond hair and grey eyes. All the children looked underweight a trifle but none of them looked malnourished, and they wore clean if worn clothing. Mentally, she judged their sizes. A visit from the tailor would be in order, she decided.

“Where are we going?” inquired Juliette.

“We are going back to the base. We have quarters there until the Dancing Gryphon is ready to leave. Since Zack is billeted with his unit, you five will stay in my quarters with my Aunt Corrine and me. We were allotted a General’s accommodations so we have extra bedrooms and a recreation room.”

“I’m hungry,” Violet announced.

Katherine smiled at her. “As soon as we get your gear dropped off in our quarters, we’ll head down to the commissary for a snack,” she promised. “What kind of foods do you like to eat?”

The dinner table that night was quite crowded. Corrine had suggested that the three men join them for meals shortly after choosing their unit. With the addition of the children, it made the meal almost feel like home, Katherine realized. At Glass Castle, as well as a table for the Laird’s family, the dining room was often crowded with visitors to the clan and students of various ages.

By the time she could finally sit down at the table, Katherine had settled two wrangles over who got to sit by Sooka, showed Roderick and Juliette how to use the selection buttons on the robochef and persuaded Rupert that a few vegetables wouldn’t poison him. She hoped it would grow easier once she and the children learned each other’s food preferences.

Once everyone was occupied with filling their bellies, Katherine could address her own needs. Becoming the mother of five children all at once was a new and worrisome experience. She knew she had a long way to go to win the children’s trust. Juliette, while grateful for the rescue from van Doyle’s clutches, was still wary of her intentions and she had a powerful influence on the others.

Gideon cleared his throat, “Um—Lady Katherine, I have a favor to ask.”

“Yes of course if I can. What can I do for you, Lord Gideon?”

He looked a little self-conscious at the title. “I too have two wards I want to take with me to Vensoog. Lucas is sixteen. His grandfather sent him to me when Gwynedd was overrun. He is old enough to stay with me in the barracks, but my niece Jayla is only thirteen and for obvious reasons, I would rather she not be quartered with the unit. My brother and his wife had sent her off planet when they learned Moodon had become a target. After Moodon was destroyed and they were killed, she became my ward. She and Lucas will arrive on the nineteenth. Would it be possible to make room for Jayla in your quarters?”

“Of course. We’ve been given a General’s lodgings and have plenty of bedrooms. If we need more rooms, there are always those handy portable walls! It might be possible for Lucas to stay with Corrine and me too. We’ll figure something out.”

They were cleaning up the table from the meal when a tall, athletic blond woman approached and greeted Zack with enthusiasm. Hastily disengaging himself from her attempted embrace, he introduced her as Lieutenant Darla Lister from Colonel Lewiston’s command.

“Don’t be so formal Zack,” Lieutenant Lister said. “I’m sure your new friends can spare you long enough to spend the evening with an old friend.”

Zack sent Katherine a harassed look. She responded immediately, “It is nice to have time to visit with old friends, isn’t it Lieutenant? I’m afraid though, that Zack has other duties this evening. This is a new place Zack and I’m sure your new wards would appreciate your being on hand to help them get settled in for the night.”

Zack smiled quite naturally at Darla. “Yes, I’m sure they would. Perhaps some other time?”

A spark of red anger showed in her eyes at his rejection, but she was too well trained to let it be noticed. “Why Zack, you didn’t tell me you had gotten married. And to a woman with so many children too!”

“Although I will get married shortly, I don’t have the name of my bride yet,” he responded coolly. “These are my nephews and cousins. I’ve just taken custody of them from the Placement Center. They will accompany me to Vensoog.”

Darla watched the group leave with narrowed eyes.

“Trouble in paradise?” inquired Colonel Lewiston’s smooth voice from behind her.

“O’Teague, that’s the clan you applied for first, isn’t it?” she retorted with just the right touch of mockery. “I hear she didn’t like you.”

“Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Lister.” He shrugged. “Clan DeMedici will suit us, and I’m finding Donna Sabina easy to control. She finds me very attractive. And that will get us free passage to Vensoog where we can implement the rest of the plan

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