March 3 Yo, the first part of March. Better weather for this time of year-which means rain-but we shall see how it goes from here on. We still have at least three months where it can rain.
This is the third and last excerpt of The Courier. This time from chapter six. It includes some byplay between characters as well as part of a fight. I still aim to have this out the end of March. So watch for it. But don’t wait I have tree other novels out you can buy. :)
Kara is on an airship piloted and owned by an “indie”, an independent airship owner who flies people and freight around. Many are honest but some will cheat you, while others will carry contraband and be involved with other illegal activities, which includes attacking other Indies-that comes in later in the novel. Kara is on a week long “run” to get various contracts signed but she finds herself attacked more than once and she finds something in her courier pouch that she didn’t place in it.
Enjoy:
Before she could answer with an apology he looked around at the disassembled gun on her cot and the stunner lying next to it. He might have smelled the gun oil too.
“What’s up?”
She looked up at him confused.
He pointed at the weapons. “You left suddenly just because you had a case of weapon withdrawal?”
“No, I’m sorry for not saying anything. I should have—too much time by myself, but this is something I do every so often. In my occupation I never know when I will need one of these, so I make sure they are operational.”
He nodded. “I understand that. You never know when some dust, spare oil, or insect or something will get into your weapon but this is sudden. Were you attacked at your last stop?”
“What? No.” She sighed. “This has nothing to do with being attacked. I mean, I could be, I have been while doing a run, but this is about being ready just in case.”
Kara almost rolled her eyes at her own verbal confusion. She could converse better than that. Danny gave her a look that said he didn’t believe her, but let it drop and said he needed to get back to the cockpit, and left.
Once she heard his footsteps go down the hallway, she said, “Damn! I hate lying to him.”
She grabbed one of the sticks of gum she still had left and put one in her mouth—more for something to do with her hands instead of throwing something though. She barely registered the strong flavor.
But what would he do if he knew they were being followed by people willing to kill? She needed this run and she would get past them to finish it. She was good and her rep would be even better if it got out. And she didn’t need protection. If anyone needed protection, he did. In fact she protected him by being quiet. The less he knew the better. She let out a couple of more curses though.
She hurriedly but carefully put the pistol back together. Should she go to him and try to convince him again or just let him think for the night? This had better not have ruined their friendship!
Kara finally went to bed. The next morning she slept late, after taking a long time to go to sleep. He knocked on her door and asked if she needed any breakfast. She said yes. Since she had already taken a fast shower—maybe he had heard the running water—and was dressed, she went to the small lounge. He stood there cooking eggs and bacon, and even had some biscuits in a toaster oven. He said, “Good morning. Sorry I totally forgot butter, but I do have honey. Nothing special just plain, cheap honey.”
“That’s fine, I like cheap, plain honey. I am kind of plain myself.”
He gave her a look that seemed to say, “No, you’re not,” but went back to his cooking without saying anything. A minute later he set a plate with fried eggs and bacon in front of her. Five pieces of perfect bacon. A moment later a hot biscuit joined it.
“There are more biscuits, not home made but good anyway.”
Her mouth watered for that bacon—she tasted one. Thicker than usual and so good. He must have remembered what she had said about bacon during one of their talks. Danny sat down, after giving her some orange juice, with his plate and glass. Some of his bacon was a little burnt one piece looked undercooked some. So had he taken the rejects, or did he like it that way. Damn, she couldn’t recall what he said about what he liked.
They ate in silence except for the noises of chewing.
Once done she said, “Thank you, the bacon tasted wonderful and the eggs were good too.”
He looked up at her and smiled. She stood and started to gather the dishes.
“No, I can do that. You need to get ready for your next run. In case you hadn’t noticed, we landed and are tethered.”
So that was why the airship’s movement had felt funny. “What?” She should have figured that out sooner; the movement of a ship tethered yet pushed by the wind felt different from flying.
“You slept late.”
“Oh, I wondered why you were spending so much time away from the controls.”
“I can make some coffee to help you wake up. Some hot and strong instant stuff will wake you by taste, heat, and caffeine.”
“Um, maybe you should do that, I seem to be half asleep. I’ll get dressed in my outfit.”
On the way out she again said, “Thank you for breakfast. Ir was good.” Unsaid, even though she wasn’t sure if he would get it, was, “After last night.”
Kara rushed back to her cabin and changed. Once dressed she made sure each of her devices were where they were supposed to be. That included two bottles of water and four cereal bars, just in case of some emergency. She went down the ladder, after making sure she told him her destination. She headed for the terminal. There she called her next client. He said he would be in his office this morning. She said she would be there. Nothing happened on the way even though she spotted someone that could have been that woman. This time it was hard to tell for sure, for she looked common: average height, weight and dress. This time her hair looked shorter and a different color but she could have it up or behind her in a bun. The color change could be done easily enough since Kara had last seen her. But at the same time Kara didn’t want to be too paranoid.
The man’s office was a small trailer at a construction site this time, no one was working yet on this warm morning but it looked like someone would be there at anytime. The man, who looked middle age and tough with a sweat-stained shirt, signed his contract, number four, they shook hands and she left. On the way back to the airport, though, something seemed off. She looked back at the site—it didn’t look quite the same as it had when she stood right in front of it. Closed down? She was just there though. A shrug and she continued. Just as she rushed by a very dark alley mouth something stopped her forward motion. She looked down to one side and a hand held her pouch. It pulled again. She startled but managed to plant her feet and pull on the pouch and the hand pulling on it around to her front. The man connected to the hand came with it. He looked too skinny, even though he was only half a head taller than her. He wore old, torn clothes. Obviously he hadn’t figured that she would be too in tune with it to ignore something like that.
Kara chopped at the hand—when it let go, she shoved the man hard. He had been taken by surprise so didn’t react fast enough. Now he stumbled backward and hit an A-frame with enough force to knock him over it. A clunk showed that he hit his head. She grabbed his shirt and lifted him up; he had looked underweight and didn’t wear much. She placed her face near his. He smelled of drugs, and had very bad breath. “Never try to steal a courier’s pouch. Next time you might get a knife in your gut. That is very painful.” She pushed him over the A-frame again.
Of course more than likely no courier would stab him in the gut but maybe it could scare him into leaving couriers alone—maybe. As she walked away, she thought, The first shove over the A-frame was an accident but the second one wasn’t, I went too far. But she had been angry.
A light step behind her made her turn her head. Was he up already?
No, but a man who had to have been his partner came out of the dark alley. This guy appeared to be the same height as the first one but was obviously in better shape. Even in the rags he wore he looked like a fighter with muscles. The way he held the knife in his hand showed that too. Her dad and Twoskunks both said that you could tell the ability of someone with a knife by the way he, or she, held it. This guy knew his business. Which brought up the question of why someone with that training would be here living a homeless person. Of course drug, addiction can get anyone, she thought.
Kara had no more time for thoughts: the guy had moved close enough to lunge at her. She dodged him, though, he moved deceptively fast,and she finished the movement to get her stunner out. It should have been out sooner but the new outfit was slightly different ,which she hadn’t taken into account.
Her attacker's eyes widened a bit but they went back to normal in a heartbeat. She held the stunner like a knife and her stance reflected that. Behind him she saw a woman come out of the dark alley mouth. Just like one of those otherworldly transportation gates a couple of the books she read contained, her mind insisted on saying.
She wanted to roll her eyes—this wasn’t the time for that. Kara wanted to run but knew they would be on her in a few seconds, unless she could stun them for even a couple of seconds.
The woman moved back like she wanted to let the first guy have all the fun. Kara slid sideways to get a wall behind her to make sure neither of them or a new person could come at her from behind. The man moved to her, and she glanced at the woman without moving her face or eyes. As Kara suspected, she wasn’t homeless, no matter how she dressed in ripped, old gray sweats and a loose-fitting stained top.
A second look and she thought, Neither is this man. She had seen all types of homeless, and this guy didn’t fit: his smell didn’t fit, nor his breath, nor his body language, or his hair style. A part of her mind took a second to hope they hadn’t killed the original owners of the clothing they wore.
She made a feint with the stunner, slightly pressed the button to make a noise, and to produce a spark at the end. That sometimes shook her attackers. Not this guy, though. Another feint which didn’t even make even his eyes look at her hand.
Damn, this guy was good.
Three more fakes, each one closer to him, and she struck for real. He leaned back to avoid the arc. She got her hand back in time to block his first swing. Sweat popped out on her forehead. The stunner warmed her hand since she had it running. A hard lunge from him that turned out to be a feint. She danced as he moved his feet. Two more swings each and she tried to get him to back off by swinging the stunner all the way across her front. It was on full but he moved back only a step and moved his hand to block hers. Or so she thought until a shock ran through her fingers around the stunner. A heartbeat later she knew she no longer held it. How had he done that? She knew there were ways to knock knives out of hands, but she hadn’t seen what he used. She couldn’t stop herself—her eyes went to that hand. All fingers were still there, no blood. So he hadn’t hit her with his blade.
He moved in with a sudden motion. The tip of his blade hit her chest below a breast with a faster motion. The impact pushed her back slightly, and made her grunt. But the new metal held up. She would have a bruise, but no cut.
Kara decided if he moved that quick she would have to as well. The heel of one hand slammed into his forehead before she could finish the thought. A jab with her fingers into his sternum and a last sock in the belly with her left fist. Then she doubled up her hands and swung up. The impact on his jaw was enough for her to hear his teeth click. A final double-fisted hit on his face. She hoped to bloody his nose but didn’t connect right. He backed off though with tears in his eyes, but didn’t go down. She had to back off, too.
Her arms were tired already and he was still on his feet. They moved around in a dance. She blocked his knife swings, but he got in a couple punches, and she couldn’t get in another solid hit. But the stunner lay on the cement behind him. She maneuvered him around. The woman joined in and tried to grab Kara from behind, but Kara slammed back with her head. When something hard stopped her head’s momentum she knew she had connected. Kara slid sideways again. Maybe she could run out in the street when some cars came by. They danced some more, the woman behind the man again, and as Kara feinted to the right as if to run to the street, the woman came around the man. A sizzle sounded, followed by an electric buzz. Then the sound of a body hitting cement. So she had forgotten the stunner Kara thought.
When the man glanced at his partner Kara drew her longer knife. The man’s eyes came back to the front and widened for a moment. Sirens sounded. So someone had called the police.
end excerpt
Showing posts with label Indie novels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indie novels. Show all posts
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Except from my new novel The Courier
Since I am almost finished with the final corrections on my novel The Courier I decided to post some excerpts from it. This is 3,880 words of the first chapter. It ends with a cliffhanger.
I am not sure when I will be publishing the full novel but the way it is going now it will be in April. I have said this before but the corrections are going slow because they are tedious and I keep losing my place and have to spend time finding it. But since I am somewhat past half way I am starting to feel like I want to get it done so am spending more time on it and less on other writing and social media. I may end up doing four excerpts but three for sure. I will be publishing it on E-book and paper formats. And at the usual sites: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Smashwords etc. I am still looking into setting up my own site for the paper versions at least.
And I remind people that I have three novels already published. Two are in a Urban Fantasy series and one is a steampunk-special ops fusion. They are under L. E. Doggett and are at the usual sites, in paper and e-versions.
The novel is steampunk but set in our time. It is about a young woman who is a member of the Couriers. An organization of men and woman—even though there are mostly women couriers in this tale, it just worked out that way—who carry and deliver messages and hand held objects. That could be contracts, love letters, blueprints, gold, gems, parts, pictures, books and anything else that will fit in the special pouch they use. They have a reputation of delivering what they carry on time, if not early, no matter how far they have to go, or what obstacles they have to overcome-including gang members, robbers, ocean storms, dogs, and time. Kara Stronggear is one of them. And she will deliver what is entrusted to her no matter what, for she has a rep to build. She will become one of the better known couriers if she lives long enough to grow up.
Kara Stronggear ran around the corner of the high-rise office building. Steam cars and trucks rolled down the city street and the sidewalk up ahead looked half filled with people. A white steam bus with wide blue stripes went by, but she wouldn’t be able to catch it. The few people out and about got out of her way. The brown, denim-and-leather bag she carried gave away her occupation. Her short stature made it easier to whip around the slower ones.
A cool wind blew at her after she made the turn and made the few strands of her red hair outside of her cap flip around. A BMW steam bike roared by.
She had just passed a newspaper stand closed for the day and the smell of its fresh paint—for the first time in ten years—followed her. It mixed disagreeably with the odors from boilers: wood, oil, and coal fires and something else that a huge old steam truck burned that stunk and produced black smoke. She wouldn’t be surprised if the EPA went after that company soon.
Along the way she glanced at the theater and political posters stuck to the side of the building, as usual for New York they looked dark with grime. The many doors she passed invited her in but they might be locked and she didn’t want to take the chance that an office would turn into a trap. She had a rep to uphold, a bonus to earn and a baseball game to see after this delivery. The noise of the street vehicles echoed from the brick and steel buildings, but her hearing had adopted to it. She could pick out individual voices near her and still heard the footsteps of the person who chased her.
Maybe she should head for the new 911 memorial building. So many people there she could lose herself with ease. But no, too far away. That Baptist church nearby, had afternoon meetings for drug addicts and Celebrate Recovery, but she didn’t want to place those people in danger.
A white minivan with clear smoke that smelled of french fries almost jumped the curb when it hurried around another slower car. She glanced at it but it continued on. She spat, a very unladylike action, but the mixture of the paint and smoke produced a bad taste in her mouth. Her brown, with autumn red pockets, dungarees and leather shirt, with light read shoulders and pockets, would show people she wasn’t a lady anyway. Her shorter auburn hair lay mostly under a baseball cap snugged down tight. That made her scalp warm in this weather, but her whole body had to endure that. The cap's front panel showed her logo: a lightning bolt zipping down a city street. The bolt carried the same bag she did.
This time she had no idea what she carried in her reinforced bag. The pouch could carry more than ten red bricks. She knew that for once she had carried that many for a client. That job had taken a lot of her physically. She didn’t know who would want what she carried in it this time. If it contained cash or gems she could understand why, even if those contents were usually kept secret, which meant no one should know about it. But that knowledge could have gotten out. No one usually cared for contracts unless it involved industrial espionage or gangsters. The same went for plans and blueprints, or just plain letters. Unless it was some form of communication someone thought they could use for blackmail, no one cared. In her eighteen months of experience, and from advice from other couriers, she had learned that those who go after couriers hardly ever resorted to violence. The Mob might, but she had never had gangsters after her before. She might also be carrying evidence for a criminal case or secret government or military plans. The Mob could be after the first, but as far as she knew she hadn’t carried any secret papers or devices. That might be almost fun if she ever did.
The person who chased her now might be just interested in her. There were rapists around this city, after all. She thought of herself as attractive yet on the lower end of the pretty scale, with a pixie face to go with her light red hair. All of her walking, running and carrying, not to mention workouts, gave her figure a nice shape but that included muscles that most women didn’t carry. This guy might learn the same as two men, and a few assailants had. And experienced the unpleasant surprise of finding out how strong she was.
That brought up the memories of when she had been attacked on two of her recent jobs. By men who had wanted what she carried not her. That didn’t make any difference to her though, she had a good rep for getting what her clients wanted delivered on time and in one piece. She always made sure she kept that rep. One of the men had woken up in a steam ambulance while the other two had been run off even though they had knives. They had found out the hard way that she was armed in more ways than one.
That included her outfit which hid a steal underlay-a new type made stronger than ever. Chest, stomach and back armor covered her and her hat hid padded segments that would protect her head from most blows. She also carried a small three-shot pistol, two knives—one for throwing, which she hadn’t had to use so far—and two other weapons no one but her knew about. Not that her other weapons were common knowledge. Lastly three ball bearings of various sizes that were good to throw, marbles to drop on the ground in front of someone running, and a pocket full of long tacks for the same purpose but for anything with air tires.
She turned another corner and zipped through a space between buildings. Her steps echoed between the two buildings and the shade cooled her a little. A leap over some empty boxes got her on the far side fast. But the stinks here were so bad her body thought she could taste the mixture of rotten food, poo, decay and old paint.
The man hadn’t even slowed but by his footsteps she knew he still chased her. Kara wondered if she would have to resort to weapons. The father she barely knew had taught her the uses of a knife along with the marble and tack tricks. She picked up moves from two different boxers in training and she had taken courses from a teacher of eastern martial arts. An old Indian friend of her dad’s had showed her how to run long distances and how to hunt. The lessons had started when she reached ten years of age and had been living with relatives. Kara used lessons from the last to detect anyone hunting her. It had safeguarded her life once at least—before she had gotten the idea of this job—and saved the bag she carried twice. The padding and armor were her own ideas as had been her second knife. One long and thick enough to serve as a very short sword. On top of that a professional had shown her how to drive many types of land vehicles which included the multi-gear older trucks, and she knew the controls of some boats. She had picked up the basics for airship control. The large cargo and passenger ships needed more than one operator however but she thought she could pilot one if she ever needed to.
Kara dodged in and out of the walkers on the sidewalk—she hoped to lose her tail in the mix of clothing on this block. Workmen in blue denim, men and women in business suits and casual outfits, some women dressed in skimpy outfits that worked in a certain other type of business. The last were supposedly illegal in this city but the police usually left them alone unless they gathered together in a brothel or near a prominent building, church or school.
She aimed for a group of the last as she hoped their clothes would distract any man who followed her. She began to breath hard but a block later though she knew that last gambit hadn’t worked. He must be a pro or perhaps he was gay. It didn’t matter though. She weaved between a small mass of teens, through a group of nuns, turned right to cross the street, but as she passed around one very tall couple she made a sudden turn to the left into an alley. The darkness in it might throw off her tail if they had seen her flit down there. It smelled of urine, vomit, alcohol, decay and maybe old blood, but she heard no scuffles beyond rats. No breathing or snores either. The air cooled down, probably because the buildings on either side blocked the sun.
The rotten-food odors reminded her of the time she had had to eat some moldy bread and cheese to live, only a couple of years ago before her current career. Even now Kara appreciated she had left the meat alone. She had barely held down what she did eat, even though the old cheese hadn’t been too bad in its flavor. With a shake of her head she pushed those memories back where they belonged.
Kara studied her surroundings—shadows covered almost everything. Some light came from both alley mouths and from some widows two and three floors up. She didn’t know if those were tenants or offices. Offices might be easier to open up and climb into if needed. Some windows would be unlocked. Her dad and uncle taught her that. But she hadn’t wanted to make a living being a second-story man or cat burglar to work her way up to a top level all around crook like her dad.
Damn
That came so sudden she almost let it out. A scoff at the mouth of the alley she had come through warned her. She caught a slight movement there when she pivoted so quick she almost received an air burn on her cheeks. This guy knew his stuff. If he came from the Mob he was no ordinary gangster or hit man. From the government maybe—a special forces operative. If so, she would be dead.
Maybe she should give him the bag this time. She would more than likely be alive then even if she had to rebuild her rep. With slow steps Kara moved backward to the wall. The end of the alley proved to be a wall made of large, rough, cement blocks instead of the side of a building. The wall might lead to another alley or a parking lot. Either would be good.
Kara stood still, not only to make herself a harder target to find but also to listen. He would more than likely make a noise in an unfamiliar, dark space full of unseen objects just waiting to be bumped or stepped on. A nice cat’s tail would be good, or a trash can’s lid. They used bins now, but some habits die hard.
Damn, no sounds!
No deeper shadows, no breathing, no tiny movement of air caused by someone moving either. Either he was waiting for her to make a sound of her own or of that movement had been her imagination. That had happened once before, not long ago.
She breathed in as soft as possible through her nose: no extra odors. Not sweat, aftershave, hairspray, or other bodily smells. That last had let her know the position of one attacker a year ago and twice since. She had been out for a day of nature bonding when she had almost mistaken BO for animal droppings.
Now nothing. She hoped her body wouldn’t betray her, her own sweat at least might be tracked to her. And maybe she should start being careful what she ate the day before a run like this one.
How long could she stay in this position?
I am going to have to move one way or another soon.
A touch made further internal debate stopped, for it wasn’t needed anymore.
Minute vibrations through her bag alerted her. Something touched it. Her mind went through a series of possibilities: cat or rat? A huge spider? But she dismissed them almost as quick as they formed. It got to the only real answer in a heartbeat.
Damn, he’s even better than I thought.
He had moved without the slightest noise, or shadow and had found her. How? Kara asked herself as she pivoted, elbowed the guy with her left arm, and as she finished the turn, rammed the heel of her hand into the man’s chest—or that had been her plan. Her elbow hit something soft and hard but the heel of her hand just grazed a part of his torso. She pivoted outward and away but even as she settled two hands gripped her and a second later a knife edge found her throat. It just rested there, but her skin knew how sharp it was. Her sudden breath inward brought a whiff of her own fear-infused sweat. What felt like a hand moved along her bag; she knew the choice he had just given her. Her life for the bag. She breathed in again, and this time she tasted blood in the air. Her own? From her throat? Or maybe she had bit her lip again. It didn’t matter now. The choice did. It wouldn’t be a fair trade, for only one side would be permanent. Her rep would be gone, but as she had thought earlier she could remake it. Her life was another deal. Her eyes narrowed as did her lips. She willed her muscles to relax. She sighed even though she couldn’t say sure how much of it got out between her lips.
He seemed to be giving her time to think on it. She couldn’t stomp on his foot as much as she wanted to, as the motion might force her throat onto the blade and he would know that trick. His hand moved up the strap, stopped at the level of her chest. It moved over slightly. She couldn’t help it— she grunted, jerked, and smothered a snarl, before she realized he wasn’t copping a feel. The buckle for the strap lay against her body there. He probably didn’t mind his hand being there though.
Now her anger was up, even if he wasn’t manhandling her breast, she thought. He couldn’t see her face so wouldn’t know what the expression on her face meant. When her upper cheeks hardened, her nostrils flared and her mouth set in a certain way she knew. A tinkle suggested he had hold of the buckle and would be able to undo it even one handed.
A slow deep breath—she no longer could smell her own fear—and she waited.
The knife slipped very slightly but before she could react a memory of what her dad and Twoskunks each had said. In this situation it boiled down to wait more—it could be a fake. A second move of the knife hand—this could be a fake too but he almost had the buckle undone. Grabbing the hand would not do, as he had more strength than her. Kara could tell that by his hold. Being this close she could feel his strength and a few muscles. His warmth and build wormed its way into her thinking. She wanted to roll her eyes, but it did something for her feminine side. Now wasn’t the time to even feel that much less think about it and it went against her personal morals anyway. But his body felt like a good type of warmth, her face burned as if she were blushing, when she responded to his strength. Part of her feelings might be caused by the way his wrist rubbed her breast—not hard enough to bruise but still it created some friction.
Her mind back on her danger. Bite his wrist? Ready or not that would distract him. Might cause him to back hand her too through. She would have to take the chance. All she needed was a few seconds to get her other weapon into her hand. She tried a move for his eyes, but her fingers encountered something hard, smooth and glass-like.
A steam bike roared by outside the alley, it sounded like the rider rode on the sidewalk, headed in here, she thought perplexed and a tiny bit hopeful. They always made more noise than a steam car even with smaller boilers. The toot toot of a back-up steam horn sounded for seconds. She pulled in a slow breath through her nose. Got some of his scent along with her sweat. She rolled her eyes. No more distractions.
Kara let out a moan of pleasure that wasn’t all faked, and he paused as if thinking about what he just heard. She reacted by sliding away from the knife through the crook of his arm on that side. From the way his arm had rested she knew where that space would be. Her smaller size came in handy here. She brushed against his side and arm as she squeezed through that space. A smile crossed her face when she made it through before he could close his arm to trap her.
Once free she took a step to one side and spun around in a circle. In a second, even faster circle to gather speed, she lifted her right leg as far as possible as she came around the second time. She figured, hoped, that he would be facing her at this point. Her ankle connected with something hard with a flap. It moved. The sound of a body as it impacted the cement floor showed her that she had been correct in her aim—mostly. Her foot not her ankle should have hit his head. That joint now hurt, but she wouldn’t let it slow her. The pain reminded her of practice sessions. None of her teachers allowed her to stop because of pain.
To give her ankle time to recover and to do something unexpected, she drew her newest weapon. Slid a small knob on one side of it with her thumb. A very slight buzz sounded, she backed up, aimed to where the sound of the impact had come from, waited two heartbeats and then press a stud under it. A bright electrical bolt shot out. In the darkness the bright light dazzled her eyes, even through her closed lids. The hiss and very small electrical thump it made when it hit the cement revealed that she had missed. She backed up more, not caring about any noise she made for he knew where her location. Kara drew a breath in, breathed hard even as she moved. The air brought with it a tang of ozone. As she knew there would be.
Another three heartbeats and she moved to avoid whatever motions he made for her. A touch of air movement caused her to slide sideways, a darker man height mass in the darkness caused her to duck instinctively. She duckwalked three steps and stood. She knew he came for her. It hadn’t been quite long enough but Kara aimed the device in front of her and pressed the stud again even as she moved her arm. A less bright bolt shot out. She thought it moved slower—but that had to be her imagination. By the flash, she saw her bolt hit his side. He had to have slid that way when she aimed it. Too slow this time though. Again her vision clouded with stars and bright flashes, yet that didn’t interfere with the sound of a body impacting the cement a second time. The charge hadn’t been powerful enough to knock him out, but this time he should stay down at least long enough for her to climb that back wall.
A look around OH OH.
If I can find it again.
The darkness surrounded her, probably because her eyes had adjusted to the two bright strobes. A quick mental replay of their fight and she headed in one direction. The image of the area created by the electrical shock she supported her choice. There were no sounds except for those outside the alley. That included a siren. No way to know if someone had seen their fight and called the police. She didn’t want to talk to them anyway. Not only would that make her late but the electric stunner was illegal.
With her ears tuned to any sounds of the man getting up she hurried toward the wall. A solid bump on her nose that stopped her progress, revealed she had been closer than she thought. A short rub on the nose and a grunt was all the response she would give to the pain. React to it later; more lessons from her teachers but she had learned that one that hard way, too. The stink here also revealed where she as. An old, odor of urine strong enough for this to be a latrine for an army of homeless bums, she hoped—she hadn’t stepped in anything worse, but it hadn’t felt like it or smelled like it.
From around her waist Kara pulled out a small multi-pronged hook with a rough, very tough rope tied to it. She spun it then threw it upward. A clink followed. A heartbeat later by a second one on the alley floor. Another throw. She knew the height of the wall so she should be able to get this hook over it. The third try worked, she pulled on it to test how strong it stuck. It held so without further thought she started up. The wall was rough against the back of her hands and it tore her skin. The substance scraped her nose and one cheek when her body swayed, but she had known it that could happen. Sweat dripped into her mouth but she ignored the salty flavor it brought, as she couldn’t wipe her eyes or mouth.
Darkness showed above her and below. Some light behind her, but she climbed in shadows. It felt like she had been stuck there forever. Muscle strain began. She had to get up there before he caught her.
Just Darkness. Where am I? How much longer before I get to the top? If he gets me he will no doubt kill me and steal get my bag. I will have failed in this job, too. I can’t let that happen. Pain doesn’t matter, scraped skin isn’t important. My dad will know I failed for the rest of his time here, in the seconds I have to live I will know I failed. I want this life and this job-I need to do it!
She snarled and mouthed, “No! I have to get up there.”
end excerpt
I am not sure when I will be publishing the full novel but the way it is going now it will be in April. I have said this before but the corrections are going slow because they are tedious and I keep losing my place and have to spend time finding it. But since I am somewhat past half way I am starting to feel like I want to get it done so am spending more time on it and less on other writing and social media. I may end up doing four excerpts but three for sure. I will be publishing it on E-book and paper formats. And at the usual sites: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Smashwords etc. I am still looking into setting up my own site for the paper versions at least.
And I remind people that I have three novels already published. Two are in a Urban Fantasy series and one is a steampunk-special ops fusion. They are under L. E. Doggett and are at the usual sites, in paper and e-versions.
The novel is steampunk but set in our time. It is about a young woman who is a member of the Couriers. An organization of men and woman—even though there are mostly women couriers in this tale, it just worked out that way—who carry and deliver messages and hand held objects. That could be contracts, love letters, blueprints, gold, gems, parts, pictures, books and anything else that will fit in the special pouch they use. They have a reputation of delivering what they carry on time, if not early, no matter how far they have to go, or what obstacles they have to overcome-including gang members, robbers, ocean storms, dogs, and time. Kara Stronggear is one of them. And she will deliver what is entrusted to her no matter what, for she has a rep to build. She will become one of the better known couriers if she lives long enough to grow up.
Kara Stronggear ran around the corner of the high-rise office building. Steam cars and trucks rolled down the city street and the sidewalk up ahead looked half filled with people. A white steam bus with wide blue stripes went by, but she wouldn’t be able to catch it. The few people out and about got out of her way. The brown, denim-and-leather bag she carried gave away her occupation. Her short stature made it easier to whip around the slower ones.
A cool wind blew at her after she made the turn and made the few strands of her red hair outside of her cap flip around. A BMW steam bike roared by.
She had just passed a newspaper stand closed for the day and the smell of its fresh paint—for the first time in ten years—followed her. It mixed disagreeably with the odors from boilers: wood, oil, and coal fires and something else that a huge old steam truck burned that stunk and produced black smoke. She wouldn’t be surprised if the EPA went after that company soon.
Along the way she glanced at the theater and political posters stuck to the side of the building, as usual for New York they looked dark with grime. The many doors she passed invited her in but they might be locked and she didn’t want to take the chance that an office would turn into a trap. She had a rep to uphold, a bonus to earn and a baseball game to see after this delivery. The noise of the street vehicles echoed from the brick and steel buildings, but her hearing had adopted to it. She could pick out individual voices near her and still heard the footsteps of the person who chased her.
Maybe she should head for the new 911 memorial building. So many people there she could lose herself with ease. But no, too far away. That Baptist church nearby, had afternoon meetings for drug addicts and Celebrate Recovery, but she didn’t want to place those people in danger.
A white minivan with clear smoke that smelled of french fries almost jumped the curb when it hurried around another slower car. She glanced at it but it continued on. She spat, a very unladylike action, but the mixture of the paint and smoke produced a bad taste in her mouth. Her brown, with autumn red pockets, dungarees and leather shirt, with light read shoulders and pockets, would show people she wasn’t a lady anyway. Her shorter auburn hair lay mostly under a baseball cap snugged down tight. That made her scalp warm in this weather, but her whole body had to endure that. The cap's front panel showed her logo: a lightning bolt zipping down a city street. The bolt carried the same bag she did.
This time she had no idea what she carried in her reinforced bag. The pouch could carry more than ten red bricks. She knew that for once she had carried that many for a client. That job had taken a lot of her physically. She didn’t know who would want what she carried in it this time. If it contained cash or gems she could understand why, even if those contents were usually kept secret, which meant no one should know about it. But that knowledge could have gotten out. No one usually cared for contracts unless it involved industrial espionage or gangsters. The same went for plans and blueprints, or just plain letters. Unless it was some form of communication someone thought they could use for blackmail, no one cared. In her eighteen months of experience, and from advice from other couriers, she had learned that those who go after couriers hardly ever resorted to violence. The Mob might, but she had never had gangsters after her before. She might also be carrying evidence for a criminal case or secret government or military plans. The Mob could be after the first, but as far as she knew she hadn’t carried any secret papers or devices. That might be almost fun if she ever did.
The person who chased her now might be just interested in her. There were rapists around this city, after all. She thought of herself as attractive yet on the lower end of the pretty scale, with a pixie face to go with her light red hair. All of her walking, running and carrying, not to mention workouts, gave her figure a nice shape but that included muscles that most women didn’t carry. This guy might learn the same as two men, and a few assailants had. And experienced the unpleasant surprise of finding out how strong she was.
That brought up the memories of when she had been attacked on two of her recent jobs. By men who had wanted what she carried not her. That didn’t make any difference to her though, she had a good rep for getting what her clients wanted delivered on time and in one piece. She always made sure she kept that rep. One of the men had woken up in a steam ambulance while the other two had been run off even though they had knives. They had found out the hard way that she was armed in more ways than one.
That included her outfit which hid a steal underlay-a new type made stronger than ever. Chest, stomach and back armor covered her and her hat hid padded segments that would protect her head from most blows. She also carried a small three-shot pistol, two knives—one for throwing, which she hadn’t had to use so far—and two other weapons no one but her knew about. Not that her other weapons were common knowledge. Lastly three ball bearings of various sizes that were good to throw, marbles to drop on the ground in front of someone running, and a pocket full of long tacks for the same purpose but for anything with air tires.
She turned another corner and zipped through a space between buildings. Her steps echoed between the two buildings and the shade cooled her a little. A leap over some empty boxes got her on the far side fast. But the stinks here were so bad her body thought she could taste the mixture of rotten food, poo, decay and old paint.
The man hadn’t even slowed but by his footsteps she knew he still chased her. Kara wondered if she would have to resort to weapons. The father she barely knew had taught her the uses of a knife along with the marble and tack tricks. She picked up moves from two different boxers in training and she had taken courses from a teacher of eastern martial arts. An old Indian friend of her dad’s had showed her how to run long distances and how to hunt. The lessons had started when she reached ten years of age and had been living with relatives. Kara used lessons from the last to detect anyone hunting her. It had safeguarded her life once at least—before she had gotten the idea of this job—and saved the bag she carried twice. The padding and armor were her own ideas as had been her second knife. One long and thick enough to serve as a very short sword. On top of that a professional had shown her how to drive many types of land vehicles which included the multi-gear older trucks, and she knew the controls of some boats. She had picked up the basics for airship control. The large cargo and passenger ships needed more than one operator however but she thought she could pilot one if she ever needed to.
Kara dodged in and out of the walkers on the sidewalk—she hoped to lose her tail in the mix of clothing on this block. Workmen in blue denim, men and women in business suits and casual outfits, some women dressed in skimpy outfits that worked in a certain other type of business. The last were supposedly illegal in this city but the police usually left them alone unless they gathered together in a brothel or near a prominent building, church or school.
She aimed for a group of the last as she hoped their clothes would distract any man who followed her. She began to breath hard but a block later though she knew that last gambit hadn’t worked. He must be a pro or perhaps he was gay. It didn’t matter though. She weaved between a small mass of teens, through a group of nuns, turned right to cross the street, but as she passed around one very tall couple she made a sudden turn to the left into an alley. The darkness in it might throw off her tail if they had seen her flit down there. It smelled of urine, vomit, alcohol, decay and maybe old blood, but she heard no scuffles beyond rats. No breathing or snores either. The air cooled down, probably because the buildings on either side blocked the sun.
The rotten-food odors reminded her of the time she had had to eat some moldy bread and cheese to live, only a couple of years ago before her current career. Even now Kara appreciated she had left the meat alone. She had barely held down what she did eat, even though the old cheese hadn’t been too bad in its flavor. With a shake of her head she pushed those memories back where they belonged.
Kara studied her surroundings—shadows covered almost everything. Some light came from both alley mouths and from some widows two and three floors up. She didn’t know if those were tenants or offices. Offices might be easier to open up and climb into if needed. Some windows would be unlocked. Her dad and uncle taught her that. But she hadn’t wanted to make a living being a second-story man or cat burglar to work her way up to a top level all around crook like her dad.
Damn
That came so sudden she almost let it out. A scoff at the mouth of the alley she had come through warned her. She caught a slight movement there when she pivoted so quick she almost received an air burn on her cheeks. This guy knew his stuff. If he came from the Mob he was no ordinary gangster or hit man. From the government maybe—a special forces operative. If so, she would be dead.
Maybe she should give him the bag this time. She would more than likely be alive then even if she had to rebuild her rep. With slow steps Kara moved backward to the wall. The end of the alley proved to be a wall made of large, rough, cement blocks instead of the side of a building. The wall might lead to another alley or a parking lot. Either would be good.
Kara stood still, not only to make herself a harder target to find but also to listen. He would more than likely make a noise in an unfamiliar, dark space full of unseen objects just waiting to be bumped or stepped on. A nice cat’s tail would be good, or a trash can’s lid. They used bins now, but some habits die hard.
Damn, no sounds!
No deeper shadows, no breathing, no tiny movement of air caused by someone moving either. Either he was waiting for her to make a sound of her own or of that movement had been her imagination. That had happened once before, not long ago.
She breathed in as soft as possible through her nose: no extra odors. Not sweat, aftershave, hairspray, or other bodily smells. That last had let her know the position of one attacker a year ago and twice since. She had been out for a day of nature bonding when she had almost mistaken BO for animal droppings.
Now nothing. She hoped her body wouldn’t betray her, her own sweat at least might be tracked to her. And maybe she should start being careful what she ate the day before a run like this one.
How long could she stay in this position?
I am going to have to move one way or another soon.
A touch made further internal debate stopped, for it wasn’t needed anymore.
Minute vibrations through her bag alerted her. Something touched it. Her mind went through a series of possibilities: cat or rat? A huge spider? But she dismissed them almost as quick as they formed. It got to the only real answer in a heartbeat.
Damn, he’s even better than I thought.
He had moved without the slightest noise, or shadow and had found her. How? Kara asked herself as she pivoted, elbowed the guy with her left arm, and as she finished the turn, rammed the heel of her hand into the man’s chest—or that had been her plan. Her elbow hit something soft and hard but the heel of her hand just grazed a part of his torso. She pivoted outward and away but even as she settled two hands gripped her and a second later a knife edge found her throat. It just rested there, but her skin knew how sharp it was. Her sudden breath inward brought a whiff of her own fear-infused sweat. What felt like a hand moved along her bag; she knew the choice he had just given her. Her life for the bag. She breathed in again, and this time she tasted blood in the air. Her own? From her throat? Or maybe she had bit her lip again. It didn’t matter now. The choice did. It wouldn’t be a fair trade, for only one side would be permanent. Her rep would be gone, but as she had thought earlier she could remake it. Her life was another deal. Her eyes narrowed as did her lips. She willed her muscles to relax. She sighed even though she couldn’t say sure how much of it got out between her lips.
He seemed to be giving her time to think on it. She couldn’t stomp on his foot as much as she wanted to, as the motion might force her throat onto the blade and he would know that trick. His hand moved up the strap, stopped at the level of her chest. It moved over slightly. She couldn’t help it— she grunted, jerked, and smothered a snarl, before she realized he wasn’t copping a feel. The buckle for the strap lay against her body there. He probably didn’t mind his hand being there though.
Now her anger was up, even if he wasn’t manhandling her breast, she thought. He couldn’t see her face so wouldn’t know what the expression on her face meant. When her upper cheeks hardened, her nostrils flared and her mouth set in a certain way she knew. A tinkle suggested he had hold of the buckle and would be able to undo it even one handed.
A slow deep breath—she no longer could smell her own fear—and she waited.
The knife slipped very slightly but before she could react a memory of what her dad and Twoskunks each had said. In this situation it boiled down to wait more—it could be a fake. A second move of the knife hand—this could be a fake too but he almost had the buckle undone. Grabbing the hand would not do, as he had more strength than her. Kara could tell that by his hold. Being this close she could feel his strength and a few muscles. His warmth and build wormed its way into her thinking. She wanted to roll her eyes, but it did something for her feminine side. Now wasn’t the time to even feel that much less think about it and it went against her personal morals anyway. But his body felt like a good type of warmth, her face burned as if she were blushing, when she responded to his strength. Part of her feelings might be caused by the way his wrist rubbed her breast—not hard enough to bruise but still it created some friction.
Her mind back on her danger. Bite his wrist? Ready or not that would distract him. Might cause him to back hand her too through. She would have to take the chance. All she needed was a few seconds to get her other weapon into her hand. She tried a move for his eyes, but her fingers encountered something hard, smooth and glass-like.
A steam bike roared by outside the alley, it sounded like the rider rode on the sidewalk, headed in here, she thought perplexed and a tiny bit hopeful. They always made more noise than a steam car even with smaller boilers. The toot toot of a back-up steam horn sounded for seconds. She pulled in a slow breath through her nose. Got some of his scent along with her sweat. She rolled her eyes. No more distractions.
Kara let out a moan of pleasure that wasn’t all faked, and he paused as if thinking about what he just heard. She reacted by sliding away from the knife through the crook of his arm on that side. From the way his arm had rested she knew where that space would be. Her smaller size came in handy here. She brushed against his side and arm as she squeezed through that space. A smile crossed her face when she made it through before he could close his arm to trap her.
Once free she took a step to one side and spun around in a circle. In a second, even faster circle to gather speed, she lifted her right leg as far as possible as she came around the second time. She figured, hoped, that he would be facing her at this point. Her ankle connected with something hard with a flap. It moved. The sound of a body as it impacted the cement floor showed her that she had been correct in her aim—mostly. Her foot not her ankle should have hit his head. That joint now hurt, but she wouldn’t let it slow her. The pain reminded her of practice sessions. None of her teachers allowed her to stop because of pain.
To give her ankle time to recover and to do something unexpected, she drew her newest weapon. Slid a small knob on one side of it with her thumb. A very slight buzz sounded, she backed up, aimed to where the sound of the impact had come from, waited two heartbeats and then press a stud under it. A bright electrical bolt shot out. In the darkness the bright light dazzled her eyes, even through her closed lids. The hiss and very small electrical thump it made when it hit the cement revealed that she had missed. She backed up more, not caring about any noise she made for he knew where her location. Kara drew a breath in, breathed hard even as she moved. The air brought with it a tang of ozone. As she knew there would be.
Another three heartbeats and she moved to avoid whatever motions he made for her. A touch of air movement caused her to slide sideways, a darker man height mass in the darkness caused her to duck instinctively. She duckwalked three steps and stood. She knew he came for her. It hadn’t been quite long enough but Kara aimed the device in front of her and pressed the stud again even as she moved her arm. A less bright bolt shot out. She thought it moved slower—but that had to be her imagination. By the flash, she saw her bolt hit his side. He had to have slid that way when she aimed it. Too slow this time though. Again her vision clouded with stars and bright flashes, yet that didn’t interfere with the sound of a body impacting the cement a second time. The charge hadn’t been powerful enough to knock him out, but this time he should stay down at least long enough for her to climb that back wall.
A look around OH OH.
If I can find it again.
The darkness surrounded her, probably because her eyes had adjusted to the two bright strobes. A quick mental replay of their fight and she headed in one direction. The image of the area created by the electrical shock she supported her choice. There were no sounds except for those outside the alley. That included a siren. No way to know if someone had seen their fight and called the police. She didn’t want to talk to them anyway. Not only would that make her late but the electric stunner was illegal.
With her ears tuned to any sounds of the man getting up she hurried toward the wall. A solid bump on her nose that stopped her progress, revealed she had been closer than she thought. A short rub on the nose and a grunt was all the response she would give to the pain. React to it later; more lessons from her teachers but she had learned that one that hard way, too. The stink here also revealed where she as. An old, odor of urine strong enough for this to be a latrine for an army of homeless bums, she hoped—she hadn’t stepped in anything worse, but it hadn’t felt like it or smelled like it.
From around her waist Kara pulled out a small multi-pronged hook with a rough, very tough rope tied to it. She spun it then threw it upward. A clink followed. A heartbeat later by a second one on the alley floor. Another throw. She knew the height of the wall so she should be able to get this hook over it. The third try worked, she pulled on it to test how strong it stuck. It held so without further thought she started up. The wall was rough against the back of her hands and it tore her skin. The substance scraped her nose and one cheek when her body swayed, but she had known it that could happen. Sweat dripped into her mouth but she ignored the salty flavor it brought, as she couldn’t wipe her eyes or mouth.
Darkness showed above her and below. Some light behind her, but she climbed in shadows. It felt like she had been stuck there forever. Muscle strain began. She had to get up there before he caught her.
Just Darkness. Where am I? How much longer before I get to the top? If he gets me he will no doubt kill me and steal get my bag. I will have failed in this job, too. I can’t let that happen. Pain doesn’t matter, scraped skin isn’t important. My dad will know I failed for the rest of his time here, in the seconds I have to live I will know I failed. I want this life and this job-I need to do it!
She snarled and mouthed, “No! I have to get up there.”
end excerpt
Sunday, December 17, 2017
A Late Christmas sale on all of my E-books
All three of my E-books are on sale. And two sets of short stories at the usual inexpensive price.
Each one makes a good gift
Each novel has suspense, action, adventure and is a fun read.
Two Urban Fantasy
One Steampunk-special Ops
one set of seven fantasy stories
one set of five Science Fiction tales.
One tale in Strange New Worlds Ten but I have no control on that price. Excellent stories though.
Even for yourself after the Christmas rush.
E-books also at iTunes and Kobo
Saturday, December 2, 2017
excerpt from 2017 NaNoWriMo
An excerpt of this years NaNoWriMo novel. This is from story one. It's science fiction and takes place in the far future.
To find out more on nano go to nanowrimo.org
A couple of years a go I discovered in NaNo's rules that we can do short stories with two stipulations: have to go together and they all equal at least 50,000 words. So this year I did The Adventures of Lance J. Starhammer five stories that equal 54,600 and some words. Someone has cursed him to live in interesting times and he has to find out who and stop them.
Lance is a Jack of All Trades who do many things for money, usually loners they can con, rob, smuggle, race, do unusual jobs. Some are little better than pirates but others have some scruples and will only go so far. Lance has run blockades to get food to people, and conned dishonest politicians among many other Jobs.
I will be publishing the Lance Starhammer stories which is why I am changing the NaNo ending by adding to it. I didn’t have time to do the ending I wanted so I am doing it now. And I will also be adding a couple of little things here and there. I thought of two things while writing the last story that I need to add earlier. I hope to have it out in Jan or Feb. Three of the stories have been revised and I don't plan on adding to it beyond what I have stated.
In story one, Lance is transporting five very large creatures for a certain company using one of their ships. Someone has been releasing them. Lance and a Nancy works for the company full time has been trying to figure out who let out the first one. Then this happens.
Enjoy:
Lance hit the intercom button, spoke, “Potential escape of Number Three, bring the sedative for it and the correct way to administrate it. Now!”
He thought of saying, “This is no drill”, but they hadn’t had that many drills, and he thought they should be able to figure that out with what they got paid. And with two men missing, dead, those six would earn their pay if that creature got out.
Nancy said, “What did you see?”
“I don’t know but something is not as it should be, I trust my instincts.”
He had called for the emergency response without thinking. He wasn’t even sure what he had seen. A flicker much faster than last time?
At another thought he hit the intercom button again, “Watch out, it could smoother you. Check out the bulkheads and ceiling outside the cage and inside. It likes to climb.”
In his mind he could see Jorge whispering that he knew that, while Tony would agree.
Lance decided he better go see what was happening but he told Nancy, who still seemed to want to go with him, to drive the tram. This way he could rewatch the door scenes and maybe see what had hit his subconscious.
He thought there was a very slight flicker but it hit him just before Nancy stopped the tram and said, there were there: the door looked the same in both recordings. It shouldn’t if the second recording had been taken from another angle. Shadows and blemishes should look different.
By the time they arrived, gotten out of the tram and walked the rest of the way to where the cages were, the creature, a giant being that looked like a half formed curving of an insect, It even creaked like stone when it moved, had been shooed back into its cage. Not the one he thought had escaped but it had been out. His men were having problems getting the door down and shut.
Lance was glad this worked out easy for the insect statue liked to walk up walls, but they had gotten it back in while it was still on the deck. Easier than he thought it might be. In its native habitat it walked on huge trees where it laid eggs and ate of the bark and leaves of that tree. It did eat other plants, and even some smaller insect type creatures that didn’t get out of the leaves it was eating, but it didn’t hunt or otherwise search for meat of any type.
A moment later though he looked at the door again,
He raised his voice, “Wait guys.”
They looked at him, he said, “Wrong cell.”
Tony said, “What? It was the one that was open.”
Lance shook his head, “I recognized the type of door it had. And checked the older recordings. Its cell is the one to the right of it.”
They looked at the doors in confusion.
Tony turned back to him and said, “Which creature was in that one?”
“The long, skinny blob, looks almost like a short, thick transparent snake.”
“And it likes to climb too.”
At just the right moment with what he said, a shadow moved on the deck near his feet. Again Lance grabbed Nancy and took off running toward the other bulkhead. Something wet sounding and large made a plop behind him.
Yeah, they like to climb walls but don’t always do a good job of it. I was right they can smoother you though if they land on you.
Nancy screamed this time. Maybe it had to do with the smell of the thing: unusual crap, dried mud, decay all mixed together, with how close it was.
Lance said, “Don’t worry, they don’t hunt meat or people. They are careless though. They don’t care you are there or are not intelligent enough to understand about getting out of the way of others.”
One of the other workers said, “How do we get the insect out this one’s cage?”
Lance said, “Take leaves from its cage and lay a trail to its cage,” as he ran toward them.
At least they had some form of stuff to knock this one out. Five of the men went to get the leaves. Very large with a rounded end and a stick at the other end that you did not want to touch. It was covered with tiny thorns and hooks. Not deadly even with its size but they still hurt.
What to do with the snake blob though? Even knocking it out was not the answer unless it was inside the cage.
His feet hit the deck hard this time, of course this part of the ship was reenforced with armor. Which made it harder when he hit it with any part of his body. He arrived where the one man was, Jaried, he thought. He wore a tank on his back which had a hose that led to a strange smaller rifle in Jaried’s hands. Next instant Lance identified the weapon. Not a gun but a spray nozzle set to spray out what was in that small tank. Another tank, hose, sprayer lay next to Jaried. Its user would be with those with the leaves.
At that moment two came around a corner. They each carried six of the leaves. Each one reached from the man’s fingertips to way past the man’s elbow and were wide enough to carry with both hands, like some type of huge meat platter shaped like a leaf. They were brown and reddish with a bit of what looked like blue throughout each one.
They left two in the doorway then placed one every couple of feet until the path led into the insect’s cage. A dozen had been placed inside on the deck.
Lance hoped they got it in and the door closed because it stunk in there. He decided to check on how often it had been cleaned out. Or for that matter if it needed to be. A very likely possibly existed that their natural den stunk that badly.
He wished for some gum to clean out his mouth. And by the look on her face Nancy had the same idea. The team didn’t seem to be bothered all that much. Maybe they were used to it, or stinks didn’t bother them that much. That might be one reason they were hired.
It took ten minutes to get the statue insect back in its own cage. Maybe that is why they had to force it into the other one. It knew it was not the correct den. This door closed as easily as it should.
Good something worked.
Now to get the long blob back into its place. At least that cage didn’t smell as bad. All of the stink had been absorbed by the creature, he thought. Even though it didn’t smell as bad as the insect’s cage or other stinks Lance had smelled over the years.
It had climbed the bulkheads and fell five times that he counted, while they had worked on getting the other one in its cage. How do you get this one in its cage?
First though…
“Let’s get the door to close.”
Tony tried it and this time it came down as it should.
Each of the team stared at it.
Lance said, “Maybe you pressed the button for the other door on your tablet when you thought this cage was the insect’s. This one didn’t close because you pressed the one already closed.”
Two of the team nodded as if that made sense. They tried the food trail again, once they figured out what this one wanted. But it didn’t seem interested. Full maybe? It didn’t like to eat outside its den? It didn’t really eat but undulates over the food to absorb it which is why it always had that decay smell.
Maybe they should use slight shocks. They had electric stun weapons on board. Start with the lowest setting and go up and have five of the men use them. They might use the crane deigned to carry huge beasts once it lay there out, even though it could harm this one. So could the shocks but they had to use something.
He ordered Tony to go get five stun weapons. The man looked at him for a moment but turned to leave. It shouldn’t take him long for there was a lounge with an emergency locker, which included these weapons, nearby. If not there was also a full armory two levels higher and over a section.
He looked at the other men and said, “Any ideas on how to get this fellow back in his home away from home without the electrical shocks?”
They all thought and they all shook their heads. It would be a good mark on his record f one of them could think of something, but there might not be another way.
One of the men said, “We tried food, we got out of the way, we yelled at it. Put hot sauce on the walls?” Lance said, “It might like it and it would take a whole lot of hot sauce.”
The man said, “Yeah, it would but I was kidding about that part.”
“I know, but I would try it anyway if I knew it could work.”
Lance waited for Tony to get back and thought some more. That much hot sauce would definitely smell up the whole passageway. It might even cover the stinks made by the open doors.
A new thought hit Lance. It is too perfect in here.
How about heat or cold. Would either chase it back into its den? He didn’t know. But more than likely one would. He rushed over to the master cage block menu, fed it his passwords when they were asked for. them
He found the correct menu. A movement caused him to look behind him. Tony stood there with the five shock weapons. His eyebrows went up, they looked like stub nosed small versions of the typical U-6 laser rifle. Someone didn’t have much of an imagination when it came to weapons.
“One moment, I am trying something else.”
Nancy was at another terminal, she sent a note to his that stated she was looking for the perfect weather for these snake-blobs.
He nodded, he would need that.
A moment later a new note formed. So that cold? Hmm.
He set the temperature level to cold enough for ice to form. He saw her stare at him with what might be confusion on her face. He looked up at her than her second note.
Damn, thrice used air filters.
He switched menus as quick as his fingers moved. There that second note had come from a different terminal. He resisted the urge to look up at where the closest camera was located. Someone had to be watching them and following their moves via computer probably via tablet.
A quick change again this time he waved his little finger over the spot for security protocols to begin.
He looked up suddenly said, “Damn, did that again what is with my little finger?”
A quick search through a list of tablets someone had hooked into the computer. There were seven in altogether. Almost like a miniature internet, he thought.
Two were needed, and used all the time, so he assumed it would not be them.
Another thought came to mind. If it turned out to be his, he would scream, hit his head on the monitor and punch someone hard, fast and continuous.
Lance found his but even though hooked in, it was on stand by which made him let out a breath of relief. A moment later he found two more. Looked closer at both. One watched movies his tablet held on the large screen set in that person’s cabin. He looked closer at it. No, no porn. He thought it would be porn and half afraid it would child porn or worse, but no just a regular movie. An old one in fact converted to this format.
He moved on to the next one. It had been disconnected but he was able to get a reading on it and send it to his tablet.
Nancy waved at him, got his attention. She pointed to his screen and made a writing motion with her hand. He got back to the temperature menu and saw that she had sent a note.
So heat would be better?
Not surprising.
Lance raised the air temperature.
Out load he said, “It's going to get very hot in here in a minute or so. Leave if you have to but it won’t last long,” he added to himself, “At least I hope so.”
Soon the air got hot, than hotter still. The creature bopped up and down and made a strong noise. Finally it moved toward its cell. Lance found the cell controls, made its cage cooler and blew air from it, like a strong breeze.
The snake-blob looked at the cage three times. Either it hated being in there, or it was just plain stubborn. He bet on the last and made it even hotter.
Sweat rolled down the back of his neck. Not so much under his arms though. The jumpsuits were heat and cold resistance. But his feet were out of them and now hot.
His own smell got worse, he licked his lips and came away with a salt flavor.
Two of the men took off their shirts, the creature looked uncomfortable.
Two other men moved closer to the snake-blob’s cage. He hoped it wasn’t too close for that might make the thing not want to go in. But then again it didn’t seem to notice people, or other animals or care if one was around.
A wet bounce made him look. It had fallen from its wall spot and bounced. That didn’t seem good. But it recovered and moved toward its cage. When it hit the cooler air coming from the opening, it moved faster. Within seconds it was inside. Evidently it could move fast when it wanted to. Someone hit the close button and the door came down.
Good, he got the right one.
Even before the door closed Lance had the temperature come down. He wanted to melt in relief but no time to relax. He grabbed one of the shock rifles and headed out the door. Soon he saw that Nancy had one and was with him. Tony wasn’t too far behind them. Back-up was good but did they know what they were letting themselves in for? No time to explain though.
He ran to a tram started it and gave it a heading and emergency speed, but didn’t get in. When Tony looked at him and the tram Lance shook his head. The little car took off like it would if someone drove it. Now if no one else saw it and tried to stop it.
He ran to the jefferies tube connection slipped in through a barely opened door. The elevator maintenance people used wasn’t connected to the main menu like the tram was. This elevator was basically only three feet wide, three deep with walls that ended at waist level. All three got in and up they went.
Once at the right floor it stopped and Lance got out, the others followed. Before they went through the hatch way he said, “This could be dangerous, I don’t know the motivation of the person who released the gagturid, I assume he did the other two to create confusion, but I don’t know. He might be crazy, he might be some form of animal rights terrorist, or someone who just likes to cause problems for other people. He may react calmly when I approach him, he may get violent, or sneaky and just pretend to cooperate. He may have helpers or he may not. Or a something set up already to trap or harm us.”
Tony said, “We get the picture. We know the danger already.”
Lance nodded and opened up the hatch out of the jefferies tube. No one was around. Lance wiped sweat off of his face. He had expected someone with a weapon.
When they went through the hatch Nancy said, “I was wondering how long you were going to talk us out of it.”
“I don’t want any harm to you on my conscious.”
“That’s nice, but we made up our own mind. But what about you?”
“I’ve been in violent situations before. And I am angry at this guy. He is responsible for the deaths of two men and of endangering this job.”
“Were you in the military?”
“I did a stint as a fighter pilot, found it wasn’t for me, but by violent I meant in fights with Crime bosses and other Jacks of all trades. Some are no better than pirates.”
She would know some of this already if she had read his files or talked about him. He let out more than he had wanted to but as he said he was angry.
A pause then, “Now we can have the rest of this discussion later, quiet from now until this is over.”
They both nodded. He was surprised by how well and fast Tony obeyed.
He set his shock rifle on the medium level, that way even a near miss could slow the man down. They walked on until they got to a certain door. He motioned the other two away from where the outside camera could not see them. He tapped the tiny square next to the number pad to alert the person or people inside that they had company.
To his surprise the door open. No one stood there. He peeked in and no one stood or sat, even close to the door.
He looked around the passageway just in case someone snuck up on him to harm him, or push him inside and lock the door. Belatedly he thought that of course Nancy and Tony were there to stop anyone or scream if someone showed up and surprised them.
He pulled out his tablet and speed checked where everyone was. According to the ship the person he wanted was in here. The sensors could be tricked of course so just as well go in and see. He walked in and found himself in a living room. His tablet had been set for detecting anyone close and would chime and buzz even with it in its holder.
No one hid behind the couch or in the closet. He walked to the bedroom and wondered if he would find a dead body but his tablet would detect one of those too.
He pushed open the door hard enough to slam into anyone on the other side but it just hit the wall. He went in with Nancy, Tony stayed on the other side.
The first mate sat at a computer desk. He turned suddenly and stared. “Oh, you’re here already.”
Lance said, “We made enough noise.”
“I was concentrating.”
He rolled the chair all the way around to face him. It took Lance two-seconds to see the hand gun The second mate held.
end excerpt
To find out more on nano go to nanowrimo.org
A couple of years a go I discovered in NaNo's rules that we can do short stories with two stipulations: have to go together and they all equal at least 50,000 words. So this year I did The Adventures of Lance J. Starhammer five stories that equal 54,600 and some words. Someone has cursed him to live in interesting times and he has to find out who and stop them.
Lance is a Jack of All Trades who do many things for money, usually loners they can con, rob, smuggle, race, do unusual jobs. Some are little better than pirates but others have some scruples and will only go so far. Lance has run blockades to get food to people, and conned dishonest politicians among many other Jobs.
I will be publishing the Lance Starhammer stories which is why I am changing the NaNo ending by adding to it. I didn’t have time to do the ending I wanted so I am doing it now. And I will also be adding a couple of little things here and there. I thought of two things while writing the last story that I need to add earlier. I hope to have it out in Jan or Feb. Three of the stories have been revised and I don't plan on adding to it beyond what I have stated.
In story one, Lance is transporting five very large creatures for a certain company using one of their ships. Someone has been releasing them. Lance and a Nancy works for the company full time has been trying to figure out who let out the first one. Then this happens.
Enjoy:
Lance hit the intercom button, spoke, “Potential escape of Number Three, bring the sedative for it and the correct way to administrate it. Now!”
He thought of saying, “This is no drill”, but they hadn’t had that many drills, and he thought they should be able to figure that out with what they got paid. And with two men missing, dead, those six would earn their pay if that creature got out.
Nancy said, “What did you see?”
“I don’t know but something is not as it should be, I trust my instincts.”
He had called for the emergency response without thinking. He wasn’t even sure what he had seen. A flicker much faster than last time?
At another thought he hit the intercom button again, “Watch out, it could smoother you. Check out the bulkheads and ceiling outside the cage and inside. It likes to climb.”
In his mind he could see Jorge whispering that he knew that, while Tony would agree.
Lance decided he better go see what was happening but he told Nancy, who still seemed to want to go with him, to drive the tram. This way he could rewatch the door scenes and maybe see what had hit his subconscious.
He thought there was a very slight flicker but it hit him just before Nancy stopped the tram and said, there were there: the door looked the same in both recordings. It shouldn’t if the second recording had been taken from another angle. Shadows and blemishes should look different.
By the time they arrived, gotten out of the tram and walked the rest of the way to where the cages were, the creature, a giant being that looked like a half formed curving of an insect, It even creaked like stone when it moved, had been shooed back into its cage. Not the one he thought had escaped but it had been out. His men were having problems getting the door down and shut.
Lance was glad this worked out easy for the insect statue liked to walk up walls, but they had gotten it back in while it was still on the deck. Easier than he thought it might be. In its native habitat it walked on huge trees where it laid eggs and ate of the bark and leaves of that tree. It did eat other plants, and even some smaller insect type creatures that didn’t get out of the leaves it was eating, but it didn’t hunt or otherwise search for meat of any type.
A moment later though he looked at the door again,
He raised his voice, “Wait guys.”
They looked at him, he said, “Wrong cell.”
Tony said, “What? It was the one that was open.”
Lance shook his head, “I recognized the type of door it had. And checked the older recordings. Its cell is the one to the right of it.”
They looked at the doors in confusion.
Tony turned back to him and said, “Which creature was in that one?”
“The long, skinny blob, looks almost like a short, thick transparent snake.”
“And it likes to climb too.”
At just the right moment with what he said, a shadow moved on the deck near his feet. Again Lance grabbed Nancy and took off running toward the other bulkhead. Something wet sounding and large made a plop behind him.
Yeah, they like to climb walls but don’t always do a good job of it. I was right they can smoother you though if they land on you.
Nancy screamed this time. Maybe it had to do with the smell of the thing: unusual crap, dried mud, decay all mixed together, with how close it was.
Lance said, “Don’t worry, they don’t hunt meat or people. They are careless though. They don’t care you are there or are not intelligent enough to understand about getting out of the way of others.”
One of the other workers said, “How do we get the insect out this one’s cage?”
Lance said, “Take leaves from its cage and lay a trail to its cage,” as he ran toward them.
At least they had some form of stuff to knock this one out. Five of the men went to get the leaves. Very large with a rounded end and a stick at the other end that you did not want to touch. It was covered with tiny thorns and hooks. Not deadly even with its size but they still hurt.
What to do with the snake blob though? Even knocking it out was not the answer unless it was inside the cage.
His feet hit the deck hard this time, of course this part of the ship was reenforced with armor. Which made it harder when he hit it with any part of his body. He arrived where the one man was, Jaried, he thought. He wore a tank on his back which had a hose that led to a strange smaller rifle in Jaried’s hands. Next instant Lance identified the weapon. Not a gun but a spray nozzle set to spray out what was in that small tank. Another tank, hose, sprayer lay next to Jaried. Its user would be with those with the leaves.
At that moment two came around a corner. They each carried six of the leaves. Each one reached from the man’s fingertips to way past the man’s elbow and were wide enough to carry with both hands, like some type of huge meat platter shaped like a leaf. They were brown and reddish with a bit of what looked like blue throughout each one.
They left two in the doorway then placed one every couple of feet until the path led into the insect’s cage. A dozen had been placed inside on the deck.
Lance hoped they got it in and the door closed because it stunk in there. He decided to check on how often it had been cleaned out. Or for that matter if it needed to be. A very likely possibly existed that their natural den stunk that badly.
He wished for some gum to clean out his mouth. And by the look on her face Nancy had the same idea. The team didn’t seem to be bothered all that much. Maybe they were used to it, or stinks didn’t bother them that much. That might be one reason they were hired.
It took ten minutes to get the statue insect back in its own cage. Maybe that is why they had to force it into the other one. It knew it was not the correct den. This door closed as easily as it should.
Good something worked.
Now to get the long blob back into its place. At least that cage didn’t smell as bad. All of the stink had been absorbed by the creature, he thought. Even though it didn’t smell as bad as the insect’s cage or other stinks Lance had smelled over the years.
It had climbed the bulkheads and fell five times that he counted, while they had worked on getting the other one in its cage. How do you get this one in its cage?
First though…
“Let’s get the door to close.”
Tony tried it and this time it came down as it should.
Each of the team stared at it.
Lance said, “Maybe you pressed the button for the other door on your tablet when you thought this cage was the insect’s. This one didn’t close because you pressed the one already closed.”
Two of the team nodded as if that made sense. They tried the food trail again, once they figured out what this one wanted. But it didn’t seem interested. Full maybe? It didn’t like to eat outside its den? It didn’t really eat but undulates over the food to absorb it which is why it always had that decay smell.
Maybe they should use slight shocks. They had electric stun weapons on board. Start with the lowest setting and go up and have five of the men use them. They might use the crane deigned to carry huge beasts once it lay there out, even though it could harm this one. So could the shocks but they had to use something.
He ordered Tony to go get five stun weapons. The man looked at him for a moment but turned to leave. It shouldn’t take him long for there was a lounge with an emergency locker, which included these weapons, nearby. If not there was also a full armory two levels higher and over a section.
He looked at the other men and said, “Any ideas on how to get this fellow back in his home away from home without the electrical shocks?”
They all thought and they all shook their heads. It would be a good mark on his record f one of them could think of something, but there might not be another way.
One of the men said, “We tried food, we got out of the way, we yelled at it. Put hot sauce on the walls?” Lance said, “It might like it and it would take a whole lot of hot sauce.”
The man said, “Yeah, it would but I was kidding about that part.”
“I know, but I would try it anyway if I knew it could work.”
Lance waited for Tony to get back and thought some more. That much hot sauce would definitely smell up the whole passageway. It might even cover the stinks made by the open doors.
A new thought hit Lance. It is too perfect in here.
How about heat or cold. Would either chase it back into its den? He didn’t know. But more than likely one would. He rushed over to the master cage block menu, fed it his passwords when they were asked for. them
He found the correct menu. A movement caused him to look behind him. Tony stood there with the five shock weapons. His eyebrows went up, they looked like stub nosed small versions of the typical U-6 laser rifle. Someone didn’t have much of an imagination when it came to weapons.
“One moment, I am trying something else.”
Nancy was at another terminal, she sent a note to his that stated she was looking for the perfect weather for these snake-blobs.
He nodded, he would need that.
A moment later a new note formed. So that cold? Hmm.
He set the temperature level to cold enough for ice to form. He saw her stare at him with what might be confusion on her face. He looked up at her than her second note.
Damn, thrice used air filters.
He switched menus as quick as his fingers moved. There that second note had come from a different terminal. He resisted the urge to look up at where the closest camera was located. Someone had to be watching them and following their moves via computer probably via tablet.
A quick change again this time he waved his little finger over the spot for security protocols to begin.
He looked up suddenly said, “Damn, did that again what is with my little finger?”
A quick search through a list of tablets someone had hooked into the computer. There were seven in altogether. Almost like a miniature internet, he thought.
Two were needed, and used all the time, so he assumed it would not be them.
Another thought came to mind. If it turned out to be his, he would scream, hit his head on the monitor and punch someone hard, fast and continuous.
Lance found his but even though hooked in, it was on stand by which made him let out a breath of relief. A moment later he found two more. Looked closer at both. One watched movies his tablet held on the large screen set in that person’s cabin. He looked closer at it. No, no porn. He thought it would be porn and half afraid it would child porn or worse, but no just a regular movie. An old one in fact converted to this format.
He moved on to the next one. It had been disconnected but he was able to get a reading on it and send it to his tablet.
Nancy waved at him, got his attention. She pointed to his screen and made a writing motion with her hand. He got back to the temperature menu and saw that she had sent a note.
So heat would be better?
Not surprising.
Lance raised the air temperature.
Out load he said, “It's going to get very hot in here in a minute or so. Leave if you have to but it won’t last long,” he added to himself, “At least I hope so.”
Soon the air got hot, than hotter still. The creature bopped up and down and made a strong noise. Finally it moved toward its cell. Lance found the cell controls, made its cage cooler and blew air from it, like a strong breeze.
The snake-blob looked at the cage three times. Either it hated being in there, or it was just plain stubborn. He bet on the last and made it even hotter.
Sweat rolled down the back of his neck. Not so much under his arms though. The jumpsuits were heat and cold resistance. But his feet were out of them and now hot.
His own smell got worse, he licked his lips and came away with a salt flavor.
Two of the men took off their shirts, the creature looked uncomfortable.
Two other men moved closer to the snake-blob’s cage. He hoped it wasn’t too close for that might make the thing not want to go in. But then again it didn’t seem to notice people, or other animals or care if one was around.
A wet bounce made him look. It had fallen from its wall spot and bounced. That didn’t seem good. But it recovered and moved toward its cage. When it hit the cooler air coming from the opening, it moved faster. Within seconds it was inside. Evidently it could move fast when it wanted to. Someone hit the close button and the door came down.
Good, he got the right one.
Even before the door closed Lance had the temperature come down. He wanted to melt in relief but no time to relax. He grabbed one of the shock rifles and headed out the door. Soon he saw that Nancy had one and was with him. Tony wasn’t too far behind them. Back-up was good but did they know what they were letting themselves in for? No time to explain though.
He ran to a tram started it and gave it a heading and emergency speed, but didn’t get in. When Tony looked at him and the tram Lance shook his head. The little car took off like it would if someone drove it. Now if no one else saw it and tried to stop it.
He ran to the jefferies tube connection slipped in through a barely opened door. The elevator maintenance people used wasn’t connected to the main menu like the tram was. This elevator was basically only three feet wide, three deep with walls that ended at waist level. All three got in and up they went.
Once at the right floor it stopped and Lance got out, the others followed. Before they went through the hatch way he said, “This could be dangerous, I don’t know the motivation of the person who released the gagturid, I assume he did the other two to create confusion, but I don’t know. He might be crazy, he might be some form of animal rights terrorist, or someone who just likes to cause problems for other people. He may react calmly when I approach him, he may get violent, or sneaky and just pretend to cooperate. He may have helpers or he may not. Or a something set up already to trap or harm us.”
Tony said, “We get the picture. We know the danger already.”
Lance nodded and opened up the hatch out of the jefferies tube. No one was around. Lance wiped sweat off of his face. He had expected someone with a weapon.
When they went through the hatch Nancy said, “I was wondering how long you were going to talk us out of it.”
“I don’t want any harm to you on my conscious.”
“That’s nice, but we made up our own mind. But what about you?”
“I’ve been in violent situations before. And I am angry at this guy. He is responsible for the deaths of two men and of endangering this job.”
“Were you in the military?”
“I did a stint as a fighter pilot, found it wasn’t for me, but by violent I meant in fights with Crime bosses and other Jacks of all trades. Some are no better than pirates.”
She would know some of this already if she had read his files or talked about him. He let out more than he had wanted to but as he said he was angry.
A pause then, “Now we can have the rest of this discussion later, quiet from now until this is over.”
They both nodded. He was surprised by how well and fast Tony obeyed.
He set his shock rifle on the medium level, that way even a near miss could slow the man down. They walked on until they got to a certain door. He motioned the other two away from where the outside camera could not see them. He tapped the tiny square next to the number pad to alert the person or people inside that they had company.
To his surprise the door open. No one stood there. He peeked in and no one stood or sat, even close to the door.
He looked around the passageway just in case someone snuck up on him to harm him, or push him inside and lock the door. Belatedly he thought that of course Nancy and Tony were there to stop anyone or scream if someone showed up and surprised them.
He pulled out his tablet and speed checked where everyone was. According to the ship the person he wanted was in here. The sensors could be tricked of course so just as well go in and see. He walked in and found himself in a living room. His tablet had been set for detecting anyone close and would chime and buzz even with it in its holder.
No one hid behind the couch or in the closet. He walked to the bedroom and wondered if he would find a dead body but his tablet would detect one of those too.
He pushed open the door hard enough to slam into anyone on the other side but it just hit the wall. He went in with Nancy, Tony stayed on the other side.
The first mate sat at a computer desk. He turned suddenly and stared. “Oh, you’re here already.”
Lance said, “We made enough noise.”
“I was concentrating.”
He rolled the chair all the way around to face him. It took Lance two-seconds to see the hand gun The second mate held.
end excerpt
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