 | |
| ANGEL MINE - Azura Chronicles Book 1 by Vijaya Schartz Sci-fi Fantasy Romance Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Smashwords - Kobo - Facebook |
BLURB
What in the
frozen hells of Laxxar prompted Fianna to pursue her quarry to
this forbidden blue planet? Well, she needs the credits...
badly. But as if crashing in the jungle wasn't bad enough, none
of her high-tech weapons work. She'll have to go native, after
the most wanted felon in five galaxies. It's not just her job.
It's personal.
Acielon has never seen an outworlder like this fascinating female, strangely beautiful, and fierce, like the feline predator loping at her side. He always dreamed of exploring the universe, despite the legends... and the interdiction. Is it truly a hellish place of violence, lies and suffering? If it spawned this intriguing creature, it must also be a place of wonders, adventure and excitement...
Fianna's instincts tell her someone is watching. Sheba, her telepathic feline partner, doesn't seem worried... yet, something on Azura isn't quite right.
Acielon has never seen an outworlder like this fascinating female, strangely beautiful, and fierce, like the feline predator loping at her side. He always dreamed of exploring the universe, despite the legends... and the interdiction. Is it truly a hellish place of violence, lies and suffering? If it spawned this intriguing creature, it must also be a place of wonders, adventure and excitement...
Fianna's instincts tell her someone is watching. Sheba, her telepathic feline partner, doesn't seem worried... yet, something on Azura isn't quite right.
Chapter One
“By the frozen hells of Laxxar!” Strapped in her command
chair, Fianna Grosvenor tapped the symbols on the control console.
Emergency sirens blared throughout the hull of her small
ship. Red rectangles flashed on the navigation screen.
“Warning! Approaching dangerous forbidden planet,”
Rapscallion, the onboard computer, droned in a disembodied male voice.
“Are these the right coordinates? Where is my quarry?”
“The quarry ship does not show on my scanners,” Rapscallion
announced in a chirpy voice.
“Triblets!” Fianna immediately regretted the cuss word.
“Where is he?”
“Sheba not like swearing,” the voice of her feline
companion intruded in her mind.
“Sorry, Sheba.”
The large puma ensconced in the clear gel safety globe at
Fianna’s side, blew her frustration through dilated nostrils. The feline covered
her round ears with wide tan paws. “Sheba not like noise.”
Answering the puma’s telepathic complaint, Fianna swiped
her screen, silencing the alarms.
“Sorry, girl. I forget your ears are so sensitive.” An
asset in the hunt for dangerous felons.
Fianna glanced up, through the clear titanium pane of the
forward bridge. Floating in black space, blinking space beacons linked by red
laser lines like a grid, delimited the forbidden zone. Too loose a grid to
prevent small ships from slipping through. Not an interdiction but a stern
warning. Beyond the grid loomed an oddly luminous turquoise planet.
“Computer, zoom on the planet.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Rapscallion activated the central
screen.
Three moons, one larger than the other two, orbited in a
cluster, but no visible satellites or space stations.
“Preliminary scans suggest a low-tech planet, Captain.”
“Then why the warning beacons?” Fianna stared at the
screen, fascinated by the planet’s bright turquoise color. “Is the planet toxic?
Analyze the color spectrum.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Rapscallion buzzed as it searched.
“Color spectrum reveals an M-class planet, many known minerals, rare crystals,
breathable atmosphere, water, vegetation, and animal life.”
“So, it’s livable.” Triblets. The low life she was hunting
could have taken a chance despite the warning beacons. “Is the planet hostile to
human life in any way?”
“Negative.” The computer sounded bored.
“Then why is that planet forbidden?”
“Searching.” Electronic chimes punctuated the search.
“Azura is quarantined by the Galactic Trade Alliance. Level-three warning in
effect. Do not approach under any circumstances. Those who ignore the warning
are never seen again.”
Triple Triblets! Fianna drummed her fingers on the command
console, where a small statuette stood. A Guardian Angel of the universe, chest
bare, wings spread, said to protect space travelers. “Rapscallion, scan the
planet for Tarkan’s ship.”
“Scanning.” The computer paused. “I detect a recent ion
trail dwindling toward the surface, but the planet is shielded. Deep scans
cannot penetrate to detect specific objects or people.”
“Shields? But there is no sign of technology.” What kind of
planet was that? “Show me the history records for Azura.”
“Minimal records available. They seem to have been
expunged.” Images of lush jungles scrolled on one of the side screens lining the
command center, but no people.
“Anyone lives there?”
Rapscallion chimed. “The inhabitants are labeled hostile,
dangerous, unpredictable, with powerful, lethal natural defenses but no known
technology. They refused to deal with the GTA in the past and forbade the
construction of spaceports.”
“That explains the isolation sanctions.” The Galactic Trade
Alliance did not tolerate rejection well. “What else?”
“The native’s ideologies of truth telling and reckless
honesty would have catastrophic consequences for the preferred way or life of
the Galactic Trade Alliance. Costly wars and attempts to destroy the planet in
the past have failed. Now it’s off-limits... in quarantine... indefinitely.”
“Wow! Are you telling me that natives with no technology
kicked the Alliance’s butt?” Fianna whistled, eliciting an ear-rise from Sheba.
The large cat shuddered in her clear gel globe. “Sheba
not like whistling.”
The feline’s coat shimmered then turned from tan to silver
gray. Unlike the proverbial leopard, this puma could change her spots... thanks
to genetic engineering.
Fianna ignored the feline’s complaint. “No wonder Azura is
the perfect place for that bastard to hide.”
Her quarry must have landed there. Fianna wouldn’t abandon
the chase because of a silly interdiction based on opposing ideologies. Tarkan
had already killed and maimed too many innocents... including her brother. He
must pay for his crimes, and this time she’d make sure he remained locked up in
a high-security prison.
On the viewer scanning the planet, something caught the
sunlight and flashed it back into space. It flashed again.
“What was that? A signal, or a reflection? If there are
shiny, reflective surfaces, there must be some kind of technology. But if there
is no technology, then it can only be Tarkan’s ship. He escaped in a silver
luxury yacht.”
“A logical assumption, Captain,” Rapscallion chimed.
Fianna checked the coordinates on the console. “Computer,
plot a trajectory to land in the same spot as that flash of reflected light.”
“But, Captain, the beacons warn against approaching the
planet! Those who ignored the warning never returned.”
“Oh, shut up, you arrogant agglomerate of integrated
circuits.” Fianna would have to fine tune Rapscallion’s obedience routines.
“It’s not the first time we break the rules. You are not my conscience. Just
land your butt where my quarry landed.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Flagrant sarcasm dripped from the
synthetic voice.
Fianna hated computers with an attitude.
As the ship neared the laser grid blocking passage, the
proximity beacon warnings increased in frequency and intensity. More alarms
blared.
Fianna muted them. “Ignore the beacons and stay true.”
“Aye, aye, Captain. I know the drill.” That judgmental
attitude again.
Fianna would also have to reduce Rapscallion’s sarcastic
abilities.
The small ship glided through the loose grid into the
forbidden zone. The surrounding beacons quieted and returned to sleep mode.
Apparently their scanners only looked outward to warn. They did not interfere.
And her quarry must have known that.
As the ship approached the planet, Fianna detected a
shimmering rainbow shell, unlike anything she’d ever seen before. “Shields?
What’s their power source?”
“Unknown,” Rapscallion droned in its monotone voice. “It
could be dangerous to get any closer. I... feel... dizzy...”
“Dizzy?” As if a computer could feel anything.
The ship’s emergency lights flashed red and blue on the
bulkheads all around the command bridge.
Sheba, in her clear, gel-padded globe, covered her eyes
with her paws. “Sheba not like blink.”
As if the feline had powers, all lights went out and the
dull vibration of the engines ceased. Blackness enveloped Fianna. No LEDs, no
emergency lights, no forward viewer. She felt strangely light. No gravity
either. She blinked to activate her internal night vision. The outlines of
bulkheads and consoles emerged in muted colors. The angel statuette floated in
front of her, demagnetized from the console. Fianna grabbed it and stuffed it in
her cargo pants’ pocket.
“Computer, what’s happening?” Fianna tapped the dark
controls.
Rapscallion remained dreadfully silent.
The ship wobbled, then some gravity resumed, but speed
increased. Triblets! “We are being sucked by the planet’s gravity. Computer,
please tell me you can fix that.”
Silence. Was it disabled by an EMP? A solar flare? Her ship
was shielded against electromagnetic pulses.
“Triblets! Our shields are dead!” Heart in her throat,
Fianna frantically attempted to restart the manual controls. Emergency
batteries, no go. “Computer, if you don’t wake up, we are going to explode on
that rainbow shell!”
The large cat huffed. “Sheba not like yelling.”
“Sheba, brace for impact!”
Fianna saw her life flash before her eyes... not really,
but she always wanted to know how that would feel. For now, she wanted to catch
the lowly bastard she’d come to collect. If this was part of the planetary
defenses, how had his shiny yacht reached the surface? She cringed as she braced
for impact with the planetary shield. Guardian Angels of the universe, please
protect us.
Nothing.
The ship kept falling... and accelerating toward the lush
blue-green planet below. “We dropped through the shield with no damage!”
“Good, yes?” Sheba’s eyes rounded in question.
“Yes.” Triblets! Unlocking her safety harness, Fianna
fumbled with the backup landing controls. No stabilizers, no thrusters.
She struggled to think. “We are headed straight for the
surface in free fall.”
“Not good?” The feline shuddered and her fur turned
black. “Sheba not like falling.”
A collision shock, a loud bang, then the roar of air
against the hull indicated they’d entered the atmosphere. They only had a few
minutes.
Fianna wiped sweaty palms on her synthetic leather pants.
Did the temperature on deck increase? Without shields, they’d burn into the
atmosphere, or crash and explode on the surface. Unless...
The emergency landing thrusters could function without
sophisticated electronics, but they would need a spark to ignite.
“Sheba die?”
Sheba! “No, baby girl, thanks for reminding me.”
“Sheba not baby. Sheba big.”
Fianna’s implanted vision software and telepathic link
still worked. Her body must have shielded its power source from whatever
disrupted the ship's electronics. She could use it to spark the thrusters... if
she survived the hard linkup.
She slid off her seat, stumbled down through a floor hatch,
and down ladders, to the underbelly thrusters. She’d never used them before. The
sudden, intense heat made sweat drip from her brow. Would the ship explode? She
scratched the small port at the base of her neck and pulled out a thin wire,
then she touched the end of the wire to a port in the dark console.
May the Guardian Angels of the universe protect cat and
human.
The wire sparked. Fianna shook and jumped off with the
shock. The console lit up and the emergency landing thrusters roared to life.
The sudden deceleration pinned Fianna to the floor, then she bounced off the
engine room bulkheads. The entire ship rocked like a flimsy, disjointed toy.
Saved? Or was it too late?
Triblets! The hard impact sent Fianna flying. Metal twisted
and groaned. Bulkhead popped open. Vegetation and dirt filled the engine room.
Muffled explosions popped in the distance and pain pierced Fianna’s body. Flames
erupted around her. She choked on the smoke filling the space.
Fianna didn’t want to die. Too much depended on her
mission’s success. Her mind went blank.
Vijaya Schartz
High Octane sci-fi fantasy romance with a kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Smashwords - Kobo - Facebook
High Octane sci-fi fantasy romance with a kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Smashwords - Kobo - Facebook
