Ruby Lionsdrake is back on my blog again today, giving us another great snippet of her Pets In Space 3 story, Quashi. I still want one of these great pets, LOL!
On to the post!
Chanda, concentrating on not tripping
or dropping the box as they navigated through the tube and into a noisy cargo
hold, did not respond. She accidentally jostled the box as she bumped her foot
on the raised airlock hatch frame, and a concerned trill came from
inside.
If she’d had a hand free, she would have scratched her head. Lab rats didn’t trill, did they?
That is the end of the first scene in
my novella, Quashi, a story of romance, adventure, and a quirky new alien
animal species.
Quashi is a stand-alone adventure in my
Mandrake Company science fiction romance series. It features a new hero, a new
heroine, and a new creature that they’ll all meet together on the mercenary
ship that sails about their vast star system. My beta readers have jokingly
called the ship the Love Boat, since there’s a hookup in every story. Regular
fans of the series will be pleased to get updates on some old friends, and new
readers can easily jump in without prior experience with the existing
adventures.
Here’s another snippet to whet your
appetite:
“Captain,” Ankari said—even if they
slept together, she was always careful to be professional with him around
others, “we need to go back to the station.”
“We can’t,” Mandrake said. “We’ve got
a new job waiting for us. They need us there yesterday.”
“This is important,” Keys said,
stepping forward and snapping her fingers at the younger woman. “Chanda.”
The woman—Chanda—looked to be in her
mid-twenties. She quirked an eyebrow—a sarcastic eyebrow?—at the finger
snapping but didn’t object vocally. She stepped forward and lifted her arms to
show off something she’d been holding against her chest. Something
bluish-green, oval-shaped, and furry with a pair of antennae sticking out of
the top of its body. It didn’t have a head that Kor could see, nor even eyes.
If it had legs, they were underneath its fluffy form.
“What is it?” Mandrake asked.
“I have no idea,” Keys said, “but
there are dozens of them in the box I received from Dokler’s Animals and
Specimens. I was supposed to receive lab rats. I paid for lab rats.
Captain, this—” Keys flung her arm toward Chanda and her fluffy burden,
“—is not a lab rat.”
An uncertain trilling came from the
furry creature.
“Unfortunate that you received the
wrong order,” Mandrake said, “but we can’t go back.”
You can find out what happens next in Quashi in Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space 3.
Pets in Space is back with 11 original,
never-before-released stories from today’s top selling Science Fiction Romance
authors! Pick up your limited release copy of Embrace the Passion: Pets in
Space 3 and help support Hero-Dogs.org! https://www.petsinspaceantho.com