I did re-think Major Gomez's offer. After all, the prospect of continuing to fight AFOTA was more than a little daunting. But I was partly serious when I told Gomez that I didn't want to give up a promising military career. Maybe - just maybe - there was one commander, somewhere ... who would actually want an officer who could show initiative, and act inde...
"Leave us." said Iloni. - "I want to speak to him." said Aneli. - "And so you shall." said Iloni. But she directed the soldiers to bind my feet to the chair legs, and to tie my hands behind my back. That done, she ordered everyone out of the room. Still, Aneli delayed. "I'm sorry, Cook - for the indignity. We had to ... make certain that you would give...
I met Cookie in the seventh grade. Her parents had moved to town just in time to enroll her at the start of the school year. I was walking up the steps to the west entrance of the school and I saw her by the front door. She was blocked by three guys who were making fun of her pigtails. She kept trying to get by them, but they kept moving to keep themselves b...
Thanks again to Iriad Alianath, who gave me excellent suggestions (many of which have been incorporated into the chapters which follow). ***** - "You're not really from Pylos at all - are you?" said Countess Kanitz. I hesitated just a split-second too long. She had me - and she knew it. Talley'd been wrong: I wasn't a very good liar, after all. There...
It's hard when you lose a partner after more than thirty five years of marriage, especially when those years had been as good as those that Doris and I had shared. I'd even taken early retirement when I got to sixty and we'd planned to buy a four-wheel drive and camper van and travel around the country. We'd bought the vehicle and camper and were just a we...
The James Cook has two entrances, the emergency airlock on the bridge and the other in the lower flight deck. This latter entrance has steps that fold down from the underbelly of the ship and is the one that was used for going to and from the living section. With the steps and landing gear down, the James Cook sits a little under three meters off the ground...
I had an independent command. A regiment of my own. Countess Aneli was right: there was no shortage of recruits. After Tonol, and our victory parade, hundreds of women wanted to join up. Captain Chardeia, one of the Company Commanders, had distinguished herself at Tonol. With Aneli's approval, she was promoted to Major, and would act as my second-in-command...
I know what you're thinking. What happened to Earth? Was it blown up by aliens, you're thinking. Nope. Hell, after the few humans that managed to escape and found other suitable planets to live on only a few had aliens AND they called the humans aliens; most were hostile, some nice, and only two races annihilated everyone. But that was decades ago. Now just...
It was finally Saturday. I was exhausted from my overtime work last night. I looked at my iPhone. It was 8.20 am in the morning. I got up and went to the supermarket to buy some groceries. On weekdays, I was always busy. Just a few months ago, I was offered a position as a head of department in a private university here in Singapore. While the pay was not ba...
I never saw the boat party, or the Wedding Flotilla - whatever you choose to call it. It's a shame, too, because Tallia had a lot to do with its success. Kanitz questioned the Palace functionaries in charge of the seating for the Garden Concert. She sacked them all. - "I couldn't tell which ones helped Iloni. I think they were all lying." she said. Tha...