Showing results by narrator "J. Arquin" in All Categories

Valentinian just wants to make a living hauling cargo between planets and stations. His new charter promises to be profitable, hauling an all-girl band all over the Dominion. But trouble starts before they take off, and Valentinian has just hired a crewman with a shadowy past, big muscles, and the sort of military training that only the Dominator’s Elite Assault Cavalry wields. What else could possibly go wrong?

Two tiny lizardmen scientist-criminals power up their illegal wormhole generator, getting ready to kidnap their next victim by pulling the poor human across the galaxy in an instant, forever trapping him in the Accord of Souls. Maybe this human won’t destroy everything they love. The last human they kidnapped killed the big boss, took over their criminal gang, and now, threatens to conquer the entire galaxy. The problem? Despite being criminals, the human they want to kidnap is a cop. What could possibly go wrong?

When Duncan MacGuire sets out to help a slave escape the Great Houses of the South, little does he know they'd send a demon to capture them. Set in the Boston Metaphysical Society alternate history universe, this short story is a prequel to the award winning novel, Boston Metaphysical Society: A Storm of Secrets and the popular graphic novel, Boston Metaphysical Society.

The gods of the Accord of Souls return to judge humanity itself, and they intend on simply eradicating the species to make the galaxy a safer place. Gareth finally confronts his old enemy again, as well as the very gods of the Accord itself. Nothing will ever be the same for anyone. Trial of the Star Dragon is the fifth and final Star Dragon story - science fiction written with a 1950s pulp flair - and completes the adventures of the Star Dragon and the Accord constabulary in the galaxy where the gods are real, and angry.

An alien impostor sneaks into the most secured facility in Earth Force, confronting Earth’s top scientist Royston with his worst nightmares. Gareth’s near death at the hands of the rogue androids fuels his rage to use the Star Dragon to pursuing justice, because somewhere, his ex-best friend continues to plot his conquest of everything. And in the shadows, a dark, ancient powers awaken.

A Vanir cop stares back when Gareth St. John Dankworth looks in a mirror these days. However, that will not stop him. He will happily embrace any cost to stop the man who was once his best friend in the solar system from conquering the galaxy. Even if it involves living the rest of his life as a Star Dragon. If crime never sleeps, justice will not either.

When strangers Jared Rund and Diane McKenney met on Mount Rainier in Washington state, neither of them knew where the next few days on one of the most dangerous peaks in North America would lead them. Caught in a blizzard and detached from the rest of their party, the two are forced to spend a bewildering and frightening night high on the 14,411-foot peak with nothing to save them except their own will and preparation. But sometimes, it is the toughest of times that lead to the best. And for Jared and Diane, if a mountain blizzard couldn't stop them, then nothing would.

Soar among the redwoods in this bite-sized adventure with Chloe, the recently divorced fairy inventor. She's the one who'll discover the encroaching zombie horde, but what will she do when she does? Come for the campy creature face-off. Stay for the inventiveness, adventure, romance, and intrigue. Torn between her handsome ex-husband and the brave and beautiful captain of the fairy guard, Chloe must fight to save her unborn young and the rest of the fairies.

Betrayal. Ambition. Violence. Magic. Stranded in a winter wilderness, a young girl fights to survive after the massacre of her family. Her motto is simple: Always create opportunity. It's not long before she runs into an old friend, but can she trust him? This majestic fantasy short story defies cliché and stirs the soul.

Some few survivors that had resisted the zombies were rounded up too, and were put in the fridges to freeze them until needed, so that one day, when they all awoke sometime in the future, there would be slaves to work for them. As they slept, the steam powered breeding machine bred workers and stored them for using when the time came. Among the frozen survivors was Blue-Jane, See-through Mary, Captain Crust, and some others that in their frozen sleep dreamed about a story that ate itself to become a paradox monkey that was hard to figure out.

Martial arts master Lin Su Yoshimura is a force to be reckoned with. Now in the US after being shunned as a mixed-race Chinese-Japanese girl, then kidnapped as a teen and sold into the sex-trafficking trade, Lin Su is rescued from an abusive New York pimp by one of the city’s top-level cocaine dealers. Navigating both back alleys and opulent venues with lethal grace, Lin Su finds her way forward through the underbelly of the city, as she wrestles with the horrors of her past.

The common people have become the currency, outlaws have shifted to mercenaries, and freedom is no more than a thought of the past. Fear, violence, slavery—throughout his adult life, Barloc has known no other way. A quarter of a century has passed since King Sclavus decreed slavery legal in the Kingdom of Kuldaire, certain it was the only way to keep the economy strong. When Barloc is sold to Lord Harbor, his new owner offers queer promises of freedom, promises only King Sclavus can honor after a thirty-day trial.

The battles never end for Admiral James Henry. After months of negotiations, galactic alliance talks between the Independent Systems Federation and the Terran Coalition have stalled. There’s no urgency to strike a deal since the antidote nullified the Jalm’tar Empire’s Curall threat. But Jim suspects the usurper on the Jalm’tar throne still has a decisive hand to play in war games.

Admiral James Henry faces a serious dilemma. Curall has already made deep inroads throughout Independent Space. While distracted fighting the League, the Jalm’tar Empire waged a clandestine war using the highly addictive substance—with far deadlier consequences. Billions across the galaxy face an excruciating death without a constant supply of the drug for which there is no known antidote. To keep the tap flowing, one planet’s leadership intends to roll the dice and adopt the Jalm’tar’s terms despite their onerous constraints.