Sneak Peek at Juggernaut from Pets in Space® 5 - Releasing Tomorrow!

My upcoming release, Juggernaut, will be a part of the much anticipated and eagerly awaited Pets in Space® 5 which releases tomorrow, October 6th! (Which in Amazon time means pre-orders could start hitting any hour now!)

My story involves a very unusual setting for a science fiction romance. It’s underground. As a matter of fact, most of the story is set inside an ancient lava tube.

Here's a snippet to give you a first glimpse:

Scene Set-Up

Lieutenant Commander Dekessa "Dek" Garr is on watch at a highly secure area--Site D--that her team protects. A few teens from the nearby resort town of Sarcassius have wandered down the beach and approached the site where they encountered the protective infrasound barrier surrounding Site D. The barrier repelled them, but the kids haven't yet left the area, and Dek is maintaining a watch from her hidden perch in the lava rock outside the lava tube to be sure they do.

“Dek,” Major Remm’s voice intruded into her thoughts. “Commander needs you to see you in SecCom. Now.”

She replied subvocally, her com equipment translating the muscle movement in her throat and mouth. “Give me five. Targets penetrated barrier and have retreated. Need to ensure they exit the area.”

“Sergeant Garr is en route to relieve you.”

Dek’s attention remained on the teens until the slight reverberation of the steel circ-stairs below clued her in to the man’s arrival. The kids out on the beach wouldn’t hear him, but it peeved her that Garr was often so lax in the stealth department.

“Hey, cuz,” he subvoced.

Dek grimaced. Cuz. Ancient tradition behind the LaGuardian four-letter surnames meant she and Sergeant Garr had shared ancestors at some point on the planet’s timeline. But if they were cousins, it was probably something like sixty times removed. And it sure hadn’t deterred her junior team member from hitting on her. Which, in her assessment, made him not only bungling, but completely unprofessional.

“Coming up behind you.”

Like I could miss you.

Dekessa waited until the sergeant settled into his watch beside her then pushed away from the rock to descend the stairs. “Be sure those kids are okay.”

“Right. Hey, loan me your vid, cuz. I left mine in my quarters.”

Bumbling, unprofessional, and forgetful.

Dek gave an impatient sigh and tossed him her vid unit.

“What, no kiss before you go?” he taunted as she started down the steps.

“Put a hatch on it.”

His subvocal laughter echoed inside her head. If the ComCenter picked up his pointless chatter, they didn’t verbally reprimand him.

When Dek reached the bottom step, she turned left and headed into the maw of darkness.

The commander’s office occupied an alcove of the great cave her team called home—in reality a massive lava tube. In ancient times, glowing magma had carved stark horizontal grooves into the curved walls and left lavacicles hanging from areas of the ceiling where molten rock had once dripped. Eons later, wind and huge waves had brought in megatons of sand from the beach outside, covering much of the jumbled basalt floor and providing easily navigable paths through the cavity. The floor sloped downward from the entrance point, but mid-cave, the incline leveled off into an area free of large rocky outcroppings.

This was where most of the infrastructure huddled: the quarters, mess, detention cells, and security command office—or SecCom—where their commander had transformed a couple of temp structures into his makeshift office complex. Dekessa passed the modular staff barracks and mess hall and made her way across the smooth sand path to his location.

A breach in the rock ceiling high above the complex illuminated the underground lair in daylight hours. The opening had been sealed by a plasma barrier, allowing light to pass, but not weather or the prying eyes of air- or spaceborne spy craft.

Their overlord enemies, the Ithian Alliance, were always watching. Especially this planet.

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As before, a portion of all pre-orders and first month's sales will go to support the wonderful Hero-Dogs charity. If you haven't yet reserved your copy, please consider pre-ordering your copy now so you'll get it the moment it hits! Remember this huge volume is only available for a limited time and then it's gone forever.

You can see all the available vendors for the collection by clicking here: Pets in Space® 5

I'll be back with the official release announcement tomorrow! See you then.