Meet Velvet, Melisse Aires's Pet in Space

 

Today I'm hosting fellow author Melisse Aires whose story Stranded on Grzbt is one of the eleven novellas in Pets in Space 6. Mimi and two other Earth women have been abducted by decidedly unpleasant aliens who take them to a space port at Grzbt where it becomes apparent they're going to be sold as slaves.

Here's what Melisse told me about Velvet and her role in the story.

 

In Stranded on Grzbt, my  heroine Mimi meets a tiny alien animal and befriends her. The Earth women captives are frightened, powerless, and grieving. Cuddly little Velvet becomes a tiny spot of comfort in a difficult situation. 

Their captors eventually land the ship and take the Earth women onto a busy space dock. That’s when Velvet shows she is more than a cute snuggle bug. Somehow, during important events, Velvet pops up. What is she capable of? I suspect Velvet and her fellow nanosnoots are smarter than anyone thinks.

Velvet is a hero. Mimi and her alien trader Kyre wouldn’t have gotten very far without her. 

Mouse sized, trunk nosed nanosnoots were originally lab created to help with invasive nanobot infections. They have computer knowledge and some kind of telepathic connections. Over the years, one crazy genius scientist or another has enhanced their abilities, and those talents have spread through the nanosnoot population. 

Even I, the author, am not sure about nanosnoots capabilities.  I look forward to finding out more about them. 

Excerpt

“Now I’m just worried about where they are taking us,” Acacia whispered. They came to an area of larger ships, cruise ship sized. Then something appeared above. Other aliens were looking up at it. Something poked through the gray sky.

“It’s not the sky, it’s a wall,” Mimi said. “A weird wall.”

The piece coming though the wall got larger and larger. Workers around them stopped to watch. The worms tried to get them to walk, but the path was full of observers.

“The wall seemed to be made of gel or something soft,” Acacia said. “Maybe this isn’t a planet after all. Maybe it’s a space station.”

The gray gel ceiling glommed around the bright white and gold of an enormous ship.

“The ceiling is like ooze, you know, that toy that feels like snot,” Chloe said.

The ship was probably twenty times larger than one of the cruise ships. It didn’t attempt to pull into a space along the walkway. Instead, it stayed up near the ceiling. A door opened on the side and a flat barge-type ship came out, covered with containers. A covered ship flew out of a different doorway. The barge parked in the docking area. Many workers and hauling machines moved to it and started handling the goods.

A crane-like machine nearby wobbled as it picked up a container.

Velvet, who was riding on Mimi’s bra, peeking out at the dock, jumped to her shoulder, climbing her hair. “Churr-churr-EET!”

The whistle was piercing.

“Watch out!” Mimi screamed, as the container began to swing like a pendulum. They all rushed back as far as the rope would let them. One of the worms tried to jerk them forward, rope taut, since they wouldn’t move. The four watched the swinging container.

The container broke free of the crane and landed with a boom that shook the ground. They all screamed and covered their faces with their arms. Debris flew everywhere. An alarm blared. Aliens and machines ran around, screeching and howling.

Mimi peeked over her forearm as she covered her face from the flying shards. The container fell right on top of the four worms. The end of the rope fell to the walkway. We’re free! Mimi grabbed the rope and pulled the others. “Come on!”

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Here's the blurb for  Stranded on Grzbt.

Splat! The unlikely sound of freedom…

Mimi Stevens considers the out-of-control packing container that squishes the stinky spaceworm kidnappers a brilliant stroke of luck. She and her companions take advantage of the unfortunate event to escape into the maze of the busy space dock and plan a strategy on how to survive. With the help of a tiny elephant-mouse and her theater skills, she just might be able to make it.  

Kyre Valryssian, First Officer of the Red Haven, is shocked to hear Earth women singing in an ancient language from a planet that has not yet entered the space trade lanes. Concerned for their safety, he is determined to escort them to his clan’s ship—especially the woman with the short hair and big eyes.

Mimi doesn’t know if she and her friends can trust the handsome alien with flashing eyes or not, but she is running out of options. With the bad guys closing in, she’ll have to trust her gut—and her tiny pet—that Kyre wants to help them. Can Kyre convince Mimi that he has her and her companions best interests at heart, or will her distrust threaten them all?

Get your copy of Pets in Space 6 while you can. You'll find all the links to your favorite ebook stores at books2read.com/PISA6/