'The President's Daughter' is taking shape

 

The leading man

 Allow me to introduce my current Work in Progress. It's called The President's Daughter (until I change it to something else). It will be part of the Ptorix Empire series where the decidedly non-humanoid Ptorix coexist more or less peacefully with Humanity. But people being people, there are competing sub-groups among the humans. The Galactic People's Republic, a right wing, fundamentalist group which hates the Confederacy, has appeared in several of my Ptorix Empire novels and will be in this one.

The President's Daughter starts with a prologue where then-Senator Ghiborien, his wife, and his teenage daughter Isabella, are held hostage.

When we meet Isabella again twenty years later, her father is president of her home planet and she is traveling on a space cruise liner. Also on the ship is Darius Fletcher, a Confederacy officer injured in combat and destined for a desk job. He remembers Isabella from that hostage situation – he was there at the end, all those years ago. But Isabella has changed her name to Cilla and she doesn't want a reminder of that traumatic time.

Here's a snippet from where Darius confronts Isabella on the cruise ship. She's in a bar on her own and he goes over to say hello.

Darius slid off his stool and approached her table. "Miss Beckstein?"

She stared up at him, her lips an O. Then she smiled. "Oh yes. The man in the elevator who thought he'd met me before."

Darius gestured at the chair. "May I?"

She gazed down at the floor next to her chair, then shrugged "Sure. Where did you get my name?"

She was trying to be relaxed and casual but her shoulders were tense and her fingers grasped the stem of her wine glass a little too hard.

"It wasn't difficult."

"So… have you remembered where we met?"

He made her wait, sipping his zinger. "A few years back. I was part of a security detail, attending a hostage situation involving an up-and-coming senator and his family."

She knew. She put down her glass, working on controlling her expression. She did a good job, but he'd been watching for the tell-tale signs that he was right. "Sorry, but I don't see why you think whatever you're talking about has anything to do with me."

He leaned over the table toward her, his voice pitched low.

"Does your father know you're on this ship alone, Isabella? Or is your security incompetent or invisible or both?"

Something growled, low pitched and soft, the sort of sound he'd associate with dark caves.

Darius froze as the something sat up beside the woman's chair, a feline with a spotted coat and yellow eyes currently staring at him. He caught a hint of fangs.

She smiled as she put her hand on the beast's neck. "This is Maahes. He's my security detail. And my name's Cilla. I didn't catch your name?"

Darius sat back in his chair. That thing would rip a man's throat out without asking permission. But it seemed to settle down, its stare not quite so malevolent. "Darius Fletcher. I was a lieutenant back when we met. You lived in a pretty fancy place at Forest Glen. I… helped you back into the house for treatment."

Her nostrils flared. "And what are you now? I presume you're not a lieutenant anymore?"

"No."

"Why are you here? Has my father sent you to watch over me?"

Darius couldn't help the laugh. "No. I've been sent to Malmos to take up a new position."

"What position?"

It was none of her business and he didn't like to talk about it. An office job. He'd hated the hint of sympathy in the general's eyes when he'd been told. Until you're properly healed. Yeah, right.

"In the defense office. Believe me, it's a coincidence that we're on the same ship."

Her eyes narrowed. "Is it? Wouldn't you be traveling on a warship?"

He shrugged. "Why? It's just a redeployment. Besides, I’m on leave. This trip gives me an opportunity to visit a few places I've never seen." And time for his leg to heal. But that was his problem.

"I hope you enjoy them. So that you know, I no longer have anything to do with my father. I'm a private person and my name is Cilla Beckstein. It's a legal change." She stood. "The events you mentioned are not something I like to dwell on. Good evening."

***

There's him told. But it doesn't end there, does it? Of course not. There are a couple of mobster families, an abduction, a dangerous jungle, a daring escape and just when you think they're all safe... they're not.

 

Oh, and by the way, this is Maahes. I'll tell you a bit more about him next time.

 

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Cheers,

Greta