'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

 

 

Imagine a starheart

Imagine a starheart - that's what the Ptorix call them, the windows of the soul. In my story, they're created on a moon orbiting a gas giant. Geysers spew material from the moon's molten interior onto the frozen surface. The geysers bring with them an alien life form trapped inside molten silica. If it can be collected before the stuff freezes too much the life form stays alive, trapped in its silicon bubble.

That is a starheart.

I've recently discovered that scientists are searching for life in the geysers of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.

I don't think they'll find any starhearts, but I was right chuffed to think I'd come up with something plausible. Read all about it here.

As with any fabulous jewel, many people covet them - both Ptorix and humans and that's the background to this story. 

 

Freighter Captain Jess Sondijk thought she had her life under control until Confederacy Admiral Hudson stops her ship in search of contraband. Although he’s taken with the lovely Jess, Hudson’s after bigger fish than a small-time smuggler; somebody’s trading with the alien Ptorix – and offering them a large enough prize to induce them to part with their beloved starhearts, the jewels they call the windows of the soul.

Hudson’s questions open old wounds for Jess. She decides to investigate the circumstances of her husband’s not-so-accidental death. Soon her life’s headed into an increasingly dangerous spiral – for her, her friends, and her family.

Only Hudson can help. But in this deadly game of political intrigue, murder, and greed, one false step will cause inter-species war. Hudson is forced to make difficult choices – Jess, starhearts, war, and his commission.

Buy the book at  Your choice of vendors

Or buy from Payhip and get 20% off with coupon code G4U677DOVK

Space Opera/ Science Fiction Romance. Features non-humanoid aliens and some non-specific sex scenes. There’s action adventure and politics.

Snippet:

This is at the beginning of the book, when Jess is taken on board Hudson't battle cruiser for interrogation.

The admiral stopped in front of her, still staring. "What have we here, Lieutenant?"

The look in his eye sent a sexy shimmy down her spine. No prizes for guessing what was on his mind right now. And under different circumstances, she wouldn't mind. No, not at all.

"Captain and First Officer of a suspicious ship, Sir. The Saintly Maid. They're here for interrogation."

Jess widened her eyes. "Suspicious ship? Oh, really, Lieutenant, you must have mistaken the Maid for some other vessel."

The admiral grinned. The transit car the senior commander had summoned arrived with a gentle ping. The captain and the senior commander both had their bodies pointed toward the open door but the admiral lingered, gazing down at her.

"Delightful to meet you, Captain…?"

"Sondijk .And equally delightful to meet you, Admiral…?"

"Hudson. Ullric Hudson."

She gave him a long, hard once-over, her gaze traveling slowly down his body and back up to his eyes. "Welcome to Nordheim, Admiral Hudson."

He chuckled, jerked his head down in a brief nod and followed the two officers into the transit.

 

 

NEW SFR ADVENTURE: CRISIS AT VALIDOR

Today, Spacefreighters Lounge is honored to host special guest Greta van der Rol as she announces the release of the newest Science Fiction Romance novel in her series.

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I am delighted to announce the release of the fourth book in my Ptorix Empire series, Crisis at Validor.

The books are set in a universe where much of the galaxy is controlled by the Ptorix, a decidedly non-humanoid species which prefers the same sort of worlds we humans do. Although most planets are either Ptorix or human, some have mixed populations, formed as the political balance ebbed and flowed. Validor has a mixed population. The planet has two continents and its inhabitants have agreed that humans will live on one and Ptorix on the other.

The book is set after the events chronicled in the two Iron Admiral books, where the Ptorix suffered a defeat at the hands of the human Confederacy. But the aftermath of war is often resentment on one side and over-confidence on the other. Again, local politics is a different animal to interplanetary politics, with both species having its internal struggles for power.

Brett Butcher, who was Grand Admiral Saahren's adjutant in the Iron Admiral books, gets his own story in this book. Readers will also get to meet the Ptorix as individuals, and not just the enemy. And we meet the dragon-like berzhani, who become involved in a Ptorix-human conflict whether they like it or not.

I can promise you rip-roaring, fast-paced adventure intertwined with a love story.

Here's a short excerpt.

Brett just stood there. Maybe he didn't really want to come. Maybe he was just… Tarlyn didn't know. Back then, he would have come on an adventure just to please her. Now, she wasn't so sure.

"Are you coming?" she called.

He turned, hesitated long enough to say, "Yes," then eased himself off the jetty into the boat, which swayed slightly under his weight. "It's been a long time since I went boating, and it wasn't on the ocean."

"Can you swim?"

He grinned. "You know I can swim."

Yes, she did. They'd gone to the beach together. She'd told her parents she'd gone to the library. She chuckled. "Well, I can pilot the boat. I've done it more than once. So I'll play captain."

Blurb
Newly-promoted Captain Brett Butcher is about to achieve his life-long ambition to command a battle cruiser. But before he takes up his new posting, he goes home on leave, hoping to perhaps catch a glimpse of his first love, the unattainable Lady Tarlyn.

When the queen is assassinated in a terrorist attack, Tarlyn’s life is thrown into turmoil when she, too, becomes a target. The last person she expects to rescue her is her childhood sweetheart, Brett Butcher.

As Validor’s Ptorix and human populations face off over a group of islands neither owns, the calls for war grow louder. Torn between love, duty and ambition, Butcher and Tarlyn struggle to prevent an inter-species conflict, while the ember of love that has smouldered for so long bursts into flame. But with planetary peace at stake, both will be forced to choose; love or duty.

Crisis at Validor is available in ebook at Smashwords | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple and in print.

About the Author
Greta van der Rol loves writing action-packed adventures with a side salad of romance. Most of her work is space opera, but she has written paranormal and historical fiction. She lives not far from the coast in Queensland, Australia and enjoys photography and cooking when she isn't bent over the computer. She has a degree in history and a background in building information systems, both of which go a long way toward helping her in her writing endeavours.

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