Sneak Peek—Stories from The Expanding Universe Anthology #4: ‘Darkened Skies: Chancerian 3’ by Drew Avera

-
There are 20 short stories in the latest volume of Craig Martelle’s The Expanding Universe anthologies. Today, with his permission, we are taking a sneak peek at the start of Drew Avera’s story, ‘Darkened Skies: Chancerian 3’. Here’s how it begins:
----------------------------------------------------------------

Thrust into a life or death situation, the next decision Tawny makes could cost her everything.

Under the cover of half-collapsed tents sagging in the midday hustle of the open market, Tawny hid as they searched for her. Exactly who they were was a mystery she didn’t have time to solve, but their lack of uniforms forced her heart to pound faster. Uniforms came with a certain set of guidelines, rules of engagement and a relative sense of honor. No uniforms could mean anything, any punishment, and it scared the crap out of her.

Stealing wasn’t a death sentence by law, but who was to say these men with their big guns were on the right side of that law? Her fingers tightened around the device she’d taken, careful not to lose hold of it as sweat drenched her hands. This was her only ticket out of here and the situation had gone south much sooner than she expected. Too soon to be a coincidence.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Would you like to read more? 

TheExpanding Universe #4 is now available on Amazon. You can also find Volume 1, The Expanding Universe: An Exploration of Science Fiction Genre, Volume 2, The Expanding Universe: Exploring the Science Fiction Genre, and Volume 3, The Expanding Universe 3: Space Opera, Military SciFi, Space Adventure, & Alien Contact! on Amazon in paperback.


Location: Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Australian Insects: An Unknown Caterpillar eating Grevillea flower buds

-
Image
So, this little guy nearly bought it when I caught it eating the still-forming buds on my Robyn grevillea, but then I thought I might like to see which particular butterfly was responsible, so I took some pictures and decided to keep an eye on it, so I knew when it pupated. The first shot - caterpillar happily nibbling on flower buds:  Yup - definitely nibbling: And here's another view. Note the little yellow lumps near its back end. Same day, but it was one of those cloudy days with variegated light. And it kept nibbling for quite some time: Stretching out to get the more tasty tidbits, and using its hind feet to keep a firm grip on the branch. Eventually it looped back on itself... ...and headed into denser foliage. It didn't always move in a straight line... How come caterpillars have more feet than butterflies? Eventually, it got into some much thicker growth (well, for a young grevillea, anyway), meaning it was somewhat prot
Read more

PokemonGo Tips - Earning the Berry Master Medal

-
Image
Another relatively easy one to earn, but it takes time. Main tip? Feed Them All. Well, okay, it's a bit more like this: Only the berries you feed to a pokemon in a gym count. You can only feed berries to pokemon in a gym that belongs to your team. You can feed up to a maximum of 10 berries to each pokemon. You can feed any pokemon that belongs to a team member, as well as your own. You can feed your team's pokemon from home, as long as you have a pokemon in the same gym - as last week's post showed. It's interesting, but really annoying if you accidentally feed a golden razzberry to a pokemon in a gym... just sayin'. Sometimes, not having a berry on hand to help catch a pokemon is also annoying - especially when you've just fed all yours to your team's pokemon - so think about that before you go all out stuffing their faces; the medal is pretty, but catching stuff is cool, too. Also, pokemon are little piggies when it comes to berries. And that&
Read more

The Great Publishing Challenge: 6 Down, 6 to Go

-
Image
This month, I nearly didn't make it. I'd gotten sick, gotten distracted by changes in other things I was doing, gotten a little depressed because things weren't actually working, and was in a bit of an overall funk as I worked out how to change direction and get moving again. At the beginning of November I guesstimated I had around 20,000 words to go on it in the 100 or so pieces of flash I needed to write to finish the book...and then the forward and the author's notes on top of that. I just wanted to give it up...but I didn't. I got to work to see if I really could manage not to fail, this time, and still do a good job. This is the result: Great Publishing Challenge : Milestone 6 Book 6: Another 365 Days of Flash Fiction Due: November 20, 2022 Uploaded On: November 18, 2022 Due for Release On: November 18, 2022 Type: A collection of mixed-genre and cross-genre flash fiction of varying lengths between 6-1000 words Content Breakdown:   total pieces-365: Flash
Read more