Desperado (Murphy's Lawless: Watch the Skies Book 2), Kevin Ikenberry [reading the story of the txt] 📗

Other works in the Terran Republic universe

(Beyond Terra Press)

Lost Signals

Since that list includes a winner of the Compton Crook Award, four Nebula finalists, and ten Dragon Award finalists, they’re not hard to find. Just go wherever books are sold. Want to learn more about the Caine Riordan series? Easy. Contact any of the publishers, or you can reach out to me at contact@charlesegannon.com.

Want to see more of what’s going on in the Terran Republic universe? Check out http://www.charlesegannon.com for exclusive written and visual content.

And if you decide you don’t want to miss a single new release or announcement, then go to http://charlesegannon.com/wp/sign-up/ to join the all-inclusive mailing list for sneak peeks, special offers, and features you won’t see anywhere else.

And most important of all…welcome aboard; we’re glad you’re here!

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The following is an

Excerpt from Book One of the Chimera Company:

The Fall of Rho-Torkis

___________________

Tim C. Taylor

Now Available from Theogony Books

eBook, Paperback, and (soon) Audio

Excerpt from “The Fall of Rho-Torkis:”

“Relax, Sybutu.”

Osu didn’t fall for the man steepling his fingers behind his desk. When a lieutenant colonel told you to relax, you knew your life had just taken a seriously wrong turn.

“So what if we’re ruffling a few feathers?” said Malix. “We have a job to do, and you’re going to make it happen. You will take five men with you and travel unobserved to a location in the capital where you will deliver a coded phrase to this contact.”

He pushed across a photograph showing a human male dressed in smuggler chic. Even from the static image, the man oozed charm, but he revealed something else too: purple eyes. The man was a mutant.

“His name is Captain Tavistock Fitzwilliam, and he’s a free trader of flexible legitimacy. Let’s call him a smuggler for simplicity’s sake. You deliver the message and then return here without incident, after which no one will speak of this again.”

Osu kept his demeanor blank, but the questions were raging inside him. His officers in the 27th gave the appearance of having waved through the colonel’s bizarre orders, but the squadron sergeant major would not let this drop easily. He’d be lodged in an ambush point close to the colonel’s office where he’d be waiting to pounce on Osu and interrogate him. Vyborg would suspect him of conspiracy in this affront to proper conduct. His sappers as undercover spies? Osu would rather face a crusading army of newts than the sergeant major on the warpath.

“Make sure one of the men you pick is Hines Zy Pel.”

Osu’s mask must have slipped because Malix added, “If there is a problem, I expect you to speak.”

“Is Zy Pel a Special Missions operative, sir?” There. He’d said it.

“You’ll have to ask Colonel Lantosh. Even after they bumped up my rank, I still don’t have clearance to see Zy Pel’s full personnel record. Make of that what you will.”

“But you must have put feelers out…”

Malix gave him a cold stare.

You’re trying to decide whether to hang me from a whipping post or answer my question. Well, it was your decision to have me lead an undercover team, Colonel. Let’s see whether you trust your own judgement.

The colonel seemed to decide on the latter option and softened half a degree. “There was a Hines Zy Pel who died in the Defense of Station 11. Or so the official records tell us. I have reason to think that our Hines Zy Pel is the same man.”

“But…Station 11 was twelve years ago. According to the personnel record I’ve seen, my Zy Pel is in his mid-20s.”

Malix put his hands up in surrender. “I know, I know. The other Hines Zy Pel was 42 when he was KIA.”

“He’s 54? Can’t be the same man. Impossible.”

“For you and I, Sybutu, that is true. But away from the core worlds, I’ve encountered mysteries that defy explanation. Don’t discount the possibility. Keep an eye on him. For the moment, he is a vital asset, especially given the nature of what I have tasked you with. However, if you ever suspect him of an agenda that undermines his duty to the Legion, then I am ordering you to kill him before he realizes you suspect him.”

Kill Zy Pel in cold blood? That wouldn’t come easily.

“Acknowledge,” the colonel demanded.

“Yes, sir. If Zy Pel appears to be turning, I will kill him.”

“Do you remember Colonel Lantosh’s words when she was arrested on Irisur?”

Talk about a sucker punch to the gut! Osu remembered everything about the incident when the Militia arrested the CO for standing up to the corruption endemic on that world.

It was Legion philosophy to respond to defeat or reversal with immediate counterattack. Lantosh and Malix’s response had been the most un-Legion like possible.

“Yes, sir. She told us not to act. To let the skraggs take her without resistance. Without the Legion retaliating.”

“No,” snapped Malix. “She did not. She ordered us to let her go without retaliating until the right moment. This is the right moment, Sybutu. This message you will carry. You’re doing this for the colonel.”

Malix’s words set loose a turmoil of emotions in Osu’s breast that he didn’t fully understand. He wept tears of rage, something he hadn’t known was possible.

The colonel stood. “This is the moment when the Legion holds the line. Can I rely upon you, Sergeant?”

Osu saluted. “To the ends of the galaxy, sir. No matter what.”

* * * * *

Get “The Fall of Rho-Torkis” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VRL8H27.

Find out more about Tim C. Taylor and “The Fall of Rho-Torkis” at: https://chriskennedypublishing.com.

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The following is an

Excerpt from Book One of the Revelations Cycle:

Cartwright’s Cavaliers

___________________

Mark Wandrey