*****
THE ATTACK
That the shriek came Rual was no
surprise.
“Can’t you see that Sten’s makin’
clottin’ fools of us,” Rual was shouting. “All that sweet talk about courts
martial and amnesty and enough credits to choke an equine.”
“Now, Rual,” Shaklin was saying,
“there’s no reason to get upset. This is just a discussion preliminary to a
vote.”
“Vote! Vote!” Rual shrieked. “Who
said this was a clottin’ democracy? Sten’s a fraud, I tell you. I’ll bet he got
a clottin’ Imperial battleship standing by. Ready to board us the moment we
give in.”
Sten and Alex looked at each other.
Sten shrugged. That was pretty much the plan.
“And I tell you, they are gonna
haul every single man Jack and Jill among us before firing squad,” Rual said.
“Come, now,” Shaklin said, almost
pleading. “Captain Sten had every appearance of being an honorable man. He gave
us his word!”
“Word? Word?” Rual thundered. “I’ll
show you what I think of his clottin’ word! Drakh, that’s all it is! Drakh!”
And with that, she lunged toward
the weapons’ board.
Sten heard Ida shout, “Eject!
Eject!”
And his hand was going for the Paku
Defender trigger just as Rual hit the switch.
Aboard the Jo’l Cash, Ida and Doc saw everyone diving on Rual, but it was too
late. The missile had been launched. At this point, the lighter was only about
six klicks from the Flame and the
explosion was almost instantaneous.
Ida switched to another view and
saw the immediate aftereffect. A blinding white flash enveloped the little
ship. But a moment later the lighter emerged from the flash, unscathed and shot
away at a blinding speed.
At the same time, the explosion
rippled backward, hitting the Flame.
Another explosion. This time
engulfing the tail section of the mutineers’ ship.
It glowed an eerie golden color,
then the color faded and tail section emerged seemingly undamaged, except for a
black charring streak where the name of the ship had been painted.
The only thing left of the name was
the letter “F”, followed by a black streak.
Ida got the bugs aboard the Flame
operational again and saw that Shaklin and several members of his congregation
had Rual pinned up against the wall.
But instead of being furious, Rual
was laughing.
“Now, that’s torn it,” she was
shouting. “Whether any of you like it or not, we just gave Sten his answer.”
Her words so stunned the group that
they let her shake loose.
“The only choice we’ve got,” she
said, “is to hit him now and hit him as hard as we can. Then jump the clot out
of this sector before Sten has a chance to hit back.”
Zheng shook off the stupor he’d
sunk into. “Rual, sometimes crazy, she is,” he said. “But stupid she is not.
“She is right. Hit him, we must.
Every missile we must fire. And then jump. Far, far away we must jump.”
“Someplace the Emperor can never
find us,” Rual said. “And then we can contact Venatora again. Sell the stuff
and go about our merry richman’s way!”
Zheng moved toward the weapon
board. At the same time – aboard the Jo’l
Cash – Ida’s hands were moving toward her own bank of weapons.
She’d obliterate the wench.
Unfortunately, she’d be wiping out the Imperium X train at the same time. And
that was definitely not in their mission orders.
Aboard the lighter, Sten saw a
strange wavering motion just to the left of the Holoimager.
Guessing what Ida was about to do,
he jumped in.
“Ida, wait!”
Ida said, “Are you crazy, if I wait
we’ll all be burnt toast.”
“Just wait,” Sten ordered.
Cursing under her breath, Ida
waited.
And then the wavering image aboard
the Flame firmed. Until it became
that of a remarkably beautiful woman.
It was Venatora.
And at that moment all the bugs
aboard the Flame went dark.
In the control room of the Jo’l Cash Ida stared at the blank
screen.
“Drakh,” she said. “And fall back
in it.”
NEXT: GREGOR’S REVENGE
*****
NOTE FROM ALLAN: My multi-talented brother, Drew Cole, has just released a marvelous new album of original songs – “Let Me Off The Hook.” Some of the songs will make you cry, some will tickle your irony bone, and all of them will take you back to moments in your life, both painful or joyful, that will never be forgotten. The songs are free, but you can feed the kitty if you like them. Click on this link and hear for yourself.
*****
NOTE FROM ALLAN: My multi-talented brother, Drew Cole, has just released a marvelous new album of original songs – “Let Me Off The Hook.” Some of the songs will make you cry, some will tickle your irony bone, and all of them will take you back to moments in your life, both painful or joyful, that will never be forgotten. The songs are free, but you can feed the kitty if you like them. Click on this link and hear for yourself.
*****
STEN OMNIBUS TRILOGY
MAKES ITS AMERICAN DEBUT
MAKES ITS AMERICAN DEBUT
Well, my American publisher – Wildside Books – was listening and is issuing all three omnibus omnibus volumes on this side of the Atlantic. Sten Omnibus #1 was published
last month. Sten Omnibus #2 debuts this week. Stay tuned for the publication for Volume Three.
last month. Sten Omnibus #2 debuts this week. Stay tuned for the publication for Volume Three.
THE TIMURA TRILOGY: When The Gods Slept, Wolves Of The Gods and The Gods Awaken. This best selling fantasy series now available as trade paperbacks, e-books (in all varieties) and as audiobooks. Visit The Timura Trilogy page for links to all the editions.
NEWLY REVISED KINDLE EDITIONS OF THE TIMURA TRILOGY NOW AVAILABLE. (1) When The Gods Slept;(2) Wolves Of The Gods; (3) The Gods Awaken.
*****
Tales Sometimes Tall, but always true, of Allan Cole's years in Hollywood with his late partner, Chris Bunch. How a naked lady almost became our first agent. How we survived La-La Land with only the loss of half our brain cells. How Bunch & Cole became the ultimate Fix-It Boys. How an alleged Mafia Don was very, very good to us. The guy who cornered the market on movie rocks. Andy Warhol's Fire Extinguisher. The Real Stars Of Hollywood. Why they don't make million dollar movies. See The Seven Pi$$ing Dwarfs. Learn: how to kill a "difficult" actor… And much, much more.
Here's where you can buy it worldwide in both paperback and Kindle editions:
United Kingdom ...........................Spain
Also: NOOK BOOK. Plus ALL E-BOOK FLAVORS.
*****
A NATION AT WAR WITH ITSELF: In Book Three Of The Shannon Trilogy, young Patrick Shannon is the heir-apparent to the Shannon fortune, but murder and betrayal at a family gathering send him fleeing into the American frontier, with only the last words of a wise old woman to arm him against what would come. And when the outbreak of the Civil War comes he finds himself fighting on the opposite side of those he loves the most. In The Wars Of The Shannons we see the conflict, both on the battlefield and the homefront, through the eyes of Patrick and the members of his extended Irish-American family as they struggle to survive the conflict that ripped the new nation apart, and yet, offered a dim beacon of hope.
A True Story About A Boy,
A Teacher, And Earthquake,
Some Terrorists And The CIA
LUCKY IN CYPRUS is a coming-of-age story set in the Middle East during the height of the Cold War. An American teenager – son of a CIA operative – is inspired by grand events and a Greek Cypriot teacher.
He witnesses earthquakes and riots and terrorist attacks, but in the end it is his teacher’s gentle lessons that keep him whole.
Here's where to get the paperback & Kindle editions worldwide:
Here's what readers say about Lucky In Cyprus:
- "Bravo, Allan! When I finished Lucky In Cyprus I wept." - Julie Mitchell, Hot Springs, Texas
- "Lucky In Cyprus brought back many memories... A wonderful book. So many shadows blown away!" - Freddy & Maureen Smart, Episkopi,Cyprus.
- "... (Reading) Lucky In Cyprus has been a humbling, haunting, sobering and enlightening experience..." - J.A. Locke, Bookloons.com
*****
NEW: THE AUDIOBOOK VERSION OF
THE HATE PARALLAX
THE HATE PARALLAX: What if the Cold War never ended -- but continued for a thousand years? Best-selling authors Allan Cole (an American) and Nick Perumov (a Russian) spin a mesmerizing "what if?" tale set a thousand years in the future, as an American and a Russian super-soldier -- together with a beautiful American detective working for the United Worlds Police -- must combine forces to defeat a secret cabal ... and prevent a galactic disaster! This is the first - and only - collaboration between American and Russian novelists. Narrated by John Hough. Click the title links below for the trade paperback and kindle editions. (Also available at iTunes.)
*****
THE SPYMASTER'S DAUGHTER:
A novel by Allan and his daughter, Susan
After laboring as a Doctors Without Borders physician in the teaming refugee camps and minefields of South Asia, Dr. Ann Donovan thought she'd seen Hell as close up as you can get. And as a fifth generation CIA brat, she thought she knew all there was to know about corruption and betrayal. But then her father - a legendary spymaster - shows up, with a ten-year-old boy in tow. A brother she never knew existed. Then in a few violent hours, her whole world is shattered, her father killed and she and her kid brother are one the run with hell hounds on their heels. They finally corner her in a clinic in Hawaii and then all the lies and treachery are revealed on one terrible, bloody storm- ravaged night.
BASED ON THE CLASSIC STEN SERIES by Allan Cole & Chris Bunch: Fresh from their mission to pacify the Wolf Worlds, Sten and his Mantis Team encounter a mysterious ship that has been lost among the stars for thousands of years. At first, everyone aboard appears to be long dead. Then a strange Being beckons, pleading for help. More disturbing: the presence of AM2, a strategically vital fuel tightly controlled by their boss - The Eternal Emperor. They are ordered to retrieve the remaining AM2 "at all costs." But once Sten and his heavy worlder sidekick, Alex Kilgour, board the ship they must dare an out of control defense system that attacks without warning as they move through dark warrens filled with unimaginable horrors. When they reach their goal they find that in the midst of all that death are the "seeds" of a lost civilization.
*****
TALES OF THE BLUE MEANIE
NOW AN AUDIOBOOK!
 |
Venice Boardwalk Circa 1969
|
In the depths of the Sixties and The Days Of Rage, a young newsman, accompanied by his pregnant wife and orphaned teenage brother, creates a Paradise of sorts in a sprawling Venice Beach community of apartments, populated by students, artists, budding scientists and engineers lifeguards, poets, bikers with a few junkies thrown in for good measure. The inhabitants come to call the place “Pepperland,” after the Beatles movie, “Yellow Submarine.” Threatening this paradise is "The Blue Meanie," a crazy giant of a man so frightening that he eventually even scares himself.
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