Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors. Meet writers in various genres and read 8-10 sentence snippets of their stories. Find a new author and sample their work. Enjoy!
I’m continuing my new story, Trapped on Vkani, book 3 in my series Atrapako on Eden. You can read about the planets and their inhabitants in my Blog Post HERE.
Maya and her team had planned to explore the ruins of an ancient civilization in the radioactive Deadlands of Vkani. But a sandstorm buried their shuttle under a thick layer of sand, and they had to dig to the surface to call for help. Maya was pulled out of the sand by a blue scaled alien with curved claws. Jack, is dead, but the two other members of her team are alive.
Some people were
confused about the colors. Blue scales indicate a leader. Greens have technical
skills, massively built Reds are laborers and warriors. Everyone else has
Yellow scales.
You can read last
week’s snippet at https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2019/03/enemies-lurk-everywhere-snippet-from.html
The
snippet ended with the blue scaled alien asking Maya, “Was he your Blue?” I’ve skipped a few
lines, and re-punctuated to fit.
She
glanced at her friends. Their wrists and ankles had been tied, and the Red
loomed over them; Felix glared, while Hong whimpered. They were out of action,
and she had become the spokesperson for the team; she must do her best to
placate the Blue leader and keep her team alive.
Facing
the Blue, she straightened and said, “My name is Maya Pandita; I am the leader
of this expedition to study the ancient cities in the Deadlands.”
“Green or
Blue?”
“We do
not have those terms.” Hesitantly, she asked, “What is your name?”
“Sa
Vittaran Viktu.”
Male, she
deduced, and made a mental correction. His cloak had given no hint of his
gender, while hers was obvious even under the padded suit.
Marooned
on a desolate planet, joining forces with the enemy is their only hope.
Maya
Pandita spent years preparing for an expedition to the Deadlands. But her
dreams of unearthing ancient artifacts are shattered when her shuttle is buried
by a violent sandstorm, and her team is abducted by the scaled inhabitants of
the planet. Maya and her companions must try to outwit their blue captor and
call for help before they die in the toxic atmosphere.
Sa
Vittaran has a problem in his claws. Along with treasures from the ruins, he
has retrieved three smooth-skinned foreigners. They will die if he leaves them
in the desert. He cannot leave them to die in the desert. Yet the puny
creatures have little value as workers, except perhaps for the impudent woman
who claims to be their leader. Her knowledge of the ancient script will be an
asset if she can survive the long trek to his house.
An
attack by marauders forces Maya and the Blue leader into a wary alliance. They
must work together to thwart the bandits and reunite their company. Can Maya
convince Sa Vittaran to help her team? If she fails, they are doomed to a short
unpleasant life on the desolate, war-torn planet.
The
first book in this series
The Lady is Blue, Book 1, Amazon iBooks B&N GooglePlay
SciFi Romance. Feisty scientist solves puzzle of scaly
aliens.
Final day at 99c
Please return to www.wewriwa.com to sample the works of the other writers.
A good thing she knows about their culture, but will the locals be as accepting of their differences? Nice snippet!
ReplyDeleteShe prepared well for her expedition. The locals are confused. This Blue is quite bright, but he isn't psychologically prepared for "colorblind" people.
DeleteShe may think her sex is obvious, but would it be obvious to Sa Vittaran? Or has she established that he knows about humans?
ReplyDeleteHe knows enough. The "aliens" are not too different under their scales!
DeleteMore colours. Interesting. I liked that last line.
ReplyDeleteThank you. The right colors are important in this alien society. He is confused. Even though he may understand intellectually, subconsciously he is always trying to fit her into a neat color slot - Blue or Green.
DeleteAt least she's starting to think about the cultural differences and talk & act accordingly.
ReplyDeleteThey both are thinking about the differences.
DeleteI hope he can absorb the fact not everyone lives by the color code he knows. As always, love your details! Great snippet, full of menace...
ReplyDeleteThis confusion will continue. He keeps trying to pigeonhole into a Blue or Green class.
DeleteSounds like a tense situation! :D
ReplyDeleteOh yes. She and her team are effectively trapped since the Blue isn't about to let them use their coms to call for help.
DeleteI hope he can accept her customs the way she accepts his. The colors would be confusing to me if you hadn't explained it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteShe will have to accommodate to their customs since it is their land.
DeleteColors would be confusing if you'd grown up somewhere else. They're in a sticky situation here.
ReplyDeleteThey are indeed.
DeleteI look forward to learning what all those colors mean in his culture. Great world building.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThe alien is sure set on trying to put her in a label. I wonder if that's just for him to understand, or if he's too simple minded to see her any other way. Somehow I think it's more of the former since he told her his name.
ReplyDeleteIn his society, color classes are important and well-defined. He's not stupid. He understands she is different, but he must work to overcome his rigid cultural assumptions.
Delete