Saturday, January 18, 2020

Not a Drill - Snippet from ALARIK #SciFiRom for #WeWriWa



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! 

This weekend, I’m continuing snippets from my new SciFi Romance story, ALARIK, book 4 in Taxyon Space
Phoebe Wong is at a training session for colonists bound for a distant planet. She is tending to the sheep.
Alarik, masquerading as wealthy mining magnate Rick Kent, has been invited to observe the colonists at a training center. He gets special treatment because everybody wants a piece of his fake asteroid of rare metals. The manager, Bron Hamme, is showing him the future colonists. 

You can read last week’s snippet at https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-capable-woman-snippet-from-alarik.html
This week’s snippet continues a few lines afterward.
(edited a little from published version with extra semicolons to fit 10 sentences.)

     As Alarik mulled over the challenges of establishing a viable colony on a strange planet, a piercing wail interrupted his thoughts; he asked sharply, “What’s that?”
    “Don’t worry, Mr. Kent; it’s just an emergency drill, a standard part of their training.”
   The sky darkened overhead; a light patter on the exterior of the dome switched abruptly to a deafening crash of particles.
     Hamme’s face paled in shock; “Sandstorm. Not a drill.” Dashing to the wall, he grabbed a couple of oxygen canisters and pushed one into Alarik’s hand, yelling over the siren’s noise, “Can’t risk a breach in the dome.”
     Stunned by the sudden change, Alarik accepted the cylinder, adjusting the attached mask to cover his nose and mouth, he looked down.
    In the field below, the woman glanced at the sand showering onto the transparent barrier; her eyebrows compressed briefly. She clipped an oxygen tube on her nose and shooed the children toward the exit. Tucking the second lamb under her free arm, she calmly walked toward a box-like enclosure; the adult sheep, probably the lambs’ mother, trotted after her. She urged them into their cage, secured the door and followed the children to the exit.

 Alarik

Blurb:
Two people fleeing their planets discover a shared destiny.
   When an alien spacecraft crashes on Mars, the repercussions sweep throughout the solar system and endanger the fragile new alliance with the Warrish mermen.  
    Alarik Kenton Tallis, First of his Triad, is forced to infiltrate human society on Earth as a spy to insure his injured brother receives proper medical care. But when his transmissions are detected, he must flee the planet.
   On Mars, Phoebe Wong, a veterinary scientist with dubious family connections, is desperate to escape the underworld gangs terrorizing the domed city. She jumps at the chance to join the colonists bound for a distant exoplanet.
   Their paths intersect on a space ferry bound for the outer planets. Trouble created by the mysterious spacecraft pursues them to Jupiter. Will they find the answers in the oceans of Europa, the hyperspace gateway to the stars protected by three diverse species?

ALARIK will release on Wednesday, 22nd at


 Europa

You can start this series for 99c
Europa, Book 1 of Taxyon Space99c at:  Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N

As always, I’ll be happy to reply to your comments. 
Please return to www.wewriwa.com to sample the works of the other writers.

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19 comments:

  1. That would be an alarming situation. Well done with creating tension in this snippet!

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    1. Thanks. Also, I wanted to contrast Hamme's alarm with Phoebe's calm reaction.

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  2. A very serious situation! But everyone seems to be calmly carrying out the emergency procedures.

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    1. Martians are used to sandstorms - it's like tornadoes here.

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  3. You write such great alien worlds! Her calm while getting children and animals out of harm's way is nice bit of character building. :-)

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    1. Thank you. That was the idea. Phoebe is a nervous person, but she acts appropriately in a real emergency.

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  4. The woman sure does have a cool head. I hope we see more of her as the story progresses.

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    1. She is the heroine. The hero will make a beeline to her when he sees her on the shuttle to the space ferry.

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  5. Exciting yet frightening. What a scene you have created.

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    1. Thanks. I like to toss challenges at my characters.

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  6. That's a scary situation, but it seems like she's used to it.

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  7. I like the calm way the woman reacts to the siren! And I have a feeling he's very intrigued too...loved the snippet!

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    1. Thanks. Yes, he wants to know her better. Her demeanor appeals to him as a contrast to the harpies eager to exchange favors for his (fake) riches.

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  8. Great tensed-filled scene. I like how the people go through the motions, letting us know they've had to deal with this all before.

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    1. Yes, you're correct. For them, it's a frequent event, although new for Alarik.

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  9. They all seem very well trained to this siren, which is good since there is an emergency. Sufficient preparation will save you in the end almost every time. Hope this is one of those times! Great snippet!

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  10. A tense scene. Alarms always make me edgy.

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