An unwelcome tropical environment - Excerpt from new story for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

If you’re in the US, I wish you an enjoyable Memorial holiday weekend.

I’m moving on with my new SciFi story. Thanks for your suggestions on the opening section. I’ve already revised that chapter. You can read the earlier draft at https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2022/05/an-intriguing-mission-excerpt-from-new.html

Background: Curator Shan Zennia has traveled to the planet of Harappi to record the annual spring festival. In her covert role, she also plans to report to Solarian Intelligence on the conditions after the planet’s recent occupation by the Emperor’s troops. The new overlord, Domina Allia, has a particularly nasty reputation.

Note: Zennia wears a Curator’s badge of office, a silver sunburst around an iridescent disk that records her observations (a mini-video recorder).  

The space shuttle decelerated in a noisy shudder and glided to land in the newly constructed spaceport. Steam hovered above the large puddles left on the concrete by recent rainstorms. Three of the Emperor’s star fighters, black as space itself, stood at the far side of the airfield. Several spacetugs and scouters were parked in the public section. A spacetug lifted skywards. Space travel had resumed, although sparser than normal for a thriving community.

The shuttle taxied to a spot by a large awning erected over the entrance to the passenger terminal. The standard Quickset block with a row of narrow windows signaled its hasty construction after the war.  

Zennia slipped the strap of her bag over a shoulder and filed out of the shuttle with the other passengers. Stepping outside into the sweltering heat, she inhaled and exhaled in slow breaths to acclimatize her body.

Ten sentences plus a little more:

A curator must endure the same conditions as the subjects of her observations. Ignoring the blasts of hot air from the scorching concrete, she activated the iridescent disk of her badge to record the surroundings. A lush green jungle flourished outside the barrier fence enclosing the spaceport. In the distance, gloomy clouds reared as a backdrop to the jungle and concealed the mountains. In the opposite direction, heat haze blurred the city buildings.

She joined the passengers at the edge of the canopy. As they looked around uncertainly, four guards in the somber black uniforms of the conquerors marched out of the terminal. Their stern expressions and hand weapons were far from welcoming.

I’ll be happy to reply to your comments. If all goes well, I hope to finish the editing and publish this story later this summer. 

All my books are discounted at my new Webstore: https://payhip.com/AuroraSpringerNovels.

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

 

Find a catalog of my published stories HERE.