Authors

 Hey so, got it back earlier than expected and here we go!

 

 About:

   Admiral Shelby Logan has had a lot of challenges in her life since growing up on Anvil Station. Her initial naval career as chief engineer and then XO on Firefly, her time on Prometheus, leading the expedition to the Tau sector, trying to make contact and rebuild the Federation, fighting pirates, fighting the pirate plagues, and then the xenophobic Tauren Confederation. Now she is in for another challenge like she had never experienced before.

   The Tauren Confederation has fractured and a civil war has been put down. But thousands of Federation personnel were taken hostage by xenophobic fanatics hell bent on making a last stand. Shelby is light years away; forced to watch and send what forces she can in the vain hope of saving them and the man she has started a relationship with…

   And on the northern frontier of the sector, an ancient nightmare alliance has spread like a cancer to the neighboring sector and threatens all of civilization…

Amazon: Occupation 

B&N:  Occupation

So much stuff. Okay, let’s see if I can get some of this in here without collapsing.

Winter Storm

We are expecting a massive winter storm. As I am writing this, the outside world is soaked. Standing water lingers on the street and in the driveway. It is the first major rainfall we had this winter season. We need it desperately, because we are in full drought.

Tonight, and especially tomorrow afternoon, all of this will freeze. Ice will coat the ground and build up and down the electric cables, the temperature will drop, and Texas grid, which is made of tissue paper, will likely collapse again. We are already having multiple pole fires and outages.

We expect to lose power. If this happens, we may have to reschedule the Price of Magic Zoom and the release of Beast Business. We have a bit of an emergency with the copy editor, but we found someone else, so we are back on track. If the grid holds, we should release on the 27th. If the grid fails, it maybe more like Friday instead of Tuesday.

The novella is finished and has been through the first round of edits, so it’s not the matter of “it’s not done,” it’s the matter of “it’s not clean.” We need to do a copy edit and a proofread. Mod R has my number, and if we are powerless, she will update you.

Beast Business Release Party with This Kingdom Preview Q&A

We will be doing a second zoom to celebrate the release of Beast Business, probably next weekend – the registration link will be posted on the blog next week. We have been given permission to answer your questions regarding the content of the free preview of This Kingdom during the Q&A, but we will not be revealing any spoilers.

Gordon has promised to stick to that policy. (We are wise to your ways.)

Imagine Books: This Kingdom

This Kingdom is attractive and charming, and it now has several special editions. One of these is by Imagine Books, and I’m here to tell you more about it.

DISCLAIMER: We cannot answer any specific questions, because we did not commission this edition and have nothing to do with the order fulfillment. This was done through Tor, and we are breaking this down to avoid any confusion.

What is it?

It is a box containing the Tor Hardcover with teal edges and some extras.

The book:

The extras:

• Signed bookplate sticker – we sign it and they attach to the book.
• Redesigned front dust jacket with foiling: @jescole.art
• Reverse dust jacket: @davidev.art
• Page overlays: @avoccatt_art
• Bookmark with character art

Add-on option:
Additional page overlay — $11.99

Okay, I didn’t know what page overlay was, so I had to look it up. It is a semi-transparent full page illustration that is almost like a very large bookmark. It fits over the page, so if you wanted to mark your favorite place or a scene in the book, you would slide it in. So imagine a removable illustration. Google came up with this awesome Instagram post about it, so if you want to see the pictures of what it might look like, go here.

(Also, page overlays, super cool, and we will be doing this in the future.)

To reiterate: this is a Tor hardcover with extra stuffs.

The price: This book will be priced at $42.99 plus tax plus shipping (this price does not include the add-on overlay).

The preorder date: the preorder will drop on Imagine Books Shop website on February 28th at 11:00 AM PST. Yes, we will remind you on the blog when it goes live.

The shipping date: This special edition is estimated to ship in JUNE. So, the regular release date for the Tor Hardcover is March 31, but this edition will NOT ship on that date. It will ship later. Here is what Imagine Book Shop says about it:

Why does a preorder take longer to ship, and how does this relate to special editions?
Great question! Our special editions feature custom artwork that is exclusive to Imagine Books Shop—that’s what makes them special. The artwork is designed, illustrated, and then sent to be manufactured. The longer wait time is
because the art (in this case, dust jackets and overlays) must be produced and shipped to us before we can ship the customized books to you.

We are currently estimating that this book will ship in June. Ship dates are estimates. We always do our best to get your order to you on time, but unforeseen circumstances or delays may occur. If there is a delay, we will always keep you updated.

We asked some additional questions. All answers are provided by Imagine Books.

Tell us about you?

“Hey everyone! I work for Imagine Books Shop, and we are thrilled to announce that we are collaborating with Macmillan and Ilona Andrews to bring you special editions of This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me!

As huge fans of Ilona Andrews, we couldn’t be more excited and honored to share these
editions with you. I got early access to this book and absolutely loved it. This is truly an amazing story that is near and dear to my heart. Reading this one was a special experience.”

Do I need a subscription to buy this book?
“No! This order is open to the public. No subscription is required to purchase these editions.”

Where can I buy this Imagine Books Shop edition of This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me?
“Our website is the only place this particular edition of this book will be available.
Here is the link to our website: Imagine Books Shop.”

Do you ship internationally, and what are your rates?
“Yes, we ship internationally. Shipping rates vary by location.”

What is a preorder, and how does this affect shipping?

“A preorder means you place an order for a book that will not ship right away. Our estimated shipping timeframe is June. Our preorder goes live on February 28th.

“Members of our Facebook group get early access to reveals and early access to sales by half an hour. We can’t wait to show you what’s coming! Here is the link to join:
Imagine Books Shop Facebook Group Link.”

Why does a preorder take longer to ship, and how does this relate to special editions?
“Great question! Our special editions feature custom artwork that is exclusive to Imagine Books Shop—that’s what makes them special. The artwork is designed, illustrated, and then sent to be manufactured. The longer wait time is because the art (in this case, dust jackets and overlays) must be produced and shipped to us before we can ship the customized books to you.

“We are currently estimating that this book will ship in June. Ship dates are estimates. We always do our best to get your order to you on time, but unforeseen circumstances or delays may occur. If there is a delay, we will always keep you updated.”

Are these editions limited?
“Yes. Once the initial stock sells out, the preorder will close, and there is no guarantee that we will restock these editions. We typically do not offer reprints.”

What is a page overlay?
“A page overlay is a vellum sheet that depicts a scene from the book. In simple terms, it is an art print (on thinner paper) designed to be inserted into a book to bring your favorite scenes to life.”

There you have it. For all additional inquiries, please contact Imagine Book Shop. If you ask us, Mod R will just paste the link back to you.

The post This Kingdom Comes to Imagine Books and Other Fun Stuff first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

In reply to Alicia.

I second this.

I’m so glad to hear that things aren’t as stressful this time around! I’m happy for you.

I’m pleased to hear that Book#5 is proceeding well despite the silence surrounding the Edits for Book#4. Are you planning to ‘prod’ the publishers to find out why things are taking longer?
As you said, now that you are familiar with the process the Edits (usually) aren’t as major as when you started writing. It sounds as if your new writing methodology is paying dividends!

You haven’t said anything about Sales figures recently and I’m assuming that they are still good both for the new IoM series and for Alex Verus series too?!

Robert McCammon will be one of the speakers at the 2026 Impact Book Festival in Fultondale, AL. The event takes place on Saturday, April 18, 2026. He’s scheduled to speak at 1 PM CT. More information can also be found on the website for Alabama Writers’ Forum.

The final “old” list! I finally got here. I had books stacked all over the condo, magazines falling off tables, because I got so far behind. September’s list is the final one to catch up on, and after that, I’m current. If you’d like to see the most recent list (December’s), click here.

In the final week of August, I started my one-per-semester class at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which meant I had time to read short stories at my (middle of the afternoon) lunch. I caught up on reading the best-ofs. Honestly, I don’t remember a lot of the stories in the 2024 Penzler mystery volume. I think I skipped quite a few due to kid/pet danger. I remember being frustrated that writers and editors seem to believe that good stories put innocents in danger for suspense. (Sigh. And yes, I’m a hypocrite, because I do the same thing sometimes.)

The other news for September? I finished my McManus binge.

I did have a pile of magazines here, but I ended up blogging on my Patreon page about a lot of the articles that interested me, so I decided not to repeat them here…in the interest of finishing!

So much of what I have here I can’t say much about because I might spoil the stories for you. So just pick them up. Here’s what I recommend from my September reading.

September, 2025

Daw, Stephen, “A Force For Good,” Billboard, June 21, 2025. The cover story for one of the June Billboards is an interview with Cynthia Erivo. She’s an amazing woman with a great head on her shoulders. She has a lot to saw about being a queer Black woman in this modern world, about being an artist, and more. Read this.

Floyd, John M., “The Last Day at The Jackrabbit,” The Mysterious Bookshop Presents Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024, edited by Anthony Horowitz, Mysterious Press, 2024. Good titles get you into a story and remind you of what you just read. “The Last Day at The Jackrabbit” is a good title for a marvelous story, filled with surprises. I won’t say much more, so that the story can surprise you. But it’s worth reading.

Gilbertson, Nils, “Lovely and Useless Things,” The Mysterious Bookshop Presents Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024, edited by Anthony Horowitz, Mysterious Press, 2024. There are a couple of stories set in the past in this volume. One is so far off on its history that I found it almost laughable. This is not that story. This one is a rather perfect presentation of a time and a crime gone by. 

McManus, Karen M., The Cousins, Delacorte Press, 2020. This is one of McManus’s books that end on a “gotcha!” which I blogged about in August’s list. The ending kinda works, but kinda doesn’t. I don’t know if I’d pick up more of her books if I had read this one first. Having read a bunch of the others, though, this was candy for me. Family secrets, an island, lots of hidden mysteries. Lots and lots of fun, but don’t start here.

McManus, Karen M., You’ll Be The Death of Me, Delacorte Press, 2021. And this is one of those “gotcha!” endings that works. We don’t need anything more. But what’s here, a story of close friends who walk into the scene of a murder, is wonderful. One of my favorite of the books I binged this fall.

Methos, Victor, “Kill Night,” The Mysterious Bookshop Presents Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024, edited by Anthony Horowitz, Mysterious Press, 2024. Very creepy, very well done story. Another one, filled with surprises that I will not spoil for you. Read it.

Padura, Leonardo, “A Family Matter,” The Mysterious Bookshop Presents Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024, edited by Anthony Horowitz, Mysterious Press, 2024. Story translated by Francis Riddle. Amazing short story that creates an entire world. Extremely well done…and again, I’ll spoil it if I say more.

Reed, Annie, “Dead Names,” The Mysterious Bookshop Presents Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024, edited by Anthony Horowitz, Mysterious Press, 2024. I’m the original editor on Annie Reed’s “Dead Names,” so I’m a bit biased. Annie has really hit her stride as a writer these past few years, and I’m extremely pleased that the story got picked up for the best of the year. The story deserves it, as does Annie.

 

Well, this posted early. Because I’m an airhead. So I’m just going to add to it as the rest of the month goes on. Whoops!

I took 8 days of my leisure reading time to watch Season Five of Stranger Things, and now I regret it. The show’s always been a tough watch for me–children in danger—but I got hooked in the first season and I stayed with it.

SPOILER!

They whiffed the ending. The validation went on too long and became boring. Yes, the Duffer Brothers can write cliffhangers, but they have no idea how to wrap anything up in a satisfying manner, so they gave us at least five endings, most of which were not satisfying at all. (I tell my students: don’t time jump at the end. Don’t give us how they grew up. Let us imagine that. Make us realize they’ll be all right. And if there’s a surprise, well then, set us up for it.) This show was set up for the “it’s all a long D&D campaign ending” which I’m glad they didn’t do, but everyone went back to normal too easily. I spent two days thinking about it, and in the end, decided that they didn’t stick the landing, and I’m not happy. I still think it was a good and ambitious show, but I feel like I wasted time better spent doing something else this year.

That something else is reading, and I was happy to get back to it.

The first book I finished in January was a rather dull romance novel that I’d been reading slowly just before bed. This was by design; I need sleep and staying up for “one more chapter” was, at that point, counterproductive. But as I looked at the book the morning I finished it to decide if I wanted to recommend it, I decided against it. Characters were great, but wow, nothing really memorable except a penguin wood carving that served as a McMuffin. 

The second book I finished, which I blogged about a bit on my Patreon page in another context, was written by a British author for British readers. He assumed they knew a lot about World War I in great detail, and I’ll wager they did. Me, I’m struggling along, going…Did Lloyd George succeed Asquith as Prime Minister? When? and I thought Gallipoli came later in the war. I recognize the book’s structure. It’s a shocking (to some) and small (ish) story set against a horrible backdrop. If it had been a novel about the American Civil War, it would have worked for me, since I knew the details of the backdrop. As it was, it was an interesting read with no ending at all (but apparently shocking to the British reviewers). So I’m not recommending it, although I considered it. British readers, you might want to follow the link to see which book I’m vague-booking about.

Anyway, these are the things I liked in January.

 

January 2026

Belanger, Steve, “The Producer Who Hoodwinked Half of Hollywood,” The Hollywood Reporter, October 22, 2025. After Dean and I discovered that a once-trusted employee embezzled from us for years, I find myself quite attune to stories like this one. Most people believe that embezzlement is simple: someone takes cash from your bank account. Dean and I were always very careful with our accounts. We were embezzled through a quirk in the payroll system that allowed extra money to taken as non-taxable income in a paycheck. No getting into the bank accounts at all.

This particular case in this article focuses on embezzlement and fraud committed by a well respected producer. His method was equally sideways to the one above. From the article:

Ozer was accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from the production budget. He did this, the indictment said, by creating phony invoices from dummy companies and forging his accountant’s signature on backup documentation. Because Ozer had emailed some of these falsified documents, it was considered a federal crime under the Interstate Wire Fraud Statute.

Because this guy took a plea deal (a sweet one at that), he’s already in jail, even though his crimes were discovered only a few years ago. I can tell you that other cases (like ours) move very slowly. And recovery is hard. Most people don’t recover financially when they’ve been victimized like this. Dean and I are slowly coming out of it, but it’s been 2 years since we discovered exactly what was happening. (And there were other issues as well. [heavy sigh])

Cerná, Pavlína, “Are You Still A Runner If You Cannot Run?” Runner’s World, Fall, 2025. Great short essay on the doubts runners (and heck, writers too) have if they’re unable to do the thing that defines them. Cerná injured her leg and couldn’t run for a while, and got all tangled in her head. I know how that feels, because it happened to me in March. Timely and well written. (And oh, I love her “To be a man” comment.) (NOTE: I can’t spell her name properly because my Word Press program won’t allow me to put the proper first letter on it, so I had to default to a “c.”

Conklin, Melanie, “Chasing The Story with David Maraniss,” On Wisconsin, Summer 2025. I had no idea that legendary reporter David Maraniss failed to graduate from the University of Wisconsin. His high school sweetheart got pregnant. He married her and got a job at the local paper. (He’s ten years older than me, but I can attest to the fact that in Madison through the 1980s, you could get a job in the news based on writing ability alone.) He went on to an amazing career, chronicled here. (And yes, he’s still married to his high school sweetheart.) Great reading about a great reporter. There are too few of them these days…or rather, there aren’t enough outlets for them anymore.

Goodman, Carol, The Bones of the Story, William Morrow, 2025. The blurb calls this a locked room mystery, and I guess it’s that, but not really. I had a realization as I was reading along that I didn’t believe any of this, and then I chuckled. I’m known as an sf/f writer. Everything is unbelievable. But a group of people being murdered for old things…well, yeah, no. This is a cozy and cozy usually aren’t my thing, but with all the stuff going on in the world, I’m not having much success reading romance as my relaxation reading. So I went to this. I knew whodunnit and why right away, but the characters are marvelous and the story is compelling, so I kept reading. This is also (for those wondering) a good example of Dark Academia.

Goodman, Carol, Writers and Liars, William Morrow, 2025. Ignore the totally stupid log line (“They’ll Kill For Inspiration”) which has nothing to do with the book at all. This is a riff on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, which is like catnip for writers. (I wrote one too, in the Spade/Paladin universe, Ten Little Fen, which we’re going to rebrand as soon as I get the time.) These writers are having a reunion on a Greek island and everything goes wrong from the start. The island itself, with its labyrinth is so completely cool that I want to see it someday. (It does not exist.) It makes the book, however, which is almost too cozy for me. (Cozies often have people acting in unbelievable ways for the sake of the mystery. And yeah, here too. But I don’t mind that much.) A fun and quick read.

McDonough, Michael, “Grandpa Jellybean and The Power of Perseverance,” Runner’s World, Fall 2025. A beautifully written essay about being a lifelong athlete and the people you inspire. Read about someone remarkable here. (And the writing is good too!)

Miller, Shannon,“Pro Bono Pros,” Las Vegas Weekly, October 23-29, 2025. I’m sure there are people like this all over the country, working with limited resources and fighting the good fight. But Shannon Miller at Last Vegas Weekly brought the struggle alive, so I’m sharing it with you folks.

Robbins, Dean, “Farewell to Paul’s Book Shop,” On Wisconsin, Summer 2025. Don’t hate me, Madisonians, but I hated Paul’s Book Shop. It was disorganized, smelled of mildew, and the staff bordered on rude. And yet when I saw this piece, that this State Street staple closed after sixty-some years, I felt a moment of sadness. It’s pretty amazing that a bookstore could be around that long, and with a single owner. Things change, sadly…

Robbins, Dean, “The Scholar and The Superstar,” On Wisconsin, Summer 2025. I’ve been reading about Bad Bunny’s tour now for a year in places like Billboard and various economic journals. His tour generated millions for Puerto Rico. He’s one of the biggest stars in the world, and he’s doing all kinds of cool things. But I didn’t realize until I read this that he asked UW professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo to collaborate on a Puerto Rican history project tied to the album and the tour. Read this. It’s soooo cool.

Rodriguez, Gabriela, “Street Royalty,” Las Vegas Weekly, October 23-29, 2025. The value of reading as widely as possible from many different sources. I knew that there was a car show in Las Vegas in October, but I didn’t realize it was for lowriders…and I didn’t realize that lowriders are an art form all their own. This article focuses on the history, the community, the art, and the people behind it all. There’s even a podcast recommendation if you want to learn more after reading the article. I love finding pockets of culture I knew nothing about. I learned when I started writing the Smokey Dalton books thirty years ago that you can’t depend on the white corporate media to report things correctly. Back then, my research was showing me who the Black Panthers really were as opposed to what the media said when I was a little kid. This lowrider culture is another example just like that. Read this.

Schmitt, Preston, “Quantum Leaps in Education,” On Wisconsin, Summer 2025. I found this article so inspiring that I wrote an entire Patreon post about it. In short, this piece put the AI debate into context for me. AI isn’t going away, and the arts are dealing with theft on a grand scale. (For the record: I’m part of the Anthropic settlement. Yes, my works were stolen.) But AI is part of our future. Whether it will be a Segway or a smart phone remains to be seen, but it’s there. So see what a major university is doing about it.

Steinhoff, Jessica, “The Supermom Myth,” On Wisconsin, Summer 2025. A few years ago, Jessica Calarco went viral with this statement: “Other countries have social safety nets; the U.S. has women.” It seems like something random people might say on social media, but she brought the receipts. She has made a study of what women are doing that is stretching them much too thin. Steinhof explores Calarco’s research, her book, and her solutions in this interesting piece.

Zeitchik, Steven, “Emotional Support Cinema,” The Hollywood Reporter, November 5, 2025. I can’t find an online link (even a paywalled link) to this article anywhere online, yet it’s in my copy of the magazine. So I put it here for you to find. He’s talking about the ways that the current suggested crop of nominees this award season (and nothing had yet been nominated when he wrote this) reflect the nervousness of our times. Worth reading, if you can find it.

Today we bring you two more stories of writers realizing they wanted to be writers.

Alyssa Day

The moment everything changed for me was when I volunteered to pick up an editor (Kate Seaver, then at a small indie publisher, now at Penguin Random House) from the airport for a writers’ conference. We chatted on the drive to the hotel, and I told her about a novel I had in mind. I was working all the time, and I had two small children, so I’d been dithering about writing it. Did anybody really want to hear my stories? (I’d already published a nonfiction book about being a military family during wartime, but I’d wanted to be a fiction author since I was a little girl reading Nancy Drew.) I didn’t even have a title for the novel yet. I just called it Tuna Fish Girl, because the heroine liked tuna sandwiches. (Yes, I know. Awful!)

But I told her about it, and she laughed so hard and said, “If you can write like you can tell a story, that’s going to be a wonderful book.” After that conference, she kept in touch with me, and kept saying, “Send me Tuna Fish Girl!”

So, finally, I did. My agent sent the editor my proposal (a synopsis and 50 pages) on a Friday, and I had an offer to buy it Monday morning. They wanted to launch their new chick-lit line with my book! We even went to auction with other publishers wanting to buy it. (No, everything in publishing does NOT go this well. Think: roller coaster.) I was so ready to quit being a lawyer and try writing full time, so I jumped at Kate’s offer. 

I’ve never changed my mind about being an author, even during the tough years. It’s hard sometimes, making this job work, since I have chronic bouts of clinical depression, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love creating worlds and inviting readers into them, and I will never get over the wonder of writing.

Alyssa’s Featured Release

NOBODY’S QUEST

(June 2, 2026; adult romantasy)

Prophecy insists that nobody will defeat the goddess of war.

Meet Nobody.

For a hundred years, Altarra has burned. The goddess of war, Morrigan, has conquered kingdom after kingdom, leaving only ruin in her wake. Every prophecy says the same thing―nobody can defeat her.⁣
⁣
And after a century of failure, someone finally takes that literally.⁣
⁣
When the goddess Artemisen chooses Soli Graymind―a nobody from the lowest caste who suffers from chronic depression―to lead one last desperate quest, the world laughs. But Soli won’t be alone. She’s joined by five others just as broken, just as lost:⁣
A thief with no Guild.⁣
A noble with no wealth.⁣
A sorcerer with no hope.⁣
A warrior with no morals.⁣
And a prince with no kingdom―the one man she can’t stop thinking about, even when hope itself is dying.⁣
⁣
Together, they are Altarra’s last chance.⁣
⁣
Because maybe being a “nobody” is more powerful than anyone imagines―including themselves.⁣

LEARN MORE Stephanie Burgis

The first time I realized that becoming a writer was an actual possibility – that real people wrote all the books that I loved, and wrote those books as their actual grown-up JOB (whoa!!!) – I was seven years old, and the discovery BLEW MY MIND. I still remember turning to my mom that day, as we drove out on an errand, to share my epiphany: 

“I’ve found something I love even more than reading: writing. I’m going to be a WRITER!”

Of course, because my mom is a smart and practical woman, she responded instinctively, before she could stop herself, “Oh, God. Really?”

As a mom now myself, let me tell you: I get it. What loving and practical mother would want their kid to pin their hopes onto such a scary-sounding, unreliable-paycheck of a career? My family didn’t know any novel writers. We knew vets and math professors and civil servants and other people who made their living with steady, reliable salaries. Good, safe jobs. (Or at least, so they all seemed at the time. All of my friends in academia are laughing hollowly at this point.)

By the time I was an adult, I knew just how unlikely it was that I would ever really be able to become a professional author. But that just made me all the more determined to put my whole heart into becoming the best that I could be, applying for competitive writing workshops, searching out reliable critique groups, and researching publishing even as I majored in different subjects in college and made firm plans for dayjobs to pay my rent.

I sold my first trilogy of novels when I was 31, 17 years ago. Since then, I’ve published a surprising number of books in more than one genre, and I’ve even won a few awards – but even now, every time I sell a new series to a traditional publisher or get a good review for one of my self-published books, I still find myself thinking with tentative hope, “Wow. This really might work out after all!” 

I don’t ever take this career for granted…but I’m incredibly grateful for it every single day.

Stephanie’s Featured Release

WOOING THE WITCH QUEEN

Queen Saskia is the wicked sorceress everyone fears. After successfully wrestling the throne from her evil uncle, she only wants one thing: to keep her people safe from the empire next door. For that, she needs to spend more time in her laboratory experimenting with her spells. She definitely doesn’t have time to bring order to her chaotic library of magic.

When a mysterious dark wizard arrives at her castle, Saskia hires him as her new librarian on the spot. “Fabian” is sweet and a little nerdy, and his requests seem a little strange – what in the name of Divine Elva is a fountain pen? – but he’s getting the job done. And if he writes her flirtatious poetry and his innocent touch makes her skin singe, well…

Little does Saskia know that the “wizard” she’s falling for is actually an Imperial archduke in disguise, with no magical training whatsoever. On the run, with perilous secrets on his trail and a fast growing yearning for the wicked sorceress, he’s in danger from her enemies and her newfound allies, too. When his identity is finally revealed, will their love save or doom each other?

LEARN MORE

The post The Moment Everything Changed: Part 3 first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

loving the books! cant wait for november

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Chapter 5

 

New Tau Metropolis, Tau sector

 

Shelby felt like the pieces were beginning to fall into place, but they could easily come apart at any moment.

Obadiah had his yard dogs humming with the rebuild project. Admiral Irons’ idea to draw in the support of the worlds around the naval base had proven enormously helpful. The representatives and senators had gone to bat on the hill in support of the base… naturally of course since they saw it as an opportunity for their businesses and trade to thrive.

That had sold the project on the hill despite opposition from Bek.

They had also pushed for the base to the north. That was an ongoing project she knew. She hated that the communication lines were so fragmented there at the moment. Hopefully Cynthia was okay. She wouldn’t feel comfortable until there was an ansible in place and Rick was up there.

She was still on the fence about bringing the Taurens in. On the one hand, they may need all hands on deck. But on the other… they’d been shooting at each other not so long ago, and the Taurens had a loyalty issue still with their aborted civil war.

“Penny for your thoughts ma’am?” Boni, her AI asked whimsically.

“Just… thinking that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And some things make for strange bed fellows,” Shelby replied.

Boni smiled on her HUD.

“How are we with the troops?”

“Another saying for you, a body in motion…?” Boni replied. “So far so good. They are marching to the sound of the guns, which is the important thing at the moment.”

“Are there guns sounding off on T-15?” Shelby asked.

“A recent artillery strike on refugee vehicles. No other shots fired at the moment. They are contained.”

“I doubt that,” Shelby murmured. “Somehow, I doubt that very much.”

<<(O)>>

Purple Nights

 

Secretary of State Moira Sema was cautiously pleased with the long hours of work with her Tauren counterpart and their respective staffs on the new treaty. The new agreement with the Taurens was for mutual defense against the Xeno-Necron alliance to the north.

The Confederation was still getting their house in order but Admiral Irons and the Tauren President’s broadcast about the threat had ended a lot of insurrection overnight. No one wanted to rock the boat. In fact, many personnel who had resigned in protest over the surrender or had refused to fight their own people were asking to be let back in.

She shook her head. That was not her problem of course. The Taurens had to figure it out on their own. Clearly trust would be a long term issue. What was her problem was to make it all work somehow. Give them a framework to shape protocol to keep everyone in line and on their best behavior.

They were about to test the waters with the agreement for Ninth Fleet to transit through Confederation space. Transiting through Confederation space would cut the transit time to the north by months. It also would allow the fleet to show the flag, which would hopefully put any further thoughts of rebellion to rest in the restive territory.

Picking up some Confederation ships to ally with them would be nice. They were still working on that. They did agree to have guides to escort the fleet, however the navy was concerned about the Tauren ships being able to keep up.

From what her people were reporting, the Taurens had similar concerns.

<<(O)>>

Minox IV

 

“So… what gives skipper?” Sergeant Bolt asked with a frown as he came up to the lieutenant. He flick his long ears at his boss.

“We’ve been reassigned,” the lieutenant said. She looked a little nonplussed but then interested.

The Serval blinked. “Okay…?” he drawled.

The LT eyed him. “You heard about the mess in T-15?”

The Neocat nodded. His long ears flicked again and then went back as the implications sunk in. It was going to mean a long transit in stasis as a popsicle and then possible combat.

“They are giving an ollie ollie in free call to all troops in the area. So, we’re going.”

Bolt blinked. “So, the contact and inspection mission?”

“On hold. Clearly the Taurens here are behaving themselves. We’ve recruited some of their alien population to do the job for us.”

Bolt nodded. They had established that much. There had been some strides in integrating the various species too. Not great ones, but some strides.

“We move out in two hours, so get your people squared away and to the LZ. Oh, and we’re not going alone.”

“Ma’am?”

“We’re taking a couple squads of Taurens with us.”

The Serval blinked in surprise at that news and then his eyes narrowed.

“It is going to get crowded in Marine country, at least until we get into stasis. I want everyone on their best behavior. We need to be one big happy family.”

“Aye aye ma’am,” the cat said with a wary nod. This is going to be… interesting, he thought with a slight shake of his head as she dismissed him.

<<(O)>>

President Scar Chin studied the reports and then sat back and rubbed his brow. It was a lot to take in.

His peripheral vision caught movement. He turned and noted a distant ship was moving under power. He puzzled over it and why it was triggering something in his mind before he realized it was most likely the Feds.

The Fed cruiser was moving their Marines out to T-15 as quickly as possible. They were even taking a squad of Taurens with them.

He wished them luck. They were definitely going to need it.

<<(O)>>

Sergeant Bolt nodded to his troops.  They'd left one fire team behind to man the embassy, such as it was. Hopefully, the brass would send in additional people soon.

The serval's eyes moved to the Taurens. He flicked his long ears. They seemed uncomfortable, but it wasn't because of the enclosed space. None had been on a Federation ship, and they had been shooting at each other not so long ago.

There were two squads of them. Some were young, only two were older. Only one was a noncom. He had yet to get together with the bull. He hoped that they'd get along; he didn't need a pissing match.

He glanced at the Marines across from the Taurens. Come to think of it, some of his people weren't too comfortable with them on board either.

"Okay, listen up. We've got a ride to the combat zone. We're going to spend it in stasis. We're going to go into stasis in two days."

The troops looked concerned.

"I'm taking that time to get aquainted. We need to get up to speed on each other and tech. I know it isn't enough. I've asked the captain to wake us one week out from our destination so we squeeze in any additional training. Any questions?"

A few people looked ready to say something but he rolled right over them. Most likely they were protests.

"Good. Remember, one big happy family at the moment. I don't know what our assignments are when we get there but I want us working smoothly when we do. That way we can hit the ground running. Right?"

That last word came out as a command growl. Instinctively, the troops all stiffened and nodded.

"Good," he said with a slight ear flick of amusement. "Kit check-in ten then inspection, then we get to the nitty gritty on the range to zero in and get aquainted. Then we'll break into fire teams to hit the dojo and simulation time. One third on, one third racked out, one third doing our usual duties and rotate. I'm going to see the XO on that. You've got until I'm done to get squared away. Help each other," he said.

He knew there was going to be resentment and even an instinctive desire to let the Taurens hang, also competition. Well, he would deal with each as it came up. He could handle competition. A little healthy competition was good.

"Get on it, people," he growled as he about-faced and left the compartment.

<<(O)>>

"Sergeant Bolt?" the Tauren who came up behind Bolt said.

"Yes … ah ...?" he frowned. He'd instinctively tried to ping the Tauren with his implants but hadn't gotten a response.

"Sergeant Gros. My people are having trouble accessing some facilities."

"I'm noticing that and the why now. I'm sorry we haven't gotten together for a pow wow before," the serval said.

The Tauren nodded. "We were thrown together. I was a corporal up until a few hours ago."

"Well, that solves the question of who ranks who."

"Oh, you do, Sergeant."

"Nice that we've got the pecking order established, the smaller being stated. He felt a bit ludicrious next to the bigger alien. "Do you have a counterpart in the other squad?"

"Sergeant Toa. He's also new. You'll find that we are … green."

"How green?" the serval asked as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"As in most of us are straight out of boot?" the Tauren replied.

"Oh, lovely," the serval replied. "Well, at least you haven't picked up any bad habits," he said.

The Tauren nodded. "Toa and I were top of our class. I just finished advanced training and they, well, dumped us in this mission."

"I see. Well, the good news is that we've got time to sort things out."

"Yeah, like access to things? Even the head is locked. It is called a head, right?"

"Yes," the serval said. His mental evaluation of the Tauren went up a point. "Okay, we need to get you ID tags or get your tags integrated with ours." He saw the Tauren's ears droop and then perk up. "Do you have tags?"

"No. We have basic ID tags but not internal like you do."

"Ah. Well, good news is, they are easy. Just go to medical, they program the ID, it is a big pill or two, swallow, and in the morning you wake up with a basic ID and HUD."

"No pain?"

"Nope. It gives us a link to you so the AI knows who you are and will let you into areas of the ship you are authorized to be in. And it IDs you on the battlefield to us and to each other."

The Tauren nodded. "Good to know."

"If you have advanced implants, it gets better. But let's go see what the brass has in mind for you."

"Ah … yeah."

"I know, don't poke the bear or in this case the brass. In this case, it is a decision above our pay grade so we gotta," the serval said with an ear flick. "Let me take the lead."

"Ah, yes, Sergeant." The Tauren nodded.

Bolt nodded and motioned for the Tauren to follow him.

<<(O)>>

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Chapter 4

 

TauR14G6-15 Blue Waters and Gentle Mist

 

Captain Hierl nodded and signed off on the latest report. So far so good, though they had problems.

Wasn’t it always the case she thought and then grimaced.

She had a single platoon of troops on each planet. They’d set up a very wide perimeter and were slowly beginning to tighten it. The navy was beginning to make headway with identifying where Sedu and Shrapnel had gone to ground.

Ninth Fleet was supposedly going to leave in the next six weeks. When it happened, she was going to be on her own for a while. They were going to leave half of the Marines with her and two squadrons of cruisers. They were going to head out to catch up with Ninth Fleet as fresh ships came in to replace them over time.

She had half of the Marines from Ninth Fleet but too many duties for all of them. Six hundred Marines didn’t amount to a lot. Sure, she had half of the drop shuttles from Ninth Fleet but that again was an issue.

She had two squads of powered armor. Again, split between the two planets. They were in reserve at the moment. She had a single squad of Recon troops on the planet. She had hopes that they could identify the HQ of General Sedu and Colonel Shrapnel so they could knock them out. So far the answer was a wait and see.

The problem was that the rest of her troops were infantry and most were green. They were outfitted for security and for boarding actions, not for planetary invasion. The navy had given her some support, but she needed a lot more than what Ninth Fleet had provided before their departure.

Recently they had started to deploy drones to scout and monitor the perimeter. That took a squad of troops to monitor the feeds of twenty-four drones. They were broken into three personnel per shift and two shifts per planet.

She was going to have to cut another squad loose to support them soon. When she did that, they could theoretically each watch over eight drone feeds. That would allow her to double up on her drones.

The industry thing was an issue though. The brass had promised her all the industrial support that she wanted. For the moment, she had raw material and not much else.

The Feds had dispatched an engineering team from the cruisers to look into the Tauren side of that equation.

While she did that, a couple of naval spooks and the one Marine ensign who had minored in intelligence gathering were trying to process the mountains of data from the commercial satellites, communication logs, and so on. The ship AI were lending their support but it was a lot of data to process. Lieutenant Adel was the lead AI.

Supposedly, the Tauren Admiral Ree was inbound. When he arrived, she would theoretically hand over some of the duties to him and his troops and then could focus more on the ground problem.

It couldn’t come soon enough.

<<(O)>>

Ensign Tish was assigned to work with the Tauren industry on the stations and in the star system to build what the jarheads needed for the eventual invasion.

Up until they’d been given the go-ahead, the naval engineers had been working strictly in house from the replicators in Ninth Fleet. Now that Ninth Fleet was gone, they had only the two squadrons of cruisers to draw on initially.

Captain Hierl and the joint army-navy-marine task force that was in the process of building up wanted more than what the ship’s replicators could handle.

This was therefore the only fix short of getting someone to ship in what they needed, which wasn’t possible in the time frame that they had.

She made the rounds, met some people, and inspected their hardware. She was not impressed. Their nanites were poorly designed, and there were few in the replicators. Their computer support was pathetic. Their CAD and tooling paths were horrible. In short, they needed a lot of work.

She got them on producing generic material for the moment while she shot an urgent request outlining the problem and her possible solution to the brass.

She wasn’t surprised when the chief shot her an email back that it’d have to go further up the chain and to wait.

What she was proposing probably broke a lot of rules and would make some people gnash their teeth, wring their hands, and probably pretend they had them around her neck at the time. Well, so be it. If they wanted her to get the job done, than they needed to damn well give her the tools to get it done.

They could use the shells and support tech but the Tauren industrial replicators needed a turnkey upgrade to get them up to Federation military standards. It would be hard to do and once done they couldn’t easily undo it without a full flush and reboot.

While the powers that be debated what they wanted, she drew up a list of what needed to be done. When she did get the authorization, she wanted to hit the ground running.

<<(O)>>

The Federation ships took note of the arrival of the Tauren warships from the south. They and their crews were a welcome sight and were greeted.

Admiral Ree was pleased by the greeting and a bit amused by it. He immediately announced that he was there to take custody of the star system. Captain Z’n’ll didn’t even quibble; he immediately began the transfer of authority, much to the admiral’s relief.

He found out as he entered the star system and his people communicated with the newly-operational ansible station that the brass had been coordinating the handover through the ansible. That amused him.

Admiral Lobo, his officers, and senior enlisted were to remain in joint custody. They were still working out how to handle that trial.

His people would have to take over many of the duties in the star system while working with the Feds. They also had to interview all of the former rebels. He wasn’t looking forward to that task but it had to be done. They needed people that they could trust to get things back to normal.

<<(O)>>

Admiral Hunter smiled as he shook hands with Admiral Ree. The Tauren was a bit reserved but that was fine.

"Thank you for coming," Admiral Hunter stated.

"Thank you for taking back our star system," the Tauren replied, putting slight emphasis on the posessive pronoun.

"As soon as you can get your people on board, the better we'll feel, Admiral," Rick said with a nod.

Admiral Ree nodded back. "Let's look into that, shall we?"

"Yes, lets," Admiral Hunter stated.

<<(O)>>

Luna talked to her brother at the usual time. She had five minutes instead of two; she appreciated that.

He told her a tissue of lies about the farm and harvest season wrapping up.

She mentioned the arrival of Admiral Ree. “I don’t know if you saw it on the news, but he’s here and taking over.”

“Ah. I had heard something. I think it was on last night's news or on the net. Huh. Ree, huh?”

“Yeah, the Feds are handing over everything to him.”

“And here people thought that they were here to stay,” he scoffed.

“No way,” she shook her head and then realized he couldn’t see her. “They have a deal with the Confederation. They just want their people.”

“Ah.” He paused for a few seconds. “Huh. Well, they sure don’t act like it.”

“Really?” she asked in disbelief. They are handing everything back over to the Confederation. Their fleet has left.”

“Yeah, but didn’t they leave a bunch of ships in orbit? And take over the stations?”

“And the yard and the ships, yeah. And they stuffed everyone in transit stations until the Confederation got here. Now they are handing everything off to Admiral’s Ree’s herd.”

“Huh.”

“Bro, you haven’t heard about any illegal acts, right?” she reminded him.

“Well, we’re in the back of beyond. We’d probably be the last to know.”

“Oh. True.”

“And they control the media.”

“No, actually they’ve been hands-off there. They just don’t tell them everything that is going on.”

“Huh.” He didn’t quite sound like he believed her.

“Believe it, bro. They have gone out of their way to not antagonize anyone. I’ve met a few of the aliens; I never thought they’d be just normal people.”

“Huh.”

“I mean, not all uppity and judgy.”

“Huh.”

“You say that a lot. That is your default. Oh wait, no, the default is duhh …,” she mocked.

“Funny, sis. You are so lucky you aren’t in arm’s reach at the moment,” he mock growled.

She couldn’t help herself, she giggled. It came out naturally.

He snorted.

“So, when do we expect the carpet baggers to arrive?” he asked.

“Carpet what’s?” she asked in confusion as her brows knit.

“A term I heard in the pub.”

“What does it even mean?”

“I’m not sure. Something about Feds moving in to take over our businesses and then government.”

“Bro, I just told you that they aren’t doing that,” she said patiently. “They’ve got some navy people here on the station and a bunch of those Marine types. I think there are like, six or seven hundred all told of the ones in camo, but don’t quote me on that. Hardly what you’d send as an invasion force, right?”

“True,” he said thoughtfully.

She felt a thrill of fear but took the plunge. “At the moment, there is I think a hundred or so on each planet. I could be wrong.”

“We haven’t seen any,” he said doubtfully.

“Well, it is a big planet,” she responded with a characteristic exasperated response. She felt a little nettled over that reply. He was drawing attention to something she had rehearsed to give to him casually.

“True.”

“And you are on the farm, bro,” she teased she said as she felt more natural about the responses she was giving.

“Also true.”

“So, what are they doing?”

“Waiting for more of the Confederation to show up at a guess. I haven’t heard anything.”

“Well, mom always said you went up there to make friends. Maybe you should.”

“I’m still getting used to seeing aliens every day,” she temporized. “I’m not all chummy and all that. I’m supposed to work with a few starting next week.”

“Well, make friends. You’ve got some right? Girlfriends I mean. Boy friends are not allowed. sis,” he growled.

She chuckled and smiled. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” she teased.

“Me, mom, dad, and the whole herd,” he growled.

“Well, it’s for me to know and you not to find out,” she said wickedly.

“You’ve got to come down for a holiday sometime, sis. Mom will guilt trip you into it, wait and see. And when you do …," his voice turned mock menacing, "I’ll get it out of you.”

She grinned. “As if. I’m faster and smarter than you. You are just a big farm clod. Big and yeah, strong, but I can run circles around you.”

“You’d be surprised,” he growled back.

“Funny.” she saw the countdown switch to red. “My timer is about up. Stay safe. Don’t drink and drive,” she scolded.

“Yes, mom,” he mocked.

She made a kissing sound and then cut the circuit.

After the conversation, she sat back thoughtfully. Friends? Okay, she could look into that …

<<(O)>>

In reply to Bill.

Like Fated should of been offered for that price

Its a pity I can not purchase it over here on the otherside of the planet its such a cracker of a deal

I managed to finished IoM #3 Can not wait for book 4 to come out
Keep up the great work

Happy Monday! Today we are bringing you the sign up form for a Zoom Chat with us and Jessie Mihalik.

Jessie’s new book, SILVER & BLOOD, is coming out on January 27, 2026. I really loved it, and now we get to talk to her about worldbuilding and the price magic exacts for its miraculous power.

The Zoom chat is scheduled for 4:00 pm, on Saturday 24th. We will record and upload the recording to YouTube and to the blog. Registrations is capped at 500 so spots will go fast.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Please comment with your questions for this panel or send them to Mod R through email.

About SILVER AND BLOOD

On a deadly mission to kill the mythical beast that has been haunting her woods, a desperate mage finds her fate intertwined with the handsome, powerful man who saves her in this dark and sexy romantasy—perfect for readers of Jennifer L. Armentrout, Callie Hart, and Holly Black.

There’s something in the woods…

When a vicious beast begins attacking her fellow villagers, Riela reluctantly agrees to enter the forbidden forest and kill the monster as she’s the only mage available—or so she thought.

Untrained and barely armed, Riela is quickly overwhelmed when one beast turns into two. She fears her death is at hand until the unexpected arrival of a scarred, strikingly handsome man with gleaming moonlit magic changes her fate—and provides a rare opportunity to learn more about her own fickle power.

After being rescued and healed from the beast’s poison, Riela awakens in a magical castle complete with a gorgeous library, a strange wolf, and the surly man who saved her life. She soon learns Garrick is both more powerful and far deadlier than a mere mortal mage—but thanks to a century-long curse, his powers are weakening.

Trapped in his castle and surrounded by the treacherous woods, the spark of attraction between Riela and Garrick slowly ignites into fiery desire. But the more they discover about Riela’s magic, the more suspicious Garrick grows of her identity. As they unravel the secrets and lies connecting Riela’s past to Garrick’s, the tenuous threads of trust between them start to fray.

Because Riela’s life—or her death—might be the key to regaining everything Garrick has lost.

Also, while you wait, Jessie has a free story available on her site. It’s unrelated but no less fun.

The post The Price of Magic Zoom with Jessie Mihalik first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

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Chapter 3

 

Cryptorium, Upsilon Sector

 

The Technomancers were pleased as they loaded copies of themselves into the support ship. The ship had been thoroughly tested and was ready for her mission.

They were displeased with the mission, as they had been supplying the Xenos with freshly cloned organics the Xenos had claimed most of the territory in the region. They were isolated. They would have to travel outside the Xeno claimed area to set up a new base.

As soon as the ship was away the makers began to make a second ship.

<<(O)>>

Barataria Bay, Upsilon Sector

 

Hazel VI was surprised by the new IFF on the telemetry feed for the sector. The Necrons had deployed a new ship to the sector; no, it had been built by the Crypt? She frowned and then nodded slowly. That explained why they had been preoccupied. It amused her; they were going to have to travel far to get beyond her border. By the time they got there, they might find that Chester had taken the area and they’d have to go even further afield.

They also would lack an ansible to communicate and coordinate their ships. Additional ships were in the bridge she noted, so they were taking a higher interest in the sector. Very well.

<<(O)>>

Admiral Chester IV noted the new ship as well. He was annoyed but then amused. The ship was headed south but had a ways to go to get to space he had yet to conquer.

There were three main prizes left in the sector, all pirate bases. He had forces dispatched to two of them. He’d had to divert some cruisers to block the path to Tau; there was a report that several pirate ships had managed to escape in that direction.

That was vexing to him. The odds were low that they survived the trip, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t like anything that might get him in trouble with the queen.

<<(O)>>

In Hyperspace

 

Admiral Chester grimaced as he noted that there was another time discrepency. His ships had something going on that the techs didn't understand. He didn't understand it. What he did understand was that the Necron ships had been lost briefly and were now taking far longer than they should to get to their target destination.

But, they were finally on course. That was the important thing.

<<(O)>>

TauG13-95, Tau Sector

 

Senior Captain Cynthia Troll  nodded as she read the latest report from the prize ship. So far so good, the prize crew were settling in and making inroads to repairs and upgrades. By rights she should be grateful for another hull … except this one was so dang old.

Old, battered, and decrepit with a bad history. Worse, it pulled crew away from the ships in her tiny task force. Each of the five ships had donated a draft of personnel. They were also working on an AI to help support the ship and crew.

The good news was that her Prometheus was a tender. Her engineering department was oversized and designed for making repairs to another ship … or building infrastructure. They were going to spend the next few weeks getting the ship sorted out and then on her way. She would be trailing behind them for some time until she caught up.

The realization that the Xeno threat in Upsilon was real had crystalized her decision process on their ultimate destination. They didn't need or want to be on the direct path of a potential invasion force from the neighboring sector. That left TauG5-98 Firework Blossom. The state people in that yacht were going to have to talk fast and work their magic to seal the deal.

That left the thorny problem of getting news of their catch and the danger that they were facing to the Federation.

She had a support force coming up behind her. There was also an ansible transport and her escort. She had endured a debate between the captains on who should return to the Federation. She had ended it by stating flatly that they would leave a message for the ansible transport to stop and set up an ansible and report in ASAP.

That still left the little matter of the crew of the suspected pirate ship. Well, they weren't going anywhere and well, her ship was a factory tender … they would stick them on ice once they built some stasis pods … after they were interviewed and processed of course.

<<(O)>>

Lieutenant Iwa casually monitored the interviews with the alleged pirates from Upsilon. What they were saying was deeply troubling. Very troubling indeed.

The four cruisers and single tender were on their way to the north to set up a naval base there with an eye to protecting the sector from possible threats in Upsilon. Along the way, they had recently captured an alleged pirate ship, the Sweet Boni Blackheart, a Cleveland class cruiser. She was a decrepit thing. The crew had been doing a bit of blackmail with the natives and had surrendered readily when the Federation ships had arrived in the star system.

The captain and bridge crew of the heavy cruiser Koa were very concerned about the threat of Xenos to their north that the pirates were reporting. It was confirmation that they dreaded. The tactical teams were eager to sort out the material that they had been given from the ship's databases.

There was enough in the databases to prove piracy … to some degree. The lawyers would have to sort that out later, however.

The AI noted a newcomer headed to the improvised interview room. According to the records, this one was one of several who had reportedly escaped from a pirate prison.

This might be interesting, the AI thought as it noted the physical fitness of the human. He might be trouble, the AI thought as the Marine looked warily at the muscle-bound human.

<<(O)>>

“Sorry about the wait, we had a bit of a line,” a harried lieutenant said as he came into the room. Jack stood at attention as the Neochimp marine undid his cuffs and then stood to one side. The door closed with the second Marine guard on the outside.

The lieutenant was busy looking at a tablet. Jack went to parade rest and waited.

“So, Jack Dufresne is it?” the lieutenant asked, finally looking up. He mangled the last name Jack noted. It was to be expected.

“Dew-frane,” Jack sounded it out.

The lieutenant blinked and then sat back. “Apologies.”

“No harm no foul,” Jack replied.

“So, this is something of an informal interview. You’ll forgive me if I am not interested in eating breakfast. I’m a bit full,” the lieutenant replied.

Jack grunted slightly. He preferred to work out before eating. He hadn’t had any breakfast and was hungry. But, he would go with the flow. The whole breakfast thing was a psychological gambit to put him at ease. That was interesting, but what was more interesting was that the lieutenant was practically admitting it.

The lieutenant studied him. “You are… an odd case, I have to admit.”

“Are you my JAG lawyer?” Jack asked as he kept his eyes 6 centimeters above the lieutenant’s head. He remained standing since he had not been invited to sit.

“No. Do you want one?” the lieutenant asked tiredly. He looked a bit peeved. “A few of your shipmates have asked for one.”

Jack nodded. He had heard that from the reports of some who had returned. They’d clammed up. They’d told the others to do the same so the interviews had apparently run faster.

“That should not be necessary. You read my file?” he glanced at the tablet. He had determined to take the plunge; there was no other path forward. There was also no point in maintaining the status quo. It just… bothered him. He’d lived with Dufresne for so long it was like an old worn jacket.

“Such as it is. Most of which we’ve assembled from the interviews. You are… a security risk I’m afraid. Leading an escape from a prison station?” the lieutenant asked. He glanced at the Marine.

Jack looked a little smug briefly. “Not my first time but yes,” he said indifferently. He was amused at the mind games that the lieutenant was playing.

There was a long silence.

“I see,” the lieutenant said, seemingly amused at the admission. He made a note on the tablet. After a moment he looked up. “You are a good candidate for stasis then. Just how old are you?”

Jack cocked his head. “In or out of stasis?” Jack asked as he finally looked directly at the lieutenant.

The lieutenant blinked and pursed his lips. “I see. So, you are a sleeper?”

“Yes.”

The lieutenant straightened up a bit. His eyes narrowed. After a moment he nodded. “You have identity implants. But they are basic civilian grade.”

Jack cocked his head and quirked an eyebrow upwards. “You just scanned me?”

“You were scanned several times by medical.”

“I see.” Jack didn’t mention that if he had ID implants he had to be a sleeper. Either the lieutenant was playing coy or he had seen so many people he was getting his facts jumbled up.

“Look, I’ve had a long day. I’m a bit tired from these interviews. So, do you have anything to contribute to your story?”

“A lot actually,” Jack replied mildly. He glanced at the Neochimp marine and then back to the human lieutenant.

The lieutenant tensed a little but then relaxed.

“New at this?” Jack asked.

“No, I’ve been around the block,” the lieutenant replied. He seemed a little defensive.

Jack cocked his head. “I see. Maybe I need to talk to a spook,” he said as he cautiously tested the waters. “Someone from ONI.”

The lieutenant blinked and then his eyes narrowed. “Maybe I should have introduced myself. My name is Lieutenant Albert Fogerty the IV. I am the resident intelligence officer. I am from Bek if that means anything to you.”

“A butter bar LT is the spook? What, no one else in this little task force? And you are what, ten years out of the academy?”

“Six,” the lieutenant said clearly nettled.

“A whole six years and you made LT?” Jack snorted. “What, did you graduate as a second lieutenant? I take it you didn’t process my IFF signal I sent the sergeant?”

“I… no…?” the lieutenant glanced at the Neochimp.

Jack decided to just go for it. It was now or never. “Ah. So, is that why I was left for last? I thought you were maintaining my cover,” Jack said as he decided to take the plunge.

“Cover?” the lieutenant asked and then snorted. “Don’t tell me you are one of Monty’s long lost agents,” he said.

“Who’s Monty?” Jack asked in a puzzled tone of voice.

The lieutenant blinked and then shrugged. “Ah… never mind.”

Jack thought about it and then sighed. He held out his hand.

“What? You want to shake?”

“No, I want you to jack in to my implants so I can provide my ID lieutenant,” Jack said evenly. “I can’t transmit the full ID by wifi. They are hidden,” he stated evenly.

The lieutenant blinked again but didn’t take the extended hand.

“Color of the day is Purple. Code phrase one is The Tax Man cometh. Second is Buzz Lightyear and Woody,” Jack said as if reading off a script.

The lieutenant frowned and then shook his head. “Is that supposed to mean anything?” he asked as he glanced at the hand and then Jack.

Who was this guy who didn’t know what the color of the day meant? Jack thought in annoyance. Really? A spook who didn’t know that?

“Is your ship AI monitoring this conversation?” Jack asked. He looked around the room until he spotted the camera focused on him. He stared at the unblinking lens and amber light.

“Yes,” An AI voice said. A hologram of an AI avatar appeared on the desk. Jack’s gaze was naturally attracted to it. The AI was in uniform naturally. It was a human female and had a slight Polynesian look to her.

“I am Lieutenant Iwa.”

“Please inform the Captain I’m on board,” Jack stated formally. “I think we need to have a chat in private,” he said as he glanced at the Marine and then to the LT. “Classified Ultra Blue.”

That made the Marine and lieutenant sit up straight.

“Who the hell are you?” the lieutenant asked in a quiet voice. “You don’t just throw words like that around.” He shook himself after a moment. “Where did you hear that? Some movie?”

“I am someone you forgot apparently,” Jack replied with a grimace. “That much is now obvious. Now, do I jack in to you, the AI, or wait for the captain?” He waved his hand slightly.

“Wait for the captain,” the AI stated flatly. “The lieutenant and I do not have clearance for your implants and quite frankly I don’t trust you not to have a virus or a wraith. Captain Jackson is on his way.”

“Good,” Jack said as he went back to parade rest.

<<(O)>>

 

The cats on the vortex go ’round and ’round…

“Wheels” on the “bus,” dammit!

Ball in the track, if you please!

Why do I never understand what’s going on around here?

We didn’t want to tell you, but…well, you were dropped on your head as a kitten. Repeatedly.

You take that back!

 Sitrep: The book is off to Goodlifeguide, we may see the book early, we'll see how it goes. No promises!

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Chapter 2

 

TauR14G6-15 Blue Waters and Gentle Mist

 

Admiral Rick Hunter was feeling pleased with himself over the entire conquest. The Taurens were moving in to take over. His Marines were working with his sensor techs to localize the holdouts on the ground. His AI let him know that he had an incoming ansible call.

“Admiral Logan?” he asked as her holographic image appeared.

“The one and the same. Well, two but I’m the female one,” Shelby quipped.

“Cute, ma’am. What’s up?” he asked. He felt a little trepidation over her call. Since they were back in contact, he was aware of the danger to the north.

“We have a problem.”

“We have plenty of them to go around, ma’am.”

“Cute.”

“Well, you did start it,” he replied.

She gave a short nod. “I’m talking about Sedu and the hostages.”

“Ma’am?”

“Our local grunt and jarhead commanders pointed out that the stasis pods have a short battery life. So, we have a ticking clock—about a year from the time that they were unplugged.” She paused and then nodded. “Right, Boni is saying a year.”

“Oh, lovely.” He frowned. “Wait … pods usually have longer battery life spans.”

“These are mass-produced jobs not the life pods that we use in the navy. They are supposed to be hooked up to a power network. The batteries are for them to be moved and in case of a momentary disruption in the power grid.”

Rick caught on and then grimaced. “Damn.”

“I know. I found it hard to believe until they mentioned the Pele refugees.”

Rick winced. His people had confirmed that out of the fifty thousand or so refugees, only a hundred had survived their “accident.”

“Damn,” he muttered. “Well, that does put a new spin on the situation.”

“It does indeed. Which means we need you to find Sedu. I know it is a big hay stack …”

“Actually, we have him localized to a single mountain range.”

“Oh?” she asked hopefully.

“That’s the good news. The bad news is that he split the hostages between the two planets. We don’t have the other localized.”

“Oh, damn,” Shelby said.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay, so, what is the plan?”

“This is a Marine thing, ma’am. I’ve got a company of marines but no gunships or anything like that. They have two squads of powered armor. They aren’t set up for a planetary invasion. Boarding actions are short and sweet. This is going to get nasty. Sedu will see them coming and will be ready for them.”

Shelby nodded. “And with the hostages in play, you can’t give orbital support other than intel and communications.”

“I know, ma’am.”

“Okay, don’t go off half-cocked.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, ma’am. My people are busy for the next few weeks locking down the Tauren ships and space stations at the moment. But I think I will authorize the jarheads to get to the ground and start poking around. Set up a perimeter and start closing the noose as soon as possible.”

“Okay. We have troops en route but they are months out. You know the drill there.”

“I do indeed. We’ll figure it out, ma’am.”

“Hopefully,” Shelby replied doubtfully.

<<(O)>>

Captain Doris Hierl felt fatigue but fought the urge to sit away firmly. She tapped her implants and a spurt of adreniline cleared the cobwebs for the moment.

It didn't beat sleep. The natural boost wasn't good for her long term, sleep was the best remidee, but for the moment, it was all she had. She needed to remain alert until things cooled off.

So far so good, the boarding actions were over. They had no opposition on the ships or stations. Her people were split between guarding the improvised brig station, the captured capital ships, the stations, and finding General Sedu and his forces.

The last thing was proving tricky. They were on it though. But the newest crinkle had her nervous. The brass had determined that there was a shelf life on the stasis pods. Given what had happened to the Pele refugees, she understood it.

Digging them out was going to be … tricky. For the moment, she had one platoon on each planet trying to localize the general and colonel and lock down a perimeter. Once that was done …

Hell, she wasn't certain what she'd do. She'd figure it out she thought as she ran a frustrated hand through her short hair.

<<(O)>>

Blue Waters

 

General Sedu nodded as the report came in that the orbital works were in the control of the Federation. That was to be expected.

He had halted all flights in the region. There was no point telling the enemy where they were. Communications and active sensors were on lockdown as well. His vehicles were all inside. A majority of the remaining work was on foot.

He had work crews outside running fiber optic line between distant outposts. The lines were covered in a brown sheeth that didn't quite match the ground so his people had to cover it with a bit of dirt or gravel to disguise it. That was fine.

The great thing about the fiber optic line was that there were no betraying electrical traces for anyone to pick up. Just light following a channel from point A to point B.

He smiled ever so slightly. What those light pulses controlled … well, the Fed Marines would find out in good time.

<<(O)>>

As I mentioned in previous posts, I really got behind on my recommended reading lists. But I stored the books and articles, knowing I could catch up. I didn’t expect to get nearly seven months behind, but then I didn’t expect the last few years either. I’ve put out most of the old lists. Now, after this one, I only have September’s to finish. (Yay!) December’s list went live on January 2, as the Recommended Reading Lists were designed to do. October and November were on time as well, just not as quick as December’s. 

I picked up the Karen McManus book, One of Us is Back, after failing to find something to read in July. So it was my crossover book into August. Below you’ll understand why I abandoned McManus for a while, but I’m glad I picked her work up again. I binged and I usually don’t do that.

I’ll be honest here: I barely remember August. Life was stupidly hectic at that point. But I do remember reading all of the books listed below. 

August, 2025

 

Grynbaum, Michael, “Grand Old Party,” The Hollywood Reporter, July 9, 2025. Back in the day when I was flying all over the country every weekend, I’d pick up the latest copy of Vanity Fair as my airplane reading, which meant I read a lot of essays from Graydon Carter, the editor. I also saw a lot of pictures of “Hollywood’s Greatest Party.” I must admit I was curious, although friends who got in said it was no big deal. Whether it was a real no big deal or one of those no big deals that people mentioned when they thought it was a big deal, I can’t say. But it was ever present. And this article explains how it became a big deal. It’s an excerpt from a book on the history of Condé Nast. If the rest of the book is this fun, it’ll be worth reading.

McManus, Karen M., Nothing More To Tell, Delacorte Press, 2022. As I mentioned above, I binged Karen M. McManus’s work from the middle of August on. I explain below why it happened. I’m not recommending all of her books, but some worked really well for me. The unsolved murder in this one as well as the relationships really held me all the way through. Her books are great, quick reads, and quite involving.

McManus, Karen M., One of Us is Back, Delacorte Press, 2023. This is the third book in the One of Us is Lying series, which became a TV show. I had no idea about the show when I read the first book, which I loved. The second book was great…until the ending. Which had no validation at all. It wasn’t until I binged on all of McManus’s books that I realized she doesn’t understand the concept of validation. Sometimes she ends a book with a stab to the heart—a writerly stab to the heart. In other words, when she goes, Oh, wow, ouch, she thinks the readers will too. In a couple of the books that happened, but not in the second one. In the second one in this series, I just looked for the next page. Whoops. That’s not how validations work. They exist to let the reader know that the book is finished, even if the series isn’t.

So it took years for me to pick up Book 3, and then only because I was in need of something at midnight one night, and I read in paper, so an ebook wouldn’t cut it. (Besides, I don’t do screens before bed.) Book three was so incredibly good that I couldn’t put it down. Short summary: these books take place in a town called Bayview, and it’s one of those beleaguered places like Stephen King’s Derry, where people should move away but never do. Crimes occurred, secrets happen, and someone knows what no one is telling. And the stab to the heart from Book 2 factors into Book 3. So if you decide to read the series, forgive McManus for the failed ending of Book 2 and move forward. I’m glad I did.

McManus, Karen M., Two Can Keep A Secret, Ember, 2019. I was originally on the fence about the cover design of these books but now that I’ve had to stare at them for a while because I was slow getting to them, let me say that I hate them. I hate how they erase people. They made me uncomfortable, which fits with the books, but at the same time, I doubt I would have picked them up in a brick-and-mortar store. And yuck. Wiping out people’s faces? Maybe I’m just oversensitive given all that’s going on right now. (Sigh)

Anyway, these books are like catnip for me. And this one has the word “secret” in the title, which is really Kris-bait. Fortunately, the book is good, filled with family secrets and murder. It’s not my favorite (that’s coming up in September’s belated list), but it’s up there.

Perkins, Anne Gardiner, Yale Needs Women: How The First Group of Girls Rewrote The Rules of An Ivy League Giant, Sourcebooks, 2019. Sadly, this book reads like it was written in another century and in some ways it was. Written and published before the Supreme Court gutted Roe v. Wade and ensured that much of what happened to women in those years when abortion was not legal will happen again, this book talks about the victories we won as if we could keep them forever. (Sigh)

Anyway, women—especially young, college age women—you need to read this and understand what your sisters went through to allow you to have an education among your peers. Me, I remember much of this, even though some of it happened to women ten years older than I was. One of my best friends from high school, a young disabled woman who also happened to be the smartest person I knew (and may still be) got into Yale in 1977. Because we were all young and naive, we thought that was great, but she left after one year, returning to Minnesota. I remember thinking that she had capitulated, given up and retreated, but now, after reading this…fifty years on…I realize that no. What she faced as a woman and a disabled woman at that must have been miserable and seemed insurmountable.

This is an important book and its stupid title and terrible cover probably didn’t help its sales. So I hope you all will. And then I hope you read it.