Adam Gaffen has a new LGBTQ+ space opera out, The Cassidy Chronicles volume 5: Triumph’s Ashes And there’s a $100 giveaway!
Viva la revolucion!
The Primus, Vasilia Newling, is facing her worst nightmares:
- A revolution on Luna.
- Titan and the Asteroids abandoning the Solarian Union.
- Defections from within her own government.
All because of those damned Cassidys!
But she’s still as ruthless as ever.
And if Aiyana and Kendra thought she was playing dirty before? They’re going to see how filthy she really can get.
There isn’t room for both the Terran Federation and the Union.
This time, one is going down.
For good.
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Giveaway
Adam is giving away a $100 Restaurants.com gift card with this tour:
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Exclusive Excerpt
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Admiral’s Quarters, TFS Enterprise; Council Chambers, Artemis City
Stardate 12009.07
The wake had been, well, the best word was probably ‘appropriate’, Cass reflected. Far too much drinking and talking and laughing and reminiscing, with a fair dash of crying and hugs added for texture, and it had ended far too late.
Exactly as Cris would have wanted it.
It had muted the celebration around the Enterprise’s successful return from 40 Eridani, but she actually preferred a low profile. She wasn’t in Starfleet for glory and she knew neither was the Science Division team. There would be plenty enough time for celebration of their achievements later.
Now she had other problems, though.
“No way, Kendra. No. Absolutely not.”
Her wife tapped the gold sunburst on her uniform.
“I don’t care if you’re the Admiral or the Pope or goddamn Santa Claus, no!” She was pleased at how she didn’t raise her voice while hopefully making her point crystal clear.
“They need air support,” Kendra said.
“And we have two starships and a couple dozen Wolves and four dozen Direwolves! One more won’t make any difference!”
“It’s the only way I’m going to get in on the landing party and avenge Cris!” Kendra almost wailed the last words, her true rationale finally emerging. They’d been arguing for a quarter-hour now, trying to stay quiet enough not to disturb the girls.
It had started simply enough, Kendra sketching out the plan Whitmore had devised to finally finish the war. When she’d tried to slip past her mention of flying escort for the team to penetrate the Complex, Cass had pounced and the discussion was on in earnest.
Cass pitched her voice low. “She was my friend too. I was the one who roped her into all this, remember? Way back? Don’t I have as much a right to avenge her as you?”
Kendra’s head snapped up to reveal eyes wet with unshed tears.
“You want in on this?”
Cass surprised herself by nodding, but she realized as she did so it was unequivocally true. “I’m tired of this, Kendra. I’ve gone to enough wakes and funerals for five lifetimes. If I can play a part in ending the war and get some measure of payback for Cris, don’t you think I want it? Don’t you think I’ve earned it too?”
“I never thought,” Kendra started, then stopped. “Of course you’ve earned it; I didn’t think you’d want in on another ground assault.”
“I don’t, but I’m also not leaving it to someone else. ‘Support and defend against all enemies,’ remember? The oath?”
“Yes, of course I do.”
“Well? If this doesn’t prove, first, nobody’s safe and second, we all need to do everything, anything we can to remove this threat? Then nothing will.” Cass dropped her voice again. “You sent us away to keep us safe.”
Kendra opened her mouth to protest but Cass continued on.
“I understand why, and since I’ve had a month to think about things I’ll even say I agree. But, sweetheart, we can’t keep doing this. It’s not fair to us, and it’s not fair to those whose wife isn’t running Starfleet.”
“And if we’re both killed?” whispered Kendra.
“If we’re both killed and we eliminated Newling and the Union as a threat for all time? It’s a fair deal, a price we both agreed to pay. It’s no life for our daughters, running away when Newling rattles her sabers. All we’re doing then is teaching them to give in to bullies!”
“This bully has real weapons, Cass!”
“Which only makes running away worse.” She closed the gap between them and pulled Kendra to her. “Sometimes, when you stand up to a bully, you get hurt. But you’re going to get hurt worse if you don’t.”
They stood together for a moment before Kendra broke away.
“So long story short, if I go, you go?”
“Essentially,” agreed Cass. “But you’re not going on the ground attack! If you’re going to do this lunacy, I’d rather have you watching my back from orbit. Much as I hate to say it, I’ll feel better if you’re flying around in the most advanced fighter we can build. And when were you planning to tell me about that little adventure?”
“When were you going to tell me you brought home a treecat village?”
“It’s in my reports!”
“Which I never read and you know it.”
“Not my problem,” Cass said primly.
“Admiral,” Minerva interrupted. “Admiral Whitmore would like a moment.”
“Put her through.”
Without preamble Whitmore said, “The Defiant just re-entered the System and will dock in about a half hour.”
“Thank Zeus!” exclaimed Kendra while Cass looked puzzled.
“I’ll explain later,” she whispered, but Whitmore continued.
“They’ve downloaded their logs to us, but the summary is they chased al-Battani out to Alpha Phoenicis and most of the way back.”
“Most of the way?”
“Most of the way. The dreadnought suffered a warp drive failure thirty-odd light years away.”
“Ouch. Casualties?”
“None I’m aware of; the Artemesian crew has been left in deep space, awaiting rescue.”
“Because Defiant is too small. Got it. Certainly interesting news! A half-hour, you said?”
“Yes.”
Kendra checked her ‘plant. “Too late today to do much. I think we need a war council in the morning. All the Captains plus the usual suspects.”
“Eight hundred?”
“Suits. See you then. Out.”
She turned back to Cass who wore a most interested expression.
“I forgot to mention the Defiant, didn’t I?” Kendra said.
“Uh-huh.”
“Let’s round up the kids, get some dinner on the station, and then we can finish catching up.”
“And the ‘cats. I don’t think we can go anywhere without them.”
Kendra looked warily at her. “They won’t have an issue with lots of people?”
“They’ve had a couple weeks to adjust, and as long as they’re near their girls they should be fine.”
“Right. Wonder what places are ‘cat-friendly?”
Author Bio
I was born in Maine, didn’t live there for long before my parents figured out that it was too bloody cold and moved south, all the way to Massachusetts. Grew up there and in Connecticut, lived in Maryland and Indiana for a while before moving back to Maine. Lived there for twenty years before I, too, decided the winters were too long. Of course, where do you to get away from long winters? COLORADO! Naturally. Married to a wonderful, inspirational, supportive woman; between us we have five kids, five dogs, and five cats.
As for my writing, well, I’ve thrown a bunch out onto Amazon. There’s a couple Sherlock Holmes stories, a few horror-ish shorts, and then you get to my longer books: Refuge, a time-traveling take on vampire stories, and The Cassidy Chronicles. Triumph’s Ashes is the fifth book in the series and completes the Artemis War story arc.
Like I said, thanks for dropping in! You can find me on Allauthor.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on my website www.cassidychronicles.com.This month, I’ll be appearing on the Meet the Author Podcast/Vidcast on November 24th, so tune in and check it out! It’s an hour of Cassidyverse talk and it’s at https://indiebooksource.com/podcast/ I love interacting with fans, but be warned: I often add my fans into my books!
Author Website: https://cassidychronicles.com
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