Andromeda
Falling ~ Book 2 in Dark Horizon series.
Lincoln Croft isn’t the most
reputable man. Disillusioned by the ever-continuing war between the Coalition
and the Alliance, he’s made a living running dangerous goods between the
worlds, using his ship, the Andromeda,
to outrun enemy striker crafts and avoid certain prosecution. And the fact he
can hack into any computer system ever made certainly doesn’t hurt his chances
at a successful mission.
After a recent crusade to
help free the condemned planet of Venitia gains him a full pardon, Linc has
decided to give honest work a try. Just his luck, his old nemesis, Captain
Frank Bane, has other ideas. An unexpected meeting forces Lincoln to crash-land
on the very planet he swore he wouldn’t set foot on again. And the surface of
Venitia hasn’t changed. Hot, dry and dangerous, Linc knows he needs to get to
the settlement before he becomes some creature’s dinner.
He never planned on running
into Gwendolyn Bennet, the one woman he’d never quite gotten over. After a less
than warm welcome, Gwen begrudgingly agrees to help Linc reach the colony. But
Bane isn’t giving up. He’s determined to destroy Lincoln, and the Andromeda, even if it means annihilating
Venitia.
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Excerpt:
The unforgiving sun glared down on him as
Lincoln wiped his brow, leaning against a large boulder as he recalculated his
trajectory. He’d been traveling north, northeast since leaving the ship, but
even after a few hours, he hadn’t happened upon the Venitian settlement.
“Next time, I should remember to ask how far
the damn thing is before I leave.”
He released a weary breath, clenching his
teeth against the pain. Though he wasn’t a doctor, he knew the continual loss
of blood was taking its toll. Reduced walking speed, increased fatigue and
tingling in his fingers all pointed to the fact he was slowly heading toward
hypovolemic shock. That’s if a snipe or troll didn’t find him first.
He’d been lucky so far, dodging the few
creatures he’d seen on the dunes. Sage had been right. Keeping to the small
gathering of brushes and trees had provided enough protection he’d covered
nearly fifteen miles unscathed. But if he didn’t find the colony soon, he
wouldn’t stay conscious long enough to care, assuming he even made it to a
suitable cave to spend the night.
“I swear, Bane, I’ll see you rot in a cage
for this one.”
He tilted back his head, breathing in the
blazing air before turning to glance at the rock face stretching out to his right.
He’d tried to detour around it, but the thought of getting trapped against a
sheer face had convinced him to alter his route and follow a path through the
lower sections. But after traveling through the twisting corridor for twenty
minutes, he’d started to think he was going around in circles.
He stared down at his watch, trying to focus
on the readout, wondering if the surface could get any hotter. The temperature
had climbed to well over a hundred degrees, and despite the fact the second sun
was already starting to set, it didn’t seem as if it’d gotten any cooler.
“Talk about frying your brain.” He chuckled,
staring off at the horizon, when the sound of blaster fire echoed through the
outcrop.
“Move it, Reddings! I can’t hold this thing
off for long!”
The voice carried across the air, the
desperation in it impossible to miss. Lincoln pushed off the stone wall and
stumbled over to a large overhang. Though the path he’d been following
continued off to his right, he could see a series of twisting corridors below
him, hidden amidst more rock. He looked close to the bottom, drawn to two
figures darting between the rising stone spires. He traced back along their
path, cursing when a large bird-like creature squawked behind them, its huge
beak snapping at anything close to it.
He sighed and shook his head. “Of course, it
has to be a snipe.”
Gleaming gray scales and impenetrable skin.
The ability to run on two legs instead of four at speeds rivaling that of a
hovercraft. About the only weakness he’d heard about was its lack of
intelligence.
He scanned the area, calculating the most
likely escape route for the couple below based on their current direction. A
few openings were scattered along the trail, but an arcing branch to their
right a few hundred meters ahead of them presented the best route. If they had
any survival training, they’d follow the narrow corridor deeper into the rock
where the bird’s size and tracking pattern would give them the advantage, and
possibly save their lives.
He grunted, holding his side as he took off,
following a twisting section of rock that he hoped intersected with theirs.
Stones tumbled down the sides of the sheer cliff, marking his progress as he
jumped across an open section, landing with a dull thud on the other side. Pain
flared through his ribs, but he did his best to ignore it, racing toward where
the paths branched apart. Muffled footsteps and blaster fire echoed ahead of
him, the sound occasionally overshadowed by the eerie call of the snipe. He
rounded the last corner just as the first person reached the fork.
The man was dressed in Coalition battle
fatigues, the beige color designed to blend in with the desert surroundings.
But Lincoln knew the creature hunted on movement, rendering the illusion
completely useless as long as the soldier kept moving. Lincoln called to the
man but the guy darted off down the left side, not even giving the smaller
corridor a second glance. Lincoln cursed and ran forward, knowing the guy
didn’t stand a chance on the open rock face when another figure approached the
section.
Brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, she
looked vaguely familiar as she glanced up the same path the other soldier had
taken before heading down the left. She turned to shoot at the creature
following her when Lincoln grabbed her and shoved her behind him, aiming his
gun at the animal as it breached the intersection. He held his breath and
fired, hitting the beast square in the eye. The animal reeled backward,
tumbling against the side of the cliff as it lost its footing. Lincoln fired
again, but the bird turned its head, deflecting the shot off its resilient
scales.
The woman tugged at his sleeve, nearly
pushing him over. “You can’t kill them that way.”
He shook her off. “I’m more than aware of how
tough a snipe is to kill, darling. But everything’s got a weakness.”
He called out, yelling for the other soldier,
but the man never appeared at the bend in the path. Lincoln swore under his
breath. “Two choices. Either we continue along here, where we might have a
chance of surviving, or we go after your friend.” He spared the woman a quick
glance. “There’s no cover on that side of the rock face.”
“How do you know?”
“I came from higher up that side. Trust me.
It’s barren.”
She kicked at the stone wall crowding against
them. “He’ll never last on his own.”
“Nope. Truthfully, two more won’t make much
of a difference but…okay. Let’s go. But move slowly. They’re attracted to
movement. With that one eye damaged, it might not be able to focus on us if we
keep our motion slow and steady.”
“Are you fucking insane? Have you seen how
fast they run?”
“More than I’d care to admit.”
“Fine. But I’m shoving you down its mouth
first if you’re wrong.”
He chuckled. “A girl after my own heart.
Deal.”
He eased forward, keeping the injured reptile
at bay with well-timed blaster shots. The animal seemed uncertain, knocking its
head against the wall as if trying to get the bloody eye to work better. They
got within a few feet of the creature when a loud scream carried across the
breeze, followed by a series of high-pitched squawks.
Lincoln stopped. “Shit. There’s more of
them.” He looked at her across his shoulder. “I’m thinking there’s little
reason for us to try and rescue your friend now. That wasn’t a snipe that
screamed.”
She gulped. “Oh god, you mean Reddings is…”
Fear flashed in her eyes before she nodded,
moving with him when he ushered them backward, increasing the distance between
them and the bird again. The snipe stumbled to its feet and took a cautious
step forward, twisting to look up the other path before swinging its head
sideways and staring at them with its good eye as it snapped its beak.
The woman palmed his back, halting him. “I
think it sees us.”
She’d kept her voice low, the husky sound
sending a shiver down his spine. He ignored the unexpected sensation, chalking
it up to loss of blood as he reached one hand behind him to grasp her hand.
“Without two eyes, it’ll have a hard time
getting a bead on us. Depth perception’s a bitch with only one point of
reference.”
The snipe tilted its head and took another
step.
Lincoln shrugged. “Of course, I could be
wrong about that.”
The woman groaned and tugged at his hand just
as two more creatures rounded the far bend, their beaks covered in blood. They
slowed to a stop when the first animal snapped at them, the hollow sound loud
in the oppressive silence.
Lincoln tipped his head skyward. “Three? Are
you fucking serious?” He took two quick steps backward. “Time for us to move,
darling. And I mean fast.”
She didn’t resist as he turned and raced up
the path, following the winding corridor back the way he’d come. The animals
called behind him, the clicking of their talons on the rock shadowing their
every step. Lincoln kept moving, thankful his prediction had proven correct and
that the damn things were too big to move quickly along the narrow path. He
picked up his speed, yelling behind him for the woman to jump as they ran
headlong toward the gap. Her fingers tightened around his as he launched them
both over the opening. He landed off balance, stumbling onto one knee when the
girl’s weight yanked him backward.
Lincoln clawed at the rock, finding a small
handhold as he twisted to glance behind him. The woman had cleared the gap,
only to slide off the edge to their left when the stone face gave way beneath
her. He cinched his fingers tighter, not sure how to pull her up, when she
swung sideways on his arm, landing her foot on the top edge.
“If you can hold tight, I’ll lever up.”
“I’d make it fast. I can hear those things
coming.”
“As long as there’s no pressure.”
He resisted the chuckle poised on his tongue,
more than aware this wasn’t the time to be laughing. But damn if this girl
wasn’t a female version of him—cocky and headstrong with a familiar air about
her that twigged something in the back of his mind. If he didn’t know better,
he’d swear he’d seen her somewhere before.
His idle ramblings vanished when the first
snipe rounded the far bend, its long neck bobbing out in front of it. He looked
at it over his shoulder, wishing he could let go long enough to hit its other
eye, when it stopped. It tilted its head, swinging it back and forth as if
searching for something when it hit him. It couldn’t see them. Lincoln held
steady, grimacing when the woman’s head popped above the edge.
He gave her a small sideways nod as he tried
to speak out of only one side of his mouth. “Freeze.”
She paused with her other hand wrapped around
a small nodule of stone as her head slowly turned toward the beast.
Understanding glistened in her eyes as her breath seemed to stall in her chest.
She remained still, with only her eyes
darting toward him. “Despite what you might think, this isn’t exactly an easy
pose to maintain.”
He surveyed her position. Her left hand still
held his while her right leg was notched around a chunk of rock on the surface.
Her right hand had started to tremble as it gripped the outcrop and he could
only guess that her other leg was hanging below her.
He sighed. “I suggest you move incredibly
slowly, or it won’t matter if you can hold that pose or not because you’ll be
snipe bait.”
“You could try shooting it again.”
“Not without releasing one hand.” He smirked
at her. “They’re both rather busy right now. Do you have a preference as to
which one I use?”
She glared at him. “Then stop whining and
help me up so you can free one up and kill the son of a bitch.”
“In case it’s not obvious, I’ve been doing
that for the past few minutes.”
Her glare intensified as she focused on the
snipe again. Her entire body seemed to shudder as she gradually levered herself
up, finally cresting the sharp drop and scooting behind him on the path.
Her final motion caught the bird’s attention.
It called out a series of squawks then raced toward them, its one good eye
centered on Lincoln. He cursed and sprang to his feet, shoving her behind him
again as he raised his blaster. But just as he was about the fire the animal
hit the opening and disappeared, its mournful cry echoing off the rock.
He stared in disbelief when the other two
appeared at the bend. They cocked their heads, the dying call of the first bird
still ringing off the rocky walls. The closest bird snapped at the air but
didn’t advance, tilting its head to look at the opening. The other snipe made a
cawing sound then turned, its fading footfalls marking its retreat.
The woman pushed at his back, but he held up
his hand, signaling her to remain still. He wasn’t relaxing one muscle until
the other creature visibly gave up.
The animal scratched at the stone, filling
the air with a shrill screeching noise before snapping its beak again and
disappearing beyond the bend. Lincoln waited until the air stilled before
releasing a heavy breath. Damn. That’d been far too close.
He snorted in relief as he turned to face the
girl, finally getting a good hard look at her. Some of her hair had pulled free
from its clip, hanging in a tangled wave around her face. Dirt smudged a line
across her cheeks and nose, ending in a bloody cut along her jaw. But her eyes
held his focus. Bright blue, they watched him as if they were seeing something he
didn’t.
He backed up a step, giving her body a long,
slow sweep. She was tall for a woman, only three or four inches shorter than
him with a lean, athletic frame. She was dressed in similar battle fatigues to
the other soldier he’d seen, only she’d lost her jacket somewhere along the way
and sported only a thin white shirt coupled with beige cargo pants. Lincoln
cocked his head to one side, wondering why he felt such a connection when the
smirk on her face flashed an image through his head.
He leaned in close. It couldn’t be. Not here.
Not now. Not her. “Gwendolyn?”
The smirk flourished into a brilliant smile a
moment before her fist collided with his jaw, reeling him onto his ass.
One foot stomped on the stone as she crossed
her arms on her chest. “Well I’ll be damned. Lincoln Croft.”
More about Kris:
Author, single mother, slave to chaos—she’s a
jack-of-all-trades who’s constantly looking for her ever elusive clone.
Kris started writing some years back, and it
took her a while to realize she wasn’t destined for the padded room, and that
the voices chattering away in her head were really other characters trying to
take shape—and since they weren’t telling her to conquer the human race, she
went with it. Though she supposes if they had…insert evil laugh.
Kris loves writing erotic novels. She loves
heroines who kick butt, heroes who are larger than life and sizzling sex scenes
that leave you feeling just a bit breathless.
My Blog: http://krisnorris.blogspot.ca
