Once again it’s time for another episode of Dragon Ascending.  Last week we saw that Ascent is not immune to jealousy. This week tempers flare. As I mentioned, I am now attempting to post episodes at lengths that will be better suited for the flow of the story and enhance your reading pleasure. Some will be slightly shorter, some will be longer. I hope you find this switch-up helpful. I hope you’re enjoying Dragon Ascending, the sequel to Piloting Fury, as much as I’m enjoying sharing it with you. As always, I love it when you share my work with your reading friends, so feel free. In the meantime, enjoy!

If you missed the previous episode of  Dragon Ascending follow the link for a catch-up. If you wish to start from the beginning, of Dragon Ascending. Follow the link.  

For those of you who would like to read the complete novel, Piloting Fury, book one of the Sentient Ships series, follow the link to the first instalment.

Dragon Ascending: Book 2 of the Sentient Ship Series

On a desolate junkyard of a planetoid, scavenger Lenore Felish, disturbs something slumbering in a remote salvage dump and uncovers secrets of a tragic past and of the surprising role she must play in the terrifying present she now faces.

Robbed of her inheritance after her tyrannical father’s death, Tenad Fallon is out for revenge on her half-brothers, one who happens to be the sentient ship, Fury. Fury, with his human companions, Richard Manning and Diana McAllister, has his own agenda – finding the lost sentient ships and ending the scourge of indentured servitude in Authority space.

Dragon Ascending Part 49: Why Did You Say it When You Knew it Would Hurt?

She was barely out the bathroom door, still wrapped in a towel, when D said, “Is this Arji Finkle’s your lover?”

“What? Of course not, Ascent. He’s been like an uncle to me. I’ve never thought of him in any other way.”

“That is certainly not the way he thinks of you.”

“So I noticed.” She slipped out of the towel and began to dress.

“He kissed you. Twice.”

“I know that, Ascent. I was there remember? I didn’t kiss him back, but I don’t suppose you noticed that since you were too busy growling in my ear. Jesu Vaticanus, Ascent, I was trying to do my job, what I was sent for.”

“And if that job had involved fucking him?”

She pulled her shirt on over her shoulders with so much force she nearly ripped a seam. “If it would have kept you and Fury safe, if it would have gotten rid of the Fallons, I would have done what I had to do, yes.”

“Is that how you paid for your passage on the Dart.”

If he had gut punched her it couldn’t possibly have hurt any more, and with everything else that had happened today, she wasn’t up for anymore.  “Get out now! Get the fuck out, or I swear I’ll go sleep in the goddamned sandstorm outside. Get out!”

“You cannot go out. You’ve been forbidden,” came the irritatingly smug reply.

“I’m not a goddamned little girl!” She jerked her trousers up over her ass and scrambled for her boots. “I’m not a prisoner and I’m not a fucking whore. But even if I was, it would be honest work. And guess what, you judgmental son of a bitch, it was two whores who kept me alive and nursed me back to health. And they treated me with respect!” The last word broke in her throat and the room around her refracted and glistened through tears she blinked back. “Now get the fuck out!” She threw a boot in the general direction of where she thought he stood, then she grabbed it back, jerked it on along with the other, stumbling about the room on one foot. It wasn’t dignified, but nothing about what was happening was dignified. She shouldered her pack and turned back toward the door.

“Where are you going? I will not let you go out? You cannot. It is not safe.”

“If you’re not leaving, I will. This room is not the only place I can go.” As she shoved through the door, she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. “At least Arji would treat me with respect and kindness. Is that a part of your memory you lost as well, how to be kind, how to be decent because if it is, then what’s the pissing point of any of this?”

She left.

“I did not mean that the way you took it.” He seemed to be walking along beside her.

She picked up her pace. “Then why did you say it? You knew it would hurt. First you say I’m your home and then you accuse me of … of letting those men do what they did, as if I have ever given you any reason not to trust me. What is it, Ascent? Can you really not know my heart any better than you allow me to know yours? Fury knows my heart. His compliment know my heart, and they barely know me. But you! You can’t seem to forgive me for not being your goddamn compliment, who’s been dead for twenty years. Do you think I don’t see my own inadequacies every day? Hell I’ve lived with them every day for the past ten years!”

“I don’t compare you to her. You compare yourself.” He grabbed her by the arm, and she took the chance and slapped, feeling the sting of her palm as it contacted the representation of flesh.

“Not only do you have no memory, but you’re in complete denial, and yet when I spend an hour with a friend doing what little I can do to help this mission, you turn that into another flaw that doesn’t measure up. You’re darling companion would never have let a friend kiss her.”

“Shut up!”

“Your darling companion would have never ended up on a fucking pile of sand in the middle of nowhere working as a goddamned salvager.”

“Shut up, Lenore.”

“You’re darling companion would have never crawled onboard a ship and got herself savaged because she wanted a better life.”

“Lenore stop it!” The words were only half articulated, half spoken pressed against her mouth, as he jerked her into his arms with such force that the bones in her neck cracked.

She slapped him again and shoved free. “What? The goddamned truth hurts, does it? Well does it?” She shoved both hands hard against his chest, but he rooted, grabbed her arms and back walked her to the closest wall, trapping her wrists above her head with one hand. The other cupped her chin with such force that for a moment she was frightened, and then she kissed him hard before she even realized what she was doing, biting his lip until he opened and took her tongue into his mouth. “You’re a fucking asshole!” She said pulling away from his mouth only long enough for the words to escape against his lips, and then he lifted her up against the wall, cupping her butt in both palms while what? Had he cuffed her hands over her head?

“You’re a reckless, naïve child.” He ripped open her shirt and buried his face in between her cupped breasts, tonguing and licking his way to the nearest nipple, then he bit. It hurt, and it made her wet, and she fisted his hair and pulled him closer feeling the nibble and suck all the way down between her legs.

But she wasn’t ready to let it go yet and she pulled his hair. “The only thing you fucking remember is how to be surly and hurt me, and I’m not a child.”

“No! No you are not.” She was startled to find herself completely naked. Well, he’d made her clothes; there was no reason why he couldn’t unmake them just as easily. He fingered her open and slid inside her, and this time, the pain of being entered so roughly sent waves of pleasure up and down her spine, all culminating in her own hard heat at her center. “You are a goddamn woman, a wild creature, untamable, and you drive me fucking crazy.” He thrust so hard it took her breath away, and she came in waves. “I cannot stand the thought of anyone else touching you the way I want to touch you, wanting you the way I want you, and I will not have this … bartender, pawing over you every time you go to Sandstorm. I don’t care what he can tell you.”

“You stupid bastard!” she kicked him hard in the kidneys and bit his neck until she felt him surge inside her. “Have you lost your superior intelligence with your memory? Goddamn it, Ascent, it’s you I want?” She clamped down on him hard and felt his fingers bruising her ass, felt his chest expand against her and then every muscle went tight. “It’s you I want and nobody else. Are you too stupid to figure that out?” And then he pulled her so tight, he was practically inside her ribcage, and she was inside him, and together they came in waves and the world fell away around them, except a flash of memory Ascent’s memory, and it hit like the sandstorm after dusk.

“Come back to bed, my love. Nothing will happen tonight. And you are exhausted.” Ascent’s voice came from a long way off, in the memory. “I shall make love to you and together we shall keep the rest of the galaxy at bay for a little while longer.” And then he was thrusting and grinding and caressing a woman, pale in the ambient lighting, and yet dark haired, her face was pressed to his, and they were one, more one that Len ever knew two people could be.

And then it was Ascent and her again, and they were one, more one than she could have ever dreamed it possible to be, and she felt whole. But it was the place of a compliment to feel whole with her Bonded. Was it possible that her body felt another woman’s memories, her muscle memories of love with Ascent? Surely he could never feel that for her.

Back in her quarters, in her bed, Ascent held her close and spoke against her throat between kisses. “Lenore, I am sorry for what I said, all the words I did not mean. I am not sorry for the sex it brought about.”

She didn’t respond. His mouth was suddenly no longer on her neck, and as her legs fell open, and he found his way to the place he’d already left tender and quivering, intimate, almost too intimate, closer than her heart, and yet, somehow she felt farther than ever from his in her inadequacy.

With the New Year approaching, Mr. Grace and I wish you love, light, peace and joy in 2023! I’m We’ll be toasting in the new year in Pisa and looking to new beginnings.

Once again it’s time for another episode of Dragon Ascending.  Last week onboard the Compass, Kresho was informed of Ori’s dangerous plan. This week Len returns from Sandstorm to Ascent’s cold shoulder. As I mentioned, I am now attempting to post episodes at lengths that will be better suited for the flow of the story and enhance your reading pleasure. Some will be slightly shorter, some will be longer. I hope you find this switch-up helpful. I hope you’re enjoying Dragon Ascending, the sequel to Piloting Fury, as much as I’m enjoying sharing it with you. As always, I love it when you share my work with your reading friends, so feel free. In the meantime, enjoy!

If you missed the previous episode of Dragon Ascending follow the link for a catch-up. If you wish to start from the beginning, of Dragon Ascending. Follow the link.  

For those of you who would like to read the complete novel, Piloting Fury, book one of the Sentient Ships series, follow the link to the first instalment.

Dragon Ascending: Book 2 of the Sentient Ship Series

On a desolate junkyard of a planetoid, scavenger Lenore Felish, disturbs something slumbering in a remote salvage dump and uncovers secrets of a tragic past and of the surprising role she must play in the terrifying present she now faces.

Robbed of her inheritance after her tyrannical father’s death, Tenad Fallon is out for revenge on her half-brothers, one who happens to be the sentient ship, Fury. Fury, with his human companions, Richard Manning and Diana McAllister, has his own agenda – finding the lost sentient ships and ending the scourge of indentured servitude in Authority space.

Dragon Ascending Part 48: Don’t Trust Him

Len was trembling all over when Fury ‘tranned her onto Ascent’s bridge, and she nearly fell on her ass before she could stumble to the captain’s chair and dropped into it. “I’m all right,” she managed. “I’m just not used to being transported.”

“It does take a little getting used to,” Mac said, “but you look like you’ve seen a ghost. It’s more than the transport, isn’t it?”

“Don’t trust Kresho Ivanovic,” she blurted out before anyone could say anything else.

For a moment there was confused silence and then Fury spoke. “Of course not. He is working with the Fallons, which I don’t understand. My research tells me he’s a man to be trusted. Very strange.”

Len waved a dismissive hand. “He’s a slime wad, who deserves to be Shimmered, and that’s too fucking good for him.” She wrapped her arms tightly around her and swallowed back tears, not wanting to cry, but remembering the last time she saw her mother’s face.

“Lenore,” Fury’s voice was gentle, nearly an embrace, while Ascent’s rage felt nearly like Shimmer heat coursing over the bridge. “What has happened?”

“He said he’d return for us as soon as he could. He said we would be safe on Tak Minor at the science station, that no one would find us there. But he didn’t. He didn’t come back.” She closed her eyes and fought back the memories that came slamming in on her after seeing Van again. “And then they killed my mother, and no one came. No one came for me.”

“Jesu Vaticanus,” Manning’s voice was a harsh whisper.

“Tell us,” Fury said gently.

“His name was Keith Vanderbilt, well he went by Van. He was a scientist working on the SNT project alongside my mother. They became lovers. He was good, really good. He and my mother worked closely with Professor Keen. When everything happened, when my Uncle Matt and Quetzal disappeared, they knew we’d be saddled with the debt and all three of us would get the shackle, so Van got us on a tramp freighter heading to the Taklamakan System with the scientist who was to take over at Tak Minor Station. Enroute, he found out who we were and betrayed us to the Authority. The Fidelio’s captain didn’t take kindly to that kind of betrayal, and after we’d survived our first run-in with the Jaegers by hiding out in a nebula, he dispensed deep-space justice and blew the man out the airlock. Then Captain Martin and Van devised a plan for my mother to take up the position on Tak Minor under the scientist’s name. The station was intended to support two scientists, and we fudged the documents to make it look like Professor Devon had a colleague. No one knew or cared who was there. We were left at the station and Van went to find a friend on Hammer Fell who owed him a favor and could get us off Tak Minor and safely beyond the Rim. We waited, but he never came. He never came.”

“That does not sound like the man I researched,” Fury said.

“The man you researched is betraying all of us to work with the Fallons,” Mac said.

“Did you not say he was a top scientist for the SNT projects?”

“Yes.” Len said, taking the cup of traditional English tea Ascent had replicated for her and inhaling the clean, crisp scent.

“I remember Van, and your mother,” Fury said.

“You knew my mother?” She nearly spilled the tea on herself.

“Not very well, for Professor Keen worked almost exclusively with me, while they worked with my brothers and sisters, but they came to me from time to time, ran tests occasionally, assisted Professor Keen when he needed it. In truth, Ascent would have known them better than I.”

“If the man has betrayed you and your mother, Lenore, then he will pay for it. I promise you.” She was surprised at Ascent’s bloodthirstiness, but then she shouldn’t have been, as she recalled what he did to the Dart.

“Perhaps he already has paid for it,” Fury said. Before anyone could respond he continued. “I think that we now understand why Tenad Fallon wants his help, for if anyone can find a way to infiltrate an SNT, it is someone who worked so closely on the project that brought us into existence. I would guess that Tenad Fallon is holding that information over the man’s head, on which there is still a price and the guarantee of a shackle.”

“Arji told me that the Fallons know Fury is here and that they also know about Ascent.”

There was stunned silence, and then Fury spoke softly. “I do not suppose it would be too difficult to figure out what might bring an SNT ship to this desolate system, and while my brothers and I have tried to keep low profiles, it was inevitable that we should be discovered.”

“At the moment they’re stymied by Fury’s cloak and by the de-mole.” She sipped her tea thoughtfully. “Is it possible, Fury, that your brothers can help?”

“Physically, I do not think so. They are too far away. But it is possible that Professor Keen and his team’s help may be able to help us get Ascent’s memories back. I am certain from our diagnostics that physically, there is nothing stopping Ascent from rising up, and then we could leave together.”

When Ascent made no response to this, Fury continued. “You are vulnerable now, my brother, and if I am not able to protect both of us, I do not know what might happen.”

“I am willing to do all that is required of me,” Ascent finally said.

“I think they will not easily find a way through the de-mole, nor will they be able to find my exact location, but the longer we linger here, the longer you are unable to move from the Sea of Death, Ascent, the more at risk we all become.”

“The fact that Ivanovic was one of the top scientists on the SNT project in hiding, and that he’s now hanging out with the Fallons worries me a lot,” Mac said.

“They definitely have him by the short hairs, Manning observed.

“Fury, how soon do you expect to hear from Professor Keen,” Len asked.

“I cannot say for certain. But I do know that he will contact us as soon as he possibly can.”

“It occurs to me that maybe we also need to be talking with Gerando Fallon,” Len said. “He knows the Fallon brats better than anyone, I suppose, and he may be able to point out anything we can use against them.”

Gerando Fallon is even farther away than Professor Keen,” Fury commented, “but I have already thought of that and have put in a message.

“Is there anything else your friend, Arji, could tell us about the situation?” Fury asked. Len could feel Ascent bristle at the mention of Arji’s name.

“Apparently Jessup Fallon is a Mist addict,” she said. “Everyone at Sandstorm seems to think that his big sister keeps him happily doped up so that he won’t get in her way. So far it’s working, but he’s pretty unpredictable. Arji is the ears in Sandstorm, owning the Dust Bowl. People talk, and they gossip. Not much else to do there. A lot of both gets done in the Dust Bowl, since it’s the only watering hole. Add to that the fact that the only thing people in Sandstorm hate worse than the Authority sticking its nose in their business, is a Fallon or two showing up on their doorstep. I suppose a few people might happily snitch if they thought it would get them a ride off this sand heap, but they also know if word got back, and it would, they’d get their asses shimmered before their next piss.”

When everyone waited in silence, she finished her tea and said, “That’s all I know, only that I did put the implant in Arji’s neck, and he’ll get in touch if he finds out anything. If he says he’ll do it, he’ll do it. Oh, and there is one more thing. I’m not entirely sure, but I think Ivanovic recognized me.”

“Well shit! You can’t very easily go back then, can you?” Manning said.

“I would just as soon you did not go back to that place anyway,” Ascent commented with what damn near sounded like a growl.

“Do you think he’d betray you to the Fallons?” Mac asked.

“I don’t know why he would. I’m a nobody, and I’ve been a resident of Sandstorm for ten years. There’s nothing to be gained by telling them about me. Anyway, I’m not sure he saw me, and I wasn’t going to hang around to ask. Besides, you lot heard everything that went on, didn’t you?” She tapped the device in her own neck.

“But we do not know Sandstorm and its people, Lenore Falish,” Fury said. “You do. You know what would be normal and what would not.”

“The indentured, Fury,” Len said, remembering Camille. “Can you deactivate her shackle?”

“Of course I can, but in order to do so, I must ‘tran her onboard. I certainly would if there is any way to make that happen without betraying our efforts any more than they are already compromised. Let us hope that as the situation unfolds, we may be presented with an opportunity. I shall certainly be watchful for one.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“And now then, you must rest after your ordeal,” Fury said, “and I will try again to contact Professor Keen and Gerando Fallon. Tomorrow we shall make another attempt to help Ascent regain his memories.”

In the silence that followed the end of the conversation, Len sighed and pulled herself to her feet. “I need a shower, Ascent. I’d almost forgotten just how filthy Sandstorm is.”

When he gave no response, she shrugged and made her way down to her suite. It sometimes amazed her how sensitive she had become to Ascent’s presence and his mood. She could feel him just beyond her bathroom. It felt like he was pacing, waiting for her. She could also feel the static of his less than stellar mood. She heaved a sigh and turned her back to the door, deciding to linger and avoid the inevitable as long as possible. Right now all she wanted was to wash Sandstorm off her, to wash off the sight of Van carousing with the Fallons, the man who had left her to die. Those memories were not so easy to wash away. Instead, she concentrated her energy on what they might do tomorrow to stimulate the return of Ascent’s memories further. Without them, without the knowledge of his own functionality, he could not escape if he were taken, and there was a very good chance that Van would know exactly what to do to fix him and to force him into bondage to the goddamned Fallons. Well, she wasn’t about to let Van do that. She’d happily slit his throat, or stab him in the heart, the way her mom had been stabbed. He deserved no better.

Happy Holidays, everyone! I’m celebrating with the lovely Mr. Grace, in Tuscany this year! I hope whatever you celebrate, if you celebrate, is joyful and filled with love and new beginnings.

Once again it’s time for another episode of Dragon Ascending.  Last week Arji told Kresho Len’s story.  This week onboard the Compass, Kresho is informed of Ori’s dangerous plan. As I mentioned, I am now attempting to post episodes at lengths that will be better suited for the flow of the story and enhance your reading pleasure. Some will be slightly shorter, some will be longer. I hope you find this switch-up helpful. I hope you’re enjoying Dragon Ascending, the sequel to Piloting Fury, as much as I’m enjoying sharing it with you. As always, I love it when you share my work with your reading friends, so feel free. In the meantime, enjoy!

If you missed the previous episode of Dragon Ascending follow the link for a catch-up. If you wish to start from the beginning, of Dragon Ascending. Follow the link.  

For those of you who would like to read the complete novel, Piloting Fury, book one of the Sentient Ships series, follow the link to the first instalment.

Dragon Ascending: Book 2 of the Sentient Ship Series

On a desolate junkyard of a planetoid, scavenger Lenore Felish, disturbs something slumbering in a remote salvage dump and uncovers secrets of a tragic past and of the surprising role she must play in the terrifying present she now faces.

Robbed of her inheritance after her tyrannical father’s death, Tenad Fallon is out for revenge on her half-brothers, one who happens to be the sentient ship, Fury. Fury, with his human companions, Richard Manning and Diana McAllister, has his own agenda – finding the lost sentient ships and ending the scourge of indentured servitude in Authority space.

Dragon Ascending Part 47: A Dangerous Plan

On board, he replicated an electrolyte drink for his battered belly and settled into his chair on the bridge. Delaying a little longer, he took couple of sips that didn’t quite compete with whiskey when it came to liquid courage — as if even that would help under the circumstances. He’d never found anything strong enough to make dealing with Ori any easier. Fuck knew he had tried. With one hand resting on the control board and the other clenching the glass, he finally spoke. “Did you know Len was alive? Because I swear, if you kept it from me, Ori, if she suffered because of you,” he ran a sweaty palm over his face. “Goddamn it, she thinks I deserted her, left her there to die.”

“I did not know,” Ori’s voice came over the system. “I swear it, Kresho. I would have never left anyone to suffer there on that ball of ice had I been able to help, had I known.” Ori never showed emotion. He had, in all the time he’d known her, learned to read her moods to some degree, but still he was never certain. “If you’re lying to me, Ori, I-”

“I’m not lying! Why would I about a thing like that, when I had as much reason as you did to want her safe, maybe more. I swear to you.”

“She was there! Right there in the Dust Bowl tonight with Arji, and the look she gave me. Every time I close my eyes, I see that look.”

“How do you know for certain it was she. She was very young when last you saw her. If you found her mother dead when you returned to Taklamakan Minor, the odds of Lenore’s survival were very slim.”

“I all but interrogated poor Arji. Believe me, it’s Len. She’s alive, and she’s there in Sandstorm. I would have gone after her, but then goddamn Tenad Fallon beckoned and then you summoned me, and fuck, I don’t know which one of you I hate the most.”

“That’s not fair, Kresho. I didn’t know, or certainly finding Lenore would have taken priority over all else. And now that we know where she is, we’re exactly where we need to be to find her and bring her away while we deal with our little Fallon problem.”

He drank down the last of the electrolyte combo and set aside the glass. “Why did you call me back? Tell me.”

“I’ve been sweeping the upper atmosphere trying to spot any anomaly that might help us find a cloaked SNT ship. We both know that once SNTs cloak, they are damn near impossible to find on any kind of scanning device.”

“But?”

“I’ve pulled up a small segment of the feed that took place at 19:07 Taklamakan system standard time.”

“All I see is space dust and a few obscured stars,” he said, watching the atomic clock tick off the nanoseconds.

“There!” the screen froze.

“I still don’t see anything, oh wait.” He blinked and rubbed his eyes. “Was that just a star in the shifting dust or…”

“That was a mol-tran from above the planetoid,” came the reply. “From that place in orbit, the only thing capable of ‘tranning to the surface is an SNT, and in this hemisphere the only places to transport are Sandstorm and somewhere in the middle of the desert.”

“Fury could transport one of his compliment through the de-mole barrier around the salvage yard in the Sea of Death with no problem at all,” Kresho said, rubbing his chin.

“Never mind where Fury could be transporting his compliments, the point is that he can, he does, and he’s done it more than once. This transport took place while you were in Sandstorm Outpost. More than likely one of his complement was in the Dust Bowl right under your nose. I’ve been looking back at the data. I’ve found two definite dual transports to the surface and back and another single, a transport out of the salvage yard through the de-mole and then back.” Before he could do more than offer a low whistle, she continued. “When the actual transports happen, that’s our window of opportunity. That’s when we can make our move and intercept.”

“Fuck me, Ori! You can’t be serious! You want to intercept the transport and kidnap fucking SNT1’s compliments? You’re a heartless bitch, you know that?”

“So you keep telling me. But you know as well as I do an SNT’s only real weakness is their compliment.”

“It’s a goddamned sure way to piss one off, I know that much.” Kresho stood and paced that small bridge. “Ori this is not a way to win friends and influence SNTs.”

“I don’t care about winning friends, Kresho. I care about seeing this plan through. I care about getting rid of two Fallons, and if an angry SNT will do the job, well I can live with that.”

“You may be able to. I’m not sure I can.” Bitterness tightened his chest and rose to his throat. “But then I am expendable, aren’t I?”

She made no reply, but he knew her well enough to know that she’d flinched, even if he hadn’t physically seen it. He dropped back into his chair and replicated a double New Hibernian, worst rot-gut he could get. He wasn’t looking for sipping whiskey right now. Then she dropped the bomb.

“I need you to find Lenore and get her away from that horrible place.”

“That horrible place may be better than what you have in mind,” he shot back.

This time he was positive if looks kill he’d be dead. He swallowed back the whiskey in one gulp, feeling the burn on his battered innards, and waited for it.

Her voice, when she spoke, even over the system, was colder than the surface of Tak Minor had ever been. “You have no idea what I have in mind. You never have, so stop pretending that you do.”

“Then what? What the hell do you want from me?”

“I want you to get Lenore back, but first, I need you to fuck Tenad Fallon.”

“Bloody hell, Ori! Now I’m your goddamned whore.”

“I don’t like it any better than you do, Kresho, but before we put our plan into motion, before we run the risk of something this dangerous, we need to know what she really wants. We need her to trust you enough to confide in you what she expects to accomplish and how in hell she expects to control an SNT ship so we can make sure that doesn’t happen. So we can make sure she doesn’t survive it. And don’t play the little innocent with me. I’ve seen the chemistry between the two of you. You both want to fuck each other senseless, and I’m doing nothing more than offering you that little extra push.”

“You don’t know what I want, either, Ori. Oh, but I forget, you never bloody cared anyway, did you?”

“Could we just stop with the dramatics and at least both accept that we are stuck with the Fallons until we can bring this little shit show to some conclusion, and I fully intend for that conclusion to be in our favor. Now are you going to stop being an asshole and help me, or are you just going to whine about the necessity of doing exactly what you’ve fantasized about doing since Tenad Fallon showed up at Vodni Station?” Then she added, “I don’t give a fuck how much you hurt her in the process, and she won’t either.”

“She kills the men she fucks, you do know that?”

“She needs you, Kresho. And she wants you. Besides, you know damn good and well I won’t let anything happen to you.”

He didn’t know that though, not really. Still, he did understand the wisdom of the plan. He blew out a breath and stood. “All right, but not tonight. I’ve already puked my guts in Arji’s back ally, I’m not fit for humanoid company and especially not for a Fallon’s.”

“I’m sorry.” Was that genuine sympathy in her voice. Replicate Ori 217 and drink it warm before you go to bed.”

“What is it?”

“It’s my cocktail for settling the stomach, replenishing electrolytes and inducing dreamless sleep. Have you forgotten?”

“I haven’t needed that for a long time.” He found himself smiling, even though back then there was fuck-all to smile about. “Hard to remember all your numbers and abbreviations for you magic formulas, Ori, but yes. That one I remember well. You should have been a doctor.”

“I should have been a lot of things,” she replied. “No doubt we both should have. Now get some rest. We have work to do.”

Happy Friday, everyone! Time for another episode of Dragon Ascending.  Last week Len found out what the Fallons wanted on Sandstorm. This week Arji tells Kresho Len’s story.  As I mentioned, I am now attempting to post episodes at lengths that will be better suited for the flow of the story and enhance your reading pleasure. Some will be slightly shorter, some will be longer. I hope you find this switch-up helpful. I hope you’re enjoying Dragon Ascending, the sequel to Piloting Fury, as much as I’m enjoying sharing it with you. As always, I love it when you share my work with your reading friends, so feel free. In the meantime, enjoy!

If you missed the previous episode of Dragon Ascending follow the link for a catch-up. If you wish to start from the beginning, of Dragon Ascending. Follow the link.  

For those of you who would like to read the complete novel, Piloting Fury, book one of the Sentient Ships series, follow the link to the first instalment.

Dragon Ascending: Book 2 of the Sentient Ship Series

On a desolate junkyard of a planetoid, scavenger Lenore Felish, disturbs something slumbering in a remote salvage dump and uncovers secrets of a tragic past and of the surprising role she must play in the terrifying present she now faces.

Robbed of her inheritance after her tyrannical father’s death, Tenad Fallon is out for revenge on her half-brothers, one who happens to be the sentient ship, Fury. Fury, with his human companions, Richard Manning and Diana McAllister, has his own agenda – finding the lost sentient ships and ending the scourge of indentured servitude in Authority space.

Dragon Ascending Part 46: Girlie

He grabbed Arji by the collar and pulled him up on his tiptoes until they were nose to nose. “If you fucked her, I will break every bone in your goddamn body.” Suddenly Kresho was unable to breathe, unable to think of anything but the silver-gray eyes glaring out at him. He let go and gave the man a hard shove. “Fuck, Arji, she’s just a little girl. Just a little girl.” His voice broke with the last word, and he grabbed the glass setting on the table, not caring who it belonged to downing it in one.

“What the hell’s the matter with you Ivanovic? Are you talking about Girlie-Girl? She’s twenty-fucking-four if she’s a day, and plenty old enough to make up her own goddamn mind who she fucks.” He shoved Kresho back hard, oblivious to the fact that he outweighed the barkeep by a good twenty kilos and most of it muscle. Then he straightened his shirt and growled. “Hell, anybody who could reroute a goddamned supply drone, stow away and bloody survive the trip from Tak Minor has earned the right to do whatever the bloody goddamn she wants.” He shook his head, staring at the door, Len had just left through. “That one is a lot of things, but she’s never been a little girl and she’s old enough to -”

Kresho barely made it outside before he dropped to his knees in the sand, too busy puking his guts to hear the rest of what Arji spouted. None of it mattered. None of it, but that she was alive, and she believed he’d betrayed her. He retched again when he thought of her somehow rigging a supply drone, a fucking supply drone! And managing the trip from Tak Minor to Sandstorm. And how long had the girl had to survive in that bloody freezer with no one but the corpse of her mother while she waited for the drone, then reprogrammed it. Jesu Vaticanus, the girl couldn’t have been more than thirteen! He retched again and again until his eyes watered and every muscle felt like it would break with each dry heave.
He would have come back for her. Goddamn it, he did come back for her, but far too late. When he was finally able to get back to Tak Minor, he found no one, only Janesha frozen in the ice. There was no sign of Len. And really, it had been so long, so very long, by then. He’d heard through the grapevine that the science station had been sabotaged and Janesha and Lenore were both dead. Not long after that the station became fully automated, or more than likely just no one bothered with it anymore.

It took him a second to realize Arji was standing in the door watching him. “Jesu Vaticanus, Ivanovic, the goddamn beer ain’t that bad. You okay?”

Kresho spat and wiped a hand across his mouth. For a moment he said nothing. Didn’t think he could talk without puking again.

Arji disappeared and returned with a sealed ration of water, which he handed Kresho. “Sip it slowly. I ain’t wasting good water if you’re just plannin’ to puke it back up. And once your stomach is settled, you best tell me what the hell that was all about.

Inside, Arji settled him in a rickety seat that looked like it might have been on the bridge of a ship at one time, then he commed up front. “Jax, keep Clapper on for a bit. I got some business to tend to.” That done, he turned his attention to Kresho. “Better?” He nodded down at the half empty ration bottle. “Best drink it all. You’ll be dehydrated after heaving up everything like that.” He watched as Kresho obeyed, and then he said. “Tell me.”
Kresho took a couple of deep breaths and tried to gather his thoughts. All he could think about was the young woman glaring from under her hood before she fled into the night.
“The woman, she’s Lenor Felish, isn’t she?”

“She don’t go by that name much around here.” Arji dropped into the matching seat, lit one of his smokes and took a puff. “We called her Girlie when she got here. None of us really thought she was even gonna make it. She shouldn’t have by all appearances, but that’s one tough young woman. She was a scrawny little thing, malnourished, dehydrated and half frozen when we pulled her out of that supply drone. I don’t know how the hell she managed to route it here from Tak Minor, nor how she knew that this was the only place she had a fighting chance of getting to. And that just barely. There she was all laid out in an environmental suit, dead as a sand heap. Her lips were blue as an inso-suit’s lining. We brought her back. It weren’t easy either. Christus and the fucking pope, I had to beat the shit out of her heart, gave the poor thing two broken ribs, but that heart beat and those lungs drew breath, and she’s been Girlie to us all ever since.” He took another puff and blew it out. “Hell, you know we don’t have no kids around here. Nobody wants to bring a sprog into this shithole. Like sentencing them to life in prison, ain’t it? But Girlie, well, we all sorta took to her, helped her when we could,” he grunted a chuckle that came out in a puff of smoke, “when she’d let us. Too independent by half, that one, and she suffered for it more than once, but she’d take no help, didn’t want to be obliging to no one, nor to get attached, I think. Understandable after what she’d been through. Oh, she never talked about it, but word gets round.”

He snuffed out his smoke and lit another. For a moment, he sat smoking in silence, lost in memories that broke Kresho’s heart even to think about. And then he said. “It’s your turn, Ivanovic, don’t think I didn’t see the look on that one’s face before she left. If looks could kill, you’d be a gonner’. You better come clean, and it better be good, or I’ll put the word out, and you won’t be shuttling back to that nice cushy little ship of yours ever again, you got that?”

“You won’t believe me if I tell you,” Kresho said.

Jax stuck her head in with a couple more pints and nodded anxiously back into the bar. “Don’t mean to disturb the party boys, but Tenad Fallon’s looking around for her pet, Ivanovic. ‘F I was you, I’d be for getting my ass out there and making sure it’s a damn good lie you tell her.” Then she ducked out.

“Arji, I promise I didn’t betray Len, I would never have. Until tonight I thought she was dead, and on my watch. And the look on her face when she saw me, well I’m guessing she blames me, but I swear, I couldn’t get to her. I tried, Christu Vaticanus, I tried. She and her mother haunt my nightmares, but I swear to you, I would never ever do anything to hurt that young woman. Now I have to go, or there could be hell for all of us to pay. Fallon thinks I went to see a whore.”

“Go out the back, then, and around. I’ll make sure Tula and Vaness vouch for you. Goddamned good thing I trust you, Ivanovic, or I would knock you on the head and you’d wake up in the middle of the Tak in the Shimmer. I expect answers b‘fore you leave Sandstorm. You fucking got that?” Arji motioned him through the back door with a jerk of his head.

Kresho lingered only long enough to nod his understanding, and his thanks, before he went out into the early evening, bracing for the beginnings of the wind that even with the extra shielding around Sandstorm, managed to filter in. His head was still reeling from what he’d just learned, and it ached from puking his guts. He slipped around the Dust Bowl and in through the front. Goddamns it, now he had one more secret to keep. The last thing in this system he needed was for Tenad or her fucking brother to find out about Len. And he had to find Len. He had to talk to her. He owed her that much. He owed her the truth, though who the fuck would ever believe it? His hand froze against the scanner that slid open the revamped airlock and for a second he thought he’d puke again. Did Ori know about this? Jesu Vaticanus! If she did …

“Oy! Either get your ass in or out, Ivanovic and stop letting the fucking sand in,” Clyde Viklund, the acting bouncer said, glaring at him.

He stepped inside, just as a message came in his earpiece. It was Ori. “Can you get away?” She asked without so much as a greeting. “I think I might have a plan that could work.”
“And what do I tell Tenad?”

“Tell her the truth.” The com went dead. Just like fucking Ori to dump him in it and leave.
“So? Was she good?” Tenad came to his side. “You look like she might have been a little rough on you.”

He forced a smile. “I like it rough.”

Her eyes hooded slightly and she damn near purred. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me, Ivanovic.” She nodded to her indentured. “Shall I send Camille for a pint?”

“Afraid not. Look, the one thing about Sandstorm is that you never know where you might get helpful information. Oh you won’t get any, of course. They hate Authority scum here, and they especially hate Fallons, but one of the punters I met gave me a tip I need to check into to.”

“I’ll come with,” she said.

“No offence, lady, but I don’t want you on my ship. She has a few little trade secrets I’d rather keep to myself. I need some of that tech to test a theory. If it works, if it’s true, I’ll let you know.”

She studied him for a moment, then yawned behind her hand. “I’ll expect a report in the morning then. I’ve taken all the local ambience I can handle for one day. Think I’ll head back to the Virago and turn in early so we can get a fresh start in the morning.”
“Knock yourself out,” he said.

She gave him a throaty chuckle. “You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“Oh absolutely not,” he said, holding her green-eyed gaze. “I’d rather do that myself.”
“Now where would be the fun in that, me being unconscious while you … did whatever it is you fantasize about doing to an evil Fallon? Wouldn’t you rather have me conscious for every last bit of the pain and torment?” Eyes still on him, she motioned her indentured to her side. “Take me home, Camille.” She shrugged when she saw the surprise on his face. “She’s a far better pilot than some of my own crew, and the only one I trust with my personal shuttle.” They turned and walked out the door.

Kresho motioned Gerd and Dyrg over. “I’ve been summoned,” he spat. They both nodded in sympathy. “Keep an eye on things here and let me know if anything changes. Oh, and what happened to little brother?”

“He ordered several of his crew to keep an eye on the wicked sister, then buggered off back to his ship for another dose of the good stuff,” Gerd made no attempt to wipe the smirk off her face.

“Her shuttle just took off,” Kresho’s PD offered up in his ear. He had a few of his own people to keep an eye on things, but local control at the landing pad happily consented to give him word when a Fallon was on the pad or leaving for their flying fortresses. He’d made sure there were extra water rations and any other contraband he knew was in short supply in Sandstorm. He couldn’t afford not to be generous under the circumstances. He thanked the controller then headed out to the nearest blind spot where he ‘tranned up to the Compass.

Happy Friday, everyone! Time for another episode of Dragon Ascending.  Last week we saw Len’s homecoming to Sandstorm. This week Arji fills her in on the situation with the Fallons, and Len gets a severe shock. As I mentioned, I am now attempting to post episodes at lengths that will be better suited for the flow of the story and enhance your reading pleasure. Some will be slightly shorter, some will be longer. I hope you find this switch-up helpful. I hope you’re enjoying Dragon Ascending, the sequel to Piloting Fury, as much as I’m enjoying sharing it with you. As always, I love it when you share my work with your reading friends, so feel free. In the meantime, enjoy!

If you missed the previous episode of Dragon Ascending follow the link for a catch-up. If you wish to start from the beginning, of Dragon Ascending. Follow the link.  

For those of you who would like to read the complete novel, Piloting Fury, book one of the Sentient Ships series, follow the link to the first instalment.

Dragon Ascending: Book 2 of the Sentient Ship Series

On a desolate junkyard of a planetoid, scavenger Lenore Felish, disturbs something slumbering in a remote salvage dump and uncovers secrets of a tragic past and of the surprising role she must play in the terrifying present she now faces.

Robbed of her inheritance after her tyrannical father’s death, Tenad Fallon is out for revenge on her half-brothers, one who happens to be the sentient ship, Fury. Fury, with his human companions, Richard Manning and Diana McAllister, has his own agenda – finding the lost sentient ships and ending the scourge of indentured servitude in Authority space.

Dragon Ascending Part 45: A Face from the Past

Once they were safe away from prying eyes, Arji didn’t wait for formalities. “They’re looking for SNT1, if you can believe it.” He turned to her, looked her up and down and said, “I’m guessing you can believe it, new clothes, a little flesh on yer bones, and you sure as hell don’t look like you’ve travelled six days across the worst of the Taklamakan.”

“Arji, the less I tell you, the safer you’ll be. I can only say that there’s one helluva lot at stake here, and if we all play our cards right, the galaxy might be a happier place.

He offered a toothy grin. “One with two less Fallons in it, I’m hoping.

When she only gave him a raised eyebrow, the smile got bigger still. “You know me, Girlie-Girl. I’m all ears. If they say it in my bar, I’ll find out, don’t you worry. They say it outside my bar,” he gave a one shouldered shrug, “I’ll hear it anyway.”

“I knew I could count on you, Arj,” she said, but when he took a step closer and pushed the hair away from her cheek, she began to pace, not wanting to know where it might lead if she didn’t, and not wanting to lose a good friend. “Do you know why Kresho Ivanovic is drooling down Tenad Fallon’s tits?” She asked.

“Ain’t had a chance to talk to him yet. I ‘spect he’ll be poking his head in the old back room first chance he gets though. If he’s drooling down that bitch’s tits, then he’s got something up his sleeve, if I know Ivanovic. He ain’t doing this for the love of the conglomerates, you can trust me on that. ‘Sides, from what I hear, getting between that woman’s legs ain’t good for a man’s health.”

“If Ivanovic wants to bang that bitch, well that’s his problem, not mine. And anyway, an extra pair of trustworthy eyes and ears on the inside can’t hurt. Now tell me, Arji, what have you heard so far?”

Jax stuck her head in the door and handed them each a pint, “Glad you’re back Girlie. Arji’s been beside himself,” she said with barely a face quirk.

“Mum’s the word, Jax, ‘bout her being here.” He laid his finger to the side of his nose, and the barmaid gave a jerk of her head that passed as an affirmative and left. She’d been in Sandstorm long enough to roll with the punches.

Len took a sip and grimaced. She’d forgotten how vile the stuff really was. “This sauce’ll have you pissing sand, Arji. You working to improve the brewing technique, I see.”

“My goddamned one goal in life is to become a meister brewer, don’t you know?” He downed half of his and licked his cracked lip. “‘Sides, it’s better than not pissing an all.” He polished it off in a couple of quick gulps and sat the glass aside on a battered table, where he kept several smokes he made up in advance for a quick fix when the place was busy. “They came in around High Shimmer yesterday, the Fallons did, but I’m betting you knew that.”

She nodded and took another tentative sip before setting the glass aside next to his. “And they know about Fury?”

“Fuck me!” He ran a hand through his thinning hair. “Are you telling me you and SNT1 are on a first name basis?” When she only blushed, he said, “Fuck me double time. Seriously, Girlie-Girl, if we get through this shit storm alive and Fallon free, ain’t a person on this sand heap that won’t want to hear that story.”

“If we get through this shit storm alive and Fallon Free, I’ll bore the piss out of all of you at the going away party I’ll be throwing before I fuck off for the Rim.”

He chuckled. “We skin these bastards out of enough credits, we might be on the next ship out ourselves, and leave the whole goddamn place to the glass vipers and the sand infestations.” He scratched his stubbled chin and huffed out a stale breath. “Here’s the thing that’s interesting to me, Girlie-girl, not more than a couple of Shimmers before the Fallons show up, there’s a man and a woman, off-worlders, show up here asking around about you. We was all worried so when they said they wanted to help find you, we told them a little bit, ‘specially when they said the damn Dart and its crew weren’t gonna be bothering anyone again.” His face reddened the way it always did when Arji was anger, and then he offered a sympathetic smile. “Hell, ain’t a one of us that wouldn’t like to take that lot out and leave ‘em in the Shimmer after what they did.” He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, then looked up, forcing a smile. “Anyway, we thought we could trust those two was trying to help you, and ifn they had a ship, then if anyone could find you still alive and bring you back, they could. By that time, though, you’d been gone long enough most people figured you was infestation fodder.”

“That would have been Fury’s compliment,” she said.

His mouth fell open and his eyes got even rounder than they usually were. “You’re shittin’ me! SNT1 has two compliments?”

“In the flesh,” she said.

He chortled and stroked his chin. “Well, I suppose an SNT ship would be … insatiable. Hell, an SNT ship could have a whole harem. At once.” He glanced up at her and shot her a wicked grin. “You wouldn’t know anything about that would you, Girlie? You sure look mighty pleased with yourself.”

When she blushed only harder, he let out a long low whistle. “What? He does his compliments and has a little bit on the side to boot? Lucky sonovabitch. Ifn he’s looking for an old fart with thinning hair and a paunch, I’m available. If his tastes run toward the eclectic, if you know what I mean. Hell, everyone in Sandstorm would happily volunteer, I’m pretty sure. Ifn his tastes run that way.”

She giggled and he raised an eyebrow, watching her pace. “So how was it?” He said stepping closer. I hear SNTs don’t care about your sex and they can make you feel like you’re in a right proper orgy, all attention on you. Is SNT1 that good?”

“I don’t know about SNT1. I’ve never had sex with him.”

He studied her for a moment, then grabbed up a smoke from the table, lit it up, inhaling deeply. “Then it is true, what they’ve been saying. They’re saying that SNT1’s here looking for another SNT, one somewhere in the Sea of Death.”

She only blinked, but in Sandstorm, a blink could speak volumes.

“We all told them they was full of shit. What the hell would an SNT ship be doing buried beneath the sand in Tak Major? Makes no goddamned sense at all. But then what does these days when here the fuck we are hosting two bloody Fallon brats and their goon squad.” He took another puff and blew it out. “The son is no chip off the old block. He’s a bloody Mist addict. Pretty damned useless. I wonder how he managed to find the toilet with his own ass when he has a shit. First thing his sister did when she got here was make sure we could supply his habit. ‘Course we couldn’t. That stuff’ll dry up your piss faster than a couple hours in a Shimmer Wind. Turns out Ivanovic sorted him. Oh it’s not sisterly love on Daddy little girl’s part. She wants him out of the way. You can damn near feel the hate rolling off those two like heat in the Shimmer. But Tenad, now she’s one dangerous bitch. She scares the piss right out of me. They say she’s nothing like her old man. She doesn’t have a petty bone in her body. She’s all business, they say, all fairness, maybe even more than fair. Don’t argue over the price of things. Just pays the credits with a smile. Hell, she acts like one of those navel gazers on High Mount, so fucking serene and peaceful that her shit don’t stink. But when she sets a plan in motion well, hell hath no fury, and forget the woman scorned. Just hell hath no fury. I’ve heard things that put me right off my rations and give me nightmares, sure enough. Still waters run deep and fucking dangerous with that one. I hope ole Ivanovic knows what he’s doing. He might end up with his dick in a knot.”

He puffed on his smoke for a second, ruminating on that scary fact, and then he continued. “Apparently they can’t find SNT1 because he has one helluva cloaking device, and they can’t get into the Sea of Death Yard because it has a de-mole fence around the whole goddamn thing. Around the whole goddamn thing. Now who in the hell would have the tech and the credits to do that sort of thing if it weren’t a Fallon?”

“A good question,” she said.

“Anyway, they’re stymied by the de-mole and by SNT1’s cloak. That means they could be here awhile. If they have a plan, I haven’t heard anything, and no one has questioned me. I think if I went about it just right I could probably get little Camille to fill me in on some things. Oh I know most of them that’s got indentureds aren’t afraid to tell all their secrets around them. Their poor indentureds would never speak out when they know the consequences. Dig’s trying to get his hands on someone who can deactivate a shackle, but there are so many quacks out there, you know. She’s a good girl, quiet, but not cowed.”

It was standard beyond Authority territory, if you brought an indentured into non-Authority space, any effort that could possibly be made to free that indentured would be made. There was still far too little of the cure for the SNT virus that kept indentureds from trying to escape, but that would gradually change. Still, an indentured making an escape was rare enough even beyond the Rim, that it didn’t keep Authority ships from bringing their indentureds right on over with relatively little fear.

“Would do my heart good though, to rob a Fallon of an indentured,” Arji said. Len couldn’t help thinking the same.

“Bitch is got a lot of nerve bringing in indentured into my bar.” He shook his head as though he suddenly remembered the task at hand. “So, there really is another SNT? Well fuck me! Which one is it, and how did it get here?”

“He has no memory of who he is or what he’s doing way out here,” she said. “That’s why Fury’s here, trying to help him.”

“And he likes you, this mysterious SNT?”

This was not a conversation she wanted to have. “He doesn’t hate me, at least not most of the time. Look Arji, please don’t ask me any more questions. Answers may only put you at risk. All I need is for you to keep your ears open and,” she fumbled in her jacket and pulled out the small leather case with the subdural device. “I need you to wear this. You can communicate with me, with us, if there’s anything we need to know. Just rub your hand over it. You know, like you’re rubbing your neck. That’ll activate it and we’ll hear what you’re saying and I’ll come if there’s something important you need to let us know.”

He held her gaze until she blinked. “He ‘tranned you here, didn’t he, SNT1 Fury.”

She only blinked at him and loaded the subdural into the syringe. He pulled his hair away from the spot behind his ear and gave a little hiss as she inserted it. “What’s that like, being ‘tranned? Weren’t you afraid it’d scramble your brain?”

“Arji, how goddamn long does it take you to shoot you’re wad? Vaticana Jesu. Finish the fuck up already. I don’t need to see this,” Ivanovic said, but he didn’t look away.

As Ivanovic burst in, Arji grabbed Len, pulling up her hood as he did so and then kissed the hell out of her just like they had been fucking, then he pulled away and nodded her toward the back door, but even in the recess of her hood, she got her first look at Kresho Invnovic, and she froze. He hadn’t gone by that name when she knew him. He was Van, they called him. Keith Vanderbilt, and he had betrayed her and her mother, left them to rot on Tak Minor.

She barely heard Arji tell the man he was a cocksucker, as he turned her toward the door with a little shove. She glared back one last time at Van from under her hood, then fled out the back door to a litany of Ascent’s growls and grumbles about Arji’s lying, filthy, disrespectful mouth. Once she was safely back in the blind spot and she could calm down enough to stop shaking, she told Fury she was ready to ‘tran up.