Sample Time!

Sample time!

A snippet of 'And The Stars Will Sing'. It's something to whet your appetites, and I promise you won't find it in the Amazon preview of my book!

Crystal has been settling in, excitedly describing her coworkers, the ship, and the food. She has her suspicions about why Crossing Paths is really working on the wormhole, but so far, things have been quiet and stable enough. And then, one evening, it gets a little more interesting...

"It’s been a couple days since I’ve last written. There wasn’t really that much to talk about until today. Annamar had a nightmare last night. Her screams were enough to chill your bone marrow. Her quarters are right next to mine, so I heard her very clearly. So did Kelna. So did half the floor.

I'm sorry, that wasn’t a very nice thing to say, especially because she was just terrified. I guess I know who was screaming that one night.

            We found her sitting on her cabin floor, sobbing and shaking, and very, very white. Kelna came in right away, followed by Jaria and me. She is usually so composed, and to see this kind of raw emotion is very unsettling. She kept going on about rips and tears and the effects of their reckless actions on the galactic fabric. She never actually said who ‘they’ were, just kept crying. After a while, we helped her calm down enough to go to sleep.

            I was not so fortunate—I lay awake for a very long while, mindsearching to calm myself. I felt around blindly in that vast black universe, and it was like being wrapped in a warm blanket, the kind from when you were a little kid. You know exactly where all the burst seams and frazzled edges are, and it’s so calming. It makes my head spin softly, better than alcohol or hradìrga any day.  I’d never want to have to analyze the fabric; I’d rather dwell in it and savour those faults. However, knowing where they are does help in the mapping. But enough about me.

            This morning she had almost forgotten about it, but I shall watch her very closely for the next few days. It’s creepy, because she might be a PreCog. Lots of the lunar people are. I remember reading about that in the old colony archives from the early days of Terran history. She seems so fragile sometimes, brittle and resilient in the same instant. I sure hope she’s okay.

Crystal. "

Crystal doesn't know yet that much more frightening things than a screaming nightmare will be in store for them....