The Last Flagship (A Science Officer story)

So,

A few of you have been paying attention, and noticed that there is a new Science Officer story up for pre-order.

The Last Flagship. Volume 6. Dropping October 10th everywhere.

A brief intro, from the beginning of Book Seventeen: Avalon:

The door chime was almost a welcome interruption.

Almost.

Javier took a deep breath, stashed everything under handy nets, and rose.

His back hurt from being hunched over too long on the four-legged stool. Probably time to go do some yoga or something. He was pretty good about maintaining his regular lifting and stretching cycle.

He ran his hand back through his short, black hair and contemplated how much of it was coming in gray now, mostly at his temples, but a little everywhere. He wasn’t vain enough to dye it, and many women seemed to think it made him look more distinguished.

Always a good thing, looking good for the women of this crew.

Privately, he made a bet with himself who would be on the other side of that hatch. There were only a few people who would come down here, rather than just call him on the comm to ask a question.

That meant it would be a private conversation.

Another deep breath, finding his calm center, as he approached the hatch.

He unlocked the system and opened it, finding himself staring at her chest. Not hard to do when her breasts were about on a level with his chin. Small ones, to be sure, hiding on top of muscles. Lots of muscles. But breasts.

Djamila Sykora. Dragoon of the private service, Strike Corvette Storm Gauntlet.

A woman 2.1 meters tall. She towered over Javier by thirty centimeters.

Her brown hair was still worn short to fit inside an armoured lifesuit, buzzed very tight on the sides and spiked into a petite Mohawk on top.

It was still the only thing petite about her.

She had bright, pretty green eyes. They reminded him of Holly, his ex-wife, but he only told her that when he wanted to annoy this woman. Mostly, it was the faint freckles, anyway.

The bone structure in her face wasn’t delicate enough to be pretty, but he suspected she could be stunningly beautiful if she ever cared to try. Not that a hardass like Sykora would, unless she was undercover on a grift. Like the Pleasure Dome had been.

Artemis, by Michelangelo.

<<<spoiler alert>>>

At the end of The Doomsday Vault, the little warship Storm Gauntlet has been savaged well beyond the point that it would be profitable to repair it. The crew is facing an end, as Zakhar Sokolov looks around and realizes that the best he can do it sell the ship for salvage and retire to a desk job somewhere.

Javier has a suggestion, but the risk will top anything the crew has faced before now. The flagship of the Neu Berne fleet, lost for eighty-five years, hidden in a place where nobody less desperate would go.

But desperation drives them all. What secrets will they find, when they go looking for the grave of a Sentient warship?

And who will survive?

Pre-order today. This is the third part of The War of the Pirate Clans, and will be wrapped up in Volumes 7 and 8:

  • The Hammerfield Gambit
  • The Hammerfield Payoff

both due out on December 10th. Because it would be mean of me to leave y’all that badly cliff-hangered at the end of 7.


And thank you, for all the support. For telling your friends. For leaving nice reviews. Every day, I get a little closer to that dream of being able to write full time, and put out enough stories to keep y’all occupied for a while. Working as hard as I can, and publishing like mad.

The Superhero stories are coming in a week:

The Breakfast Dragon

The Coffee Doctor

Kid Lexington

Hopefully, you will find them entertaining as well, as I slowly build out the world of the Modern Gods.

shade and sweet water,

bd

West of the Mountains, WA