SFFS: Snippet #17 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several months, and finish with one last snippet from my short story "Inoculation."

First, the blurb for Dirty Dozen:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

“A momentary glitch in the lighting system. I’m currently running a diagnostic to determine the root cause.”

My tension melted away with her explanation. She’d detected the issue, unlike when all of this had started with the viewscreen. I pulled my hand away from the closet, and took a long breath to calm myself even further. The software was working after all, and I was sure I had nothing to worry about.

“Let me know what you find out, whenever you do,” I told her.

My eyes went wide and the tension all came rushing back into my body, though, with her next words. “I’m sure it’s nothing, Aston.”

And there you have it, the end of the story. Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy of Dirty Dozen from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #16 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several months.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

Fortunately, Jeanie was already right on top of it.

“I have reconstructed our original flight plan, if you would care to resume it.”

“Certainly.”

I grabbed hold of the table nearby as we accelerated past the hyperspace threshold, and released it once we reached constant velocity.

It truly was good to have my best friend, and reliable ship’s computer, back again. As I walked through my living area, I looked around and had a half-smile on my face. I’d really grown dependent on Jeanie, and then to not have her working properly when I needed her the most? To have her actively trying to harm me within the confines of my own ship? That was something I never wanted to deal with again.

Just before I reached the divider at the living area’s front end, all of the lights flicked off and then on immediately after. Then, it did it again. I stopped, placing my hand on the closet door where my pressure suit was now stored. Every hair on my body was standing at attention. “Jeanie, what just happened to the lights?”

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above. In fact, today only, several of my books will be available for free on your Kindle. Check out my Amazon page for specific titles.

And we are now close to the end, with next week's snippet being the last from this story...

SFFS: Snippet #15 From Inocluation (a DIRTY DOZEN Story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several months.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

“Jeanie?” I asked.

“Yes, Aston.”

“Glad to see you back to your normal self.” On that, I was assuming, but it seemed appropriate, given the experience the technicians had with her earlier symptoms.

“It’s good to be back,” she started. A moment passed before she continued. “I would like to apologize for any actions I may have taken against you before. Apparently I was under the influence of an outside source?”

I placed the floorboard back into place. “That’s what I heard. We should be okay from here on out, based on what the maintenance technicians told me.”

“Yes, a new piece of code has appeared. There is no sign of any malicious code, and it appears to protect us from future infections.”

I smiled as I entered the living area, but then tried to remember what it was we were doing prior to Jeanie’s infection and all the subsequent issues we’d faced.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.
And not to worry, only two snippets remain...

SFFS: Snippet #14 from Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

I shuddered, but at least I had my answer to my original question. Jeanie wasn’t acting of her own accord.

But that didn’t solve the overall problem. “Is there a way to fix it?”

“We have the patch to clean out the malicious code and prevent your system from getting infected again.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing what the situation would have been if that hadn’t been the case, but figuring that it would have resulted with Jeanie ending up a shell of her former self in some way, shape, or form.

I normally didn’t let other people work on my ship, but this was an emergency situation. “Let’s do it, then.”

A short while later, the technicians had done their work, and their ship disengaged from my own. I had tucked my pressure suit away, and was now stationed above the wide-open floorboard at the cargo hold’s aft end.

With a deep breath to calm myself, I placed my hand on the big throw switch and tossed it to the power position. Lights started illuminating in sequence around the panel, before the entire hold lit up once more.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #13 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

“What seems to be the trouble?” The one on the left asked.

“I’m not entirely sure,” I told him between deep cleansing breaths. “It started off as minor glitches in my viewscreen, and then progressively grew worse. My ship’s computer, as strange as it sounds, started acting like she lost her mind.”

The other maintenance technician piped up in an identical voice to the first. Maybe they were twins. “Yeah, we’ve been seeing that a lot lately along this route.”

“How’s that?”

“We think that someone loaded up a piece of malicious code at one of the stations somewhere along the way. When computers link up, they’re pulling it in and it begins replicating until it finally takes over your entire system. Not everyone has been as lucky as you and shutting down your power in time.”

The first technician continued, “Plus you had the sense to get your pressure suit on. That hasn’t been pretty for the cleanup crews to work.”

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #12 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

Just to let everyone know, Kindle users can pick up a copy of my second Aston novel, Friends in Deed, for free this weekend!

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

But there in the darkness, I was able to contemplate everything that had happened. I’d always been able to rely on Jeanie, the entire time I’d known her. And then, for whatever reason, she’d become something unrecognizable, and completely unreliable. I wish I knew why. If she were her old self again, I could have asked her what had happened. As it was, I was left completely alone, and completely in the dark.

And then I heard the sound of metal banging, even past the helmet’s walls of metal and glass. My heart was racing along faster than a ship at hyperspeed velocities. Was I hallucinating from a lack of air, or was there someone outside my ship? I decided that I really had nothing to lose, so I rushed back to my living area and grabbed hold of the airlock handle. Unlatching it and throwing it open, I was greeted by a pair of men in blue coveralls. They could have been twins with their chiseled faces and bald heads. Both looked me over with grim looks on their faces.

I, on the other hand, was ecstatic. Seeing these two without pressure suits prompted me to strip off my helmet, relieved to feel air flowing in from the other ship.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #11 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

I sat down in my captain’s chair, looked around at all of the dark and dormant screens, and then relaxed. The air I had needed to last me. It was too bad that I was confined inside this helmet, though, because I really needed another drink of Vladirian liquor.

As it was, I would have to try and fall asleep in the darkness, and hope against all hope that my emergency beacon would attract help soon. I closed my eyes and drifted off.

* * *

A long, drawn-out beep woke me later, I didn’t even know when. Disoriented, I looked around the cockpit, but it was still as dark as I had left it. I looked over my suit, finally lifting the console on my wrist and realizing that most of my air was gone. To be honest, I think I would have preferred not having any sort of warning toward that end. If I’d just drifted off to sleep unaware, I think it would have been preferable.

But that wasn’t likely either, because I’m certain I would have woke up gasping if the air had run out completely. So, either way, I wouldn’t have escaped that violent end.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #10 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

I've now sent my next Aston West "series" novel, All Good Things off to its beta readers.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

Jeanie became what I would have considered irate, if she had the ability for emotions. Given everything that had just transpired, maybe that wasn’t beyond the realm of possibilities. “Step away from the panel, or I will eject you into outer space.” To try and prove her point, she opened the doorway back into my living area.

I looked out the doorway, and smiled. It became obvious she wasn’t her usual self because she wasn’t thinking clearly. I would have laughed if the circumstances had been different. “But, Jeanie, how are you going to eject anything when you already depressurized the ship?”

Leaving her with that realization, I slammed the power switch down. All of the lights on the panel slowly extinguished as all of the main power in the ship, including that which supported Jeanie, went dormant. The emergency lights, on their own system, still functioned. I stood and stepped back through the living area and up to the cockpit.

If I didn’t miss my guess, the complete power shutdown would have set off the emergency beacon automatically. And although it had been a while since I had to use my own beacon, I remembered it had a higher power transmitter than our standard communications array. Hopefully it would be enough to reach that communications beacon nearby, because otherwise, I only had the air I was breathing through the suit, from its tanks and its re-circulators, and that would be it for me as well as Jeanie.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #9 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

I've now sent my next Aston West "series" novel, All Good Things off to its beta readers.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

The doorway was still out of reach, and I needed to stall while moving faster, before she realized my plan and somehow cut me off from the cargo hold. “Do you still believe the lighting system is operational?”

“Of course it is.”

“Well, I can still see that it isn’t. So, just to be on the safe side, I think I’ll check the cargo.”

I passed through the doorway into the cargo hold. Floorboards rested along the center corridor, leading all the way between the four cargo bays to the aft bulkhead. I was finally home free, and rushed toward the very aft-most floorboard.

Jeanie had deduced my plan as well. “Aston, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving us both before you do something you’ll regret.” I knelt down and unfastened the floorboard.

“You don’t want to do this.”

“It’s the only way,” I insisted, as I unlatched the final fastener and tossed the floorboard aside. Inside, the central power distribution panel was lit up like a welcoming orbital station.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #8 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

Edits are finally finished with my next Aston West "series" novel, All Good Things. Planning to send it out to beta readers before long.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

“It would appear that you are suffering from the effects of contaminated air and are not of sufficient mental capacity to captain this vessel.”

I barely had enough brain power to process what she’d just done, as I rushed to zip up the suit. She had just circumvented her obedience programming, and was going to disobey a direct order.

I reached up and snagged the glass-faced helmet from a shelf at the closet’s top, just as pressure valves around the ship let loose. Their rapid hissing pulled air out of the cabin faster than even I thought possible. I started to cough, gasping for air as I thrust the helmet on top of my head, and barely found myself able to seal it shut before I collapsed to my knees. With hands and arms trembling, I lifted my right wrist and saw a green light to accompany a welcome, but dull tone. Air flowed freely from the suit’s tanks and I sucked in all of it that I could.

Jeanie couldn’t be trusted, and there was only one way that I knew to stop her.

I turned and started for the door at the living area’s aft end, barely visible between the emergency lighting and the spotlight atop my helmet. Jeanie’s voice came through the speakers inside. “What are you attempting to do, Aston?”

I really didn’t want to tell her my real plan, because I had no idea what she’d try to do next to stop me, and really didn’t want to find out. “Just wanted to check and make sure the cargo is all still there.”

“Nothing is wrong with the cargo,” she insisted in a serious tone.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #7 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

I began to worry that life support may be the next to go, the way things were going. I turned and opened the closet just aft of the cockpit divider, seeing my protection hanging at the back.

“Shall we resume our original course to reach a proper maintenance facility?”

“No, I expect to figure out what’s going on with these system outages.” I pulled out the pressure suit.

As soon as I said the words, the entire ship grew silent. Not just a regular run-of-the-mill silence, but one that told me the re-circulation fans had shut down. No air meant the end of my life was fast approaching.

“Jeanie, what’s wrong with the air?”

“I do not detect any issues with the environmental systems. Perhaps I should purge the system?”

My eyes shot open wide, and I rushed to pull on the pressure suit. Purging would get rid of the clean, breathable air almost immediately, not the long, drawn-out process that came from having no re-circulation system.

“No, do not purge the system. That’s not the issue.”

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above. And not to worry, edits are still going on with my next Aston novel, All Good Things. Twenty-six chapters are now edited, with only six to go, and then it will be heading off to beta readers to see what they think.

SFFS: Snippet #6 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

It seemed rather odd timing for a system failure. I looked around the cockpit, but saw no indication otherwise that the communication system was down. First, Jeanie wasn’t detecting issues that were obvious to anyone who could see, and now she was detecting issues that didn’t seem to be there.

She continued, “Shall I resume our original flight plan?”

“No, I think we should stay right here and get to the bottom of this communication system failure.” That, and I had no inclination to allow Jeanie to take me up to hyperspeed levels. For all I knew, an undetected or commanded failure of the coolant system could turn my ship into a ball of liquid metal.

She fell silent and we remained in normal space with the communication beacon in view, which made me breathe a sigh of relief. Because of those on my planet who had seen sentient machines as a potential threat, Jeanie’s creators had been forced to install obedience code into her software. At least that seemed to still be in place, and she had to do what I said.

“Take us closer to the beacon. Let me know when we’re within range.”

Her voice was cool, calm and collected. “The thruster control system is down.”

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above. And not to worry, edits are still going on with my next Aston novel, All Good Things. Twenty-one chapters are now edited, and another eleven to go, and then it will be heading off to beta readers to see what they think.

SFFS: Snippet #5 from Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is now available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with the snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

(Again note: Most of the stories in this collection were previously available in my various Triple-Shot collections. Dirty Dozen puts them all in one collection, and also provides an opportunity for those folks who would like to pick them up in paperback form...coming soon)

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

“I just remembered that I needed to ask Tabor something about the next job he has for me.”

“And it can’t wait until we exit out of hyperspace at our original destination?”

“No, it can’t. Depending on his answer, continuing on to our destination may be a futile gesture.”

“Acknowledged,” she told me. “There is an upcoming system that should suffice.”

And before I could even tell her another word, we were dropping back into normal space. I stumbled forward, but fortunately caught myself from hitting the floor, by grabbing onto the doorway to the bridge. Rather than complain about the short notice, I decided to take my good fortune and run with it. I glanced over at the sensor screen along the left side of the cockpit, and saw a symbol that had to be the communication beacon. “Take us closer and I’ll put the message through.”

“I’m detecting failures within the communication system. No message will be able to be sent.”

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above. And not to worry, edits are still going on with my next Aston novel, All Good Things.

SFFS: Snippet #4 from Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is now available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with the snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

(Again note: Most of the stories in this collection were previously available in my various Triple-Shot collections. Dirty Dozen puts them all in one collection, and also provides an opportunity for those folks who would like to pick them up in paperback form...coming soon)

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

Usually, Jeanie was the most logical computer I’d ever met. Certainly, there were times when she seemed to go past her programming and resembled emotions. But what she just said, it bordered on nagging, something I never remembered her doing before. At least not so directly, and not in what resembled an accusatory tone.

Something was definitely wrong.

“Are we close to our destination?”

“Not at all.”

“Are we close to any systems with a communications beacon?”

“Why are you interested in that answer?”

Now something was majorly amiss. Never before that I could think of had Jeanie ignored my question and tried to evade it. Not this way. She was becoming more and more defiant, and I had to figure out what was wrong.

But she also held my life totally in her electronic hands, because she held control over every single system on-board the ship. And because she had my life, she also had the opportunity to do things to end that life.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above. And not to worry, edits are still going on with my next Aston novel, All Good Things.

SFFS: Snippet #3 from Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is now available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with the snippets from the last several weeks.


First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.


(Again note: Most of the stories in this collection were previously available in my various Triple-Shot collections. Dirty Dozen puts them all in one collection, and also provides an opportunity for those folks who would like to pick them up in paperback form...coming soon)

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

A set of emergency lights popped on, providing a minimum amount of illumination around the area. I pulled the bottle away from my lips, and called out, “Jeanie?”

“Yes, Aston,” she responded as if nothing had just happened.

“Why did the lights all just go out?”

“I’m not detecting any issues with the lighting system,” she told me in an extra matter-of-factly tone.

Of course not. Why would I have expected anything else? “I’m standing right here, and all of the lights just went out. All I have to see by are these puny emergency lights.”

“You seem to be angry with me,” she commented.

“I’m not angry, just concerned. Things seem to be falling apart on this ship, and you’re not detecting anything wrong. Doesn’t that seem a bit concerning?”

“Are you sure that you aren’t simply hallucinating? You’ve been drinking, after all.”

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above. And not to worry, edits are still going on with my next Aston novel, All Good Things.

SFFS: Snippet #2 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Second week in a row...this may be a record in recent times for me posting a snippet for Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. I had my preliminary cover art last week, and this week, my Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is now available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with the snippet from last week.


First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.


(Again note: Most of the stories in this collection were previously available in my various Triple-Shot collections. Dirty Dozen puts them all in one collection, and also provides an opportunity for those folks who would like to pick them up in paperback form...coming soon)

So, here's the snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

Granted, anything on a ship was bound to wear out, and the viewscreen was original factory equipment. The more troubling part was that Jeanie wasn’t detecting the issue.

I didn’t voice my opinion, but I planned to have everything completely checked out at our next stop. Still, she was no doubt waiting for me to say something, to either confirm or deny her assumption that I didn’t trust her.

“Well, just keep an eye on it.”

“Acknowledged,” she responded, even though I had a suspicion any additional blinking would remain undetected.

I shrugged it off. Other than a fine view of a dark starfield as seen at hyperspeed velocities, I really wasn’t missing much, even if the screen actually did falter.

Perhaps if I kept the issue out of sight, it wouldn’t bother me so much. I grabbed a half-empty bottle of Vladirian liquor from my chair’s side pocket and started for the doorway at the back of my bridge, leading into my living area. Nothing made the time pass quicker than drinking and sleeping, and with my cot in sight along my side wall, I planned to do both. I plopped down on the stiff mattress and began the process of draining the bottle.

Then all of the lights went out, and not by request.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above. And not to worry, edits are still going on with my next Aston novel, All Good Things.

SFFS - A Snippet from DIRTY DOZEN

Life does tend to get in the way...and even more so when you've been editing. It's been over a month since I posted a snippet for Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Now that I have my preliminary cover art for the upcoming Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen, I figured I'd pull a snippet from one of the stories within. Be on the lookout for this one to come out on Amazon shortly.

Most of the stories in this collection were previously available in my various Triple-Shot collections. Dirty Dozen puts them all in one collection, and also provides an opportunity for those folks who would like to pick them up in paperback form.

So, I've come up with the following for your enjoyment, from my short story "Inoculation":

“It sure does seem like something,” I told Jeanie.

My ship’s computer responded, “I’m sure it’s nothing, Aston.”

Wrinkling my forehead, I insisted, “This is the second time that viewscreen has blinked since we left our last stop. It has to be something.”

“I’m not detecting any issues with the viewscreen system.”

I hated to dispute the issue. If she’d been a person, it would have been the equivalent of calling her a liar. As it was, it still felt that way, even though she wasn’t programmed with things such as emotions or feelings. Of course, she also wasn’t programmed to falsify information.

But facts were facts, and these glitches in the viewscreen were hard evidence. As long as I’d owned this ship, my screen had never blinked once, let along twice.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy when it comes out. And not to worry, edits are still going on with my next Aston novel, All Good Things.