Jethro 7 Snippet 2

 So far nothing from Goodlifeguide. I'll keep checking my inbox. :)

Chapter 2

 

Antigua

 

Shanti had been about to go into work when a text told her that she could report in and do work from home. She was grateful; the kittens were a handful for Red now that they were mobile. They seemed to be growing in spurts. They also had recently started to talk, though their understanding was mixed.

She was still struggling with the news about Horath. It wasn't helping her work at all. She couldn't focus worth a damn sometimes.

She felt a tremor as her doorbell rang, and she checked the video feed. She saw two familiar forms there, both in formal uniforms.

She felt her eyes tear up and felt a sinking sensation but forced herself to get up and go to the door.

General Lyon was there with Admiral Thornby. They had their covers off and tucked under their arm. “I'm sorry to …,” she closed her eyes, willing her ears to close too as she heard the formal words of apology of loss. She'd expected it, dreaded it the moment she'd heard about the final battle in Horath. The general had been good to send an official notice when word had broke a few days before; she'd been on auto pilot since then, hoping it was just a mistake.

“Come in,” she said as she stepped aside. They each stepped past. Red saw them and teared up instantly. Her distress set the kittens off.

~~~-^-~~~

Nara and General Lyon were quiet for a while but then began to talk on the ride back to the base in their government air car. "This sucks. It is the hardest thing, to tell people we don't know. That we may never know their fate."

"I know. Being in limbo is a terrible thing. Torture," Nara said with a sad face. “Is it too soon though?” she asked.

“They are overdue. We don't know if they got off the planet, to the ship …,” the general grimaced. “There are too many variables. The odds of their survival drop the longer they don't report in.”

“I have been running the scenarios in simulations, trying to see what the decision tree they were faced with and then reconstruct what might have happened,” Mars stated.

“And?” Nara prompted.

“It's not good. If they had to delay to get off the planet, which we expect, then they had to take one of a dozen courses away from Finagle or any known jump point in order to have even a small chance at survival. The longer they waited the lower the odds of survival were. To be honest, they might have waited too long. Given that there are last messages from Warrant McClintock and others, I believe they knew it too.”

Nara closed her eyes in pain. They were silent the rest of the way to the base.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw the flags being flown at half-mast.

~~~-^-~~~

Zuhura closed her eyes in pain as she felt her mom and younger siblings in the room. She had come home when she'd gotten the call from Admiral Thornby. They were all quiet and in mourning, just sitting on the couch and chairs glum. The younger litter were piled around their mother. Her tail was wrapped around two of them. One of the kittens had his thumb in his mouth. After a moment, Red sighed and slapped her thighs, startling them. “Well, I'm going to go find something to eat.”

She opened her eyes in surprise and looked at the small domestic cat. Red flicked her ears. “What?” Red asked.

“Really? At a time like this?” one of her younger siblings said in an accusing voice. It was surprising to hear that voice. They might be physically small but they had recently learned to talk. They seemed to share some sort of link that the other litter lacked. Zuhura had twigged on it when Red had noted that they seemed to learn collectively, almost like a hive mind. One would pick something up and the others would learn the trick without experiencing it within hours. Words were picked up fast.

“I'm hungry?!” Red said defensively. “Besides, if I don't eat, I get a headache and upset stomach. I'm not going to make myself sick. I miss the big lug, but I know he wouldn't want that.”

“No, he wouldn't,” Shanti murmured. She opened her eyes and stroked the kittens gently. “We'll eat or not.”

“So, that's it? Life goes on?” Zuhura asked softly.

“At the moment, yes,” Red said with a nod. “We don't know for sure he's dead. We may never know.”

Zuhura saw her mother stiffen.

“If he comes out of this scrape, we can razz his fanny for a long time for giving us a scare,” Red said with a buck-up tone in her voice. “Until we know for sure, I'm going to keep the faith.”

Zuhura nodded slowly. She looked at her mother who was also nodding. Of course her mom was, well, mom. She took care of them, and her instincts were coming into play there. “I'll give you a hand,” Zuhura said as she followed Red into the kitchen.

~~~-^-~~~

Jethro 7 Snippet 1

 Sitrep:

  Another story for Multiverse 5 is done, I finished it last night. Two more to go. It'd be cool to finish it this month but doubtful.

   In other news, we are now in the window to get J7 back from Goodlifeguide. Hopefully we will see it before the end of the month as I promised.

On to the snippet!

 

Chapter 1

 

UFN-80P, Deep Space

 

During the hasty evacuation of Horath 4, shuttles had poured people into the small prowler cadre transport. They had abandoned two of the shuttles once they had been evacuated, but the last two had been repurposed into booster engines by the Cadre.

The Cadre had worked under Warrant Officer Ox's directions as a collective hive to guide their nanites into the ship in order to facilitate their escape. They had used force emitters from the shuttles as well as from the cadre suits in order to shield the ship long enough for it to escape into hyperspace.

Each of the suits had been virtually drained of energy during the process as had the ship's systems. They had a small reserve left but were very low on power. So low they had been forced out of hyperspace one day out, coming out thirty-four light days from the expanding super nova.

To the 266 people on board the ship, it seemed that they had traded a quick clean death in the inferno from a dying star for a cold lingering death in deep space waiting for power, food, or life support to run out.

“We aren't dead yet,” Bast whispered in Jethro's ear.

He clacked his teeth together gently. “True,” Chief Warrant Officer Jethro McClintock rumbled ever so softly. He was a black Neopanther, an ebony shadow that had haunted the newly-reformed Space Marines before eventually being tapped to reform the Cadre.

“Well! This is another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into,” he muttered.

Bast flicked her long ears at him in mild amusement and reproach.

Bast, short for Bastet, was his personal A.I. She was embedded in his body, his mind, his implants, in the nanites in his body, and in the nanites in his armor. Together they forged a nearly unbeatable combination in combat.

Now they were in a different form of combat, this one he was ill prepared to handle either mentally or physically. No amount of training would prepare them for this sort of scenario. It was one of the worst nightmares of any spacer—to be marooned without hope of rescue.

~~~-^-~~~

Captain Lizel Tally nodded to herself as the latest reports came in. She had gotten her crew busy organizing the survivors and doing a thorough inventory of their resources. She'd made it clear she had wanted everything noted, right down to the nuts and bolts and skill sets of the passengers.

The A.I. and navigators were doing their best to plot their location. They knew how far they'd traveled from Horath based on their hyperspace odometer readings, a full thirty-four light days.

Now thirty-three days before the wave of energy from the supernova reached them.

She had them looking for a way out of the fix they were in.

Meanwhile, the lead engineers were busy trying to do what they did best, finding a miracle in their back pockets if possible.

Given that they'd been so low on fuel they'd been forced out of hyperspace, she knew it was going to be a tough one to pull off.

There was talk of rescue among the crew but she knew better. No, the only way to survive was if they rescued themselves.

~~~-^-~~~

Jethro hated the situation they were in. He felt trapped, helpless, and useless as time grew. He hated the feeling; it wasn't something he was used to having.

“Damn it, I'm an operator and a shooter,” he muttered to Bast. She nodded.

“You can't shoot your way out of this,” she murmured, caressing his ears with phantom hands.

He nodded. He knew a part of his problem was the feelings of loss of Letanga and his friends. For all he knew, most of his friends were now dead.

Just about every Marine and army soldier had been involved in the invasion of Horath. The elite at the very least, which included him and the Cadre. They had been sucked in, and when they'd been busy in ground combat operations, the “Pirate Empress” bitch had struck. She'd set off a nova bomb and destroyed her own home star system with who knows how many billions of her own people in the process.

Thinking about it objectively, he knew it was a strategic stroke of genius. Second Fleet had been shattered and most of the ground troops obliterated. She'd gotten away too.

The navy had tried to get some people off but he doubted they'd gotten many. Certainly not Letanga and some of the other troops.

He closed his eyes in pain. They probably were dead; the navy hadn't stuck around long to evacuate many of the troops. There had been little time to escape as it was, they'd barely made it, and only just so because the Cadre had intervened with their nanites. The other units didn't have their A.I. support or nanites.

Besides, he knew people like Valenko would put civilians, even Horathian civilians, over their own survival.

~~~-^-~~~

With multiple A.I on board, they divided up the sensor feeds and managed to plot the stars around them. Spectrographic analysis and a comparison to their star charts gave away their location on the third day.

They were in deep space far above the plane of the ecliptic of Horath and far away from the jump lines to Finagle or H001. The navigators were already saying there was no way back.

“First things first,” Captain Tally said once they gave her the grim news.

“What?” Ensign Hatfield asked in confusion.

“A memorial.”

“Oh.”

“Really? Now, ma'am?” Chief Koda asked.

“Now. We owe the dead that much. Not that they'd complain if we waited, but I think we should mourn our dead and then move on.”

“Aye aye, ma’am.”

“Chief, put the word out that we are going informal for obvious reasons. Quick and simple.”

“Aye aye, ma’am.”

~~~-^-~~~

Sitrep, Video, and Recommended Reading Order

 Okay, fun.

First up, there is some confusion on the video:

 Which video you ask?

I did that as a tie in to Jethro 7. Not sure why it has that image up as the thumbnail. lol

At the end of the video it says that Jethro 7 will be out 7/21. I meant July 2021, not the 21st of July. Sorry.

  Actually, at this point I don't know for certain. It is in the hands of Goodlifeguide but they won't get it back to me until sometime tomorrow or Wednesday or later. Hopefully before the month is up!

 

In other news: plugging away at Multiverse 5, I am already at the half way point with just 3 stories.

I am considering my options with the piracy. I just filed another formal complaint with the DOJ. We'll see where that goes.

Oh, the list:

Recommended Reading Order

Founding Series:

*First Steps

Stepping Stones Founding Stories 1

To Touch the Stars

The Island of Moreau -Short Story Multiverse 2

Bumper and Boomer -Short Story Multiverse 2

The First AI War

Cornerstone: Tales of the Founding of the Federation 2

The First Terran Interstellar War 1 Desperate Defense

The First Terran Interstellar War 2 Waking the Sleeping Giant

We the People

The Gaia Project

The Hyperspace War

Loose Ends: Tales of the Founding of the Federation 3

Universal Translator Multiverse 4

The Good Ship UFSP Lollipop-Short Story Multiverse 2

Higher for Higher -Short Story Multiverse 1

Siren Call -Short Story Multiverse 1

The Stargate Program Multiverse 4

Ragnarok series:

Sparks

Inferno

Wildfire, Short stories of Ragnarok 1

Embers

Ashes, Short stories of Ragnarok 2

Kai's Story

Wandering Engineer:

*New Dawn

Fools Gold

Jethro Goes to War

Destiny's Choice

Ghost Station

Jethro First to Fight

Plague Planet

13 Degrees of Separation

Pirates Bane

Lewis and Clarke -Short Story Multiverse 2

Jethro No Place like Home

Ghosts From the Past

---Federation Reborn----

Bringer of Fire and Light -Short Story Multiverse 1

Battle Lines

Jethro Recruiting Drive

Pirate Rage

Tales of the Federation Reborn 1

Retribution

Horatio Logan Chronicles: 1 Enemy of my Enemy

Jethro 5 Ares God of War

Shelby Logan Chronicles: 1 Convoy

Horatio Logan Chronicles 2 Court-Martial

The Gathering Storm

Multiverse 3 short stories

Semper Fidelis short stories

A Piece of the Pi short stories

In Search of Pi

The Turning Tide

Pi Fight

Liberty or Death

Full Circle

Shiver Me Timbers (in parallel to other works)

Folklore

Wolfpack Multiverse 4

Will of Fire Multiverse 4

Christmas Multiverse 4

Blockade (in parallel to other works)

Tales of the Reborn Federation 4: The Calm Before the storm

Pirate Empress

Jethro 6 (in parallel to other works)

SpecOps (in parallel to other works)

Diplomacy (in parallel to other works)

The Pie Effect (Horatio Logan Chronicles 4)

Searching for a Needle (Pirate Hunt 1)

Jethro 7 The Long Road Home (In parallel to other works)

 

I'll start posting J7 snippets shortly.

Piracy

 Sitrep:

  I've been struggling with my income for some time, it's dropped a lot. I thought it was due to a lack of advertising and other factors. I thought that by trying something new with the videos I'd get some attention for my books. It didn't do much. 

  I knew piracy was still an issue (I get reports every week on it) but it's gotten out of hand again. Paul pointed it out to me. I've had issues with them before, but it depressed me to see them still at it. It sent me into a funk and I had issues finishing Shelby 4 for a few days.

  One website in particular has stopped accepting take down requests from the law firm representing me and is blatantly giving away my books. All of them. They have multiple domains all over the world and no longer care if they are stealing a person's work. 

  That is a serious problem for me and others like me. Unlike some authors I don't write as a side business or hobby, this is my career. This is my only form of income. I don't have a publisher, I do it with the help of a couple of Betas, Rea my editor, and Goodlifeguide for formatting.

  Searching for a Needle just came out last month as you know. I looked at the stats. I sold 47 the first day, and then the stats dropped to 10 a day. The day it was pirated the sales dropped to 2-3 a day. 

  Usually I sell 300 copies of a new book a day, and that lasts for a couple of weeks. If it is a good book, a month. That money I get in 60 days and use to pay for editing and models and stuff, plus my usual taxes and bills. Usually I also sell 1 copy of each of my other books (minimum) per day. Those have been at or near zero for a while. Even books that came out this year are at zero sales.

  So, I did the math and noted that I'm effectively working for less than minimum wage at this point. I write 8-12 hours a day, 7 days a week until a book is done. I then spend 2-3 days on the cover art, then get caught up on various editing issues and other things. I then take a week off (yeah right! I'm always doing something!) and then dive into the next project.

  In the past 4-5 years I've seen my income drop by 2/3rds and my savings drop by 1/3rd in the past 3 years. That trend is accelerating so this is no longer a sustainable career long term.

So, what does that mean for the future? I'm not sure. 

Not anymore.

  I just finished Shelby 4 Parabellum, Shelby 5 Juggernaut has been blocked out, and 4 other books were added to the schedule. There are 21 books there. Honestly, I love to write! I do. I've been poking at stories in Multiverse 5 over the past 2 days, and floating story ideas for the next PRI and Bootstrap books. I've got all sorts of things to explore!

...

But, if the income isn't there, I need to think of something else, preferably before my savings run out.

  I am pretty frustrated. My family has suggested I explore other career options. Some have said I should stop cold turkey, they see me writing all the time, practically chained to my desk. (I admit, I don't have much of a life) 

  A half measure is that I start exploring other things as a part time business and ease into it. That is sorely tempting. I am a maker, I like making stuff. I have done some research before, it's... tricky.

So, that is what is going on for that front.

  If you want to help, please don't support the pirates! Do something about them! Report them, get others to do the same. This sucks!

  In other (better) news, Jethro 7 has been sent to Rea yesterday. The video is more or less done, I'm just waiting on my niece to provide her voice acting skills. I'm hoping we can release it a day or 2 before the book is published. I'll post here when we're close with the usual snippets.

  Shelby 4 as I mentioned is roughed out and in the hands of the Betas. The cover is done, I'm puttering around with adding various snippets and making corrections. 

  So, yeah, that's me. Fun.