by Hawk MacKinney
Planet
Terato has become a member of the assembly of the Confederated League of Allied
Star Systems. The Murian Outpost Terato once commanded by His Imperial Majesty’s
Lord High Chamberlain Herklo Korvo XXXIV is now Teratoan staffed and under the
command of Teratoan Eklam a’Qoc.
From the uncharted
reaches between galaxies, attacks of extraordinary weaponry come against Terato
and the Myr worlds of the Murians. Terminus Terato’s expanded link-portals and
converter power modules are virtually useless. Power loss, defenses,
communications and travel are totally disrupted. High Chamberlain Korvo’s
unexpected return to Terminus on a mission for His Imperial Majesty leaves him
stranded on Terato. Attacks grow more massive, more unpredictable; spread
across the worlds of the League, as an isolated Terminus struggles among the
shattered rubble and whispering remains of an ancient Polity of star-walkers.
Family and friends are
lost, empires and civilizations in disarray, Terminus and Planet Terato almost
defenseless. Desperate for answers,
their worlds being overwhelmed by this remorseless aggressor, Eklam and
Korvo reach across unexplored space in a despairing gamble and the last
reserves of converter star-substrate, seeking one insignificant star system of
gas giants and rocky inner planets for possible relics of the elusive Lantaraan
Polity.
“... eastern radials
unstable... strengthening vortices opposing orbital realignment...”
Parn’s head throbbed as his thoughts forced the converter
toward more output. The power graph flattening with the unremitting decline as
the quantum particles of the shell alloys began to disassociate. Output had
reached max and was slowly dropping.
The sound of crashes and roars still louder—Ek knew Terminus
couldn’t stand much more. “Once antimatter reaches the hub, the self-destruct
will trigger.”
Screens blinked unresponsive. Drok shouted above the bedlam,
“The Downday hasn’t attained minimum horizon-clearance. Targeting beams holding
on standby. Unless the moon clears the horizon, the beams could refract; bounce
off into space; never engage the receptors.” Converters shrieked like a wounded
Teratoan swamp crawler. “Showing orbital irregularities... orbital constants
vacillating,” eyes glued to the inputs. Puzzled at the unexpected readings
coming from a source near the a’Qoc hamlet. “Receiving quick output bursts from
the altar,” his tunic dusted with more debris, rivulets of sweat-puddled the
dust-furrows of his face.
Ek said, “What type of altar outputs?”
Drok said, “Plasma components—unfamiliar readings.”
“The hub will lose power once the antimatter penetrates
those last banks of converter,” Ek said. “Before we lose hub power I want you
to go to the sublevel vaults housing the encode archives. Should a power
failure warning be announced while you are there, backup power will last long
enough. Be sure you are some distance away from the archive vaults before
backup power is exhausted.” Reached a small odd-shaped crystal to Drok, “Use
this to deactivate any security scrims, and duplicate the protocol crystals. No
matter what you have to do, keep those crystals safe. If Terato survives and a
Murian survey team returns, they’ll know what to do with those crystals. Those
duplicates might be the only records to survive; their information could be
vital for Myraa City—if Myraa City survives.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored several works of fiction.
Hawk began
writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love
stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but
plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas
and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious
Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes
Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the
Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Vault of
Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have received national
attention. Walking the Pet is Hawk’s latest release in the Ingram series. The
first book in another mystery-thriller series is scheduled for release in 2015.
The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of
Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012. Its sequel, The Missing Planets, has just been
released.
GIVEAWAY
Hawk MacKinney
will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner - enter below! For more chances to win, follow the tour - all dates are found here: Goddess Fish Promotions
Fantasy Pages - Thank U for hosting The Missing Planets International Book Tour, Vol-II in The Cairns of Saintuaries series with its mix of genre(s) and characters. It is much appreciated. For readers following my Sci-Fi titles, Vol-III is in the edit/galley proof stage with Vol-IV in the Saintuarie series to follow.
ReplyDeleteHawk MacKinney
www.hawkmackinney.net
You're very welcome, Hawk. Much success with this book and all your others! Thank you for being here today.
DeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteRITA - Hope U enjoy the read...Vol-III is in galley-edits. Thank U for stopping by & commenting –
DeleteHawk MacK
What a complex and fascinating excerpt. Sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteMomJANE - Nice seeing U again. Thanx for following the Cairns/Missing Planets & Bleikovat tour. Vol-III of the Cairns epic is in galley-edits & hank U for stopping by & commenting –
DeleteHawk MacK
www.hawkmackinney.net
Love the giveaway from today's post.
ReplyDeleteMai T - You're welcome to the giveaway...it is an excellent post...
DeleteHmK
Great excerpt!
ReplyDeleteTEMPESTT - Thank U...it is a great blurb...editor put together a good'un. Vol-III of the Cairns epic is on the way. Thank U for stopping by & commenting –
ReplyDeleteHawk MacK
I have enjoyed learning about the book. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeletePatrick SIU - Thank U for following the Cairns tour/The Missing Planets, & you're welcome to the sharing. Thank U for stopping by & commenting –
DeleteHawk MacK