Vials of Aquilonia

Right now I am working on Vials of Aquilonia. So that is my wip (work in progress). I have a contract for Stone of Cruento which I haven't seen a cover for, or even got the final edits for yet. My first book Prophecy of Vithan is the only book on the market so far.

My future work will consist of novels placed around the Twin Planet System. Each with a heroic woman, a handsome and capable man who gets himself in a situation that only the heroine can rescue him from, and some really horrific monster, and of course they have to save the world, planet, system, and maybe the universe.

Each of these books are available or will be available from Cerridwen Press at www.cerridwenpress.com.

And cause my mind is on Vials of Aquilonia, I am going to post an excerpt of my wip.

Excerpt Vials of Aquilonia unedited:

"Carus, you sorry excuse of a lander, keep that line taut."
Carus strained against the rail, his muscular legs braced while his arms corded with the strain. He listened to the grunts of the sailors beside him as they hauled Captain Jarvis' latest find aboard ship.
Captain Jarvis fancied himself a pirate and a treasure hunter. His ship was the finest in the system, a technological wonder with all the latest equipment and gadgetry. It was also disguised as a clipper ship complete with sails. Jarvis went so far as to make the ship appear as a clipper when they were on water complete with rigging, sails, and able body sea men. It kept the crew on their toes and in top shape.
Carus had failed in paying attention this morning. He let his attention wander. He had let his portion of the line go slack. He put the men and more importantly the haul in jeopardy. Carus knew once they loaded the cache he would be in for a reprimand.
He also knew his offence was not bad enough to warrant harsh punishment. The cache was retrieved and no loss of wealth or life had been sustained. In the two years he had served with Jarvis he had seen what punishment was. Loss of life meant a flogging. You did not put your shipmates in danger, but killing a second person when one had already been lost was not cost effective. Lost of wealth by misdeed or by dishonesty was punishable by death. Other offenses were punished by loss of privileges or freedom.
Carus hoped all he would get would be a tongue lashing.
He focused on the task at hand. His encounter with the captain would have to be put on the back burner of his mind unless he wanted harsher punishment. The loss of one Sadchian emerald he would be looking at death.
With a sigh of relief from the entire crew, the load of emeralds was pulled from a star-freighter that crashed and sank in the ocean of this particular planet. Jarvis traveled from planet to planet in search of salvage, but only the richest salvage. The richest usually meant the hardest to acquire. The richest was salvage that no other crew would risk working on because the loss of life was too great. Captain Jarvis and his crew were the best. They retrieved the richest salvage because they knew what they were doing and did it well.
Carus worked his end of line spilling the emeralds on the deck. The processors, robots programmed for this particular work, would appear soon. The sailors would be relieved of duty to relax for a few hours while the processors did their jobs. The emeralds were worth over one hundred twenty five million creds processed. Unprocessed they were worthless. The emeralds had poisonous gases trapped inside them. The processors would vent the gases while the crew was safe inside the ship. After the robots completed the venting and cleaning, the emeralds were marketable and would make the captain a great deal of money. That was the whole point of Captain Jarvis. That was the whole point of working for Captain Jarvis. Money.
The crew started patting themselves on the back for a job well done as they headed into the ship.
"Carus in my ready room, now," Captain Jarvis ordered.
"Aye, sir," Carus said quietly. The looks the other men didn't give him spoke volumes. They turned away and avoided his eyes. They had all, at one time or another, been on the wrong side of Jarvis. It was never a pleasant experience.
"What the hell was wrong with you, Carus?" Jarvis sank into his chair behind a large desk. He shoved his boots off, first with one foot then another. Pulling open an old fashioned drawer he took out a bottle of Cardasian Ale. Taking two thimble-sized glasses he poured each of them a drink.
Carus took the small glass. Holding it he and no loss of wealth or life had been sustained. In the two years he had served with Jarvis he had seen what punishment was. Loss of life meant a flogging. You did not put your shipmates in danger, but killing a second person when one had already been lost was not cost effective. Lost of wealth by misdeed or by dishonesty was punishable by death. Other offenses were punished by loss of privileges or freedom.
Carus hoped all he would get would be a tongue lashing.
He focused on the task at hand. His encounter with the captain would have to be put on the back burner of his mind unless he wanted harsher punishment. The loss of one Sadchian emerald he would be looking at death.
With a sigh of relief from the entire crew, the load of emeralds was pulled from a star-freighter that crashed and sank in the ocean of this particular planet. Jarvis traveled from planet to planet in search of salvage, but only the richest salvage. The richest usually meant the hardest to acquire. The richest was salvage that no other crew would risk working on because the loss of life was too great. Captain Jarvis and his crew were the best. They retrieved the richest salvage because they knew what they were doing and did it well.
Carus worked his end of line spilling the emeralds on the deck. The processors, robots programmed for this particular work, would appear soon. The sailors would be relieved of duty to relax for a few hours while the processors did their jobs. The emeralds were worth over one hundred twenty five million creds processed. Unprocessed they were worthless. The emeralds had poisonous gases trapped inside them. The processors would vent the gases while the crew was safe inside the ship. After the robots completed the venting and cleaning, the emeralds were marketable and would make the captain a great deal of money. That was the whole point of Captain Jarvis. That was the whole point of working for Captain Jarvis. Money.
The crew started patting themselves on the back for a job well done as they headed into the ship.
"Carus in my ready room, now," Captain Jarvis ordered.
"Aye, sir," Carus said quietly. The looks the other men didn't give him spoke volumes. They turned away and avoided his eyes. They had all, at one time or another, been on the wrong side of Jarvis. It was never a pleasant experience.
"What the hell was wrong with you, Carus?" Jarvis sank into his chair behind a large desk. He shoved his boots off, first with one foot then another. Pulling open an old fashioned drawer he took out a bottle of Cardasian Ale. Taking two thimble-sized glasses he poured each of them a drink.
Carus took the small glass. Holding it he suddenly got dizzy. He reeled for a moment and lurched to the chair. The glass dropped from his hand shattering on the metal floor of the star-ship. Thick yellow gel splattered. The expensive, highly alcoholic Cardasian Ale marked his pant legs and the wall of the captain's cabin. Carus sank to his knees. His vision blurred. The room around him disappeared.
"A sip," The black haired beauty handed him, no not him someone else like him, a tiny cup filled with Cardasian Ale. "That is all you can have. Any more and it would kill you."
"Morgan, I'm not a child anymore. I am Emperor."
"Yes, you are. And you can not do something as stupid as drink a full glass of Cardasian Ale. I can drink it. I am Sonij. You are Dkr. If you drink any more than this taste it will burn out your brain cells and if you are lucky, kill you. If not, the Twin Planet System will have a brain-dead moron for an Emperor."