“The moment the first missile crashed into the Skylark, Captain Jeane Blake realized she had gravely underestimated the danger they’d gotten themselves into. The spaceship jolted, and a series of yellow warning messages flashed up on the screens. On the radar display, the markers showing the Lark and the Union vessel hot on its trail flickered in and out of existence in the interference, and the gravitational anomalies of the lane kept throwing both ships off-course. Their pursuer was gaining on them…”
Captain Jeane Blake is blunt, combative, and bitter. She doesn’t talk about the past and rarely thinks of the future. For her, the most important thing is to earn enough doubloons to buy food and fuel, and prevent her spaceship, the Skylark, from falling apart—well, if she manages to keep her crew alive as well in the meantime, that’s just extra. It’s not like she would bring a fist into a gunfight if someone just looked at her friends the wrong way. Nah…
“Princess Maura Tholis closed her eyes as she stood beside the massive throne, her fingers curling around the silvery surface of the backrest. Her light brown locks stuck to her sweaty back, her shoulders sagged, and her temple ached, a pulsing agony echoing the rapid beating of her heart. Where the sleek black material of the glove on her left hand met the skin, waves of scorching heat spread toward her chest, and behind her eyelids, tiny stars were falling from one void to another.“
Maura Tholis, princess of the planet Miyoza, has lived her life in a war-zone, uncertainty, despair, and obsession plaguing her days. Due to the unforgiving control of her father, she never had a chance to influence the things that governed the fate of her people, and when she finally does, it might be too late. But she refuses to give up. She might feel too ignorant and unprepared to face the outside world, but she will, to know the truth, and to right the wrongs that have been committed.
“Roy Philemon sat back in the chair and rubbed at his eyes. Despite itching to leave, this break was very much welcome. The last few days had been hellish, and it was nice to sit in the shabby diner, watching the view through the window, and not racing for his life. Almost peaceful, apart from his nerves screeching bloody murder at him to run and hide as fast as he could.”
Roy is a soldier, unquestioning and relentless. He’s also less and more than that. The Union is hellbent on making its agents into the perfect warriors, but one fateful encounter puts Roy’s life onto an entirely different track. Now he’s playing for both sides, except he’s not sure exactly what the game is, or whether he wants to be involved with it at all. Soon, he will have to choose, but the fact that he has that option might be what’s the most unbelievable thing for him…
(thanks to djarn’s character maker for the arts!)
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