Baby, it's Cold in Space: Eight Science Fiction Romances

by Margo Bond Collins

  Then one day, Kendra saw the artifact passed to a man who looked like he didn’t belong. He was dressed in the style of clothing she recalled being worn in the early 1900’s on Earth. She reported the image in a disbelieving voice because it just didn’t make sense. Then she saw the man step through some sort of portal. When he came out the other side, he was clearly on Earth because Kendra could see the dig site of the Mayan ruins, where the artifact had been found.

  Kendra heard a gasp from the group as she reported what she was seeing. The revelation that a portal existed between Mali and Earth, and may still exist, would have massive repercussions throughout the multiverse. It may even explain why the two planets were so similar. If there was one portal linking two universes and planets, there could be more portals linking others. The possibilities were endless.

  Chapter Six

  KENDRA WAS COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED after the psi-read, something that frequently happened to her when an object was particularly old. She was white as ghost and so shaky that she had to hold her cup of tea with two hands in order to avoid spilling it. She assured everyone that a few hours of sleep would completely steady and revitalize her and excused herself from the follow-up discussions to go to her quarters and rest.

  Kendra didn’t hear the soft knocking on her door, nor did she hear it open and then close as Valon quietly stepped into her room. She sensed someone was in her quarters. When she opened her eyes, he was there looking down at her. She’d been so deeply asleep that she’d become disoriented for a moment and thought she might be dreaming. Then he spoke softly to her and she knew it was wonderfully real.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. You’ve been asleep for hours. “You missed dinner and I started to worry about you.”

  “You do that a lot…worry about me. I’m not used to that, you know. I’ve always taken care of myself.”

  “We never had our talk. Is that what you prefer, Kendra…to only take care of yourself?”

  “I don’t know anymore. Things have changed for me and I find it… unsettling.”

  “I shouldn’t have come in here, then. I should go.”

  “No. Don’t leave, Valon. I want you to stay. In fact, I’ve wanted you here for a very long time.”

  She reached out to him. He took her hand and brought it to his mouth for a gentle kiss. At that moment, she knew she wanted him in her bed and in her body.

  “I want you to be sure, Kendra, because if I don’t leave now, I’m going to be here for a long time. I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

  Kendra looked directly into his eyes. “You only need to feel the way my heart is pounding to understand that I want you. Right here. Right now.”

  He sat on the side of the bed and gently pulled the covers down below her hips. She watched his lips part and heard him moan softly as he looked at her body. He stroked her breasts ever so gently and then rubbed his thumbs around and over her nipples. Kendra shivered in response and then reached up to unfasten his tunic.

  “I want to feel your flesh, too. I want you to be as naked as I am”

  She ran her hands up and over the contours of his bare chest and then back down again past his waist, until she felt the hard ridge of his desire.

  Valon quickly sucked in a breath. “I wanted you from the first moment I saw you; even though you infuriated me with that smart mouth of yours.”

  Kendra smiled at the memory of their first encounter. “Actually, I wanted you even before I saw you in person. I found myself staring at the holos of you I’d been given to review. I kept looking at your mouth and thinking about how it would feel to have it on me.”

  Valon cupped her breasts in his hands and gently squeezed. “I think we should find out right now.”

  He ran his tongue over her nipples, blew softly on them and watched as Kendra shivered once again. He took her mouth with passionate kisses as he ran his hands slowly down her torso to her hips and the juncture of her thighs, where he stroked her until she moaned. His mouth followed the path his hands had taken and, this time when he stroked her, she let out a small scream and went over the edge.

  “More, Kendra. I want much, much more from you tonight.”

  Valon stood up to undress. Kendra couldn’t take her eyes off of him. They came together again and again. It was beautiful and real and she wanted it to last forever. Exhausted, they fell asleep comfortably cuddled together.

  Kendra awoke to an empty bed. She looked at the clock on the wall and realized it was still the middle of the night. For a moment, she thought it had all been a dream. Then she saw the flower on the pillow next to hers. Smiling, she closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.

  ***

  Kendra was scheduled to meet with Valon, Dayor and the research group that morning, but she needed to speak with Dev first. She wasn’t sure where he was, so she com linked him. When he answered, she could see that he was in one of the palace’s medical areas.

  “Morning, Dev. How’s the leg?”

  “Sore, but doing better. It’s getting much stronger. I’m about to start my rehab for the day.”

  “You contacted the Director last night.” It was a statement, rather than a question. Kendra knew the information her psi-read had revealed had been shocking. Dev would have been obligated to notify the Alliance immediately.

  “Yes. And, as you probably guessed, it caused a huge firestorm.” Then, grinning, he added, “I’ve never seen the Director with his mouth hanging open before. It was quite a sight. Too bad you missed it.”

  Kendra chuckled. “I know…then again, maybe not. It might have been too much for me. Seriously, though, I assume they’re sending representatives and some additional psi-readers.to see if they can get any more images from the relic.”

  “Definitely. They contacted the heads of all three royal houses last night. The Alliance will be allowed to send as many researchers and psi-readers as they feel are needed. It’ll take them a little time to review the holo records I sent of the read. Then, they’ll need to decide exactly how to approach this. My guess is we’re looking at a minimum of forty-eight hours before they arrive. We’ll know more when we do our daily check-in with the Director.”

  “Sounds good, Dev. Let’s get together once you finish your leg rehab. I’m thinking we should review all the information one more time, just in case something new clicks with one of us. The conference area in our quarters should work. I have a meeting this morning, but that will probably be over at about the same time your rehab session is done.”

  “Okay. I’ll go up there when I’m done. Oh, by the way…I saw Valon this morning. He’s looking very, very relaxed. And happy. Is there anything you’d like to share with me?”

  Kendra could feel her face turn red. “No. Not a thing. And, speaking of looking relaxed and happy, how’s Her Highness, Marrette?” She heard Dev laugh just as he hit the disconnect button on his wrist unit.

  After speaking with Dev, Kendra just sat in her quarters for a few minutes and contemplated the changes the arrival of additional Alliance personnel would bring. She didn’t know exactly how it would affect her relationship with Valon, only that it would.

  He came into her room every night and they’d make love. He’d be gone every morning when she woke up. It wasn’t a perfect relationship, but it was more than she’d ever had before. Even the closeness she’d begun to feel with the rest of the Couros family was in jeopardy. She didn’t know how she was going to handle it when it all went away, and it could happen in as little as two days. It just wasn’t enough time

  Although they hadn’t actually discussed it, she was sure Dev knew what was going on between Valon and her. The man was not an idiot and they’d been partners and friends for a long time. Not only that, but she could see he’d developed feelings for Marrette and her sweet daughter, Astria. Kendra decided that she and Dev needed to make the best of the time they had left before their world reverted back to the status quo.

  Once she had that settled in her mind, she l
eft for her meeting.

  ***

  Dev already had all the Arton Venteg files loaded and ready to display when Kendra returned to their quarters. Valon hadn’t been available for the morning security meeting. Again. And it had really bothered her that he hadn’t let her know he wasn’t going to be able to attend.

  She grabbed a cup of Calivan tea from the refreshment module and carried it to the conference table where Dev was already seated. She sat down across from him and closed her eyes as she gently rubbed her right temple with the tips of the fingers.

  “Ouch. Somebody’s got a headache.”

  For some reason, that statement really irritated her. “Thank you for your insight, Mr. Obvious.”

  “Ooooh. Somebody must also have had a really crappy meeting because she wasn’t this crabby when I spoke with her earlier this morning.”

  “Sorry, Dev. You’re right. It was sort of a crappy meeting. Thanks for loading all the files for our review. Let’s get started.”

  They spent the next several hours going over all of the information Dayor and his people had already gathered and reviewed. Unfortunately, they didn’t discover anything new that might give them a clue about the disappearance of Arton Venteg or his wife.

  “This is so frustrating, Dev. People don’t just disappear…but then again, maybe they do. I can’t believe none of us thought of this, once we discovered it, but what if one or both of them went through the portal?”

  “Your right! I can’t believe no one thought of it, either. Unless there’s another portal that leads to a different planet, that would probably put one or both of them somewhere on Earth.”

  They immediately contacted Valon and Dayor. Valon arranged for a holo conference with representatives of the other ruling houses of Mali and members of the Alliance.

  The arrival of additional Alliance psi-talents and representatives took place less than forty-eight hours later. The Director, himself, was part of the contingency from Earth. He said he was looking forward to personally witnessing the additional psi-reads of the artifact.

  Valon’s parents, Phylior Antos and Phylarina Zola, had never seen their two youngest children as happy as they had been in the last few weeks. Valon and his not-so-secret relationship with Kendra had made a huge difference in the brooding young man they loved so much. Their daughter, Marrette, was finally starting to look like she had before the terrible accident that had taken the life of her husband. They were attributing the change in her to the attentions of the handsome, funny and talented Devlin Hawthorne III.

  After speaking with Kendra and Dev, they approached the heads of the Alliance and requested that they both be assigned to Caliva for an undetermined period of time so they would be able to assist in researching the portal and continue their work on the ongoing investigations of the attacks aimed at them. They were also looking forward to utilizing their talents in psi-reading some of the many artifacts contained in their museums. The answer to their request was an absolute yes.

  The Couros family welcomed Kendra and Dev into their household by throwing a huge party. In honor of their homeland, the celebration had taken place during the time period that had been December 31st on Earth. The most impressive decoration at the party had been a huge pine tree that had been brought to the palace from the Calivan mountains. At the top of the tree sat the crystele star.

  Special Agent Kendra Voray-Couros absolutely despised phase-jumps, except when they brought her to a new world and the possibility of a new life.

  About the Author

  Diana Rivis writes science fiction romance and her novella, Star Gazers, was a finalist in the RWA FF&P 2016 On the Far Side competition in the category Hard Sci-Fi/SciFi/Futuristic fiction.

  Find her online:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Diana-Rivis-Author-827764317301594/

  Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Diana-Rivis/e/B01M748554/

  Still Life

  Jayne Fury

  Chapter One

  THE WHITE PLANET FLOATED, a translucent bubble in the blackness of space. Three tiny moons bobbed in orbit.

  An impossible mission started in an hour. Her impossible mission.

  Commander Jody Benson, alias Payload Specialist Jodeen Wall, and the crew of the drayage class transport Ebudae continued their approach to Tapaogani XII. The ice planet where they were supposed to meet up with the on-site scientist, an astrobiologist named Ewan Stewarts.

  On this remote, uninhabited planet, she, for the sake of millions of freed slaves, would destroy all traces of the Freedom Road way station.

  She focused on the planet’s bright halo, concentrating on relaxing her muscles and her mind. In moments like this, she sought the quiet of the cargo bay. This was her domain, the place she spent most of the trip through jumpspace.

  Closing her eyes, she repeated a calming mantra. Jody had more than one secret from the crew. Her body armor, a black catsuit, was a remnant of her days in the Frobisher elite specialists corps back when she and her old friends referred to themselves as Fro’s Ninjas.

  Memory broke in, at first a pleasant remembrance. It twisted rapidly from buoyant laughter and camaraderie into the frenzied dogfight of battle. Her gut squeezed from centrifugal force. Muscle memory, she realized in alarm—the force was real.

  In panic, she looked out the porthole. Gone was the earlier sleepy view. A wall of white was zooming closer by the second, “Crack me!”

  EVA suit alarms blinked a frenetic warning that oxygen and air pressure was dropping. G-force kept her plastered to the spot.

  She pushed herself away from the stacked containers still securely strapped to the wall. The vessel rocked. Hard right, hard left, back again. Jody flailed for a cargo strap that dangled just out of reach. The ship rocked violently. The strap swung. Her fingertips just barely curled about the lifeline between the stacks. She swung and slammed into another wall of metal containers.

  “Müterfragga.” This time her body stayed put, plastered like a bug on flypaper to the smooth sides of the oblong boxes. They shifted. Jerking the top rack like a see-saw. Tipping aft. Tipping forward. Teetering. At once her heart thudded. “Now I know how a flyswatter looks…”

  With all her might, she ripped at her EVA suit control. The helmet’s seals clicked into place, a free hand swiped the mag controls, she fell to the deck with a reverberating stomp, crouching and ready to spring. Triumphantly she hopped sideways, testing the boots half grav integrity. Full movement. That would do.

  And that was what she needed to get to the bridge manual flight controls. What was the captain doing? Co-pilot? Engineering? ANYBODY?

  She bounced towards forward to the tiny corridor where the bridge crew’s cocoon shaped stasis units were stored, white with the Cordoba Constellar Conglomerate’s logo, the interlocking C, proclaiming its property in crisp stenciled black outlines. Each of Ebudae’s stasis units contained thirty hours of life preserving capabilities. One thing was for certain; if she didn’t get to the bridge’s manual control she’d be dead before she even had the option to get into one. The door didn’t open. “Crack me.”

  She heard her static voice in her ears. That felt better, so she said it again, “CRACK ME!” Just then, the pull of gravity increased. Her feet stayed put, her body tilted forward.

  “Well isn’t this just fancy?” Her voice echoed in the emptiness. Emergency lighting flared, illuminating a fire ax to the right of the door. With a quick thrust of her elbow, she cracked the case’s shatterglass. Jody grabbed the ax and hefted the increased weight in her right hand, shifted her weight, and attacked the door.

  “Emergency protocols initiated,” said the ship’s voice in her helmet.

  Tapping the code of a lowly payload specialist into the panel, Jody breathed a prayer.

  It worked.

  The lights blinked a staccato. The voice returned through her helmet uplink.

  “Emergency over-ride established. Minimal power initiated. Life signs aboard—” The voice
paused. “Zero. Destruction sequence in progress.”

  “WHAT?!” Jody snapped her head up. “Fer the love of …Where is everyone? How the—? What —? Every man for himself? Why didn’t anyone—?” Thoughts flew. Her body ached from the slamming she’d taken. But her suit, the black hooded body armor she wore beneath the Cordoba Conglomerate issued EVA, was saving her internal organs from being crushed. “Computer, end self-destruct, open bridge doors.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

  “You don’t understand? Me neither! BELAY AUTO DESTRUCT! SCAN VESSEL! ONE LIFE SIGN IN PAYLOAD MODULE!” You nincompoop. She waited. It felt like an hour.

  “Self-destruct paused,” the faceless voice intoned.

  “OPEN THE DAMN BRIDGE DOORS!”

  “Authorizing…”

  The doors beneath her feet opened. Jody fell. Again.

  Even her enhanced reflexes couldn’t save her. “Ebudae, initiate half-grav on the bridge. Now!”

  Jody plummeted towards the pilot seat. She grabbed it just as the ship’s artificial gravity ticked on, narrowly avoiding hitting the front shield. Body flat on the console, facing the flight crew, Jody saw the problem.

  A body sat slumped over the pilot seat.

  “Crack me. This is not good. And I do not have time to play detective.” She gingerly pushed the co-pilot’s head back. She maneuvered herself to sit on the lap of the limp form of former Lieutenant Fred Zappo, all the while willing herself not to wig out, to keep her focus, to stay alive.

  Jody looked at the rapidly approaching planet of Tapaogani XII.

  “Fancy. Full velocity. Flight crew,” she looked to her left at the captain, “all dead. First, stay alive. Priorities. I can’t help the dead if I’m one of them.” The inane monologue calmed her, clarifying her purpose.