by A. K. DuBoff
“Unfortunately, ironic art purchases are now among the worst offenders.” Triss groaned and leaned against the wall.
Finn took a slow breath. “So, let me get this straight… we now have half a dozen worthless pieces of canvass, and we just handed over twelve million worth of jewels.”
Triss nodded. “That sounds about right.”
“Well, that royally sucks.” He stormed off in the direction of his cabin.
“It was a good idea, Triss.” Jack nestled into his typical place on the couch.
Alyssa plopped down next to him. “At least it gave us something to do—not to mention getting to see that look on Trent’s face. We’ll have other opportunities to make extra money.”
“I still get a cake, right?” Jack asked.
“Yes, Jack, we’ll get you your cake.”
He looked at her. “Hey, you didn’t mean what you said earlier to Merica, did you? About me being worthless?”
“I don’t think I used that phrasing,” Alyssa replied.
“But that’s what you meant.”
She looked him in the eye. “No, I didn’t. You’re a goof, but you’re our goof. I knew Merica wouldn’t shoot you if she didn’t think it would get her any leverage, so I had to break you down in her eyes.”
“If you say so.” Jack looked down.
“You really saved our asses today, Jack. Thank you.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
“Yeah.” Alyssa reached over and tousled his hair. “You’re one of us now, for better or worse.”
“Thanks, Alyssa.” He smiled.
Finn barged back into the living room and collapsed on the couch adjacent to Jack’s. “I take it this means we’re not getting a new ship.”
“The Little Princess II is just fine.” Alyssa patted the green wall behind her. “If we treat her right, she’ll serve us well.”
“But what about all the layout issues?” Triss questioned.
“We’ll get used it to. Considering the size of the original Little Princess, this is still huge,” Alyssa pointed out.
“Fine, we’ll make it work for now,” Finn agreed. “But the bigger issue: however will we pass the time?”
Jack leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “You know, despite things going very badly, Merica did illustrate a need in the market.”
“What’s that?” Alyssa prompted.
“Covert transportation of people.”
“Uh… That sounds a little shady,” Triss said.
Finn clapped his hands together with delight. “But oh so adventurous!”
Alyssa massaged her eyes. “What do you have in mind?”
THE END
Thank you for reading!
Want to read more by A.K. DuBoff?
CADICLE: AN EPIC SPACE OPERA SERIES
With adventure, telekinesis, romance, and intrigue, the Cadicle series spans sixty years across three generations as one family challenges destiny to win a war where enemies are not always who they seem.
"Enjoyable, galaxy-spanning epic series. […] Appealing characters and detailed worldbuilding draw the reader into a tale of politics, sabotage, kidnapping, telekinesis, and clones. [...] DuBoff weaves together sympathetic characters, an intriguing plot, devious villains, exciting space adventure, and hopes pinned on a chosen savior."
- Publisher's Weekly
Unknown to modern-day Earth, The Taran Empire is fighting a secret interdimensional war... and they're losing.
Cris Sietinen joins the Tararian Selective Service to hone his latent telekinetic abilities, but being an Agent puts him at the center of a galactic conspiracy.
The Empire is waging a generations-long war within a hidden dimensional rift against the Bakzen, a mysterious race with advanced telekinetic abilities. But the governing Priesthood has its own secret agenda. The only hope for victory is the prophesied Cadicle—foretold to have powerful abilities unlike any other.
With the future of their people at stake, Cris and his family must face the ultimate questions of duty and morality to save their civilization.
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Acknowledgements
I hope you enjoyed this story! This book is a little different from my normal fare, but in some ways it’s a return to my roots.
My best friend in middle school, Jess, moved away before I started high school. Being the late-nineties, we wrote physical letters to each other to stay in touch. As a part of this correspondence, I began writing a Star Trek parody called Voyages in Space; we were both huge fans of Mel Brooks and MST3K, so a space farce was a fun side project for me. I never finished that storyline, but I had a great time working on it.
In 2017, once I entered the arena of being a professional writer, I teamed up with my friend M. D. Cooper to launch an anthology of comedic space opera novellas under the title Pew! Pew! What is now Troubled Space was originally two novellas from the anthology series, one from Volume 1 and the second from Volume 3; I added a bunch of new content and re-edited the stories into this novel.
I’d like to thank my fantastic group of beta readers and proofers who assisted me with this project—Bryan, Dianne, Jennifer, John, Jim, and all the others along the way. Writing is far from a solitary endeavor when surrounded by so many great people.
Thank you for reading!
About the Author
A.K. (Amy) DuBoff has always loved science fiction in all its forms, including books, movies, shows, and games. If it involves outer space, even better! As a full-time author, Amy primarily writes character-driven science fiction and science-fantasy with broad scope and cool tech. When she’s not writing, she enjoys travel, wine tasting, binge-watching TV series, and playing epic strategy board games.
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