DARK
HORSE
by
Michelle Diener
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Rose
McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a
powerful ally--a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong
bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from
captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a
conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.
Captain
Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an
almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain.
The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one
strange, new alien being.
She
calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less
about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and
maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners,
the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects
Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the
Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.
In this
race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and
trust the dark horse.
Excerpt
;
Rose
slipped her ticket out of hell over her head and tucked it beneath
her shirt, where it lay against her skin, throbbing like a heartbeat.
The
sensation was so unnerving, she curled her fingers around it and
lifted it back out, eyeing the clear crystal oblong uncertainly.
“Iʼll
try to keep all the passageways clear for you and Iʼve disabled the
lenses, but just in case someone disobeys orders, it would be better
if they didnʼt see me.” Sazo spoke too loudly through the tiny
earpiece she wore, and she winced.
She
reluctantly tucked the crystal, that was somehow also Sazo, back
under her shirt, tugging the cord it hung from so it was below her
neckline. After three months of being the only thing sheʼd had to
wear, washed over and over again, the shirt was threadbare, and
barely concealed Sazo anyway, but it was better than nothing.
She took
the two steps to the door of the tiny control room tucked away to one
side on the Tecran ship and it slid silently open. Sheʼd only been
inside for ten minutes at most to steal Sazo, or break him out,
depending on your view of things, and the corridor was as empty now
as it had been when Sazo led her here.
She
looked back, but the door had closed, completely concealing the
control room, so it looked like an uninterrupted passageway again.
“Youʼre
still in control, even though Iʼve unplugged you?” She spoke very
quietly, because even though Sazo had opened doors, and diverted
traffic all the way from her prison cell to this room earlier, there
was no point taking foolish chances like talking too loudly when it
was unnecessary.
“I
would not have initiated this plan if I wasnʼt absolutely certain
that it would work.” Sazo sounded a little . . . stressed.
“You
okay?”
“There
has been a delay loading the animals at the launch bay and the Grih
have come through their light jump three minutes sooner than I
calculated.” He went quiet for a moment. “Iʼm sorry, Rose.”
“What?
What is it?” Freezing hands of panic gripped her heart and she
stumbled to a halt. If he was going to tell her they had to abort,
that she had to go back to the cell . . .
“The
lion has been killed.”
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
Michelle
Diener writes historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. Having
worked in publishing and IT, she’s now very happy crafting new
worlds and interesting characters and wondering which part of the
world she can travel to next.
Michelle
was born in London, grew up in South Africa and currently lives in
Australia with her husband and two children.
When
she’s not writing, or driving her kids from activity to activity,
you can find her blogging at Magical Musings, or online at Twitter,
at Google+ and Facebook.
BUY
Links:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
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will award one randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter a $25 Amazon/BN
gift card.
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Thanks for having me on your blog today, Debra :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting read! I love the cover!
ReplyDelete