SFFS: Snippet #16 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several months.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

Fortunately, Jeanie was already right on top of it.

“I have reconstructed our original flight plan, if you would care to resume it.”

“Certainly.”

I grabbed hold of the table nearby as we accelerated past the hyperspace threshold, and released it once we reached constant velocity.

It truly was good to have my best friend, and reliable ship’s computer, back again. As I walked through my living area, I looked around and had a half-smile on my face. I’d really grown dependent on Jeanie, and then to not have her working properly when I needed her the most? To have her actively trying to harm me within the confines of my own ship? That was something I never wanted to deal with again.

Just before I reached the divider at the living area’s front end, all of the lights flicked off and then on immediately after. Then, it did it again. I stopped, placing my hand on the closet door where my pressure suit was now stored. Every hair on my body was standing at attention. “Jeanie, what just happened to the lights?”

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above. In fact, today only, several of my books will be available for free on your Kindle. Check out my Amazon page for specific titles.

And we are now close to the end, with next week's snippet being the last from this story...

SFFS: Snippet #15 From Inocluation (a DIRTY DOZEN Story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several months.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

“Jeanie?” I asked.

“Yes, Aston.”

“Glad to see you back to your normal self.” On that, I was assuming, but it seemed appropriate, given the experience the technicians had with her earlier symptoms.

“It’s good to be back,” she started. A moment passed before she continued. “I would like to apologize for any actions I may have taken against you before. Apparently I was under the influence of an outside source?”

I placed the floorboard back into place. “That’s what I heard. We should be okay from here on out, based on what the maintenance technicians told me.”

“Yes, a new piece of code has appeared. There is no sign of any malicious code, and it appears to protect us from future infections.”

I smiled as I entered the living area, but then tried to remember what it was we were doing prior to Jeanie’s infection and all the subsequent issues we’d faced.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.
And not to worry, only two snippets remain...

SFFS: Snippet #14 from Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

I shuddered, but at least I had my answer to my original question. Jeanie wasn’t acting of her own accord.

But that didn’t solve the overall problem. “Is there a way to fix it?”

“We have the patch to clean out the malicious code and prevent your system from getting infected again.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing what the situation would have been if that hadn’t been the case, but figuring that it would have resulted with Jeanie ending up a shell of her former self in some way, shape, or form.

I normally didn’t let other people work on my ship, but this was an emergency situation. “Let’s do it, then.”

A short while later, the technicians had done their work, and their ship disengaged from my own. I had tucked my pressure suit away, and was now stationed above the wide-open floorboard at the cargo hold’s aft end.

With a deep breath to calm myself, I placed my hand on the big throw switch and tossed it to the power position. Lights started illuminating in sequence around the panel, before the entire hold lit up once more.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #13 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

“What seems to be the trouble?” The one on the left asked.

“I’m not entirely sure,” I told him between deep cleansing breaths. “It started off as minor glitches in my viewscreen, and then progressively grew worse. My ship’s computer, as strange as it sounds, started acting like she lost her mind.”

The other maintenance technician piped up in an identical voice to the first. Maybe they were twins. “Yeah, we’ve been seeing that a lot lately along this route.”

“How’s that?”

“We think that someone loaded up a piece of malicious code at one of the stations somewhere along the way. When computers link up, they’re pulling it in and it begins replicating until it finally takes over your entire system. Not everyone has been as lucky as you and shutting down your power in time.”

The first technician continued, “Plus you had the sense to get your pressure suit on. That hasn’t been pretty for the cleanup crews to work.”

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.

SFFS: Snippet #12 From Inoculation (a DIRTY DOZEN story)

Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

Just to let everyone know, Kindle users can pick up a copy of my second Aston novel, Friends in Deed, for free this weekend!

As mentioned in prior weeks, my new Aston short story collection Dirty Dozen is available over at Amazon, I figured I'd continue on with my snippets from the last several weeks.

First, the blurb:

Join space pirate Aston West in the second collection of short stories from his universe, featuring classic space opera tales by T. M. Hunter. Building on Aston's first collection (Dead or Alive), these stories feature even more wild adventures, unforgettable characters, and exciting plot twists to satisfy your space opera appetite.

So, here's the next snippet, from my short story "Inoculation":

But there in the darkness, I was able to contemplate everything that had happened. I’d always been able to rely on Jeanie, the entire time I’d known her. And then, for whatever reason, she’d become something unrecognizable, and completely unreliable. I wish I knew why. If she were her old self again, I could have asked her what had happened. As it was, I was left completely alone, and completely in the dark.

And then I heard the sound of metal banging, even past the helmet’s walls of metal and glass. My heart was racing along faster than a ship at hyperspeed velocities. Was I hallucinating from a lack of air, or was there someone outside my ship? I decided that I really had nothing to lose, so I rushed back to my living area and grabbed hold of the airlock handle. Unlatching it and throwing it open, I was greeted by a pair of men in blue coveralls. They could have been twins with their chiseled faces and bald heads. Both looked me over with grim looks on their faces.

I, on the other hand, was ecstatic. Seeing these two without pressure suits prompted me to strip off my helmet, relieved to feel air flowing in from the other ship.

Hope you enjoyed it! If so, pick up a copy from the link above.