Hello! How did November treat everyone? I was doing okay at NaNoWriMo until this happened, so I ended up with just 23,000 words. SMALL MAJICKS is stuck on my old laptop until the new one and a transfer wire arrive, but a writer writes don’t they? And what I’ve been writing is the first story in a series. Here, then, are the opening lines from PROTECTORATE SPACE: ARCHER
Ribbons of pink and purple strung across the stars, light glinting off the particles to make it appear that the nebula danced in a breeze. Captain Peregrine Archer watched the display from the bridge seat of the SS Celeste and debated his next move. The nebula marked the edge of Protectorate space and he’d no authority beyond it. On the other hand, the steady ping of a distress signal sounded from the comms console and part of Celeste’s mission was to provide aid where necessary.
He shifted his gaze to Lieutenant Rynne Wilkes at the comm. “Still nothing from Command?”
“No, sir.” Her brown eyes brimmed with concern. “Not even an indication they’ve received our transmission.”
Please visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their posts
I love the immediate conflict in this story!
Nice opening! Lots of details but delivered so smoothly! I’m looking forward to reading more.
Sorry about your laptop. Technology–that double-edged sword: a blessing on one edge, a curse on the other.
Good to have you back!
FYI, your “until this happened” link led me to a “page not found”.
Intriguing start. What does it say about their culture though, that there would be any hesitation about answering a distress signal?
Welcome back, Missa!
Given that you titled this snippet “A Moral Dilemma,” what flashed through my mind was — is the distress signal coming from the Kobayashi Maru? And can your characters solve the dilemma?
Now that is an excellent beginning – I loved the description and then the situation pulled me right in. Excellent excerpt!
Pulled me right in. I can’t wait to find out more!!
A bad dilemma: try to rescue and possibly get in trouble, but do nothing and have it eat at his conscience. I’m interested to see which he chooses.