Synopsis

Meet Captain Alexandria de Sade, the proud and once loyal captain of Naviwerks chrono-ship #25. When she learned the truth about how the company was fleecing their customers she turned her back on the promotion they offered her, left the man she loved without a word, and disappeared with her ship.

With a plan in mind to undermine Naviwerks’ business of artifact and heirloom retrieval, Captain Alex hired on several like-minded misfits to crew her chrono-ship which she re-christened The William’s Hunt. They are: An awkward but genius Horotech, an irascible ex-marine, a flamboyant playboy, a churlish physician, and a hot-shot pilot.

Their first venture: go to Milan, Italy 1490 and retrieve the working model of Leonardo da Vinci’s Gran Cavallo before Naviwerks does. What should have been a simple snatch and run mission for the newly formed band of pirates goes south nearly immediately. In their struggle to recover, they learn that there is much more behind Naviwerks’ actions. Captain Alex and the crew of The William’s Hunt are the only ones that stand a chance of putting things right, and it seems as if her crew’s every step takes them deeper and deeper into discovering just how nefarious Naviwerks truly is.

Excerpt

“Standby, Mr. Kane.” Captain Alex closed the connection as she looked to the back of Angel’s head. “Miss Flynn. On my mark I want you to give me a full burn.”

The order was strange enough to make Angel turn her chair to look at her Captain in confusion. “That won’t do us any good in the hole, Cap. Propulsion is nothing more than a waste of fuel during transit.”

“I am well aware of that, thank you.” Captain Alex’s voice and expression were flint sharp. “Full burn. On my mark, please.”

“Aye, Cap,” said Angel before she turned back around. She glanced at Geri as she adjusted the controls for a full burn of the engines. He gave her a shrug in return. The shake of her head was barely noticeable as she turned her attention back to the consoles.

Alex’s dainty fingers tapped on the control panel in the arm of her chair, turning on the comm again. “Mr. Kane. Activate the return.” A flick of a digit put the comm channel to broadband so she could address the rest of her crew. “Everyone strap in.” After closing the channel, she heeded her own command and pulled her harness over her shoulders. The click of the connectors engaging was followed shortly by the sounds of Geri and Angel doing the same.

“Aye, Captain.” Laurence’s voice acknowledged Captain Alex’s order, and the ship seemed to lurch as the chrono-engine reversed itself, pulling them back into the wormhole they had come through. It hadn’t really put the ship into reverse. It was just a trick of the senses that suggested the ship had changed direction.

The sky disappeared, once more replaced with the over-bright whiteness and the twinkling pinpoints of light that darted and spiraled around the ship as it passed through the wormhole. This time however, Captain Alex did not watch the display. Instead, her gaze was glued to the ornate clock on the wall of the bridge, its hands frozen on eleven fifteen and thirty two seconds. Her fingers hovered over the chair controls to initiate the full burn. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Angel to follow the order, but what she had in mind required instant reaction. A single hesitation and it would be all for naught.

Her all too pale eyes were unblinking as she stared at that clock. Her teeth were clenched together and her lips were parted just a little bit. Tension filled the bridge as moments seemed to pass by at a snail’s pace. Any other captain might fill these moments with thoughts of alternate plans should the first fail. Not Captain Alex. She had every confidence in the crazy stunt she had in mind and strong faith in her crew to help her pull it off. It was that one, remote chance that the timing would be off, and this could all go south that made the tendons in her neck stand out.

Her focus narrowed onto the second hand of the clock as her lips moved silently. Then any doubt became moot as the hand gave a single tock. Alex’s eyes widened as she barked out, “Now!”

She should not have doubted her Pilot’s ability to follow through. Angel’s hand mashed down on the thruster button just as the dizzying images created by the wormhole melted away to normal, blue sky. The engines ignited in the returned atmosphere, and The William’s Hunt shot forward…

…right between two Naviwerks ships.

About the Author

According to her mother, Krista has lived in her own imagination since birth. The real world let her down. It was, frankly, boring beyond belief. After she discovered fantasy novels and comics there was no going back. This didn’t win her any popularity contests (or dates) until after high school. Art school introduced her to other geeks and the wonderful world of AD&D. A love for RP eventually led to LARP (the goth/vampire era of her life). Finally, sci-fi/fantasy/fandom conventions introduced her to the beautiful world of Steampunk. Music. Clothing. And books. She dove into the books she took a shine to and absorbed them. But something was missing. She wasn’t satisfied. During her recovery from neck surgery something she’d heard somewhere stuck out in her mind: “If you can’t find the stories you want to read then write them yourself.” On a couch in Savannah, GA. with Sons of Anarchy playing in the background, The William’s Hunt began.

Currently, Krista lives in her home town in Pennsylvania with five cats, a husband, and a weiner dog, Pete, who watches from the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.

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