Operation Starfold has been released!

I’m happy to announce the Amazon version of Operation Starfold, Book 7 in the Pirates of the Milky Way series, has been released.

The Amazon version contains bonus chapters not available elsewhere, except to Patreon subscribers.

Many thanks for all the support and well-wishes many of you have sent my way in the writing of this series. We are 10 months, and 7 books in, with more to go.

Operation Starfold 1

Julia popped into existence inside the gaming environment called New York, 1985. She appeared in Grand Central Station and walked out with a crowd of other newcomers signing in.

In this hedonistic virtual environment, League subjects could engage in activities otherwise prohibited in real life. Of course, the government made sure they suffered consequences for it.

As the saying goes, Julia thought, there is no such thing as a free lunch. The League made sure of that.

She watched people who immediately bought and took drugs after leaving the entry area get mugged. Some of them were stabbed, painfully bled out and forcibly ejected from the game right away.

Others, soliciting prostitutes, were occasionally beat up by angry pimps for not showing proper levels of respect or other perceived slights.

But not always . . . Some managed to indulge in bacchanalia without immediate ill effects. Julia knew that the game’s designers, under the direction of a government office, were engaging in a sort of reverse intermittent reinforcement.

A newcomer who escaped “punishment” for his or her actions the first couple of times they indulged, would face profound disappointment when they finally met due consequences. Subsequent trips to the digital playground would prove ever more difficult to score pleasurable experiences.

Julia had read the whitepaper on the plan, outlined by some very smart professors at Epsilon U. Rather than rewarding bad behavior, the game turned the tables and made them psychologically frustrating. It was a most excellent government conspiracy in an effort to control the online behavior of billions of people.

However, despite the efforts to tamp down the pleasures of acting bad, the company that owned the gaming worlds, in this case Sergio Productions, needed to make a credit or two in order to keep the virtual doors open. So, she also knew they often toned down the “penalties” for engaging in bad behavior. There were still rewards to be found amid all the negative feedback.

Also, a player might get killed by a mugger, or drug dealer, or pimp, but nothing would happen in the real world. And nine times out of ten, they would come back online chasing that ever more elusive high. Sergio Productions used the law of diminishing returns for profit while the government tried to leverage it for social engineering. The two were at odds, but so far the government had not balked at the arrangement.

Julia ignored the sketchy people as well as tourists. She made her way to Times Square, walking about 800 meters through the purportedly faithful rendition of the grimy squalor of late 20th century New York City.

She stepped down into the Times Square-42nd Street Subway Station and Port Authority Bus Terminal complex.

Several people milled about on the platform, and she waited patiently for a while. A subway car stopped and some exited while others boarded.

Convinced the coast was clear, she opened an unlocked door leading to a service corridor along the back wall. She pulled it shut behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. Then she turned and faced the featureless hallway before her.

She dutifully slapped the wall, looking for a glitch in the game that would let her step inside the building blocks of the virtual world. She found it on her third try this time, and stepped into a dead space of monochromatic orange columns and tight passageways. Ahead, she knew the “Font of Knowledge,” or whatever the programmers called it, would let her communicate with people in other gaming instances, even in Republican territory.

“Stop right there. Hands up!”

She turned and an officer wearing the blue uniform of NYPD aimed his sidearm at her. Three more men stepped out from behind the orange geometrical columns comprising the virtual skeleton of the building.

Julia was surprised to see they were aiming ancient revolvers at her. Surely the NYPD used semi-automatics by 1985, she thought. Hm. Evidently not.

A fifth man stepped out of hiding, this one wearing the plain gray suit of an undercover detective.

He flashed a badge at her and smiled.

“Going somewhere, sister? Maybe for a talk by an isolated water fountain or something?”

The first cop crept closer. He took one hand off his pistol and grabbed a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

He said, “Now just turn around. Slowly.”

Julia waited until he came within range and thwacked his gun hand away.

Bang!

She grabbed the cop and pulled him close as the others opened fire.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The officer’s body jerked as slugs from the other cops hit him. She reached over and grabbed the pistol in the dead man’s hand while dropping his body to return fire.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three cops fell down holding their chests.

NPCs, Julia thought, always die easy in this game. Probably a nod toward people who enjoyed committing murder and mayhem online.

She ran to the glitch and jumped back into the corridor. Then she ran to the door, still holding the officer’s revolver.

How many shots do I have left? Three. Stupid game.

Back in the glitch, the detective made a very anachronistic motion, touching under his ear.

He said, “Suspect is on the move. Heading to the subway platform.”

On the platform, she jumped out into the crowd and a few people looked her way.

Someone said, “Gun!”

Several people screamed and rushed for the exits.

Six more NYPD officers rushed in, aiming their sidearms at her. She saw two more in suits.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The screams intensified as the officers opened fire.

A slug tore into her shoulder, and she felt the pain register in real life, although she was not shedding blood back there. The neural connections were intense, though.

Instead of aiming at the uniforms, she squeezed off a round at one of the detectives, figuring he was more likely a real person instead of an NPC.

Bang!

His head blossomed red, and he went down. Julia felt a fleeting moment of satisfaction as she moved onto the subway platform, now void of people.

At the back of her mind, she wondered how accurate the game portrayed old-fashioned ballistics. That shot was over 20 meters, and from what she knew about ancient weapons, pistols were not extraordinarily accurate at longer range.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Two of the next bullets got her, accuracy algorithms helping the other side this time. She felt one go into her thigh, shattering bone. Another plunked into her stomach. She heard the third whiz by her ear harmlessly.

She went down on her knees and noticed all the blood for the first time. Her own virtual blood. She was covered in red, and it dripped down onto the platform.

One of the detectives ran up, this one from the glitch and the service entrance. He made a downward motion with his hand at the NPC officers.

He said, “We want her alive for interrogation. Don’t let her exit the game just yet. We’re zeroing in on her location IRL.”

Julia stood up in a sudden burst of renewed energy and shot him point blank in the face.

Bang!

His body fell backward as he exited the game.

She looked down the tracks and saw a train coming, the light approaching rapidly along with the unmistakable sounds of the subway. This one did not slow down. It was not going to stop.

“Freeze!”

More NPC officers flooded the area, all aiming guns at her. She saw two of them carrying a net, others with rope. They still intended to capture her alive, evidently.

“Time to go,” she said.

As the train rushed into the station, she jumped out on the tracks, right in front of it.

Her virtual body thumped into metal.

She felt intense pain from the impact, then exited the game.

Operation Starfold Is Next

Book VII of the Pirates of the Milky Way is Operation Starfold. Chapter One will be released tomorrow on this site and Royal Road. To read ahead, click over to Patreon.

Interview at NFReads.com

I spoke with Tony Eames over at NFReads.com recently via email about writing, and what I’ve been up to lately. We had a good discussion detailed over here on his site. Hope you can check it out.

Tetrarch’s Dilemma is Released

Happy to announce Book 6 in the Pirates of the Milky Way space opera series is out today on Amazon. Tetrarch’s Dilemma follows the crew of the Ultima Mule and the ongoing war between competing AI systems in the League and the Republic. Pick up your copy today!

Tetrarch’s Dilemma 1

“Incoming bogey, Captain. One half AU out.”

“I’m on my way, Max. Thanks.”

Elijah Maxwell clicked off the connection on the neural net and stared at the main holo on the Ultima Mule’s bridge. Kim and Pak had come up with an idea for a warning grid surrounding Thalia, a planet in the Juventas quadrant they were watching along with the Chaucer Company.

Kim left a grid of drones surrounding the planet at one half astronomical unit intervals, up to three AUs out. It depleted their supply of drones, but the engineers felt this layer of protection would give them ample warning of anyone coming in. All LuteNet needed was a second or two for a heads-up, and they would not be taken by surprise.

The elevator dinged and Christopher Raleigh stepped onto the bridge. He nodded at Maxwell who tilted his head toward the holo.

“I take it they’re just parked out there, right? I mean, if they were truly incoming, they’d have been here by now.”

“That is correct, Captain. They are sitting one half AU out.”

“Do we have an identification?”

“Not yet. They are evidently not under the control of one of the major AIs.”

“Aha,” Raleigh said, nodding. “Smugglers, then. They’re the only ones who like to hop around manually.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too. It also explains why they stopped one jump out. They’re probably trying to make contact with someone on the surface.”

“The question is, are they carrying something in or out? If smuggling it in, we want to intercept before they unload. If going out, we want to pick them up afterward. Lootie? What’s your opinion?”

“At this time there are too many variables to provide an accurate estimate, Captain. However, bearing in mind the reward for capturing enemy ships, and even though this one is not a League Navy vessel, its sale should bring in at least two million credits on the low end.”

Raleigh raised his eyebrows and said, “Can’t argue with that logic. And, it is our turn to grab a ship since we gave the Chanticleer first dibs.”

Maxwell nodded. An independent merchant vessel popped into orbit around Thalia yesterday, oblivious to the recent change in power. The Mule and Chanticleer instantly surrounded it and pummeled their engines with blaster fire, crippling it. The holds were loaded with clothes, food, and consumer electronics. LuteNet estimated its cargo alone was worth a million and a half credits, all of which was claimed by the Chaucer Company.

Raleigh scrolled through his list of mental contacts and stopped on “Lightfoot.” He concentrated and made a connection.

“Hey, Chris!”

“Hi Krystal. Listen, we found a bogey half an AU out, just parked there. We think it’s a smuggler. Want to help us grab it?”

“Sure thing! I guess it’s your turn to pick up a ship, isn’t it? Say, whoever dreamed up that idea of using drones for a surveillance grid is one smart cookie. Ask them if they’d like a job with Chaucer. We offer great benefits!”

Raleigh ignored the playful, flirting tone in her voice. He said, “Okay. We’re jumping over in ten minutes. I’ll relay the coordinates, or you can just ask Lootie to follow us.”

“Sure thing, Chris. See you in a bit.”

Raleigh signed off and sighed, partly in exasperation. He looked up and noticed Maxwell grinning at him.

“Not a word, Max. Not a word.”

The First Officer raised his hands up in mock surrender.

“Oh, I won’t say anything. Least of all to Jillian. Not a word.”

Raleigh’s lips twitched up a bit at the jab, but Jillian indeed had a problem with Krystal Lightfoot, one of his old girlfriends. The less said about her in Jillian’s presence, the better.

He headed back toward the elevator, already wishing this venture was over and he could put several light years between Ultima Mule and the Chanticleer.

-+-

The Mule and Chanticleer were both Hawk-class warships. They appeared suddenly behind the merchant, forward cannons blasting into the aft section.

ThupThupThupThupThupThup!

At the same time, LuteNet popped an anti-teleportation grid around the ship. Practically all military ships and many others now shielded their Wu Drives as a matter of course, but there was always the possibility this merchant had not.

The ship disappeared suddenly, clear evidence that her Wu drives were indeed shielded.

“That trick just doesn’t work anymore,” Max said.

Raleigh said, “Are they still in the grid, Lootie?”

“They are, Captain. They are two AUs out. I will bring both ships in again.”

Ultima Mule and the Chanticleer popped away and appeared in place once again behind the merchant.

ThupThupThupThupThupThup!

This repeated two more times, until at last their combined firepower broke through the merchant’s shields. Its standard drives were blown apart by blaster bolts. Once again, she popped away, and once again the two warships followed.

“Send them a message, Lootie. If they run again, we’ll destroy them.”

“I am sending it, Captain.”

Dillon Dvorak, sitting in the pilot’s seat, turned around and smiled at Raleigh.

He said, “You know, if they were smart they would port somewhere outside the grid so Lootie can’t see them.”

Raleigh smiled back at the young pilot. He said, “They don’t know about the grid. And they’re operating without the benefit of an AI to help make split second decisions like that. Hold on, I’m getting a response.”

He made an adjustment so that everyone on the bridge could listen in. Jillian, Granny, Maxwell, and Skylar were in the group.

“This is Enrique Vega, Captain of the Bronze Iguana, an independent merchant vessel. This is a seditious act of piracy you are committing here!”

Raleigh said, “Captain Vega, you are in Republican-controlled space without permission from her AI. Your vessel is subject to forfeiture or destruction. The question of which one it will be is up to you.”

A long pause.

At last, Vega came back on the line. He said, “Very well, Captain. You have me at a disadvantage. My ship is yours, I ask you spare her crew.”

“Lower your shields. I’ll send a party over via transport immediately.”

Raleigh looked at the people he had on the bridge. He said, “Maxwell, gather up a group and go over there. Bring a sensor and one of our new control pods so Lootie can take command the ship. Check her cargo bins. There’s probably some hidden compartments on board, too. Maybe Lootie can suss them out once the pod is installed.”

Maxwell smiled, white teeth shining in his dark face.

He said, “Aye, aye, Captain. Skylar and Dillon, come on you lovebirds. Let’s round up a couple more, grab some guns and go over there.”

Next Book: Tetrarch’s Dilemma

I’m busy finishing up the sixth book in the Pirates of the Milky Way series, Tetrarch’s Dilemma. You can see the chapters I’ve got before they’re published over on Patreon.

Alternatively, you can get the free version without bonus chapters, one chapter a day, here or on great sites like Royal Road.

Stay tuned for the Amazon version, plus a boxset coming soon.

Solar Storm is Released

The fifth book in the Pirates of the Milky Way is out, Solar Storm. An epic battle over a League capital planet, continued resistance on Epsilon, drama on the frontier planet Halcyon, and lots, lots more.

Many thanks to all the support for this ongoing series, both from Patreon members and folks buying the books. I sincerely appreciate it.

Click here for the Amazon version, including the bonus chapters.

Solar Storm 1

Julia quickly stepped back onto the sidewalk as a taxi raced toward her. The driver slammed on the brakes and yelled curses at her from his open window.

Most of his words were unprintable, but Julia caught “No jaywalking!” and decided that was the gist of his sentiment.

She sighed and followed the crowd on the sidewalk as they filed into Times Square. Scantily dressed prostitutes solicited customers, rubbing up against men as they ogled them. Drug dealers stuck out too, in other ways. They typically stood in one location, wearing overcoats and casting shady glances at everyone.

Here in New York 1985, tourists could revisit the city during that time period. It seemed very realistic. Privately, though, she wondered if things were really this bad back then.

She knew a little of the history. A man named Rudy Giuliani was elected Mayor in the early 1990s, and cleaned the city up. He lowered regulations, increased law enforcement, decreased crime, and generally made the city a much better place for a while. He earned the nickname “America’s Mayor” for his huge success in managing the metropolis.

The online simulation, part of the mega game Off World, showed the city before Giuliani took over. New York 1985 had constant crime, rampant drugs, open prostitution, daily muggings, and the lowest forms of human depravity on display in filthy grimy streets with thick, choking pollution. Trash blew in the wind, fumes filled the air, and the unwashed masses milled about in it all, hurting and killing one another.

Surely it wasn’t this bad, Julia thought.

Visitors could engage with the prostitutes, of course. They could also buy illegal drugs. Julia had not tried them, but she knew players could choose from cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, and a host of other substances. She also knew the effects, while purely in the player’s head, had the same negative consequences as the real life versions, unlike modern versions.

Supposedly, the simulated old-style drugs were allowed by the League here so that players could experience those negative consequences. The thinking was, if people experimented with ill social behavior in a virtual environment, and suffer, it would help convince them to behave in real life. Rumor had it the negative effects were exaggerated.

Privately, Julia wondered about that as well. Modern drugs could be tailored to a user’s body so that side effects were minimal. Few people partook in basic drugs these days. At least, as far as she knew. She had to admit she was not much of an expert in drug use, illicit or otherwise.

She watched as a tourist sucked on a crack pipe, getting high. He stumbled away from the dealer, clearly enjoying the effects of the drug.

A street bum approached him from behind, drew a switchblade and knifed him in the back. He took the tourist’s wallet before the body blinked out of sight, the player forcibly exiting the game.

One thing was for certain, Julia thought. New York 1985 was a wretched place. It reeked, and the NPCs were horrible. The subtle message in the game was that the Republic was a lot like this caricature of a society presented to players . . .

That, Julia thought, was certainly a lie, if not a misrepresentation of the facts.

The League was not perfect either. She wondered if the Republic had a version of society that modeled the League. Maybe it would be called something like Moscow 1949? East Berlin 1972?

She looked around at the tourists, the people who were obviously not NPCs. A handful of college boys were hooking up with streetwalkers while some girls were buying drugs out in the open. The NYPD cops, what few were present as NPCs, looked on with bored expressions but did nothing to put a stop to the lawlessness.

Besides the bacchanalian activities, sightseers enjoyed the scenery. It was supposed to be a faithful recreation of the way the city looked in 1985. The Twin Towers were popular, as were the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Statue of Liberty. You could even watch a baseball game. The Yankees and the Red Sox played every night, and the Yankees always won.

But Julia was not here for the hookers, the drugs, or the sights. She kept walking, heading for the subway station.

Supposedly, she had read somewhere, the subway system underwent extensive changes in 1988. This version of New York, true to its name, did not have those changes.

It mattered little to Julia, and it probably mattered to few other than history buffs who no doubt obsessed over the accuracy of minutia in the simulation.

The place Julia wanted to go, she thought as she descended the steps, was not in existence in 1985 anyway.

On the busy platform as a subway car pulled in and unloaded passengers, she tried the handle of a service entrance against the back wall. As expected, it was unlocked. She quickly went inside and locked it behind her, in case anyone saw her and tried to follow.

She breathed a sigh of relief. The hard part was over.

The changes made to StarCen should, in theory, ignore Julia, even in her current identity as Catarina Mulligan while in Off World.

However, Julia was not one who enjoyed taking chances. The location within this virtual reality should be safe, even if StarCen was monitoring her with malicious intent.

She walked down a hallway and found a long stretch of featureless gray walls. She slapped the wall on the left with the palm of her hand.

When nothing happened she took another step and slapped it again. On her fifth try, the wall faded and she stepped into another corridor that branched off where the wall had been. This one showed the bare building blocks of the virtual world, orange columns and straight lines extending outward in a large featureless gray space. She was now in the “skeleton” of the Times Square-42nd Street Subway Station and Port Authority Bus Terminal complex.

Several meters in she spied a fountain, sitting incongruously within the digital substructure.

She smiled, approaching it.

“Cute. I get it. ‘Font of Knowledge.’ Who says programmers don’t have a sense of humor?”

A man’s voice came from the fountain. It sounded slightly artificial, as if digitized and transmitted over a long distance. Julia decided it had to be some kind of text reader, and not a real person’s voice.

“We have important news for events coming soon to your planet.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’m all ears.”

“There will be a change soon. Tomorrow would not be a good day to be in the Administration Building, the Spaceport, or other major installations. All ports and military sites are best to avoid as well.”

“I see. What about major population centers? Will they be susceptible to change?”

“Not if it can be helped. However, residences of certain people, those living in the mountains, for instance, may find themselves under new management.”

Julia frowned, trying to work though the vague statements. She thought she understood.

She said, “The whole planet will see a change in management.”

“That is the plan,” the fountain said. “Yes.”

“And the Sixth Fleet in orbit? Or, what’s left of the Sixth Fleet?”

“They will be ameliorated.”

“Hm. That’s an interesting way of putting it. Okay. Anything else?”

“No. Just stay away from the buildings tomorrow. After the change in management, we would be very interested in meeting you.”

Julia smiled at this, her lips curling up.

She said, “We’ll see.”

She turned and walked away, then logged out of the game.

[Author’s Note: Welcome to Book 5! Just a heads up, I am nearing a decision point on whether or not put the series into Kindle Unlimited, which pays authors by pages read. We’ll see how this month goes in terms of sales in wide distribution and on Patreon.]

Halcyon’s Heirs is Released

Book 4 in the Pirates of the Milky Way series is up on Amazon! Here’s the blurb:

The survivors of the SLS Excelsior are marooned on Halcyon, an abandoned planet limited by 19th century technology. In Epsilon University, the seed of Resistance is forming, and attracting unwanted attention. And on Lute, the Tetrarch sends in the Marshal’s Service to try and recapture his daughter Jillian. Meanwhile, a secret gold shipment to Petra Roe attracts the attention of certain pirates.

The book also contains a bonus Patreon short story that won’t be published elsewhere.