Author: marylowd

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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During the few seconds Captain Carroway had to herself between meetings, she had just enough time to doubt every decision she’d been making and everything she’d said all day long to her crew.

What had she been thinking making an anthropomorphic toadstool who just happened to grow into a person on her bridge into an ensign without even talking to them first?  That decision had been certifiably insane, and Captain Carroway dreaded what she might learn about Ensign Mike when they showed up and started talking to her. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 15: Mycelial Conversations”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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As soon as Captain Carroway could, she ducked out of the festivities, dragging Lt. Cmdr. Vossie along with her.  Unasked, Ensign Werik followed along.  Captain Carroway led the two Morphicans to her quarters.  In addition to allowing her to grab a moment of privacy here and there, her quarters seemed like the best place for her to have private conversations with a subset of her crew. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 14: Two Ways of Being Morphican”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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“Um… Captain,” Lt. Lee woofed hesitantly.  “You do realize that the… uh… intergalactic spaceship is in the wrong direction from us.  Away from home.  And traveling farther away every minute.”  The young Papillon might be out of his depth, but he knew what he was clinging to.  Home.  He wanted The Wanderlust to make it home.  Fast and soon. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 13: Moving On and Mourning”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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With some degree of trepidation, Captain Carroway led her new first officer and most worrisomely dissatisfied officer off of the bridge towards The Wanderlust’s multi-purpose room.  When they arrived, she announced, “I’m going to synthesize a cup of coffee.  Does anyone else want something?”

Ensign Diaz narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything.  Commander Chestnut asked for a cup of eucalyptus tea sweetened with honey.  Captain Carroway made a point of taking extra long fetching the coffee and tea from the synthesizer so that Chestnut and Diaz would have a moment to talk as they settled at a table on the opposite side of the room. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 12: Fungal Surprises”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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In order to address the full crew as much as possible at one time, Captain Carroway led the way to the shielded barracks door with Commander Chestnut following her.  The squirrel looked noticeably curious about how the Norwegian Forest cat would handle this.

Captain Carroway placed a paw on the control panel beside the door, causing it to slide open, still shielded by shimmering quantum energy.  Standing in front of the opened, shielded door, the Norwegian Forest cat tapped her paw against the comm-pin on the breast of her uniform, opening a communications channel to the bridge of The Wanderlust.  Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 11: Briefing the Crew”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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Only a few days ago, Janessa Carroway had despaired of ever reaching the rank of captain.  Her canine superior officer had been holding her back, and there’d been nothing she could do about it.  She’d thought she would never have her own ship or crew, and the weight of her desire for that leadership role had felt like it would crush her.  She had craved captaincy like a newborn kitten craves milk. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 10: Wearing a New Uniform”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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Captain Carroway entered her quarters to find the golden-mantled squirrel captain carefully examining a framed piece of art on the interior wall.  It was a painting of the ship itself, The Wanderlust, flying through a swirling nebula — one that was much more colorful, bright, and appealing than the Dirt Cloud.  It was an utterly generic work of art.  The kind that starship designers put in a captain’s quarters before the actual captain comes aboard and personalizes their space. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 9: A Delicate Conversation to Navigate”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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Captain Carroway could not have been more surprised when the face that appeared on The Wanderlust’s viewscreen was the very familiar golden-furred face of Captain Chestnut.  “What the hell?” she spat.  “We watched your ship explode!”

“And I felt it explode,” Captain Chestnut said, shuddering.  The reptile-bird behind him had a haunted look in her eyes, and Captain Carroway noticed that the other Anti-Ra officers — the Morphican and other squirrel — were no longer on the ship’s bridge. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 8: Two Crews on One Ship”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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Every muscle in Captain Carroway’s body clenched as she watched the white dwarf on the viewscreen — the vacuum bomb was still careening toward it, and if she hoped fervently enough, she could imagine the white dwarf was already shrinking.  They were already flying away from it.  They were going to escape.  Maybe, just maybe, they were going to escape.

“Captain?” Ensign Lee woofed tentatively. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 7: The Chosen Thread Snaps Into Place”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Voyage of the Wanderlust.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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The closer The Wanderlust got to the Dirt Cloud, the more of the starry sky it blotted out on the viewscreen wrapped around the front half of the bridge.  By midday, crenellated clouds in shades of dark purple and muddy orange filled their entire view.  No stars at all.  Even the white dwarf that was their target, deep in the middle of the nebula, was completely hidden by the clouds of thick, dark dust. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 6: Protein Bars and Cups of Coffee”