Book Chapter – Page 7 – Deep Sky Anchor

Nexus Nine – Chapter 5: The Power of Visions

by Mary E. Lowd

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

“Mazel had never played Chanster’s Claws before, but her Rheun chip was exceptionally good at calculating probabilities, and she had lifetimes of experience with reading other peoples’ body language.”

Once Mazel and the captain were alone on the sandy shore beside the Temple of Yunib, the German Shepherd climbed into the rowboat, sat down, and stared up at the sky. “What does it mean, Big Dog?” he asked. “Am I a messiah in a religion I’d never heard of until three weeks ago? What would that even mean?”

Mazel sat down on the wooden plank seat beside Bataille. Her head only came to his shoulder. His physical presence, now that he was so much larger than her, had a comforting, anchoring quality that she didn’t remember when she’d been Darius. Continue reading “Nexus Nine – Chapter 5: The Power of Visions”

Nexus Nine – Chapter 4: Flying Down to Avia

by Mary E. Lowd

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

“She stared harder at the crack in space-time where the universe was folding in upon itself and draining into an obscure hyperspace. She stared so hard that her eyes watered; her ears and whiskers flattened. But she saw nothing more strange than the crack in space-time itself.”

The flight from Nexus Nine Base down to the surface of the planet took twenty minutes, and it was spectacularly beautiful. Lacy clouds streamed past the shuttle’s windows, and the world below expanded from a globe of gemstone brilliance hanging in the dark sky into a vista engulfing them, bright blue sky all around and rich green expanses growing wider and closer below. Continue reading “Nexus Nine – Chapter 4: Flying Down to Avia”

Nexus Nine – Chapter 3: Researching the Sky Nest

by Mary E. Lowd

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

“But Mazel hoped that Nexus Nine led to a galaxy that hadn’t been explored at all before. Fresh and brand new. Or maybe, deeply familiar. Maybe… home.”

Mazel dreamed fitfully of her past lives. Her body changed from small and fluffy to gangly and short-furred, leaving her wobbling and off-balance, then her long, canine legs stretched like taffy being pulled until they became coiling tentacles. Dogs and cats who had been close to Rheun but had died years ago — or hundreds of years ago — whispered to Mazel, saying words she couldn’t quite hear. Mazel woke abruptly from the dream, startled awake by the sensation within the dream of her tentacles calcifying into chitinous legs that only bent in a few places. More places than her feline legs. But so few compared to the infinite bending of a tentacle. Continue reading “Nexus Nine – Chapter 3: Researching the Sky Nest”

Nexus Nine – Chapter 2: The Esplanade

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Nexus Nine. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, or skip ahead to the next chapter.

“At another time, in another condition, the esplanade might have been stunningly beautiful. At this moment, in this condition, it was only stunning for the story it told. A story of destruction.”

The deck they’d come to was wide and open, as large around as several city blocks and two stories high, with arching windows around the perimeter and even more windows worked into the floors, all looking out at the stars or the planet Avia below.

An expansive stretch of lacy white clouds shrouded the turquoise and jade crescent of the world currently in daylight. The wholesome brightness of the planet in its gemstone shades of green, blue, and pearly white only made the esplanade itself look shabbier. Outside the windows was natural wonder, large enough to spend lifetimes exploring; inside was a cramped, dingy space. Scorch marks seared across the window frames and marred some of the windows. Rubble was strewn about, including broken pieces of the esplanade itself — stairwells and walkways that should have provided a second level, wrought of some dark metal, had twisted and crashed to the floor. Continue reading “Nexus Nine – Chapter 2: The Esplanade”

Nexus Nine – Chapter 1: Meeting An Old Friend

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Nexus Nine. If you’d prefer to read in e-book or paperback form, learn more here. Or if you want, skip ahead to the next chapter.

“I should have known you’d show up here. You always were fascinated by the nexus passageways.”

Mazel Rheun watched her old friend, Shep Bataille, from across the command deck of Nexus Nine Base. The calico cat was steeling herself to approach the German Shepherd. Mazel needed to introduce herself, and then she would see the reality in Shep’s eyes — the confusion, the lack of recognition. Shep wouldn’t know her. In fact, Mazel probably shouldn’t think of him as her old friend Shep anymore. Now, he was her commanding officer, Captain Bataille. Continue reading “Nexus Nine – Chapter 1: Meeting An Old Friend”

You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 22

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1 or return to the previous chapter.

“Mei held her paws wide, like she was trying to encompass all the greenery of an entire planet with them.”

The last two days on Crossroads Station passed in a tired blur of playgrounds, take-out food cart meals, and playing with cousins. Basically, repetition and revisiting of all the kids’ favorite parts of the trip, because the parents had worn themselves out and didn’t have energy for any more big events.

While everyone in Anno’s little family had loved the trip, it had also been exhausting — even for the children who usually had boundless energy — and by the final morning, they were all ready to be on their way home. Continue reading “You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 22”

You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 21

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead to the next chapter.

“Anno wondered if Jeko had been in love with Am-lei since all the way back then…”

As they danced together, Anno and Drathur finally had the moment of semi-privacy they needed to discuss the morning’s altercation and its fallout. The conversation went more easily than Anno expected, as Drathur had already arrived at the same conclusion. She didn’t even have to say it; he said it for her: “Of course we should invite Kya to come back to New Heffe with us. I don’t know if she’ll want to come — the population is ninety percent Heffen, but she makes all of us happy. She fits right into our family, and we’d be lucky to have her.” Continue reading “You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 21”

You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 20

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead to the next chapter.

“This was just a flash in the string of moments that blurred and ran together and made up a whole life. A single bead that shone and sparkled more brightly than the beads beside it.”

After all the pictures were taken, including every person milling around under the draping branches of the karillow trees in some combination or other, Am-lei’s grandmother held her arms up high and announced, “Everyone follow me! It’s time for the ceremony.” A broad grin spread across her wrinkled, human face, and she walked backward, carefully leading the group to a karillow tree with small twinkling, colored lights braided into its draping branches. It looked like a million fairies lived among those green leaves. Continue reading “You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 20”

You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 19

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead to the next chapter.

“She didn’t want to miss this wedding — it was a once in a lifetime experience, and she wanted to be there.”

Anno had traveled across star systems, spending weeks away from her chosen homeworld, to make it to Am-lei and Jeko’s wedding. The whole trip, fundamentally, was about going to a wedding. And now that the morning of the wedding had come, her family was running late. There was nothing to be done about it. The kits were always a whirlwind of chaos and disasters whenever she and Drathur needed them to be ready for something at a specific time. There was nothing like a deadline to cause one of the kits to lose track of their favorite toy or put their clothes on backwards or get gum stuck in their fur, even though Anno couldn’t remember ever giving her kits gum. Continue reading “You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 19”

You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 18

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead to the next chapter.

“You are our child. You will always be our child,” the matron said.

After a week and a half on Crossroads Station, with only half a week left before it would be time to leave, the day of the wedding finally came. Amazingly, none of the three kits backed out on their planned clothing trades, so getting them properly dressed and ready for the day was only the normal amount of aggravating and stressful. Loi, who had so desperately wanted to wear the fancy gray tie, kept whipping it around the room like a banner, claiming it was a sparking eel, causing Mei and Darsy to chase after her giggling and failing to put their shoes on. Continue reading “You’re Cordially Invited to Crossroads Station — Chapter 18”