Deep Sky Anchor

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”

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 slept fitfully that night.  It was her first night as a captain, her first night sleeping in captain’s quarters, but her dreams were haunted by the faces of the officers she hadn’t met and intended to dismiss as soon as she did meet them.  All night, her sleeping mind struggled with the tasks that lay ahead of her, as if by focusing hard enough, she could work her way through them in her dreams and complete the suicide mission inside her own mind, where no one could really die, because nothing was real. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 5: A Minimal 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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“Are you sure?” Captain Carroway asked, already feeling hollow inside.  The Norwegian Forest cat wanted her Morphican first officer to say he wasn’t sure, that he might be wrong.  But he wouldn’t say that.  And she didn’t doubt him.  So, Carroway asked another question, instead of waiting for a confirmation she didn’t need and wouldn’t like hearing.  “How?  And why didn’t that bastard just say so?” Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 4: The Fate of Barry Lee”

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 Shep Bataille whirled around the pilot’s seat at the front of the bridge and sat down, his brush of a tail still wagging behind him.  His positive demeanor made Captain Carroway almost hopeful about the nature of the mission he was about to assign her.  But deep inside, a quiet nagging part of herself knew better:  he was a dog.  He’d have looked at the bright, optimistic side of even the worst situations. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 3: The Unsavory Nature of the Mission”

by Mary E. Lowd

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

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Commander Janessa Carroway’s green eyes reflected the stars as she watched through the shuttle’s windows.  She knew the shuttle was approaching Nexus Nine Base, but she didn’t look at that looming metal structure.  She’d heard about the space station’s unusual architecture — all interconnected hexagons and triangles; pointy and angular instead of smooth and sweeping like most Tri-Galactic Union star bases, since it had originally been a Reptassan station.  Carroway didn’t want to be here.  It was a bad sign for what her next assignment would be. Continue reading “Voyage of the Wanderlust – Chapter 2: Belated Promotions”