UNKNOWN
Author: User

Prologue:

Return of Legends

Ritany sensed the increase in light in the room. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with, “Ritany, good morning. I hope you slept well.” She stretched cat like on the bed, rolled over fully and then still needed an extra scoot to reach the edge of the bed. Swinging over her legs and feet, Ritany sat up.

“Good morning to you, Tori, how are you this morn?”

Tori replied, in a very Tori way. It was the same way that Tori had replied every morning, for the last five days. The days since training had officially ended. “I am one hundred percent healthy. I have available nutrition and physical resources to maintain optimum efficiency for one thousand and ten standard days, if moving at sub light or using temporal tear travel.  I have available emergency reserves, to facilitate a further two hundred and five Standard days at a reduced operating efficiency.” Tori paused speaking and then added, “and… I feel fine, thank you.”

Ritany was smirking as she picked up her hairbrush. The brush was just like the one she’d had when she had been a little girl. Ritany worked on her hair, it was getting long. “Tori, you know that I am practicing talking old fashioned. When I ask you, how you are, you can just say, I feel bad or I feel good. I am not requesting a status report.”

Ritany did not expect it to have much of an affect on Tori’s way of responding. Not any time soon, still it was fun to try. Tori responded, as you expected a Tori to respond.

Tori’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “I understand, but it is not efficient communication.  I have a message for you. Sandaner asked me to remind you to meet her, for breakfast in the main food hall.” Tori paused and then added, “I do not understand this message, as to why Sandaner would have considered that you would forget.”

Ritany laughed as she answered, “It’s just Sandaner playing with you.  She is practicing being old-fashioned too.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Sandaner was eating pancakes as Ritany entered. They looked good.

“Tori, pancakes please, with honey.” Ritany said, then lowered herself on to the long seating facing Sandaner who was lifting a spoon. She had taken it from the holder full of spoons next to her plate. It matched the one she was using in her other hand, to eat her pancakes.

With a flick of her wrist, Sandaner tossed it for Ritany to use. The spoon shot from her hand, blurring in the air towards Ritany, Ritany casually caught it. With impeccable timing, a dispenser right next to Ritany produced a platter, stacked high with steaming pancakes, dripping with honey.

Ritany scooped up her pancakes and dug in with the spoon. She needed to use the plate at one point to catch a dribble of honey dripping from her chin.”

She spoke and chomped pancake at the same time.  “I am, you know, with you in thinking they deserved for this to have been dealt with sooner. For it to have already ended.”

Sandaner pushed aside her now empty plate, placing her spoon on it. “Yes, you have made your point. I know you agree with me. You have made it evidently clear,” she smiled. “In fact, most definitely clear, for fifteen years. As we have discussed it practically every breakfast.”  She pushed her empty plate into the slot that had opened next to her. As the slot closed, she continued, “And yes, yes, I understand your argument that we will only get the one chance.”

Sandaner added, “We can I know, only guess some of it. Much has been lost to time. And then we will have to trust to luck for the rest.”  She went on brushing pancake crumbs from the front of her dress. “No one knew that when this mission was started, that it would take over 150 years of hard research.”

Sandaner lifted a cup and sipped from it, “I mean, come on. 150 years to give me and you the minimum data needed to undertake twenty-five years of training. Training to work with Earth military space ship engineering and construction. For us to learn and understand the operation and maintenance of the hundreds of different craft they built. To fully understand the working of every single space craft of the Earth Defense Force fleet. It’s been an epic responsibility.”

Ritany smiled at Sandaner. “Yes, you repeat all the arguments I have used back at me. Very well. I can see and agree, they sound like excuses. Yes, we should have been ready, much much sooner.  It had already been way too long for them.” She beamed a smile as she licked the last drip of honey from her spoon. “But we are ready now. As ready as we are ever going to be.”

Ritany got up, moved over to Sandaner and continued, “We can do this. We will do this.  So, in tribute to practicing my old fashion speaking, I will use this old-fashioned saying: ‘It’s better to be late than never’.” Ritany very precisely pronounced the last part then added. “Even if it is hundreds of years late…”

Taking a deep breath, she gave the command.

“Tori, take us out of Light pulse. Prepare for temporal tear travel, we have to go meet with the past.”

Here Ends the Prologue: Return of Legends.

This promotional sample is set in the Universe of Victory: The Last Destroyer, a science fiction short story.

This is a reworking of a draft prologue intended to start ‘Victory: The Last Destroyer’ and is not included in the original published work.

This revised version still introduces some of the people and elements of ‘Victory’s universe” but with much less of an impact on the intrigue, building it up rather than reducing it, for the reader. It works now much better than the original version did which had introduced some story characters and elements prematurely.

Its impact is further softened, with the release of the second short story, set in Victory’s universe.  ‘Fleet Restoration: Perfect Timing.’

I hope you will enjoy this low-priced sample. It’s less than £1 and you can also lookout for it on FREE promotions, publisher permitting :)

Flint

About the Author

The Author: Flint Reginald.

Flint resides in the UK, with his wife. She recently gave him over into indentured servitude to two cats Bandit (in the picture, the one on the right) and Rumour (pic on my amazon page).  When he is not attending to his new cat masters’ needs, he writes fiction stories or reads some.  The cats don’t appear to care what he writes about; they just like the noise of him typing and as far as he can tell, they cannot read.  Flint is thankful to all the people in the world that made computer technology an affordable reality for everyone, without it none of his stories would ever have been told (written).

This is book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2017 Flint PR All Rights Reserved.

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This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite eBook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover Illustration Copyright © 2017 Flint PR
Cover design by Flint S
Editing by Flint S.
Author photograph by Self-portrait.