Jennifer Wells - Beyond the Stars - At Galaxy's Edge

“Oh,” Brook said.

“Of course,” the receptionist said, “if your chosen name differs from the name of your previous vessel, you’ll need to apply for a new registration.”

Even if there was not the danger of giving Griffin another chance to thwart them, Brook had dealt with enough Meltian red tape for a lifetime. “Just go ahead and put it down as the ‘MRS Kindred Spirit .’”

How similar is this story to the rest of your work?

Very! In fact, “Procurement” is in the same universe as my main series, the Drive Maker Trilogy. Flashpoint , the first book in that trilogy, takes place about six years after the events of “Procurement,” and features Brook, JP, Arriet, and Charles Griffin, as well as the new Kindred Spirit .

So that means that Brook goes six full years without needing a new ship?

A fact for which I am sure Brook and JP are both grateful.

What about Roth the elevator guard? He was my favorite character! Does he‌—‌

He dies.

What?!

Hit by a hovercar. Very sad. Just two days away from retirement.

Are you serious?

No.

Oh. I guess I should read those other Drive Maker Trilogy books, then‌—‌how can I get them?

Glad you asked; Flashpoint is available right now on Amazon. For information on my existing titles, you can visit my website at adamquinnauthor.com. To make sure you’re the first to know when new titles come out, you can sign up for my newsletter at smarturl.it/AQNewsletter.

Only one title?

Don’t worry‌—‌ Pressure Point , the sequel to Flashpoint , is scheduled to come out later this Fall, followed by a novella in the same universe in Spring 2017.

But seriously, about Roth‌—‌

I’m sure he goes on to live a happy and fulfilling life.

LIZA ROTH TOOK a swallow of her green jimjack beer and, for the hundredth time, tried to ignore the old-Earth piano keyboard stuck in the corner of the miners’ cantina. Even if the instrument worked, which she doubted, she probably couldn’t remember how to play any of her pieces.

And supposing she did, it was so crowded and noisy in the cantina the music would just be buried under the babble of voices, the clank of gear, the clatter of dishes.

That would be fine, actually. She didn’t want anyone to hear her, to notice and start asking questions about how an asteroid miner on the far edge of the galaxy knew how to play an antiquated hunk of machinery, let alone perform the classic works of the old masters.

So she turned her back on the keyboard and its protective bubble, and looked instead at her girlfriend, Selina Perez, who sat beside her at the bar.

“Can’t fool me,” Selina said. The warm light from the vidscreen illuminated her face, glossing her curly dark hair and showing the playful dimple at the corner of her mouth. “I can see you thinking about that dusty old thing.”

Liza shook her head, denying the truth. You loved to play, her memories whispered. Music was the one thing keeping you sane back then.

She never should have admitted her interest in the keyboard to Selina. Her girlfriend was tenacious, and in their six months together had pried more out of Liza than she’d ever wanted to give.

A knot deep in her belly reminded her it was dangerous to get close. To share information that might give away all her secrets. But it was too late. She’d already lost her heart to Selina.

Eventually, she’d tell her girlfriend about her past.

Just... not yet.

“Look.” Selina blew a stream of clove-scented vapor past Liza’s cheek. “If you can play, you owe it to everyone in this granky place to share that gift. Life is hard enough as is. We need a bit of sweetness to keep us going‌—‌you know that. Music. Beer. Kisses.”

She bent close to Liza, pressing their lips together to illustrate her argument.

Liza let herself get lost in that softness. After she’d fled Earth, she didn’t know if she’d ever be happy again. Selina had showed her that she could start over‌—‌that a broken heart didn’t last forever.

As their kiss deepened, a few people let out catcalls, and further down the bar someone started belting out a raunchy song. Reluctantly, Liza broke the kiss.

Selina winked at her. “Really, though. You should play that piano.”

“The bartender said the parts for the jukie system will arrive soon,” Liza said. “Then they can fix the music and we won’t have to listen to drunken bar songs anymore.”

“Soon can mean months,” Selina said. “You’ve got light inside you, novia. Let some of it out.”

“We’ll be down planet soon enough.” Liza changed the subject. “On vacation there’ll be plenty of music to listen to.”

“And dance to.” Selina slipped off her bar stool and did a little shimmy. “I wish you could come down with me tomorrow. Stupid schedule rotations.”

“Just two days, and then we get most of the break together. You can scout out the place and show me all the good stuff when I get there.”

“There’s way more than ten days’ worth of fun on the pleasure isle of Raldoon, so they say.” Selina grinned. “It’s only the top vacation spot in the whole sector. I’ve been saving up for this trip for ages.”

“We both have.”

It was expensive to shuttle down to the nearby planet of Doralfi, let alone take a jaunt to the pleasure isle. But Selina made everything worthwhile.

“Gonna stay up here and turn into a dried-out stick?” her girlfriend had said when Liza had expressed her doubts. “We only get one life, darling. Let it shine.”

Selina was right. After almost a year working the asteroid mines, Liza needed a break.

Sometimes, late in the dark when she was alone, she’d curl into a tight ball and allow a few tears to seep out the corners of her eyes, remembering everything she’d left. Was this life she’d made for herself any better? Had she made the wrong choice?

In the morning, though, all her reasons would come flooding back. It wasn’t much of an existence, true, but it was hers. Her choice. And she’d found some happiness in it.

Selina hopped back onto her stool and took another suck of clove-steam. “I want to buy a nice dress down there. And shoes, if I can afford them. Something with sparkles.”

She stuck out her foot, studying her scuffed boot.

“You’d look good in dimsilk,” Liza said, then bit her tongue. “I mean, there are some decent imitations.”

“It’s pretty stuff, from what I can tell on the vids.” Selina winked at her. “Think of the highbrows we’ll be rubbing elbows with‌—‌and us a pair of granky miners. Play our cards right, and they’ll never know.”

“Right.” Liza took another swallow of her beer, letting the tangy flavor fill her mouth.

She’d have to be careful in Raldoon not to let herself slip. It would be easy to revert back to the ‘highbrow’ ways she’d been born to. One year as an asteroid miner couldn’t erase the nobility she carried, all unwilling, in her blood.

“Dance with me,” Selina said, lacing her fingers through Liza’s.

“There’s no music.”

“We’ll make our own. On the floor, and off.” Selina’s eyes were bright with promises.

Liza finished off her beer, then let her girlfriend pull her off the barstool and into the rest of the night.