This is a new old story. One I wrote way back when. The first story I ever published—but now, refurbed, prettied up, and readied for prime time. Sort of. It’s also just a tad raunchier than my current stuff. ¿Cómo es posible? You gotta love the alphabet: mf, mff, mfm, and of course, orgies…

And at the core, a romance between the captain of a pirate space ship and the captain of a prison ship who also happens to be another prisoner.

Check it out. It’s coming your way next week…

“Captain, I’ve picked up the ship’s warning beacon.”

Captain Adamarik Zingh straightened from the navigation console. At last. The final stage of his plan was about to unfold. The beacon was programmed to broadcast as soon as any ship approached within hailing distance of the penitentiary. “Let’s hear it.”

His communications mate pressed the intercom switch.

“Warning! You are entering Interplanetary Dominion-controlled space.” The computer-generated message transmitted in the Universal Language. “This ship is a Dominion Prison. Any vessel detected within a one hundred milli-league radius of the ship will be destroyed.”

“Retract the visor,” Adam ordered, ignoring the warning.

The whirring sound that accompanied the retracting curtain of metal made Adam wince, reminding him of the loss of his previous spacecraft. Its state-of-the-art bioluminescent screen would have recreated the view of space without leaving the ship’s hull vulnerable.

But pirates couldn’t be too choosy. The lumbering transport vessel he now captained had enabled his band of raiders to creep close to their target, beneath the blanket of the Dominion’s detector beams. Its unremarkable appearance in this little-traveled part of the universe was a perfect ruse.

“I see her, Adam.” The man at the helm, first mate Cantor Marlow, dipped the prow of the ship leeward. The sudden change in tack caused the old barge to shudder violently as it resisted the gravitational pull exerted by the desolate, uninhabitable planet the larger prison ship orbited. Then a low, ominous groan from the hull itself rattled the consoles, spilling cups and charts onto the floor.

Adam maintained his balance, barely, and turned to glower at his first mate. “Cookie’ll dice your innards for that. He’ll be cleaning grub from the ceiling for a week.”

Cantor shrugged, a wicked twinkle in his eye. “I was just making sure the breaching crewmen were out of their bunks.” His gaze shifted beyond Adam. “There she is.”

Adam glanced through the open portal, searching space beyond the rim of the small planet. An infinite, black night stretched before him. Full of endless possibilities. An irresistible siren’s call that had beckoned him from his first voyage.

Then he saw it. The enormous hull of the prison ship loomed in the distance. Anticipation leapt in his veins. “Alert the breaching crew.”

His first mate grunted. “Lucky sods.”

Three whistles shrilled, followed by the alert message.

“Cantor, you’re in charge,” Adam called over his shoulder as he headed toward the ship’s hold.

“Aye, sir. Good luck—and don’t forget my list.”

Adam slapped his palm against the door button, and it slid silently open. Within the hold, the breaching crew was assembling—or at least he thought it was his crew. Gone were their beards and rough pirate’s clothing. In their place stood well-scrubbed, clean-chinned men.

His security officer, Darak, strode toward him clad in a deep azure shirt tucked into tan leather breeches.

“What in hell are you wearing?”

“It’s just a little something I picked up at our last port of call. Alarian silk.” Darak shrugged, grinning sheepishly. “Quite sturdy material, actually.”

“You look like a damned peacock,” Adam muttered. His gaze swept over the rest of his breaching party, and he fisted his hands on his hips. “I’m capturing a ship with a bloody flock of peacocks.” Read the rest of this entry »