Horizon Shift by Lyndi Alexander is a book worth reading #scifi #sciencefiction #bookboost #booksworthreading #nnlbh
- N. N. Light
- Jun 12
- 5 min read
Title Horizon Shift
Author Lyndi Alexander
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Dragonfly Publishing Inc.
Book Blurb
To save his ship and crew, Captain Temms Rogers uses an untested alien device which hurls the Doubtful and its occupants away from a massive space battle. Rogers awakens to find his ship crippled and his crew decimated.
They are lost in an unknown region of space, but they are not alone. With old enemies lying in wait, Rogers must turn to a powerful local group called the Consortium in order to effect repairs to his ship and to find needed supplies.
Then a strange autistic boy is found hiding in the ship's cargo bay. Could the boy help save the Doubtful and its crew? — WATCH SERIES VIDEO
Excerpt
As Rogers reached for the brass handle of the employment hall, the door burst open. A man came flying out, landing on his back on the potholed street. Stunned for a few moments, the sinewy black-haired fellow shook off the impact and weaved upright, turning an intelligent sapphire gaze on Rogers and Liang.
“What you lookin’ at, huh?” He brushed off his navy blue shirt and pants, made of some natural fiber and rather obviously worn by work. Smirking at the navigator’s regard, he added, “See something you like, honey?” Then he swung the door open and returned to a large welcoming shout from men inside.
But the welcome didn’t last long. Inside, the black-haired man was arguing with another man, better-dressed and more tired-looking than he was.
“C’mon, Cap, you know I’m surely trained for the job!” He hurried after the man, hands out in supplication. “You ain’t gonna find a better engineer this side of Katarr! I rebuilt the bleeding transcoil, for Sprechan’s sake!”
The other man was having none of it. “And you know what, Quinn? That’s the damn shame of the whole thing. You’ve got a hell of a set of hands. You’ve got a brain somewhere inside that damned thick skull—“
“That’s what I’m sayin—“
“That may be, Quinn, but I’m tired of the dirty tricks and the sniping and—” The captain eyed him. “I’ve lost three skilled officers I could not spare because of your mouth and your mindset. I don’t care if you could build me a new ship out of rocks and marshmallows. If you can’t work with us, you’re not that valuable.” He turned and stalked away.
“Unbelievable!” The black-haired man looked as if he’d opened a long-awaited birthday present to find an empty box. “Un-freaking believable!” His buddies turned away, and he scowled, then stalked back to the smoking room, muttering.
Do we have rocks and marshmallows?
Rogers squelched the facetious thought. Could Quinn really be that bad? He tried to guess how hard it was to get good help. Would the captain have tossed someone with that kind of promise casually aside? Or was the situation really critical?
Not every officer was a fit for every crew. Maybe he needed a guiding hand, this one...
Rogers ambled for the door, passing by where Quinn sulked amidst cronies. Loudly, he commented to Liang, “We won’t find anyone here who can handle our project anyway. No one has the engineering skills.”
She gave him a curious look, but nodded in reply, following him toward the door.
“We shouldn’t have expected anyone to want a chief’s position.” He held the door open for Liang, then stepped out after her, having noticed with satisfaction the black-haired man’s sudden twist of the head. Waiting just outside the door, Rogers pulled her aside. “Let’s see if we caught us a fish.”
As the captain had expected, Quinn barreled through the door, looking anxiously up and down the crowded street. “Hey!” Relief evident on his face, he walked up to the captain. “You looking for an engineer?”
Rogers studied him impassively and crossed his arms. “Could be. Why’d your captain toss you?”
“My cap—” The other stopped, wide-eyed, then looked back at the door. “Oh, you caught that, huh?” Rogers watched the man’s face as he struggled for an “acceptable” explanation, realizing this Quinn was younger than he first appeared. The engineer’s face was worn, but his eyes had no crow’s feet. “Some of the other crew had it in for me, that’s all. Expected special privileges cause they were, you know...” His voice trailed off, “Not like us.”
“Not like us?” The captain wondered if Quinn’s comment implied something sexist, remembering the man’s disrespectful comment to his navigator. “You mean, men?”
“No!” The man snorted in disgust. “Sprechan’s privates. I mean Not. Like. Us. You know. Alien?”
“Oh, that not like us.” Rogers nodded, thinking of his crew. Well, there might be a few surprises for this young man. “I’m the captain of a mid-size ship, and I might be hiring reliable people.” From the man’s stance and shifty eyes, Rogers guessed there were some things he was not being told. But he had a soft spot for the hard cases. His first Captain had taken a chance on a troubled young Temms Rogers, some thirty years before when he’d barely scraped through the Confederation school. He repaid that debt by doing the same for others.
The black-haired man frowned. “How small?”
Rogers raised an eyebrow and described the ship, with its engine capability and full personnel consignment. “We’re recovering from a full-out battle. Frankly, I’m not sure my people are up to the repairs.” This was not true. He knew Dani and Halian would be able to rig whatever parts they could get to work. But reading this man, he guessed Quinn needed the ego boost to sell himself the position. Besides, this man was familiar with local materials and equipment, which would be valuable in many of the same ways as having Liang at his side.
“So are you contracted with the Brotherhood, Mr...?” Rogers jerked his head back toward the door.
The man scuffed a hard-booted foot on the crete. “Just got shit-canned. Ain’t had a chance to sign on yet for Roandock.” His handsome face took on a crafty look and he grinned, revealing slightly crooked but white teeth. “Means no one’s gotta fork out payola. You neither.”
Rogers nodded. “Exactly. Good for you, good for me.” He saw he had the man thinking. Now the final sell, seal the deal. He extended his hand. “Captain Temms Rogers.”
The man looked at his hand a moment, then shook it warmly. “Benzi Quinn. Future engineering chief of the...?”
“The Doubtful.”
Quinn blinked, “What kind of name is that for a war ship?”
Rogers caught the flash of amusement in Liang’s eyes. “Long story. I’ll tell you sometime over some honey ale.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Paperback at Amazon • Paperback at Barnes & Noble • Hardback at Barnes & Noble • eBook at Amazon Kindle • eBook at Apple Books • eBook at Barnes & Noble • eBook at Kobo • eBooks at Smashwords • Audiobook at Apple Books
Author Biography
Lyndi Alexander always dreamed of faraway worlds and interesting alien contacts. She lives as a post-modern hippie in Asheville, North Carolina, a single mother of her last child of seven, a daughter on the autism spectrum, finding that every day feels a lot like first contact with a new species.
Smashwords | Lyndi Alexanderhttps://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/lyndialexander
