Burning Love [Flights of Fancy 1] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)

BOOK: Burning Love [Flights of Fancy 1] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)
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Flights of Fancy 1

In the Immortal Love universe, a small crew of women aboard the science and diplomatic starship
HMSS Daedalus
are on a voyage of discovery. On this mission, six special heroines make first contact with pyrokinetic aliens, cyborgs, vampires, knights and dragons, and paranormal creatures. Falling in love does not always work out as planned...

Burning Love

Lieutenant Star Hawking, a young diplomat on her first assignment, doesn't feel very confident in leading the mission she's drawn, but she knows what she has to do. Pressed for time for more than a year, her career has taken precedence over her personal life. Then from out of nowhere, two males enter her world.

Major Jake "Spence" Spencer has been a Marine for a long time, and he's played the field. A lot. One day, he notices that his feelings for a woman have changed, and it puzzles him. He finds this woman eclipses all others he's known, but exactly why eludes him.

Krell, an alien diplomat, has much to hide about the society on his planet and the plans the Council of Elders has for
Daedalus
and her crew. The survival of Krell's people depends on stealth and deceit. But when Krell falls for a human woman, he discovers all may not be as it seems on his world.

Sensuality Rating:
SCORCHING

Genre:
Science Fiction/Paranormal
Theme:
Ménage à Trois
Length:
Novel (31,000 words)

BURNING LOVE

 

Flights of Fancy 1

 

 

 

 

 

Melodee Aaron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EROTIC ROMANCE

 

 

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THIS E-BOOK:
Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to
one
LEGAL
copy for your own personal use. It is
ILLEGAL
to send your copy to someone who did not pay for it. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book.

 

BURNING LOVE

Copyright © 2007 by Melodee Aaron

ISBN: 1-933563-96-6

 

First E-book Publication: January 2008

 

Cover design by Jinger Heaston

All cover art and logo copyright © 2008 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

 

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

 

PUBLISHER

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com 

Foreword

 

 

The
Flights of Fancy
series is set in what I call The Immortal Love Universe. This universe spans the entire galaxy and some twelve
billion
years starting in 1940 AD. You'll sometimes hear it called The Ike Payne Universe.

Even though set in the same universe as
For the Love of Payne
,
Desert Heat
, and
The Polyamorous Princess
, the stories of
Flights of Fancy
are not a part of that series. There are some common characters readers will recognize, but they are mostly in minor roles consistent with the shared setting. The tales of
Flights of Fancy
also take place many years after the stories mentioned above. While you don't need to read the other stories to enjoy
Flights of Fancy
, readers may find additional information about the universe in those earlier tales.

Instead,
Flights of Fancy
deals with an entirely new group of people aboard the science and diplomatic starship
HMSS Daedalus
on a voyage of discovery in the far-flung reaches of the galaxy. On this mission, the crew encounters many strange and wonderful people and civilizations. When people come together, no matter the place and time, their tempers, passions, lust, and love often flourish.

Join me now as we explore the future, or at least one possible future.

 

Keep Loving!

Melodee Aaron

Chapter 1

 

 

Lord Admiral of the Fleet, Q, leaned far back in his chair and put his feet up on the ornate, real wood desk of his otherwise spartan office. Watching him through the communications link, Elsa found it hard to believe this man answered only to the Emperor himself. Admiral Q always seemed very relaxed and acted like he had all the time in the universe to chat with his officers, and he never rushed anything. He studied the display on his desk in silence for more than a minute before he carried on with the discussion.

"So, Captain, you think this anomaly is worth investigating?"

"Yes, Sir. The probes we've sent in stopped transmitting after sending a few images of a habitable planet."

His silver-gray eyes sparkled, and Elsa's breath came short. "Tell me why I should allow you to risk one of His Majesty's starships and crews to enter an area where you have lost three probes."

Elsa managed to pull herself together and tapped at the display controls to pull up one of the better images the second probe returned. "If you look here, Admiral, you can see what looks like a city on the edge of the coastline. I'd like to get a better look at that if nothing else."

"Captain Davis, need I remind you that you and
Daedalus
are not on a sight-seeing tour?" The stony set to his face made it all angles and sharp lines, the perfect image for a man wielding such immense authority and power.

"No Sir, but this is why we're out here. A week ago, we didn't even know this planet existed, and now we have evidence that it may be inhabited."

Q nodded. "Or that it may have been at some time in the past. You have no evidence of current inhabitants."

"That's very true, but if we get past this energy barrier caused by the binary stars, we can get sensor readings."

He sat quietly staring at the displays for many seconds. "What do you think happened to the probes, Captain?"

"I don't know."

"That's not what I asked. I don't know either, but what do you
think
happened to them?"

"I think the probes are fine, Sir. I think the energy field is blocking their signal just like it's blocking our scans."

He stared at her through the link, and a small smile played across his face. The man was nearly 4,000 years old, but he looked about thirty-five. He wasn't really a man at all, however, but rather a simulated human with a positronic brain and biosynthetic body. Elsa thought she probably wasn't the only woman in Fleet to wonder just how good of a simulation he was. She could still recall the first time she saw him when she was a sixteen-year-old midshipman; she damned near wet her uniform because he was so cute. Thirty-five years later, her heart still beat a little faster when she saw that smile.

Q nodded. "Just so. I share your opinion on the fate of the probes."

"Then I should take
Daedalus
in?"

He shook his head. "Captain, we both know the risks, and I can't order you to take your ship and crew into harms way on a mission of discovery. I will not forbid you from doing so, but the decision rests with the ship's captain."

"I understand, Sir."

"Very well. Godspeed, Captain Davis."

The communicator swam with three-dimensional static for a moment before fading to black.

 

* * * *

 

Star sat in the briefing room along with a dozen other officers as the captain ran down the plans for entering the unknown system.

"We'll enter the energy field in thirty minutes. Once inside, we'll take scans to see what we have." The captain smiled. "After that, we'll play it by ear."

Commander Harris tapped on his data recorder. "Understood, Ma'am. The science and diplomatic teams assigned for this mission are ready."

Davis nodded. "Who's leading the diplomatic team?"

Star spoke up, but she wasn't used to dealing with the captain on such a direct basis. "I am, Ma'am. Lieutenant Hawking."

"Very good. None of us have much experience with this sort of first contact thing, Hawking, but we're all in this together. If you need help, just ask."

"Understood, Captain."

"Alright, then. Let's get this ship moving. Dismissed."

 

* * * *

 

Daedalus
and her mission presented a bit of a dichotomy to the designers at Fleet. As a ship of discovery, her primary missions were science and diplomacy, and offensive weapons would be out of place. On the other hand, she was a ship of the Fleet and needed to defend herself. Besides, every diplomat knew that the best tool in delicate negotiations was often a loaded gun. Elsa sighed because she had precious few guns to load.

"Tactical, please take us to battle stations."

"Battle stations, aye." Alarms sounded throughout the ship, but unlike aboard the big battle cruisers forming the backbone of the Fleet, most of the crew of
Daedalus
moved to damage control positions. "All departments report battle stations, Ma'am."

"Deflectors and Harbison Field to maximum."

The ensign tapped at his controls. "Harbison Field at full power, deflector screens at 118%."

What
Daedalus
lacked in offensive weapons she made for up in defensive and drive systems. The impulse and hyperspace drives were big enough for a ship ten times the size of
Daedalus
. The in-system impulse motors alone could generate nearly half-a-million Gs of acceleration, five times that of even the Emperor's flagship. She also carried a state-of-the-art Jamison Drive that, through some magic of physics Elsa didn't even pretend to understand, allowed
Daedalus
to move between certain precise points in space almost instantly.

While
Daedalus
couldn't fight, she sure as hell could run.

Daedalus
also had the most sophisticated sensors of any ship in the Fleet, so she could see threats a long way off. The overall idea was to see a potential threat far enough away that it wasn't really a threat yet, and then run like hell before it got close enough to become an actual threat.

Elsa swallowed remembering that all of this looked really good on paper, but no one had actually tried it yet.

The science officer looked up from her console. "Energy field stable, and the deflectors are adjusted for maximum protection, Captain."

"Very well." Elsa took a deep breath. "Helm, take us through the barrier on heading one-seven-four, one-tenth impulse power."

The helmsman played her controls like a virtuoso would play a violin, making just the right moves to get the perfect performance from her instrument. "Ahead one-tenth on bearing one-seven-four, aye."

Daedalus
eased forward through space, ready for anything.

 

* * * *

 

She watched the bridge activity on the big monitor screens in the mess hall. As a diplomatic officer, Star's battle station was at the first aid station that took over the mess in times like this. As the energy field grew large on the screens, she braced herself for something, but she didn't know what.

BOOK: Burning Love [Flights of Fancy 1] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)
11.41Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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