RW: What’s your story/back story? Why would
someone come up with a story about you?
T: About me? I am not so fascinating by
myself, but I have lived an interesting life. It got more interesting after I died though.
RW: What problems do you have to face and
overcome in your life?
T: The biggest so far? Being dead. But not
to worry, I have overcome it. I’m a master sergeant in Ghost Corps, resurrected
special ops soldiers. How are we brought back? It’s a secret process but it
involves the blood of Ultras, the immortal race the corps was created to
defeat.
RW: Where
do you live?
T: Currently, on the planet Sempervia. All
the immortals, and more specifically, their king, Pietas, were exiled there.
Lucky me! I got abandoned with them.
RW: During
what time-period does your story take place?
A.
I’m in your far future,
Terran year 4536 AD.
RW: How
are you coping with the conflict in your life?
T: I don’t have much choice. It’s either
cope or die, and I’ve already died, thank you. So I find a way to deal with
whatever comes my way.
RW: If money were not an object, where would you most like to live?
T: To be honest, now that I’ve been on Sempervia for a while,
there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Who’d want to go back to Earth with all its
crowding and pollution? Although maybe in your time it was much better. No
thanks, though. I’ll stick with the pure air, clean water, and insane weather
of Sempervia.
RW: What is your secret guilty pleasure?
T: Apple fritters. They are a fried sweet bread with chopped up
apples, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
RW: If you came with a
warning label, what would it say?
T: Do not push. (Take that any way you want.)
RW: Those
are all the questions I have for you. Thank you for speaking to me.
T: Gracias, I’m happy
to be here.
Kayelle
Allen
Kayelle Allen writes
Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers,
and warriors who purr. She is the author of seven books, three novellas, and
multiple short stories. She’s also a US Navy veteran and has been married so
long she’s tenured.
Lights Out
A short space opera story in
The Expanding Universe Vol 4
The Plot
He can save mankind. After he does one important thing. Die.
Join the Ghost Corps,
they said. You’ll live forever, they said. You’ll save mankind, they said. They
didn’t say that to do it, first he had to die.
When Tornahdo signs on
the dotted line, he puts his life into the steady hands of the mighty Ghost Corps.
Three grisly deaths and three agonizing resurrections later, he’s assigned duty
on the space station Enderium Six.
He’s facing his most
dangerous mission yet, the very reason the corps exists.
Do they expect him to
win? Fat chance. Tornahdo and his team are already dead, and this mission is
codenamed “Lights Out.” No, there’s more to this than he can see.
To discover the truth,
he must face an unbeatable, unkillable enemy, and this time—somehow—find a way
to keep himself alive...
An Excerpt:
The air reeked of
antiseptic and starch stiffened the pillowcase. If only the mind-numbing
jabbering would stop.
Tornahdo pried open his
eyes. The flattened blood bag above him, stenciled equipment and gray walls
screamed military hospital.
He’d died. Again.
Spanish curses slipped
out. His abuela would’ve taken a
switch to him. He made the sign of the cross and kissed his fingertips.
After yanking the tube
out of his arm, he pressed a thumb over the entry point. Thankfully, this time,
he wasn’t writhing on the floor in agony. Well, not yet.
A faceless android in a
Ghost Corps uniform loomed over a bank of equipment displaying Tornahdo’s name
and vitals. First impression was right. Military hospital.
The weapons-grade yapping
continued.
“Did you hear?” a
youthful voice bragged. “He killed six of ‘em last night.”
“Yeah, but they don’t
stay dead. They never do.”
“If Ultras didn’t come
back to life, their plasma wouldn’t bring our own people back.”
The transfusion of
enemy blood healed the hole in Tornahdo’s arm in seconds. He thumbed off the
red smear and rolled over on the gurney.
An open door led to a
sink and toilet built to let gravity do its work. Which meant this was a
planet. You hadn’t lived until you were in space, floating in zero gravity
while your body’s final twitches sent your corpse spinning.
Notices on the wall
confirmed this was San Xavier in the Colonies of Man. Same place he’d bought it
the first time.
This was getting old.
Contact Kayelle Allen At:
Blog: https://kayelleallen.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kayelleallen
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kayelle-Allen/e/B003ZRXVN8
Book Links:
Video Trailer URL:
LMBPN
Publishing:
https://kayelleallen.com/lights-out-save-mankind/
Key Words/Labels:
Kayelle
Allen, Lights Out, Military, Military Science Fiction, Sci Fi, Science Fiction,
Space Opera, Suspense
