Ben came to his feet and returned the woman's salute. “Please have a seat, ladies. Can I get either of you anything?”
Jorga waved him back into his chair. “I'll get it. Cappuccino for you, right?”
Ben nodded in reply. Gail asked for a bottle of cold water. She looked worried, excited and nervous all at the same time.
While Jorga got the drinks, Ben addressed Gail. “What's on your mind, General?”
“As you know, the Great Falls Aerie was destroyed this morning; presumably by pirates,” Gail said. Ben nodded so she continued. “Well, it seems Mother's passive sensors tracked a number of small submerged craft, passing by us about an hour after the explosion.”
Ben was silent for a moment, trying to figure out where the woman was going with this. “So? Are the two connected somehow?”
Gail grinned. “Yes Sir, we believe they are. You see; no one from the surface travels underwater. The modern versions of great white sharks as well as killer whales and a few other large oceanic critters don't much care for anyone swimming around in their pool. So no one does it unless they really need to move around undetected,” Gail said, still smiling.
“Okay, so you think you caught the pirates making their get-away. Why is that so important?” Ben asked.
“Because Mother tracked them all the way back to their underwater base. Sir, we know exactly where these pirates are.”
After Gail left, Ben sat back to ponder what that information would mean to his people. If these Pirates were really all that close then Ben would be foolish to just ignore them. When the authorities found the Pirates, the survivors would be found as well and most likely implicated in the crimes of the Pirates.
On the other hand, if Ben ordered something done about the Pirates and their activities were detected by those on the surface, they would be discovered and exposed. No matter what was decided about the Pirates, they would have to be very careful in their actions or the whole house of cards they lived in would come tumbling down and everyone would be put at risk.
About the Author
Ben Winston (1965 - ?) was born in Iowa and grew up in Minnesota on the family dairy farm. Upon reaching adulthood, he joined the United States Army as a communications technician. Before getting out of the military, he decided to go to school for computer electronics.
Shortly after getting out of the military, and after getting a new job with an over-seas company, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. A month after beginning the new job, he was laid off due to budget over-runs on the project he was hired for. Upon returning to the United States, he had difficulty maintaining employment because of the chronic illness.
He began writing as a form of stress release, from being home bound and not being able to work, and found he liked writing erotica. Ben wrote a trilogy called the Talosian Chronicles (Currently in rewrite to remove the graphic sex and finalized his vision of the story). The first book, Star Dancer, won awards and was nominated for many others by the online communities where it was posted.
Ben Winston returned to school for literature, after completion, he began writing professionally. Being an avid fan of science fiction he focused on this genre. He was, and still is, influenced and inspired by Gene Roddenberry, Anne McCaffery, David Weber, Isaac Asimov, and Ray Bradbury. Some of his favorite movies and TV shows are; Battlestar Galactica (both versions), Andromeda, Star Trek, Firefly, Star Wars, and many of the B-rated movies that were actually box-office bombs.
Ben Winston
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newtalosian
Blue Space Publications, LLC.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlueSpacePublication
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-space-publications-llc-?trk=company_name
Google+1: https://plus.google.com/+Bluespace-publications/posts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlueSpacePub
Website: http://bluespace-publications.com
Join the Blue Space Publications, LLC. Newsletter (usually Bi-Weekly issues).
http://bluespace-publications.com/blue-space-newsletter-sign-up
Books Published by Blue Space Publications, LLC.
by Ben Winston
Pollux Paradox
Tides of Mars
Tides of Mars (Omnibus)
Conflict – Book II
Talosian Chronicles
Olympus – Book I
Star Dancer – Book II
Talosian Alliance – Book III
*Neptune’s Massif – Book IV (Nov 2015, on presale now!)
Novellas
Book of the Guardian
Home – Part One
Pest Control – Part Two
The Last Mission – Part Three
Resolution – Part Four
Bedouin’s Travels
Twilight Earth – Book I
A Long, Dark Night – Book II
Series
Temple of S.A.R.A.H.
Prototype – Episode I
Subroutines – Episode II
Base Functions – Episode III
Hard Wired – Episode IV
by Michael McClain
Chronicles of Atlantis Series
Chronicles of Atlantis (Omnibus)
Atlantis Rising – Book I
Euthara – Book II