Earthrise (Her Instruments 1)

Reese Eddings has enough to do just keeping her rattletrap merchant vessel, the TMS Earthrise, profitable enough to pay food for herself and her micro-crew. So when a mysterious benefactor from her past shows up demanding she rescue a man from slavers, her first reaction is to say “NO!” And then to remember that she sort of promised to repay the loan. But she doesn’t remember signing up to tangle with pirates and slavers over a space elf prince…

Book 1 of the Her Instruments trilogy is a rollicking adventure set in the Pelted Paradox universe, and kicks off an epic space opera series where the fate of worlds hangs in the balance. Fans who enjoyed Firefly or Andromeda will likely enjoy this series.

Genre (setting): space opera (Pelted)
Tags: found family, adventure, space opera, trading, elves (space)
Rating: PG-13 for violence

Excerpt from Chapter 2

“We’re doing what?” Irine exclaimed, striped hands twitching on the mess hall table.

Reese leaned back against her chair, letting her silence speak for her. As she expected, Bryer, the Phoenix, had nothing to say; the giant birdlike creature rested against the front of the chair, straddling it so as to give the full length of his metallic plumage unrestricted space.

Kis’eh’t, while obviously perturbed, did nothing beyond wrinkle her dark, furry brow and lay back her feathered ears. She had more limbs than all of them: two black arms, four black and white legs, and two stunted leathery wings protruding from her second, horizontal back. And a tail, black with two white stripes running down it, which currently flicked against the cool floor.

The round ball of fluff on the table between the Phoenix and the Glaseahn only ruffled part of its neural fur, turning from ivory to rosy peach in places.

Irine, in her socks and little else, was pouting. “So what... we have to ride in like champions and rescue some random spy? For nothing?”

“Not for nothing,” Reese said. “In return for the money that this person gave me to save me from bankruptcy before you people came aboard.”

“Who is this person, anyway?” Sascha asked.

“Which one?” Reese asked. “The spy or the one with the money?”

“Both,” Sascha said.

Reese smothered a small grin. “The spy’s an Eldritch.”

“A what!”

That came from so many places at once she couldn’t tell which of them said it first. Kis’eh’t got the first words after: “I hear they can start fires with their minds.”

“And read your thoughts,” Irine said.

Kis’eh’t said, “And sense your feelings. They always know when you’re lying.”

“That’s the last thing we need,” Irine muttered.

“I hear they bathe in honey,” Sascha said.

Reese stared at him. So did everyone else with eyes—even Bryer. The tigraine shrugged. “Something to do with keeping their skin white.”

“Honey won’t bleach skin,” Kis’eh’t said. “Moisturize it, maybe. But bleach? Not unless Eldritch honey is actually some other substance entirely...”

“What do I know about Eldritch honey?” Sascha said. “They’re supposedly all rich, too. And they’re all princes or princesses. And they all require servants, because none of them know how to take care of themselves.”

Irine shook her head.“Is this guy in for a slap from the universe!”

“He’s in jail,” Reese said dryly. “I think the slap’s been delivered.”

“This is troublesome.” Kis’eh’t drummed her fingers on the table. “An Eldritch... this being may have specialized needs, Reese. No one knows what they eat, what their normal medical profile is like, how to treat one that’s sick... no one even knows how properly to address them or what social or cultural mores they hold to. How are we supposed to save one of these creatures and make him comfortable?”

“I’m not sure,” Reese admitted. “And since the packet I received wasn’t exactly forthcoming with any of that kind of material, I’m not sure we’ll be expected to do this perfectly.” She pushed her data tablet to the center of the table with its gleaming pale picture of their charge. “That’s him. Hirianthial Sarel Jisiensire.”

“Say again?” Sascha said.

Reese repeated it.

Kis’eh’t shook her head. “We’ll let you address him.”

“At least he’s handsome for a human,” Irine said.

“He’s not human,” Reese said. “He’s Eldritch. And don’t forget it, if you don’t want him snooping around the inside of your brain. Anyway, there’s only one thing I think we can take for certainty... you’re not supposed to touch an Eldritch. So if all possible, let’s try to keep bodily contact to a minimum.”

“Awww,” Irine said.

Sascha studied the picture. “Angels, boss, I have to agree with her.”

“Yeah, well, if you want to come on to him, be my guest,” Reese said. “Just don’t expect me to put your furry behinds back together if it turns out he can blow things up by looking at them funny. And if we break him, I think our benefactor’s going to be very grumpy.”

“Speaking of, who’s the person with the money?” Sascha asked.

“I don’t know,” Reese said. “I’ve never seen her face.”

“Her face?” That was Irine.

Reese shrugged. “Just a guess.”

“A trap?” Bryer said into the following silence.

“I don’t know why she’d bother,” Reese said. “Obviously the woman is bleeding rich. If she’d really wanted to sell me, you and the rest of us into slavery, she could have just hired someone to do it long before now.”

“I wonder who she is,” Kis’eh’t murmured. “Who would know an Eldritch? One who left his world? It’s most peculiar.”

“Maybe we could meet her,” Sascha said.

Irine sniffed. “And get her to pay us.”

“For all I know she’s the Faerie Queen of Eldritches and he’s her errant prince,” Reese said. “Wondering about the assignment is pointless. I owe this person a debt and I’m going to pay it. If you don’t want to come along, I can… I can give you your severance pay in rooderberries. Since that’s all I’ve got left. Anyone want to leave?”

The silence was refreshing. And, though she didn’t want to admit it, a relief. She didn’t want to do this alone.

“Now,” Reese continued, “If you twins would be kind enough to set a course for Inu-Case, I would be obliged.”

Sascha rose and pulled his grumbling sister from the mess hall.

“The rooderberries will probably go bad if we keep them longer than it takes to get to Inu-case,” Kis’eh’t said, her voice quiet.

“We’ll have to hope we can sell them to whatever poor sots live there, then.” Reese sighed, stood. “I know it’s crazy.”

“Honor is the best form of craziness.” Bryer said.

Reese eyed him. “This is not about honor. This is just good sense. If someone loans you money, you pay them back.”

Bryer canted his head. Of all her crew, he struck her as the most alien. Even Allacazam, with its lack of eyes, mouth or even any obvious personality, seemed less threatening than Bryer with his whiteless eyes and narrow pupils. They made the Phoenix look wild, even though he rarely made a sudden move. “About more than money.”

“You’re right,” Reese said. “Now it’s about flying all over the galaxy posting people’s bail.”

Again, that steady stare. This time Reese ignored it and picked up Allacazam, watching its colors—his colors, she’d never been able to think of him as an it no matter what the u-banks said—flow to a muted lilac. “You’ll want to man your respective stations. We’ll be casting off in ten minutes.”

Kis’eh’t rose, stretching her hind legs and wings, then padded past her. Bryer followed. Reese watched them go, then dropped back into her chair with a sigh and petted the Flitzbe’s soft neural fibers. “I wish I was as sure about this as I have to seem to be.”

She heard a rising chime and saw a wash of muted lilac, Allacazam’s way of asking a question. She’d never questioned how they managed to communicate; few people in the Alliance truly understood the Flitzbe, and those who did weren’t exactly writing how-to communication guides for people like Reese. All she knew was that from the moment Allacazam had rolled into her life, things had felt easier. Not necessarily been easier, but at least felt that way.

“Of course I have to seem confident,” she said to him. “But still... an Eldritch? Slavers? I’m just a trader, not a hero. And I have crew now, they depend on me. I don’t want anything to do with something this dangerous.”

The Flitzbe assembled an image of her dressed in plate mail with a shining sword. Reese laughed shakily. “Right. That’s not my cup of tea. Speaking of which... I could use something for my stomach. And then to go check on the fuzzies to make sure they haven’t secretly diverted someplace more pleasant.”

The smell of sour yogurt tickled her nostrils and she hugged the Flitzbe. “No, I don’t honestly think that badly of them. It’s just that this is hard enough without having to explain it to them, too.” She sighed, ruffling the top of his fur. “Hopefully it’ll be quick and simple and we can drop the Eldritch off somewhere and that will be the end of that.”

She knew better. From the flash of maroon that washed over Allacazam’s body, so did he.