by
- Triple Strike: Threads of Fate
- Triple Strike: Pasts Revisited
- Triple Strike: A Gathering Storm
Pages: 246
Size: 5.50 x 8.50 in
Pages: 244
Romance may be in the atmo when Colin joins the Merry Swallow’s crew on the beautiful ocean planet of Merak, but for Alan, it’s just another day working the most important and stressful case of his career. Yet Alan’s woes are only beginning. Not only does the pirate confederacy have ties to both the pyrean navy and human corporations, pyrean separatists have gotten involved, and Alan’s employers are about to advance their own agenda, whether or not Alan supports it.
Worse yet, the case is more personal than Alan could have realized. Steele, the man who murdered Sven’s sister thirty years prior is not only alive and well, but ready to return to the public eye in grand, and bloody, fashion — and he has his sights set on the Swallow.
A storm is on the horizon, and as Alan’s fragile happiness aboard the Swallow comes to an end, the only question remaining is — when the storm breaks, will he and Sven be able to weather it?
A Gathering Storm is the third book in the Triple Strike series, and it includes seven illustrations plus additional bonus content and comics.
Publisher: Akula Games
Illustrators:
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Tropes: Aliens Among Us, Benevolent Aliens, Found Family, FTL, Interspecies Romance, Interstellar Travel, Space Detectives, Space Pirates
Word Count: 65000
Setting: Interstellar
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
Tropes: Aliens Among Us, Benevolent Aliens, Found Family, FTL, Interspecies Romance, Interstellar Travel, Space Detectives, Space Pirates
Word Count: 65000
Setting: Interstellar
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
Despite everything — the wooziness, the pain in his muscles, the sheer discomfort of this miserable tin can vessel — Colin couldn’t help a gasp of awe. Earth had plenty of legends about dragons, but Colin had never imagined he’d encounter one in real life. For all of Earth’s biodiversity, for all of Colin’s travels beyond the solar system and across the galaxy, he’d never seen anything like this. Before them was not a fish, but a god, soaring through the black depths of her icy domain. Chasing after such a creature was insanity. It was no wonder only children of Shark Ancestor dared to fight for survival in this dark, unforgiving kingdom.
The harpooner shouted something, before a new set of warning sirens went off. Colin glanced at Valtra, and her face, previously frozen in a fierce smile of the hunt, turned grim.
“She’s diving,” Valtra explained in United Pyrean. “Depending on how fast the other ships get here, the harpoon may not hold.”
READ MOREColin’s heart pounded in his ears. This was a life and death battle — not only for the sveltnas and the crew, but for him as well. If the Esper succeeded, the sveltnas would die. If the Esper failed, her whole crew would be lost.
As if in response to these thoughts, the warning sirens grew more shrill, and the whole vessel started to shake with increased urgency. A number of crew members shouted readouts from their terminals, but Nina’s voice cut through the din. Even without knowing the words, Colin heard the clear, cold orders in her tone.
The harpooner typed something into the terminal before pulling at the analogue levers by the side of their console. It seemed something wasn’t working, because their voice grew increasingly panicked as they responded to Nina’s questions.
“Their quick release is broken,” Valtra explained, and her voice remained calm despite the turbulence shaking the Esper. “The sveltnas won, and she’s gonna pull us down if we can’t disengage the harpoon.”
The harpooner pulled off their harness and stumbled toward a side panel, which housed a sequence of emergency levers. Unlike the rest of the deck’s interior, which was smooth and modern, this panel connected to a series of old-fashioned metal lines that looked like they belonged on a sailing ship of old rather than a top-of-the-line Vodneel submersible. Colin didn’t know the first thing about this vessel, but he guessed these connected directly to the harpoon lines, providing a last-ditch effort to free the ship.
Valtra snarled a series of Vodneean curses as she too unbuckled her safety belt.
COLLAPSE
