Susan Hayes's Blog: Susan Hayes

It was supposed to be a business trip… How did it turn into a fight for survival?

If she doesn’t want her business to wind up as broken as her newly voided marriage contract, Madison needs a miracle. Too bad for her, the universe is all out. Her ship’s was shot down, her plans have exploded, and her best chance at staying alive is a brooding beast of an alien with horns, fangs, and a possessive streak as wide as the Milky Way.

She’s been hurt too often to trust easily, but there’s no way to survive without his help. He’s the most dangerous male she’s ever met… a threat to their enemies and her heart.

**Buckle up. This sci-fi romance contains an alien with fur, fangs, horns, and a very possessive attitude when it comes to the woman he’s claimed for his own.

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CHAPTER ONE

For something touted as a luxury cruise vessel, the rooms aboard the Bountiful Harvest were surprisingly small. Maddison had already made a note to address that issue along with a host of other concerns she had about her newly acquired business. Damn her ex-husband to the void. He’d followed the exit clause of their marriage contract to the letter. At least on paper. The idea of a galactic dating cruise had looked like a good offer until she’d gotten her hands on the reports that now lay strewn across the table. She’d scanned everything and tasked an AI to summarize it all.

That report was now on her tablet, and it told a different, very depressing story.

She set down the device she’d been reading and sighed. “These contracts can’t be enforceable. What they’re offering isn’t legal anywhere in the known systems.”

The silver-haired woman across from her nodded in agreement. This wasn’t news. Not really. They’d talked about this more than once, and Loris knew everything she did. Probably more, given the woman’s uncanny ability to glean information from even the most innocuous of conversations.

She took a moment to look at her friend. Loris was tall and rangy, with long legs currently crammed into too-little space. She’d been a soldier once, and she still walked with the brash swagger of someone who had met death and walked away with most of her body and soul intact.

Loris had been with her for more than a decade. Originally hired by her now ex-husband as security, Loris had become her confidante, advisor, and dear friend. When she’d walked out of her former home, she’d left almost everything behind, but Loris had stayed with her.

She was more than a friend. She was a source of strength and unwavering support, even during the darkest parts of Maddison’s life. Those dark days were over, but a new storm was brewing. Donny Cappa, her ex, had given her everything he’d agreed to in the marriage contract he and her father had hammered out fifteen years ago.

He’d gotten the best of her father back then, and he’d done the same thing to her now. The Bountiful Harvest had been a luxury liner once, the business both beneficial and profitable. Time and circumstances had changed things.

The ship needed extensive upgrades on everything imaginable. The list of deferred maintenance items was shocking, and the estimated cost of it all was… she held back a sigh. The costs were more than she could manage. Once the cruise was over, she’d have to put together a business plan and start applying for loans.

She couldn’t risk a partnership or investor support, not when her ex had so clearly set her up. Anyone she would consider approaching might already have been told not to deal with her, and that was the lesser fear.

The bigger concern would be if she inadvertently sought help from someone her ex had already corrupted or coerced. Apparently, he hadn’t humiliated and hurt her enough during their nightmare of a marriage. The bastard was determined to ruin the rest of her life, too.

She would not let that happen. Nor would she allow the company she now owned to continue doing business with anyone who saw the human women on board as commodities instead of living beings. The crew did their best to protect the passengers, but desperation made some of the women make decisions no woman should ever have to consider.

Human females were reproductively compatible with a number of different species, but in many cases the arrangements were little more than slavery. Humans had never been asked to become signatories of the Unified Agreement of the GLAR, so they had almost no protections.

Some saw them as vermin to be exterminated. Others considered them to be useful minions. Then, there were the ones that the agents for the Bountiful Harvest seemed to cater to these days. They thought of human women as exotic pets at best and breeding stock at worst.

She had no doubt that her ex had moved the business in that direction intentionally. It meshed too well with his own thoughts on women to be a coincidence.

She caught herself tensing her feet and forced herself to relax. Other people stiffened their shoulders or curled their hands into fists when they got stressed. She had learned not to do anything that could be seen as a reaction to her ex’s words or deeds. When she felt stressed or unhappy, she scrunched her toes instead. It was one of the many behaviors she’d adapted to avoid her ex’s notice.

Once she’d calmed herself, she noticed Loris had a distant look and a hard set to her jaw. She knew what that meant.

“You’re doing it again,” Maddison said softly.

Loris shrugged as her expression shifted to one of carefully crafted indifference. “What?”

“You’re listening to the wrong voices.” Loris had used that line on her more than once.

Loris scoffed and tapped a finger to her temple. “I’m alone in here. No voices of any kind.”

“You’re too hard on yourself,” Maddison said, her voice gentle.

Loris gave a curt nod of acknowledgment, but her hands tightened into fists.

That small sign of anger was enough to make Maddison want to pull away. Loris would never hurt her, but life with Donny had taught her to retreat from any sign of violence. Maddison hated herself every time it happened, but it would take more than a few months of freedom to undo fifteen years of conditioning.

Instead of retreating, Maddison stood from her chair and leaned toward Loris. She forced a laugh as she moved to put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. She understood the source of Loris’s anger now, which helped. “I know that look. You’re thinking about my former husband.”

They never said his name out loud. In part, because invoking his memory always darkened the mood, but there was more to it than that. She’d learned not to use his name when they’d lived together, because he was always listening. Always ready to dole out punishments if he thought she’d said something unflattering about him.

That fear still lingered. It didn’t matter that he was on the other side of the galaxy. Part of her still worried that he would come back one day.

Loris patted her hand. “I imagined what his face would look like if we launched him out of an airlock and into the void. You should try it sometime. It’s cheaper than therapy.”

“Tsk. Tsk.” Maddison pretended to be scandalized, but the idea did have some appeal. “You know I love you, but it still worries me that you have moments when you sound like a psychopath.”

“I’m not a psycho. I’m a soldier. There’s a difference.”

Maddison lifted one brow but said nothing. What could she say that wouldn’t alienate her dearest friend? She would never understand how anyone could deliberately hurt someone else.

“There is. When I choose violence, it’s because I’m protecting someone or something I value. A client. An ideal…” Loris covered Maddison’s hand with her own. “Or a friend.”

This was the one thing they never agreed on. Maddison believed that violence was never the answer. Loris saw things differently.

“I hope you never have to make that choice again. At least, not for me. I want nothing but a calm, quiet life where I can do something that matters.”

That’s what Maddison wanted now, a chance to build something meaningful. If that was too much to achieve, at the very least, she wanted to do more good than harm.

Maddison moved her hand off Loris’s shoulder to gesture around the small cabin. “I think this company has potential. It could be exactly what I need. The personnel can stay, for the most part, but everything else needs an update. Including this ship.”

She liked the crew of the Harvest. They were kind and competent, most of them seeming to want their passengers to achieve their goals and find some semblance of happiness by the time the cruise came to an end. In fact, some of them had become even more engaged and considerate of those still on board. Maddison felt for them, too. They were all good people, but for a variety of reasons, they had not found a match.

Then again, that might not be such a bad thing. While some of the passengers had found promising arrangements, Maddison now knew that many of them had agreed to contracts that, at best, gave them money in exchange for companionship and, at worst, were little more than breeding contracts.

Loris tipped her head in agreement. “I hope so. It would be nice to think that romance isn’t entirely gone from the galaxy. Who knows?” her friend added with a small grin. “Once you’ve gotten this company sorted out, maybe you’ll find a nice fellow who falls madly in love with the owner.”

The idea made her stomach tie itself in knots. Trust another man after what she’d endured? No. “I doubt that’s in the cards for me. But I have every intention of using this matchmaking business to find someone worthy of you.”

Loris threw back her head and laughed. “Me? Stars, no. I’m quite happy on my own, thank you. Love is for other people. The ones with kindness in their hearts and hope in their souls. You know damned well I have neither of those things.”

That wasn’t true. Loris did have a kind heart, though she didn’t show that side of her to many people. “You are one of the kindest—” Maddison never got to finish her sentence.

The deck beneath their feet heaved and then dropped, making her lose her balance. A second later, alarms erupted from every speaker, filling the cabin with noise that could only mean one thing. Something terrible had happened. Fear closed an icy fist around her chest and squeezed. For a split second, panic overwhelmed her, but then Loris’s firm voice drew her back from the brink.

“Go bag. Now. Get it and meet me at my cabin door. Move!” Loris was out the door a moment after she spoke the last word.

Maddison obeyed without question. They’d drilled this sort of scenario until her reactions were automatic. If there was trouble, she followed Loris’s directions quickly and without question. Until now, drills were all she’d ever done.

She stuffed the data tablet she’d been using into the go bag. In a moment of insight, she kicked off her dress shoes and grabbed the pair of runners she used when she went to the ship’s gym. Her hands shook as she pulled them on, and her mind raced as she tried but failed to make sense of the alerts and announcements coming through the speakers.

All she knew for certain was that something had gone wrong. That meant that the ship, the crew, and all her plans for the future were in jeopardy… and so was she.

Want to keep reading? Marked For Havoc releases Jan 16th. 2026 Grab your copy HERE!

The only thing that ever came easy for her was trouble.

 After a lifetime of busting her ass and bending the law just to scrape by, Hezza is running on fumes. Her ship is even older than she is, and both are feeling their age. Is she ready to retire? Hell no. Hanging up her flight suit is the last thing she wants, even if it’s the smart thing to do.

Before she can make that choice, though, trouble finds her again… and this time it comes with a double order of hard muscles, sinful smiles, and alpha attitude.

They had nothing. No past. No future. No names. Then she appeared… and everything changed.

Subjects Six and Seven are failed experiments. Created in secret using banned technology and stolen DNA, they were crafted as weapons for a not-so-distant war. Too stubborn to be controlled and too valuable to terminate, they exist only to serve… and to dream of freedom.

Fate brought three battered hearts together, but it will take more than luck to survive the coming storm. Hezza is their key to happiness, and the cyborgs are her first rays of hope in a life spent in the shadows. Together, they’re going to change the galaxy… or die trying.

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Hezza leaned back in her chair and let her eyes close most of the way.

To really sell the idea that she was relaxed and indifferent to what was happening, she made a conscious effort to slouch down in her chair as far as the restraints allowed.

The pair of overzealous dock security dipsticks had cuffed her hands and feet to the chair. Not only that, but they’d placed her in a room with bare plasteel walls, a floor liberally covered in mysterious stains, and three shabby, dented metal furnishings. One was the chair she sat on. The other two were a table with a matching chair on the far side. As far as she could tell, all of it was bolted to the deck to prevent the inhabitants from what? Throwing it at the walls? Using the chair as a weapon? Probably both.

This was the kind of place where you housed a dangerous fugitive, and there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in a supernova she fit that description. It was strangely flattering but hardly an accurate assessment. She was a smuggler, not a killer. The only things she was capable of murdering were fried foods and ice cream.

The thought made her smile, which she had no doubt the cameras would catch and display to whoever was watching her. Someone would be watching. They always did. Anything she said or did now would be tossed back in her face once the questions started. She knew how the game was played. This was the waiting period, when she was left on her own to marinate in her fear. No one would show up until she was tenderized and compliant. At least, that’s what they taught the rent-a-cops in places like this.

Carnax was like every other back-system station she’d visited. They barely broke even on refueling contracts and providing replacement parts to any ship unlucky enough to break down this far from civilized space.

She wasn’t here for fuel or repairs, though. She’d been here for a job. It was supposed to be a simple in-and-out cargo pickup—easy work, no fuss, no muss, and no questions asked.

Looking back now, she probably should have asked some fraxxing questions, starting with who had made the request in the first place. When she got out of here, she’d have a long, colorful chat with Sasha. Either he was getting sloppy, or he’d been paid to set her up. Either way, she’d make sure his reputation as a broker tanked after this.

If she got out of whatever-the-void trouble this turned out to be. For the moment, all she knew was what security had told her. She was being detained for acts in violation of the Unified Galactic Agreement. Which was normally corporate speak for, “We’ll let you know what the charges are once we’ve determined how many credits worth of fines you can pay.”

This time, though, things felt different. Like maybe she was in serious trouble.

Hezza had to remind herself to stay relaxed as she pondered what this could be about. She’d always preferred to bend laws instead of breaking them completely. Sure, her current cargo included a few items she hoped port-sec didn’t inspect too closely. The embryos in the cargo pods were marked as domestic chickens destined for a colony world. However, odds were good they were something far more exotic, expensive, and only available on the black market.

Moving illegal cargo didn’t bother her, so long as it didn’t break one of her rules. She didn’t transport slaves, drugs, or weapons. Every broker she used knew this. Of course, most of the brokers she knew were already retired and enjoying a life of leisure, likely funded through years of skimming profits and pocketing bribes.

Now that she thought about it, most of her friends were retired too—some by choice yet others because they’d be incarcerated for the rest of their lives. As far as she was concerned, there wasn’t much difference. Both meant staying in one place and doing the same thing day after day. No thank you.

The problem was, she couldn’t keep flying cargo forever. She wasn’t slow, but the Desperate Gambit couldn’t keep up with the newest ships out there. Both she and her ship were losing business to younger, hungrier pilots.

She slumped deeper into her chair. Getting old sucked.

Three minutes later, Hezza told herself to quit wallowing. She had more immediate problems to deal with. She went over the list of probable reasons she was in custody. The most likely cause was also the easiest to understand. No good deed went unpunished.

River was a decent being who’d had more than her share of suffering. The cyborg had come to her with money in hand and a contingency plan in case things went sideways.

Turned out, things hadn’t just gone sideways. They’d gone full nova. River’s contingency plan had kicked in, and Hezza made sure the cyborg made it to her chosen destination. Had she broken a few laws to do it? Yes. Would she do it again? Abso-fraxxing-lutely.

That didn’t mean she had no regrets. Things had gotten messy. Edge, the grumpy, self-appointed leader of the cyborgs, had demanded Hezza reveal where River had gone. Then the damned fool had gone after her. One cyborg leaving the colony was a problem. Two? That set off all kinds of panic. Various factions had learned of her involvement, and she’d had to lay low.

Apparently, she hadn’t laid low enough. A message from River had caught up with her a few days ago. The good news was that she and Edge were fine and had handled the asshole hunting River. The bad news? The fallout from their actions was still ongoing. Nova Force was still looking for Hezza, and it would be best if she stayed out of sight for the time being.

If she’d been smart, she would have taken the warning more seriously. She should have gone dark and drifted somewhere in the big black. Instead, she’d gotten cocky and assumed no one could find her.

Hezza uttered a sigh. Given her current situation, it was apparent someone had found her. That left her with two questions. Who had set this trap, and what did they want?

Odds were good she wasn’t going to like the answers.

She had no way to check the time, but it had to have been more than an hour since someone had made an appearance.

She’d been listening for footsteps outside the door to her cell or at least a click as they let themselves in. Instead, she heard a low, electronic hum followed by a soft chuckle.

“That does not look comfortable,” a familiar voice drawled.

Hezza’s eyes snapped open, and she straightened in her chair. “Phylomenia Harrington, what the fraxx are you doing on my wall?”

The silver-haired woman on the monitor laughed. “Your wall? Did you take over the port security office already?”

“I could have, but they gave me some pretty bangles, so I’ve decided to behave.” She raised both wrists as far as the cuffs would allow, to show off the restraints.

“Qarf. They weren’t supposed to do that.” Phylomenia turned to glare at someone out of view. “Did you tell them to restrain her?”

“I told them she was a potential flight risk,” a deep male voice replied.

“And you wonder why people distrust those in authority. This is why, Scott Archer. You and I are going to talk about this.”

Archer. Hezza felt like she should recognize the name, but nothing popped into her head. Phylomenia had left the life a few years back. Whoever this guy was, she must have met him after she went straight.

“So all of this is your fault,” Hezza stated. It had to be true, but it made no sense. Phylomenia was not exactly a friend, but they’d been in the same orbit most of the time. She was someone whose word you could trust, and they’d had a few laughs and drinks over the years.

Phylomenia gave her a rueful smile. “All of it? No. You got yourself into this mess, Hez. I’m here to offer you a way out.”

“From what? No one here will tell me what I’m charged with.”

“That’s because they weren’t given the details. And you’re not under arrest. You’re being detained for questioning.” Phylomenia arched a brow. “And don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about. You helped not one but two dangerous cyborgs escape from Haven colony.”

That made her laugh. “They’re no more dangerous than anyone else you and I have done business with. Hell, they’re a lot better than some I could name.”

Phylomenia’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t just help them out for money? You actually like these cyborgs?”

Hezza raised her head and stiffened her shoulders in response to Phylomenia’s tone. What did the woman have against cyborgs?

 “They’re decent beings who got a raw deal from the day they climbed out of their maturation vats. So yeah, I like them.”

“Enough to help one get off the planet she was legally required to stay on, and to hell with the consequences?” Phylomenia asked.

“Keeping them on Liberty was a bullshit call that should never have happened. As for what I did? It wasn’t about the money. River needed help, and there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in a supernova that anyone from the corporations or the military was going to step up. It was about doing the right thing.”

She leaned forward as far as her restraints would allow. “Was a time you’d have done the same thing. What changed?” It wasn’t the question she should have asked, but it was out of her mouth before she could reconsider.

Instead of the rebuke she expected, Phylomenia’s expression softened, and she chuckled again. “Sorry, Hez. I needed to be sure you were on the right side of this mess. I didn’t change, but you could have, and that would mean you’re not the one we need right now.”

“I heard a lot of words, and none of them told me a damned thing. What in the void is going on, Phyl?”

The woman on the screen gestured with both hands, and two men joined her. They were older but still fit with neatly trimmed gray hair and a physical presence that screamed of military training.

“These are my husbands, Scott Archer and Garrett Michaels. Archer negotiated the original deal with the Vardarians for Liberty.”

“They got the planet for colonization, but they had to take the cyborgs the rest of the galaxy was too scared to deal with.” Hezza knew the story. “Which means he’s the bakaffa who made it so none of the cyborgs could ever leave.”

She intentionally used the Vardarian insult to remind the others of her ties to the colony. Her daughter and her mates all lived in Haven.

“It was necessary at the time,” one of the men said. She assumed he was Archer.

“And it was never intended to last forever. You know what corporations are like, Hez. Everything is a negotiation. They wanted to try for more before agreeing to anything else.”

“How much longer will they be stuck?” Hezza asked.

Archer answered, “That’s being discussed right now. I can’t give you an answer because I’m retired and out of the loop. But it won’t be long. Too much has happened.”

Well, that was good news. It didn’t explain what they wanted with her, though. “I’m glad to hear it. Now what does this have to do with me?”

Phylomenia’s expression turned stormy. “There’s another research base. The Interstellar Armed Forces are sending a small fleet to investigate. Scott called in some favors and got us added as consultants. It’s not that we don’t trust them to make the right call…”

Hezza understood immediately. “They’re military, which means they’re going to make decisions based on their training.”

The other man grunted in agreement. “To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

Scott Archer shot the man a dirty look. “I’m not a hammer, thank you very much.”

“But sometimes you’re a tool.”

Phylomenia sighed. “Please ignore them. Their idea of flirting leaves a lot to be desired.”

Hezza grinned. “It’s kind of cute. I still need to know why we’re having this conversation, though. And I’d really like to get out of this chair.”

“Here’s the deal, Hez. We’re going on this mission, but we can’t interfere too much. We’re just advisors. We need someone who can do something if things go nova.”

“You want me along as your backup plan. I’m interested, but I still don’t understand how you’re going to convince the IAF to let me tag along.”

“That’s easy. This is likely to be another cyborg research and development station. The cyborgs of Haven have requested representation on this mission. Since none of them are allowed to leave the planet yet, they’ve designated someone to speak for them.”

“Me?” Hezza nearly choked on the word.

“You,” Phylomenia confirmed with only a hint of a smile. “The job’s yours if you want it.”

She couldn’t turn down the offer or the honor it represented. Still, she did have a reputation to live up to. “I’m interested,” she said, trying to sound casual. “But first I need to know. What does this gig pay?”

Releasing October 3rd!

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She thought she was too old for adventure… until it blew up her ship.

Protecting her client while they cruised around the galaxy was easy work—at least until all hell broke loose. Now Loris is stuck on a hostile planet with poisonous flora, dangerous fauna, and a cocky-as-hell alien with big horns, broad shoulders, and an ego the size of a planet.

She needs to do her job. He’s decided she needs him. The longer they’re together, the more she wonders if he might be right…or if she’s losing her mind as well as her heart.

**Buckle up. This sci-fi romance contains an alien with fur, fangs, horns, and a very possessive attitude when it comes to the woman he’s claimed for his own.

**As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases**

Birds were her only passion… until she met him.

Rin has dedicated her life to the study of birds. When the military uncovers a lost project that results in a new avian species, they hire Rin to investigate what they’ve created… and how to best use their newest assets.

Rin wants more for her subjects than a life of risk and servitude, but keeping secrets from the military is a dangerous game… especially when playing alone.

**Publisher’s note:  This story was previously released as part of the Pets In Space 8 Anthology. If you bought the anthology, you already own this romance story.

**As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases**

This cyborg thought he was better off on his own… then he found her.

 Infantry scout. Prisoner. Unwilling test subject. Axe has been many things in his life, but most of it he spent alone. Freedom hasn’t changed that. He protects the colony from a distance—patrolling the wild places others avoid.

He thought he had everything he needed until a chance encounter changes everything. Now he’s got a psychic hawk in his head and a bright and cheerful scientist sneaking into his heart.

She needs his protection. The psy-hawks need his help. And Axe is about to discover that a life of solitude isn’t what he wants after all.

She’s ready to move on to the next chapter of her life — She just never expected it could be a love story.

Jody Clark has been many things over the years: a doctor, a wife, and a divorced single mother. Now, there’s just one more thing she needs to do – for once in her life, she’s going to put herself first.

An unexpected invitation to Haven colony comes at the perfect moment. A new home and new challenges are just what she needs to kick-start her time of self-discovery. At least, that’s what she thought…

Haven isn’t as peaceful as its name implies. There are hidden threats, secret societies, and most dangerous of all, a pair of sexy alien silver foxes that are as alluring as they are off-limits.

Two alien healers who cannot mend their broken hearts are about to meet the cure…  

Tariq and Sulat are Vardarian anrik, blood-bound brothers destined to share their lives, a family, and a mate. When a tragic accident claimed the life of their mahaya, grief shattered their lives and ended their hopes for the future.

Joining the exodus to Haven seems like the best way to move forward and rebuild what remains of their family. Their new home is indeed a haven, but one under threat from outside forces and the pressures of traditions best left in the past.

Three healers willing to risk their lives to protect their patients… but do they have the courage to risk their hearts?

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Blast off into adventure with the eighth installment of PETS IN SPACE, a dynamic anthology of 11 never-before-seen science fiction romance stories! Rocket through the multi-verses brimming with heart-pounding escapades, swoon-worthy romances, and the best pet sidekicks ever!

Each story will pull you into the far-flung corners of the cosmos with intrepid heroes and heroines you’ll want to cheer for as they fight to save their world and find their happily ever afters. You’ll adore the furry, feathered, and scaly friends who have come to help their brave human companions on their quests.

This limited-edition anthology includes novellas by some of the biggest names in science fiction romance including USA TODAY bestselling authors R.J. Blain, Susan Hayes, Honey Phillips, Skye MacKinnon, Arizona Tape, Carol Van Natta, Tana Stone, S.J. Pajonas, Carysa Locke, JC Hay, plus award-winning authors Gail Koger and Elva Birch.

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She thought Cupid’s arrow would never find her… love sent a missile instead.

 Being the onboard matchmaker for an interstellar dating cruise isn’t the most exciting job in the world, but that’s fine. Joy likes things to be calm and orderly. Then the ship gets attacked and her captain orders her into an escape pod with two VIPs and instructions to keep everyone alive.

Crashing on an unknown planet is one excursion she never planned for. The wildlife is dangerous; the terrain is treacherous, and the only help available comes in the form of a tall, horned alien with the sex appeal of a rockstar and a stubborn streak wider than the Milky Way.

He’s certain she belongs to him. She’s convinced he’s crazy. She’s got a long list of reasons why it could never work, but the big, sexy alien has his charms… and he’s willing to use them all to get what he wants. Her.

After years of helping other’s look for love, this might be Joy’s chance to find it for herself… but only if she’s willing to take the risk.

**Buckle up. This sci-fi romance contains an alien with fur, fangs, horns, and a very possessive attitude when it comes to the woman he’s claimed for his own.

Order it NOW or check out Chapter One for FREE right now.

After nearly ten years at the same job, Joy had moments when she thought she’d seen it all. The universe invariably took that as a challenge and threw something even stranger her way, but this time the universe had outdone itself.

The entire cruise had been one what-the-hells moment after another. Several of the guests had gotten into a brawl while vying for the attentions of one particularly wealthy male looking for a match. The attention-grabbing and undignified display had resulted in the male raska-shi choosing to contract with all three women, though they didn’t discover that fact until after the mating contracts were signed.

That was why she encouraged their guests to carefully consider any offer before signing. She even gave a seminar on mating contracts and volunteered to act as an advisor, but rarely did anyone take her up on the offer. These women all wanted to escape their current lives and had convinced themselves that anything else was an improvement.

These days, most of them were simply trading one set of hardships for another. It hadn’t always been this way. When Joy had first joined Captain Perez and the crew of the Bountiful Harvest, their galactic matchmaking cruises had been exactly that—a chance for unattached males of various species to meet and mingle with human women. Sparks flew, romances blossomed, and while not every match was perfect, each cruise produced multiple success stories. As the ship’s event coordinator and matchmaker, Joy took pride in every match she helped to make.

As the years passed, though, things changed. Instead of life-mates, the males attending the events wanted breeders or concubines. Mating contracts that protected all the parties had morphed into cold-hearted business arrangements. Some bordered on conditions that resembled slavery more than anything remotely romantic.

“Captain, I think our event coordinator is broken,” First Officer Mika Hooper’s comment pulled Joy out of her dark thoughts and back to the present.

“What? Why?” She raised her head and looked over to the first officer’s workstation. It wasn’t necessary since Joy saw her environment through sensors and not with her eyes, but people reacted better if she made an effort to face their direction when conversing.

“I’ve never seen you make that face before.” Mika had scrunched her face up like she’d bitten into something sour. “In fact, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you without a smile. You usually have one plastered onto your face no matter what’s happening. I actually thought your face was frozen that way, you know, after the accident.”

Joy didn’t react to Mika’s goading. The woman took a perverse sort of pleasure in needling people, and Joy had learned to stay quiet and let the captain deal with it.

“Hooper.” Captain Jodi Perez’s tone was as cold as the void outside. “I’m not going to tell you again. You want to be a jerk, do it inside your own head. The rest of us don’t need to hear it.”

“What?” Hooper shrugged in a half-hearted attempt to look innocent. “She’s a smiler. That’s all I was saying.”

Joy returned to work. Space on the Harvest was limited, so she didn’t have an office. Instead, she used one of auxiliary workstations on the bridge, even though she wasn’t designated bridge crew. The close proximity also made it easy to keep the captain up to date with event scheduling and any problems that cropped up among their guests.

It was her job to keep the guests entertained and happy for the whole cruise, whether they were docked or in transit. At the beginning of each trip that was easy enough. All the passengers were hopeful and full of enthusiasm. They were in the final leg of the journey now, though, which meant the handful of guests still on board were dealing with rejection and self-doubt.

She understood exactly what they were going through. There’d been a time she’d had so many hopes and dreams for her own life… but that was long ago. Before the accident that took her sight and left her scarred and broken.

That’s why she poured her heart and soul into finding matches for the women who signed up for these matchmaking cruises. She wanted them to find the love and happiness she’d never have.

“Bashir. Do you have a few minutes?” Captain Perez asked.

“Of course, Captain. Out here or in your ready room?”

Jodi cocked her head to the side and then laughed. “You’re hoping for a coffee made from my personal stash. Aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” Joy admitted without a trace of guilt. Everyone on board knew the captain’s coffee was the best. No one had any idea where she got it from or what magical process made it so damned good.

“You caught me in a generous mood. Hooper, you have the bridge.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Hooper acknowledged.

Joy followed the captain off the bridge and into her office. It was barely bigger than a closet, but it provided the most valuable commodity on the ship—a chance to converse in private.

The moment the door closed, Jodi pointed back toward the bridge. “I wanted you to hear it first. That was Hooper’s final mistake. I intend to fire her the moment this trip is over.”

Joy nodded and exhaled in relief. “Thank you. She’s been… challenging to work with.”

Jodi snorted. “You mean she’s a bitch and a bully.”

“I did, but in my line of work, it pays to be diplomatic at all times.” If she filtered everything she said, it became easier to avoid slipping up and saying something harsh to a paying guest.

“I’d last about thirty seconds if I had to do your job.” Jodi sat down behind her small desk and gestured for Joy to do the same. “Speaking of which, anything I need to know? How are the remaining guests coping?”

“The usual issues. I’m concerned that some of them are desperate enough to be vulnerable to the predators who will be waiting to pounce at our next stop.”

“Have you told Maddison about that issue, yet?” Jodi asked while tapping a request for two coffees into the dispenser behind her.

Maddison Summers was the new owner of the Harvest. She’d come on board at their last stop and would travel with them for a time to get to know the ship and her crew. No one knew much about her other than the fact she’d gotten ownership of the ship and the matchmaking cruise business as part of her divorce settlement with the previous owner.

“Not yet. I have a meeting scheduled with her this afternoon, and I’ll explain the problem then. That way she can see it for herself when we reach our next destination.”

Jodi grimaced. “I can’t stand watching it happen and knowing we can do nothing to stop it.”

“Me either. Hopefully Maddison will hate it just as much, and we can convince her to make some changes.”

The conversation paused while the captain turned to retrieve two steaming mugs of coffee from the dispenser. She pushed one across the desk to Joy… and then all hell broke loose.

The deck beneath her bucked and shuddered hard enough her cup of coffee spilled and rolled off the table.

Jodi jumped to her feet with her cup still in her hand. “Shit! Back to your station.”

They rushed back onto the bridge.

“Report! And someone mute those alarms already.” The captain’s voice was almost drowned out by a deep, metallic groan followed by several creaks that sounded like they came from the hull.

 Joy had never heard anything like it, but she knew it wasn’t a good sound. She hurried back to her station and strapped in. She’d gone over emergency procedures with the passengers so many times they should know what to do, but experience had taught her that at least some of them would panic. You can’t do anything about that right now, she reminded herself. The captain had ordered her to her station, so that’s where she’d stay.

“Hyperdrive engine two is offline, Captain. We’ve fallen back into normal space,” Hooper reported.

“Dammit! Get me engineering. They promised me their repairs would hold until we made port,” Jodi barked and then turned toward the ship’s helmsman. Where are we right now? Whose territory are we in?”

Because she wasn’t bridge crew, Joy had nothing to do but listen. What she heard next made the hairs on the back of her neck rise as a chill chased down her spine.

“We’re in… shit. I don’t understand how this happened, ma’am.” The helm officer stared at her monitor in obvious confusion. “According to the nav system, we’re in verexi space.”

That shouldn’t be possible. The verexi weren’t classified as a hostile race, but they were fiercely territorial, xenophobic, and a generally unpleasant species. They also considered humans to be lesser beings and refused to have anything to do with them. If they learned the Harvest was in their territory, they’d be more likely to attack than to offer assistance. She just had to hope they got out of here before that happened.

Judging by the captain’s stormy expression, her conversation with engineering wasn’t going well, though so many technical terms were flying around Joy couldn’t understand the details. Not that she needed to. Her job was to manage the guests, not the ship.

“Captain, we’ve got incoming fire,” Hooper almost shouted, her voice cracking slightly.

“Son of a bitch. Brace!” Jodi ordered. “Who fired? From where?”

More alarms sounded. The captain looked grim as she activated the ship-wide comms and called all off-duty personnel to the bridge.

The bridge door slid open a few seconds later, allowing Maddison Summers with her personal assistant—and sometimes bodyguard—Loris, to join them.

“What’s happening?” Maddison asked. Her complexion was ashen and she had the look of someone fighting back panic.

Jodi didn’t answer. Instead, she pointed to an empty chair. “Sit down, strap in, and shut up. I’ll explain if we live through the next few minutes.”

To her credit, Maddison didn’t protest. She just did as she was told.

The deck bucked again, and this time the lights flickered and died. The emergency lighting kicked in almost immediately, bathing the bridge in a reddish glow that did nothing to improve their situation.

Joy activated a feature of her coronet she rarely used while on the bridge and zoomed in to see what was showing on the captain’s display. Damage reports filled the screen. It only took a brief look to know the Harvest was in trouble. Now she understood why none of the off-duty staff had made it to the bridge. Multiple hull breeches had exposed parts of the ship to vacuum, making it almost impossible to reach their area. Maddison and Loris had only made it because the captain had given them her cabin, which was right next to the bridge.

Were her friends and coworkers alright? What about the passengers? No doubt they’d be losing their minds by now. “How many escape pods deployed?” Jodi asked.

“Six deployed. But those bastards have shot down three of them.” Hooper slammed her hands down on her console. We’re sitting ducks out here! We’re going to die.”

“Keep it together, Hooper. We’re not dead yet.”

“Ma’am, we have another problem,” the pilot called out over the din. “We’re falling into the gravity well of a planet, and we only have partial power to our normal engines.”

“Fuck!” Jodi swore, her composure cracking for a second. Then the captain schooled her features and got back to work.

“Joy, get me everything you can about that planet. Atmosphere, survivability. Can we breathe the air if we go down?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Joy called up the data and sent the pertinent information to the captain’s monitor. Everything she saw looked promising. The planet was uninhabited but had everything they’d need to survive until rescue.

The hull groaned, and the deck twisted and rippled as they dropped deeper into the planet’s gravity well.

The captain bowed her head in defeat as she opened the ship-wide comms again. “This is the captain. I’m ordering everyone to abandon ship. I repeat. Abandon ship.”

She turned toward Maddison and Loris. “That includes the two of you.”

“I should stay,” Maddison argued.

“No, ma’am. You need to board the command shuttle. Once we’re inside the atmosphere, the autopilot can handle the descent and landing on its own.”

“Where do we go?” Loris asked.

“That hatch over there,” Jodi pointed and then spun to face Joy. “Bashir, you go with them and see to their safety. I’m counting on you.”

Joy nodded and unclipped her harness.

“What the hell, Captain? You’re sending the blind party planner? What the hell can she do to protect the VIPs?” Hooper rose from her chair, her face flushed and eyes wild. “I’ll do it.”

“Hooper! You will sit your ass down right now. Your place is here, ensuring we do everything possible to bring this ship down intact.”

Joy moved quietly, trying to join Maddison and Loris and escort them to the access hatch without Hooper noticing.

It didn’t work.

The first officer uttered a deranged howl and hurled herself at Joy. One second she was on her feet, and the next she was flying through the air, and the floor was rising up to meet her. Then everything went black.

***

Ready for more? Marked For Risk releases April 11, 2023