Now taking excerpts from my newly published scifi romance COLONY UNDER SIEGE: INTERSTELLAR PLAGUE.

Here’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)

May be edited a bit from published version.

The excerpt: I’ve skipped ahead again, to the next day after the colony’s social gathering and Saffia’s ride with Micah the Chief Ranger. Now she’s at the clinic she runs, preparing for a day of seeing patients:

“Good morning, Dr. Mandell,” said Warby, her Medical Artificial Intelligence as she crossed the threshold into her office.

“Anything I need to know?” Tossing her jacket onto a chair, she sat behind the old fashioned desk.

“Other than test results you ordered yesterday, which have been uploaded to the proper patient files, there has been no event,” The AI’s voice sounded a bit wistful to Saffia although undoubtedly the effect was her imagination at work. This medAI wasn’t a registered sentient, only a specialized module.

“All right, I have to return a call and then we’ll commence with the appointments of the day,” She keyed the com.

Kayla Reff, her first friend here on Haven and manager of the spaceport, answered the call promptly, her image flickering a little. The equipment on the planet tended to be on the old side, well maintained but without all the modern enhancements. The fact both she and Kayla were from offplanet made for an extra bond between them. The colonists tended to be a bit standoffish toward those not born on Haven Two. Expression brightening, with a big smile, Kayla said, “Oh hey, doc.”

The rest of this excerpt: 

Seeing how relaxed her friend acted, Saffia sat back and let her initial worries about a crash or an explosion seep away. “You called? What’s up?”

“We’ve got a ship coming in, asking for the doctor. The Sparkling Streamer, how’s that for a name? From the details, seems to be an Inner Sector Socialite’s yacht.”

Saffia’s muscles tensed again at the mention of Socialites and drew a deep breath. She was the authority here. “What kind of emergency does the captain have?”

Kayla shrugged, blasé about the arrival of an elite ship. Of course she must see dozens of them during the tourist season. “He didn’t declare one but apparently they have a sick child on board. Wanted you to meet them at the spaceport.  The ship lands in about an hour.”

“I can’t abandon the clinic in the middle of the morning.”

The blurb: Newly graduated from a prestigious interstellar medical school, Dr. Saffia Mandell has been assigned to the Haven Two colony on the galaxy’s outer rim as the only doctor for some 2000 human residents. She’s counting the days until her five years there is up, trying to adjust to rural living after life in the crowded Inner Sectors and fighting her attraction to Chief Ranger Micah Navonn. She’s dreading the upcoming tourist season when the rich and pampered will descend on the planet for the scenic wonders and novel sports opportunities and no doubt inundate her little clinic but the colony depends on the seasonal income to survive.

As the senior official for his people, the Calinurra, the indigenous inhabitants of Haven Two, Micah enforces the treaty, regulates the tourist permits, patrols the forests and resists his fascination with Dr. Mandell. He never expected to be involved with a human woman and doesn’t want to believe in the concept of a fated mate. He wants to keep his life simple and isn’t ready for any long term commitment. Besides Saffia keeps proclaiming she’ll be leaving when her appointment is up in four and a half years so why should he risk his heart?

Then a ship arrives unexpectedly carrying a very ill little girl and soon the deadly virus is spreading through Haven Two. The colony authorities are desperate to cover up the problem to preserve the all-important tourist season and Saffia and Micah have to work together to battle the outbreak, the local administration and their undeniable feelings for each other.

Can the colony survive? And will Micah and Saffia be able to move past their fears about entanglements to act on the mutual attraction?

An 87K word novel of the far future…

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