I love going back to revisit my interstellar cruise liner, the Nebula Zephyr as the ship cruises through the futuristic human civilization known as The Sectors.  I’ve written a number of books and novellas centered on events aboard the ship now and find the whole cruise setup lends itself to telling a good scifi romance adventure tale. Readers new to my world don’t need to know a lot of backstory to enjoy the events, and for those who have read others in the series, it’s a nice return to see some favorite characters (I hope!).

I started with the concept of the pet because that drove my plot for the original book because it was to be part of the Pets in Space 3 anthology (no longer available). For some reason I kept seeing a mental picture of a Siamese cat, but with a third eye. I thought a Siamese cat would be fairly easy and interesting for our talented artist Nyssa Juneau to turn into an alien feline. But I’ve done a cat and a catlike alien before although Midorri, the alien pet in several older titles actually is kind of a cross between a red panda and a tribble who acts like a cat. So I wanted something very different and I started thinking about what if the cat wasn’t actually a real animal at all? I ended up making F’rrh a ‘jenfellini’, which is something like a genie, living in a beautiful lacquered box. Visualize the gorgeous painted boxes that come from Russia.

Then, the tenuous link to Russia reminded me of the whole tragic story of the last Tsar and his family, and how they were murdered but for years rumors persisted one of the children might have survived. Various individuals claimed to be ‘Anastasia’ or another of the siblings, and of course there have been movies and plays written with that theme. I always flash back to the version with Yul Brynner (such an intense actor) and Ingrid Bergman because that movie was one of my mother’s favorites and also left the answer to the question of “Is she or is she not Anastasia?” somewhat open at the end. My daughters loved the animated fantasy version of the tale, with the voices of Meg Ryan and John Cusack, when they were growing up.

So I had the heroine – a possible princess on the run – but how could she fit into the Nebula Zephyr? Since the hero would be one of the former Special Forces soldiers who make up the ship’s security force, I had to be able to make the two interact and fall in love in a situation fraught with danger and suspicion.

I’ve wanted to do a story about the Comettes dance troupe which performs aboard the cruise liner since I wrote my very first published scifi romance, Wreck of the Nebula Dream (a sister ship of sorts to the one I write about nowadays). Dancing is a skill a maybe princess might have at a high level, right? So let her be a new member of the dancers….throw in a fabulous jewel and we have the story!

Micki, who is a secondary character here, helped Tassia with the audition and has been a really good friend to her ever since, so she definitely deserved her own book.

VS: STAR CRUISE DREAM DANCER is actually the sequel to STAR CRUISE MYSTERY DANCER, although they can be read as standalones. Micki is the main female character in the later book.

The Excerpt – Tassia tries out for the Comettes:

Sure enough, Tassia’s number was posted as part of the callbacks for round two, as was Micki’s.

The remaining applicants were given an hour to change and stretch and prepare. Chatting to each other amiably, the judges left the room by a door on the far side.

“Aren’t you going to change?” Micki asked curiously. She was putting on a pretty spangled costume accenting the color of her hair and eyes.

“Nothing to change into.” Tassia shrugged. She’d decided a long time ago not to be embarrassed about things she couldn’t alter. Leaning her head against the wall, she ran through the steps in her mind of the ritual dance she’d decided to perform as a solo. It was artistic, graceful, and technical. Maybe the wrong choice for this audition, where the job was to be in a popular entertainment ensemble, with an audience of tourists, bored interstellar businessmen, and a sprinkling of rich Socialites, but it was all she had to offer. Her core training was from the temple of her childhood, enriched a bit by other dance styles she’d studied in bits and pieces along the way. But in this environment today, under all the stress, it was best to dance from the heart. A loud noise in the corridor outside startled her, raising her pulse, then one eyelid began to twitch with stress. I’ve got to calm down or I don’t stand a chance. Tassia tried to regulate her breathing and ran through a few simple stretches.

“I could lend you a scarf.” Biting her lip, Micki pulled a large floral print length of material from her dance bag. “Make it into a sarong skirt maybe?”

Tassia sat on the floor to begin more advanced exercises. Pulling her hamstring or suffering any other injury for lack of preparation would be a disaster.

Micki floated the scarf in front of her face. “Honey, take it. You don’t want to come across as too desperate, like you gotta have the job or you won’t eat again. Makes them wonder why you’re so hard up, y’know?”

There was logic in the thought so, with murmured thanks, she accepted the fabric square. As she played with her steps and the gauzy material, she realized it would integrate well into her routine and serve as a nice accent.

All too soon the second phase of the audition began with the thirty women remaining. Again Tassia watched intently to see what the director seemed to like. She found her gaze straying to the lone man, the security officer, and sharply reprimanded herself. He had no reason to doubt her story, her fake papers were impeccable, and—even if he was handsome in a roughhewn way—well there was no time in her life for dalliance. Even if she made it to the ship.

Micki’s solo was full of energy and sexy moves, and the judges reacted very favorably, making notes on their handhelds and smiling. Her infectious grin and all those curls were hard to resist.

Tassia refused to let herself feel nerves. She’d done this dance thousands of times, under Madame Xandrina’s exacting eye. She wouldn’t fail either her late dance mistress or herself.

The music was generic, a piece chosen by each dancer from a standard audition set that worked with the tempo she needed.

Rising onto her toes, arms gracefully arranged to the sides, fingers curved in exact placement as tradition demanded, Tassia heard the first note and stepped into the swirling, complicated routine, meant to praise a goddess and now intended to get her a job and a safe way off the planet before her ruthless pursuers caught up to her. About half way through she integrated the scarf, loosening it from her waist then swirling it through the air to complement her own motions, allowing the fabric to drift gracefully to the ground as she completed the dance in the final position.

There was a moment of silence then the applause was long and hard. Tassia bowed her head, curtsied, grabbed the scarf, and ran from the floor.

Micki caught her in a hug. “Wow, amazing routine. What the seven hells are you doing auditioning for a cruise ship? Even if it is the Comettes. Lady, you should be on an Inner Sectors stage as a soloist.”

“Do you think they liked it?” Tassia played with the scarf, running it through her fingers. She was breathing harder than she should be, even considering the dance she’d just completed, and felt flushed and light headed. Nerves, no doubt.

Nodding enthusiastically, Micki said, “If you don’t get into the finals I’ll be amazed.”:

 

STAR CRUISE MYSTERY DANCER

Tassia Megg is a woman on the run after the death of her elderly guardian. She needs to get off the planet in a hurry when chance directs her to an open dance audition for the luxury cruise liner Nebula Zephyr’s resident troupe. One thing Tassia can do is dance.

Security Officer Liam Austin is suspicious of the newest performer to join the Comettes. She shows all the signs of being a woman on the run and seems to fit the Sectors-wide broadcast description of a missing thief, accused of stealing priceless artifacts. As he gets to know Tassia during the cruise, he starts to wonder if she’s something more – a long vanished princess in hiding from deadly political enemies of her family perhaps?

And what’s the story with the three eyed feline companion other crew members swear Tassia brought aboard the ship? Does the animal even exist?

As the ship approaches its next port of call, all the issues come to a boil and Liam must decide if he’ll step in to help Tassia or betray her. F’rrh the alien cat is the key to the mystery and Tassia’s fate.

A science fiction romance take on the Anastasia tale…

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