Racing the Sand & Konstantin: Two Short Stories

By Beth Powers

Racing the Sand (a fantasy short story): Someone--or something--is attacking travelers on the caravan road. But Rastaban doesn't know that. He wants to start someplace new, someplace where no one knows about the power he inherited from his mother. So he walks away, leaving his brother to cross the desert on his own. When Rastaban hears rumors about the attacks, he abandons his plans and races across the desert in an effort to reach his brother in time.

Konstantin (a science fiction short story): When his brother falls for a pretty face and unwittingly lets a threat on board, it is up to Konstantin to stop the hacker before it is too late. There's just one problem—Konstantin is the ship, with his brain hardwired to its systems. By attacking the ship's computer, the hacker is attacking him, and in order to gain complete control, she just might have to shut him down for good.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beth Powers
• Release date: Aug 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301089574

Beth Powers

Beth Powers writes science fiction and fantasy stories. She once wrote a tome about women and pirates in order to become a doctor of piratical tales. When she's not writing, Powers researches properties across the country and throughout time. She lives in Indiana with her cats.

Book preview

Racing the Sand

a fantasy short story

AND

Konstantin

a science fiction short story

by

Beth Powers

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Racing the Sand Copyright 2012 by Beth Powers

Konstantin Copyright 2012 by Beth Powers

Cover Design by Beth Powers

Published by Beth Powers at Smashwords, 2013

Racing the Sand First Printed in Shelter of Daylight, April 2012

Konstantin First Printed in Shelter of Daylight, October 2012

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Smashwords License Statement:

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Racing the Sand

I raced time across the desert as the mare’s hooves pounded the rhythm on the packed sand of the caravan path. My eyes strained against the sunlight while the horizon melted into the sky. The merciless desert dunes met my gaze, stretching on forever. Mountains loomed on my right, but everywhere else, I was surrounded by empty sand. The caravan path I had planned to take with my brother that morning wound around the mountains. No other travelers were in sight as it surged ahead of me. I was alone with the pounding hoof beats of my mare.

Hours before, I had turned my back on my younger brother, Machaon, left him shouting my name in the market square. I was half-surprised he hadn’t tried to follow me, but I let the din of the waking market drown out the sound of his voice. From that point forward, I planned to be no one’s brother. I was a man alone in the land of Morraian.

Wanting to get out of this morrai as quickly as possible, I set about purchasing a horse and supplies—Vanukan was too close to my father’s morrai, Kyaran. Perhaps I would go north to the mountains. Any destination would do, as long as it was far away. Machaon might object, but my family would be better off without me. My very existence caused too much trouble in the morrai.

As I made my way toward the horse trader’s tent, I noticed unusual excitement at the next stall. A young guardsman wearing the morr of Vanukan’s colors was speaking emphatically to a gathering crowd. From a distance, I only caught snatches of his words. —at least eight feet tall—a spirit, a beast!…hunts the caravan road, attacking anything that moves…the tribes fear it…wears crimson…unnatural…preys on lone travelers.

I dismissed it as an overzealous young man making monsters from ordinary bandits. I was not unfamiliar with the idea. But as I moved on, my mind traveled an alarming path. Since Machaon hadn’t followed me, he’d surely continued on to