A Laughing Owl

By A.C. Ellas

With their maiden voyage behind them, the crew of the Laughing Owl is sent on a mission to ferry scientists to an odd planet where, according to reports, Santa Claus has been sighted, flying high in a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Nobody’s sure what Santa’s up to—he hasn’t delivered a single present.

Captain Nick Steele agrees with the scientists who propose that Santa is a mass hallucination and probably the result of some unknown compound in the water, air or food. But Astrogator Cai isn’t so sure, because if Santa is a hallucination, everyone on the planet is having the same hallucination, identical to the smallest detail.

As Christmas approaches, will the crew of the Laughing Owl solve the mystery of the hallucinogenic Santa or will the man prove to be real by delivering presents in the dead of night?

• Language: English
• Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc
• Release date: Jan 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781487401528

Book preview

The colonists all report seeing the same thing—Santa Claus.

With their maiden voyage behind them, the crew of the Laughing Owl is sent on a mission to ferry scientists to an odd planet where, according to reports, Santa Claus has been sighted, flying high in a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Nobody’s sure what Santa’s up to—he hasn’t delivered a single present.

Captain Nick Steele agrees with the scientists who propose that Santa is a mass hallucination and probably the result of some unknown compound in the water, air or food. But Astrogator Cai isn’t so sure, because if Santa is a hallucination, everyone on the planet is having the same hallucination, identical to the smallest detail.

As Christmas approaches, will the crew of the Laughing Owl solve the mystery of the hallucinogenic Santa or will the man prove to be real by delivering presents in the dead of night?

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A Laughing Owl

Copyright © 2015 A.C. Ellas

ISBN: 978-1-4874-0152-8

Cover art by Carmen Waters

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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Smashwords Edition

A Laughing Owl

By

A.C. Ellas

Chapter One: Returning to Earth

Tell me how this isn’t a typical military operation, muttered Captain Nick Steele as he read over the change in orders. Originally, after mapping Tarasch, they were supposed to report at Hevetich for deployment with the Fourth Fleet. Now, they were being ordered back to Earth and it was further orders pending arrival El-Five Station, he read aloud. What exactly is that supposed to mean? And why El-Five? I thought we only used that station for in-system flights.

It means, drawled his XO, Juan Cortez, that they either don’t know what they want or they don’t want to commit anything to permanent record. Given that admiralty’s full of blockheads and ass-kissers, either possibility is equally likely. Sending us to El-Five instead of Orbit Control is their idea of stealth; they think our presence won’t be noted if we’re docking at El-Five, and never mind all the civvies who’ll see us.

Nick glanced at the craggy profile of his second in command, noting the easy grin. Cortez had a wicked sense of humor, to the point where Nick had been tempted to list his primary language as sarcasm on his latest fitness report. He looked next to Cai, the ship’s Gator, who still had a glazed I’m not here mentally look on his face, which wasn’t surprising since Cai was uploading a lot of data to the shipnet without the benefit of a physical connection.

Sometimes, Cai’s sheer psionic power made Nick nervous, but mostly, he just liked looking at his arctic fox of a lover. Cai was long and lean, and there was an air about him at the best of times that made one think he wasn’t entirely present in the real world. This ethereal air, combined with his pale skin, platinum white hair, slanted, elfin features and large blue eyes the precise hue of fine tanzanite always made Nick think of a fox.

They were gathered in Nick’s office, a room just off the bridge dominated by a console nearly as capable as the one in Cai’s chambers. The bulkheads were painted a soothing honey tan, which matched the faux golden oak of the desk and bookcase. The chairs were standard ergonomic faux leather office chairs, but the rich brown of the fake leather complemented the rest of the furniture.

Astrogator Cai set the half-sphere crystal down and stretched his back slowly.