One Last Errand: Prequel, Beyond the Outer Rim, #0

By Reiter Th'iaM

Everything has a beginning. The 'Big Bang' of the universe entitled Beyond the Outer Rim starts with a family outing to the local carnival. But this is no simple family, and it certainly isn't your run-of-the-mill bacchanal.

True Lord Vaiyorl Jhormynn is in the running for Duke in the Inner Rim Empire, and he has taken his wife and three children to the local carnival event. They aren't expected to survive the evening. But the carnies performing here are people who've been touched by MajiK, and the blind Seer has done his best to prepare his fellow performers for the assassination attempt. What follows is the proverbial pebble tossed into the pond, the ripples threatening to change The Rims forever!

 

"You've come to the Rims. This is the place of High Adventure!"

 

"A venturesome sci-fi/fantasy novel for readers who really want their action set where no man has gone before."

                                - Kirkus Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sylver Quill Press
• Release date: Jun 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201412586

Book preview

Thank you for joining me at the outer reaches of space!

We’re just getting started, you & I...

But I’d like to thank you for taking this first step.

So! Because you ordered One Last Errand,

I’d like to offer you Book One of the Beyond the Outer Rim Prequel Trilogy

FOR FREE.

Get your FREE Copy HERE

The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.

George Santayana

A Prelude

(Rims Time: XI-4003.04)

Travis Child awoke from his deep sleep, panting for air as beads of sweat rolled over his skin. His eyes blinked rapidly – it was still a habit – and he shivered from the kind of cold a blanket could not lessen.

He could hear the chimes.

Gwendolyn.

Whenever he sat up too quickly, his head would hit the chimes. She would be able to discern how he had awakened by the type of tune coming from his bed. Already he could hear her running to his side. Her urgency usually brought a smile to his face, and even now he was comforted to know things with his paramour had not changed. But no amount of haste coming from her could ease his shoulders, lighten his load, or loosen his chest as he labored to breathe.

She’s coming, he whispered in-between breaths. Death’s coming... if she’s not here already!

**  b  ***  t  ***  o  ***  r  **

It was an unexpected surprise: to be pleasantly surprised. Suddenly the time Vaiyorl was spending away from working to meet deadlines and juggling countless projects had been validated. The True Lord stood behind his family as they gathered inside the small, rustic tent. A dimly-lit walkway led them around a central platform where a large glass cylinder was filled with what was presumably water... and something floating in it.

The color of its skin appeared to be burnt beige, but it was balled up tight and the folds of its excessive skin seemed to wrap around the small form. Vaiyorl Jhormynn stood behind his wife, two sons, and daughter, waiting for the moment only he knew to anticipate.

But the pleasant surprise had been the cessation of complaints coming from his family. His wife was concerned about the condition of the property and what it would do the grounds to have so many people trampling about. His eldest son was set against the idea of the carnival once he saw who the performers and owners were. It was bad enough that Middle Rim citizens had been allowed to come into Imperial space and visit one of the most populated planets... for them to be pale Terrans and Vohlbred had carried the matter into the category entitled unacceptable. The only concern of his youngest child regarded the animals, of which there were few because it was a carnival, not a circus. Here only bipedal animals were mistreated; hearing that news, the boy had been relieved.

"And of course, my world would implode if Shonsatah were to ever register a complaint, Vaiyorl thought, looking at his daughter and the lines of delighted intrigue painted across her face. But they seem to be enjoying themselves and-"

The creature suddenly moved, and it was anything but slow or gentle. It opened up and nearly filled the entire cylinder as claws protruded from its edges and smacked hard against the glass. The young True Lord had to cover his mouth to keep his