A Space Pirate Christmas: Space Rogue, #0.7

By Jay Toney

For mature audiences only. A Space Pirate Christmas, is a mashup sci-fi thriller with space pirate action blended with a Christmas story. Elaunae, learns of the Earth custom, and wants to celebrate it with Nathaniel. She wants his first Christmas to be special. Doc Roberts, her husband, agrees. He loves her, and will do anything for her, even celebrating a foolish holiday.

For it to be a success, he needs a tree, a fireplace with a chimney for Santa to climb down, presents, and a Christmas miracle. He has always wanted a toy Marauder that flies, shoots missiles, and fires lasers. Christmas is an excuse to get one—for Nathaniel, of course. Elaunae warns him, that with such a toy, he will shoot someone's eye out.

Join the Roberts family, and maybe, just maybe, witness a Christmas miracle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jay Toney
• Release date: Sep 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201616298

Jay Toney

I got hooked on reading early in life, reading nearly everything I could get my hands on including the Encyclopedia Britannica. As well as being an avid reader I enjoyed bicycling, skateboarding, fishing, and building models and puzzles. As far back as I can remember, I loved anything to do with aircraft. I joined the USAF as an aircraft mechanic working on the F-4, T-38, F-117. and the F-16. A knee injury stopped me from working on aircraft. My knee couldn't support me on the odd angles and slick surfaces anylonger. While in the USAF I attended college. My second love was tormenting my English teacher. I found out she had a fear of death, then she was at my mercy. Anything she said not to do I did just to show her I could. Every essay or theme I wrote dealt with the topic of death, from a first person perspective of a person under going an autopsy, being buried alive, and rising from the grave. She was glad when I graduated. Some authors who inspired me are Robert Heinlein, Harry Harrison, Alan Dean Foster, Piers Anthony, and much more.

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Dedications

Edited by Ann Attwood, Editing and Proofreading Service

Introduction

For mature audiences only. A Space Pirate Christmas, is a mashup sci-fi thriller with space pirate action blended with a Christmas story. Elaunae, learns of the Earth custom, and wants to celebrate it with Nathaniel. She wants his first Christmas to be special. Doc Roberts, her husband, agrees. He loves her, and will do anything for her, even celebrating a foolish holiday.

For it to be a success, he needs a tree, a fireplace with a chimney for Santa to climb down, presents, and a Christmas miracle. He has always wanted a toy Marauder that flies, shoots missiles, and fires lasers. Christmas is an excuse to get one—for Nathaniel, of course. Elaunae warns him, that with such a toy, he will shoot someone’s eye out.

Join the Roberts family, and maybe, just maybe, witness a Christmas miracle.

Chapter 1

Sirens blast three times, throughout the Queen Anne’s Revenge, warning the crew that the ship is about to maneuver. They are followed by Natasha announcing, Prepare for exit from hyperspace. All nonessential personnel, secure for maneuvering.

Elaunae sits next to her husband, on the seat reserved for the second in command, and fastens the inertia harness. Bill Tompkins, who is the deputy commander doesn’t say anything to her. Upsetting Doc’s wife, whether she is right or wrong, would not be good for his or anyone else’s continued health. He is quick to anger, and the deadliest man he knows, human, humanoid, or alien. Captain Roberts is even deadlier than the person who trained him, his father, Bartholomew Roberts.

Elaunae says, I’ll never get used to Natasha being in two places at once. She is in our cabin with Nathaniel, and here on the bridge. It is very confusing

Natasha says, I can do it, because I have two bodies, the ship, and a synth avatar. Elaunae sticks out her tongue and blows a raspberry, hoping the AI understands the meaning behind the gesture. She does.

She and the AI have a love-hate relationship. Natasha’s help with raising her son is invaluable. At the same time, she is jealous of the avatar. Her husband and the avatar frequently had sex together, in her bed. That stopped, the day she and Doc exchanged Iniguar marriage disks, and bonded together, soulmates for the rest of their lives. For them it is literally in death, do they part. The death of either one of them will start the slow death of the spouse. At least, that is the way it is with her species. Neither humans or Iniguar believe in life after death.

The battlecruiser exits hyperspace. The disk of light on the viewscreen turns to streaks of light, then pinpoints of light that are stars. The AI extends the velocity dampers and burns the drives at full power to decelerate. Jadsia, the sensor officer says, It’s hard to tell through the radiation from our drive plume, but I think there are three, no, five unidentified ships outbound. He adds the tactical display to the viewscreen. Five blue icons are in close formation, heading towards them.

The ships change course, and accelerate on a heading that takes them further away from them. Four of the icons turn red. Devon says, I’ve identified four of the ships as Alliance gunships. The fifth ship is a freighter, registry unknown.

What in the seven hells are they doing here? This is my hunting area. I pay the Alliance a small fortune for its exclusivity. Whatever they are doing here, doesn’t matter. They are trespassing where they don’t belong. Doc says, This changes things. Natasha, raise the shields. Devon, sound battle stations!

Bill says, I’m on my way.

Doc grabs his arm to stop him, and says, I want you to go after the freighter. I want it intact, and its crew alive. Tell Elliott, he and the Reaper squadron are responsible for taking out the gunships. I don’t want any survivors. Then, he