Happy Tuesday, darlings! Are you ready to get lost in a steampunk moon colony created by the talented mind of male/male romance author Freddy MacKay? Yes? Would you like to win a copy of this wonderful book titled Feel Me? Then read on to find out to discover more!
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Hello,
Elyzabeth. Thank you for having me today.
I'd like to
share an excerpt from my new story, Feel
Me, my first foray into Science Fiction. I have been wanting to write a
scifi story since I started writing but hadn't had the nerve. Because of my
good friend Angel Martinez, she finally cornered me and got a story out of me,
I now have one. I can never thank her enough for breaking me out of my shell.
Writing
outside your zone can be scary but worthwhile. It tests your ability as a
writer and what you can do. For me, the result was a steampunk moon colony, and
a world I want to visit again and again if possible. Hopefully everyone will
enjoy it as much as me.
One
terrorist blast changed Master Tobias Zimmer's entire existence, relegating him
to being nothing more than just a "Coppies" because of the metal
replacing his flesh. As the once future Shogun of moon colony Orion 1, he now
idles his time away keeping tabs on the Loyalists while his father and brother
broker negotiations with the Earth Consortium.
A confrontation with his childhood enemy, Dr. Thorsten Nordenfelt, sets into
motion events that cannot be undone and puts Tobias's sheltered heart at the
center of the colony's attempts to free itself from the repressive Earth's
rule.
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Excerpt – Orion 1 & Enemies
Late in seventeenth
century, the industrialized nations pooled their resources to find new kinds of
energy, ones compatible with their newly found steam power. Through telescopic
magnification and unmanned rockets, they found the moon's surface to be rich in
ores, minerals and a special type of helium that they could use in their ships,
trains and carts.
A Consortium was built,
consisting of a young nation called the United Americas, the British Dynasty,
the Dutch Empire, the Swedish Lords, the Prussian Alliance, the Australian
Bushwackers and the Japanese Empire.
Other countries soon bought
into the Consortium as well, wanting their percentage of profits. The only
question was how to get to the moon so they could have unparalleled resources.
The answer came in a simple invention during the early eighteenth century, one
developed for the increasingly towering houses of the Nobles.
An elevator.
Debates raged. Monies were
thrown around. Committees formed. Political alliances were brokered and broken,
sometimes in the same day. Eventually though, legal documents were signed and
the plans for an elevator to space were made. Once in space, they could build a
platform, and from that platform, they could travel to the moon and develop it.
The Consortium poured all
their resources, energy and time into the Elevator, undoubtedly the biggest
engineering and architectural feat ever undertaken by man. Decades and changing
technology as well as alliances caused the building of the Elevator to be slow
and often dangerous work. Many young men lost their lives on the project, but
some were lucky enough to become old men.
By the time man reached
space, several generations had been born, lived and worked on the bustling
metal city of the Elevator, the people developing their own culture, language
(Latium), moral codes and customs. There they had a new problem with which to
contend. How to get to the moon? And more importantly, who would be controlling
it?
When the people of the
Elevator made it to the moon, they had harsh conditions to struggle against,
but their spirit could not be broken. They were made of the sky already and
could not be brought back down.
The colonists survived,
thrived, and ultimately built a sustainable environment for families to live on
the moon colony, Orion 1, because during the decades-long building of the
Elevator, invention and innovation had become a life-force of its own, many men
becoming great thinkers and modifiers of old technology and bringing new life
to it and to the people.
The original engineers and
developers of the space colony found themselves now the political juggernauts
of the people referred to as the Masters, and the ruling family called the
Shoguns. The Zimmer family has…
Lifting his foot off the metal depressor of the exhibit, Tobias
sighed and took a step back. He had no desire to hear about the great Zimmers
and how they created the bustling hub of Orion 1 with almost two thousand
permanent residents. He knew the history forward and backward. He had to.
Everyone did. Unlike everyone else, though, Tobias was the genius
extraordinaire of the Zimmer family and the next Shogun of the colony. Or he
was supposed to have been. Now he was relegated to being a nobody.
With new political implications coming down the pipeline from the
negotiations planetside, no one wanted to be caught unaware, and Tobias's
father wanted to make sure everyone sympathized with the colonists. The fresh
set of treaty talks that had been ongoing for the last five months were why the
exhibit had been installed in the Observatory last month.
Direct orders from Shogun Zimmer. "Keep people—colonists and
tourists alike—up to date about Orion 1's history." Or, at least, tell the
Zimmers' version of the colony's history.
Tobias took several steps away from the exhibit, his left leg
dragging, grumbling about the state of the Observatory. It really should be
cleaner than this. The metal segments had one too many scuffmarks on them.
Litter could be spotted in a couple corners instead of in its rightful place in
the Recyclers. Someone wasn't doing his or her job. Tobias made a mental note
to radio the cleanup crew when he got back to his hub. They should get a sweep
team to come through so the tourists wouldn't have anything to complain about
when they took the transport back to the Elevator.
Darn it, his leg hurt. Tobias couldn't get his extremity to
cooperate. Anger flashed through him like a hot spark of a miner's drill. Why
did walking have to be so hard?
Needing a moment, Tobias stopped in front of one of the two largest
windows in the colony, the one that gave the best view of the Elevator when
they passed it during orbit and the best view of the planet. The other window,
on the opposite side of the Observatory, gave the best view into space.
Tobias's shockingly bright silver hair reflected off the glass momentarily
before his face came into focus, his crystal blue eyes large against his white
skin. He blinked and concentrated on the scenery beyond the window: the docking
station and, after an empty expanse, the Elevator, standing tall and proud
against the Earth like a beacon home for any weary space traveler from Orion 1.
With a tentative hand, Tobias reached out to the pane. Never had
there been bigger ones synthesized. Normally glass was too delicate to have
large panes exposed to the vast vacuum of space, but not these. These had a
specially developed resin made from minerals on the moon that made them
stronger than any metal. The rivets holding the window in place had a
specialized sealer concocted from the moon dust that helped meld the metals and
keep the hub airtight.
A sigh escaped Tobias when he noticed the warning on the bottom
casing not to touch the window for too long; it could cause frostbite—and would
for a normal person.
The glass should feel cool against his hand. Cold to the touch. But
a person had to have the ability to feel to be able to discern things like
temperature. Something Tobias didn't have, not in his hands or several other
places on his body for the past seven months, not since the blast that almost
took his life in the Arboretum at the center of the colony hubs. A lot of
colonists died that day. Getting blown into space hampered rescue operations.
Many more were hurt, not just Tobias. He hadn't been the only one to lose
something that day, but had anyone lost as much as he had?
He had lost his inheritance of the colony.
Tobias withdrew his hand from the windowpane. Closing his eyes
against the pain thrashing inside him, Tobias slowed his breathing like the
doctor showed him and then opened his eyes again, observing the remnants of the
attack.
His Sustainers.
The gears whirred and clicked as he stretched and clenched his new
fingers over and over. He could see the device responding to him, following the
directions his nerves were sending to the wires, tubes and gears, but his mind
couldn't wrap around the idea that this cold metal was his, attached to him as
permanently as his real flesh and blood hands once were.
Tobias clenched his teeth, holding back the pain, agony the doctors
told him was all in his head.
It didn't do to dwell on phantoms.
With effort, Tobias put one foot in front of the other, forcing
himself to walk away from the newly built Observatory constructed to replace
the colonists' broken Arboretum. Their air supply was too precious to put at
risk again.
Several people said hello as he passed by, but Tobias barely
returned the gesture. It took too much effort on his part. Walking wasn't as
easy as it used to be, especially in this low gravity. Each step forward meant
his left leg had to shuffle to keep up, scraping along the copper flooring,
hitting rivets and uneven flashing, not moving like it should. Considering he
helped improve the design and engineering of the Sustainers, he had hoped his
would work better than the models before them. No such luck.
Tobias lurched forward, grabbing onto a nearby walking bar. Dang.
His leg was dragging more than it should.
Tobias stopped, banged the metal casing a couple times. The
frustrating partial thigh replacement was acting up. It clicked and groaned
instead of giving off a low hum like the gears should. He'd have to see Doctor
Goldstein again.
Oh, now wouldn't that make Doctor Goldstein's day? Tobias hated
visiting his Modifier. The doctor was, unnervingly so, creepy. Between the
doctor's crooked smile and how he caressed the Sustainers, Tobias had to exert
much-practiced self-control not to shudder when Doctor Goldstein touched him,
even if Tobias couldn't feel it. The gestures themselves made Tobias feel
dirty.
"You all right, Tobias?"
He looked up and saw Guardian Wu watching him with a worried
expression. "Ah, my, um Sustainer seems to be having problems."
"Need a hand to Doctor Goldstein?" asked the amiable law
keeper.
"No, I was actually on my way to the Ichiban for something to
eat and some shopping," answered Tobias quickly. He needed to make rounds,
make sure everything was running efficiently and take note of any unusual
activity. "Essentials, you know. The stalls will be too busy if I wait for
long."
Guardian Wu regarded Tobias, then sighed. "I suppose you're
right. Need a lift to the Ichiban? The hub is still four sectors away, Tobias.
That's quite a long walk…"
An awkward pause filled the space between them. For you is what Guardian Wu probably added silently. There had been
a time Tobias would have as well: when he saw Coppies on the colony or the
times he'd visited Earth. Now I am one.
"Tobias? Um, I mean, Master Zimmer?" called the Guardian,
his great black eyes wide, overflowing with concern. Apparently Tobias had missed
something. "Are you sure you shouldn't see Doctor Goldstein now? I can
take you to him."
"Yes. I'm sorry, I've been walking a lot recently. Tires me out
more quickly than I realized, but I'm well. The exercise is good for me."
A warm, gentle smile formed on Wu's lips. "I understand. Are
you sure you wouldn't like me to call a Rikker at least?"
"No! I can manage!" said Tobias quickly, hating the flare
of rage about to overtake his mind and proper manners. "As you said, the
Ichiban is only four hubs away. Thank you, Guardian Wu."
"If you're sure, Tobias." The Guardian did not seem to be
taking his dismissal well if the expression on his face was anything to go by.
"I'm sure." Pride, his pride, would be the ruin of Tobias.
All the kind remarks and hushed voices dug in like a Modifier's blade, hurting
worse, actually. At least the good doctor had numbing agents to ease the pain.
"Need to build my stamina."
The Guardian nodded, then bowed before striding off to monitor
colonists and be of help somewhere to someone. As long as it was to anyone
besides Tobias, he didn't much care.
Tobias sighed. His leg ached as much as his hands and chest, but the
pain was just in his head. Tobias had to remind himself of that every day: when
he woke up, when he moved, when he stopped moving, when he went to bed or when
the tremors became too much to bear. Basically whenever he was breathing, which
was always.
"One step at a time," muttered Tobias, putting effort into
the command, making himself remember how to walk properly. It almost worked.
Now that he was moving with determination, Tobias's leg mostly listened and
barely dragged.
Spikes of white-hot pain burned through his leg, but that didn't
matter. He almost looked normal. Only if someone looked at his hands would they
see the glow of copper casing and not gloves.
It doesn't hurt. It doesn't
hurt, chanted Tobias in his head as he made his way
through the hub, sidestepping and weaving through the other colonists. His side
trip to the Observatory cost him precious time before the lunch crowd hit the
Ichiban.
Why he had gone to stare at the Earth, well, Tobias still didn't
understand. He just had an intense longing to look at the place he'd been to a
handful of times. To watch the white swirls as they moved across the vast blue pearl.
But why? Unlike most colonists, his first trip on the Elevator was down. He was
the first baby born—and to survive growing up—on Orion 1.
"Need help, Tobias?" said a voice.
He blinked, annoyed, and looked toward the offender. Bronze eyes
stared back him, Thorsten's pure white face surrounded by black curls.
"You've been standing at the Portal for five minutes,"
said Thorsten in a manner that had Tobias wishing for death. The tone of
Thorsten's words wasn't friendly, it was downright cat-wailing awful.
Thorsten's voice was extra sugary with a side of malice. "Have you
forgotten how to open it, or are you contemplating the benefits of hydraulics?
Or maybe you think it will open magically for you?"
"Shove off, Thorsten," hissed Tobias, grabbing the latch
defiantly. He turned and tried not to grimace when he looked at the door. All
he had to do was turn. It was easy, even the young children on the station
could do it.
His hands moved, but the wheel itself did not. Dang.
"Tobias, you might want to—"
"I can do it!" Tobias ignored the chuckling behind him and
tried gripping the slippery metal again. This time, the Portal hissed and the
wheel circled around. After a pop, the door swung quickly open. Too quickly.
Tobias tipped. "No!"
Excerpt
End
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About
Freddy
I grew up and went to college in the
Midwest where I currently reside with my family. I spend most of my time
playing sports and running around outside. And honestly, that much has not
changed since I was little, except who is included my activities. I also have a
healthy geocaching addiction. It's so much fun! I enjoy spending my time
traveling when I can, and I hold the view that a person should continually to
learn about new things and people whenever possible. You can email me at: freddy.m.mackay@gmail.com
