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Science Fiction/Romance, 100K words

Summary

AVATAR is a cross-genre blend of espionage noir, Science Fiction, and Romance set on another planet. The story deals with the themes of human survival, ecological destruction, and the intersection of religion, politics and power.

Kinship spy Jana Rajam is itching for a mission to redeem herself and her career after the suspicious death of her partner. Jana gets more than she bargained for when, on a black ops mission to distant Ico, she is captured and implanted with memories belonging to a long-dead queen. Thrown between a far-reaching conspiracy to resurrect an ancient royal line and a bid to control a narcotic that could enslave or liberate the indigenous Iconnu, Jana must team up with religious leader Brannon Bayne to seize command of a particulate matter shield before the planet’s variable star flares. A dynastic invading group, a drugs and arms cartel, and a secret cabal all struggle with the Iconnu to control the narcotic, whose healing properties affect all life on Ico at the molecular level and whose life-cycle is bound to the flare.

AVATAR tells the story of a spy’s redeeming mission, a revered leader’s desperate journey, and a warring planet’s only hope.

Excerpt

The daylight city was dead.

Skyscrapers and neon, a dark metropolis came to life with the moonrise and led Jana Randall into exile.

“You know we’re breaking mission protocol.” She yanked up her sleeves.

Tang of alcohol, stab of a needle in each arm. The medtech at the rundown clinic hooked Jana up to the cell separator that would remove the microscopic markers from her blood, tools the Kinship used to track its agents.

Her partner Rodrik ignored the medtech. “And your point is?”

“Without the Kinship nanomarkers, we’re off the Grid,” she said. “If anything goes wrong–”

“Domek’s scanners will pick up our signatures.” Rodrik slapped microderm patches on his own IV nicks, his dark brows knit together. “Then we’re dead anyway.”

The Domek Cartel sold weapons and drugs all over the quadrant. She had been working with Rodrik to infiltrate the organization for months.

He leaned in close. “They’re starting to trust me. Our story checked out and they want to do business.”

Jana nodded. Then the Kinship could shut down Domek’s distribution lanes in the whole sector.

“You can re-inject when this is over. Enjoy the freedom for a change.” Rodrik smiled and kissed her, a quick slip of tongue over lip laced with a note of ginger from their last meal.

She never could say no to Rodrik.

The medtech glanced over and Rodrik shot sharp dark eyes back at him. “I gave you enough stim to keep your mouth shut permanently. Do you understand?”

The tech nodded, but the reassurance didn’t make Jana feel any more secure. Even the stim bribe probably wouldn’t be enough to keep quiet news of two AWOL Kinship operatives. More than just the espionage arm of the Commonwealth, the Kinship was a way of life for its agents and to break from it, taboo. Removing the microscopic robots from their bodies and disconnecting from the “grid,” the network that bound the Kinship together, made Jana feel rudderless and alone. Rodrik, however, obviously felt liberated.

“You know I’m right about this,” Rodrik whispered, his voice so low it felt like deep water. The warmth of his breath caressed Jana’s ear. “It’s the only way this op will work.”

Jana didn’t expect Rodrik to understand. He always pushed the limits of Kinship control, always counted himself against the group instead of part of it. Jana stood between them, and so often kept Rodrik from veering too far away from home. If she held on just a little bit longer, Jana could bring Rodrik back in line. She could save him.

She’d trust him one more time, just one.