Who Owns You?, Book One
Science Fiction
Date to be Published: October 11th
Set in the early 23rd century, THE STARS RAIN DOWN follows an android woman
pursuing a renegade human. At the same time, he searches for his missing
wife and child, abducted by alien pirates, and sold into slavery. Special
Agent Catherine Mercer, an artificial intelligence and agent of
Interplanetary Security (think FBI in space), is given the assignment to
pursue and apprehend Rick McCabe, a freighter pilot suspected of illegally
smuggling passengers to the free colony of Aranae, some 1300 light years
from Earth. Rick, on the other hand, on route to Aranae, was attacked by
pirates and separated from his pregnant wife, Sarah, who was captured. But,
having come under the suspicion of IPS of illegally transporting passengers,
Rick goes rogue and sets off to find Sarah while evading Catherine trying to
capture him. Rick and his tech-savvy partner QR follow a trail of clues and
tips that lead from one planet to another, from one hostile slave owner and
alien race to more pirates and unsavory characters. Along the journey,
Catherine learns that being human is more than possessing a flesh and blood
body. The transitory body holds an eternal spirit that yearns to be free.
EXCERPT
Catherine spotted the Sheriff across the city plaza as she made her way to his office. He rode his
tarantula spider, a large blue, heading for the public latrines to one side.
“Sheriff Duncan!” Catherine yelled as she strode over the dusty, unpaved road, making a straight
line toward the sheriff. “Sheriff! A word with you, please.”
Duncan gave little indication that he acknowledged Catherine’s presence. A slight nod of his head,
that was all. He brought his spider to a stop at the latrines.
Catherine caught up to him.
“What can I do for you, Cat?” Duncan asked, dismounting.
“It’s Catherine. And I must discuss the issues I’m having with your citizens.”
Duncan handed the reins of his spider to Catherine. “Hold on to Daisy, would you please?”
Perplexed, Catherine looked at the reins in her hands. “What?”
“I gotta use the john.” Duncan stepped into a vacant stall and closed the door behind him.
Catherine looked at Daisy at the other end of the reins. She was now in control of a large blue
tarantula, which peered back at her with three pairs of black eyes.
“Sheriff, this is—”
Daisy hissed and pulled back, knocking Catherine off balance.
Catherine regained her footing and tightened her grip on the reins. She found her best
authoritative voice. “Sheriff Duncan, I did not come to this planet to hold your spider.”
“You’re doing a fine job,” came Duncan’s voice from within the latrine.
Daisy yanked back again, but Catherine hung on, digging her feet in.
“My job is to find Rick McCabe, and your citizens are not helping at all.”
“What am I supposed to do about it?”
“I want you to put pressure on the ship dealers. Order them to cooperate.”
Daisy reared, throwing up her front legs and baring her fangs in a display of intimidation. She
hissed and growled.
Catherine hung on.
Duncan laughed. “Like that’s ever worked before.”
A man approached from behind Catherine. She became aware of him, but as she was preoccupied
with controlling Daisy, she did not turn to acknowledge him.
The spider tried Catherine’s patience, which was running thin even for an android. When Daisy
pulled back on the reins, Catherine yanked back.
“Submit to my authority! Beast!”
Daisy jerked backward, pulling Catherine off her feet and falling to the unpaved road, hard on her
belly. Catherine hung on but was dragged several feet across the tawny dust.
Having proved her point, Daisy stopped and waited for Catherine to regain her feet.
“You will comply!” Catherine shouted as she got her balance under her feet.
“Agent Mercer?” said a male voice behind her.
Catherine looked around to see the man who had approached a few moments before.
“I am Agent Mercer,” she said.
“Agent James Soto, IPS,” the newcomer said. He looked to be in his thirties, tall, of Asian descent.
“Is that you, Jim?” came Duncan’s voice from the latrine.
“It’s me, Bob,” Soto said. He looked to Catherine once more. “Here… Let me show you.” James
took the reins from Catherine.
At that exact moment, Daisy settled down. She came near him, releasing a rumble of
contentedness.
“You see?” he said. “Easy.” James guided Daisy back to the latrines.
Catherine brushed the dust from her clothes and said, “This animal does not like me.”
“Yeah, I think it’s all that ‘Submit to my authority’ stuff. You might wanna lighten up.”
Sheriff Duncan emerged from the latrine, pulling on his waistband. “Thanks, Jim. She wasn’t any
trouble, was she?”
“No, not at all.”
“Daisy can get a little spirited sometimes. That’s why we call her Crazy Daisy.”
Duncan took the reins from Soto.
“She was an absolute angel,” James said. “Right, Catherine?”
Catherine stared at Soto as the feeling of being the target of a prank sank in. She kept her thoughts
to herself and said nothing.
Duncan mounted his saddle on Daisy. “Say, Jim, I’m having a barbecue at my place this Saturday.
You’re invited.”
“Sounds great,” James said. “I’ll bring some beers.”
“Bring your little friend here, too.”
“I am not his little friend,” Catherine said, quick to make that distinction.
James smiled and nodded. “We’ll see you Saturday.”
Duncan pulled his well-behaved and obedient spider away from the latrines, kicked her into
motion, and headed down the road.
“Two-o-clock,” Duncan said before moving out of earshot.
Catherine watched the sheriff riding off on Daisy. She shook her head. “I will never understand
these people. This planet.”
“Not so bad once you get used to it. I’ve been here two years now. Kinda like it.”
“Everything is out of control. I find the people boorish and obstinate.”
Catherine walked from the latrines with no destination in mind. Just get away from there.
©2024 Glenn Thomas
About the Author
Glenn Thomas’s life path has been a meandering one, setting new life
goals at various points along the way, gaining skills in art, photography,
film-making, driving, and ultimately, writing in screenplays and
prose. As a self-described “high-functioning daydreamer,”
Glenn often finds contentment in self-imposed isolation, in conversation
with characters only he sees and hears, in universes of his own
creation. Once in a while, he writes them down into scripts and novels
to share with the world.
Glenn lives in the Los Angeles area and works as a driver for a major
motion picture studio. His first self-published work was a series of
short Science Fiction stories called The Spiderboys of Aranae, which
appeared in 2015.
In 1986, when Glenn was convinced he was at the start of a long and
prosperous career as a visual artist, an idea for a sci-fi story came to
him. A guy loses his wife to space aliens, and he searches the galaxy
to find her. As a fan of the genre, Glenn sat down with paper and
pencil to write the story, and two years later, No Longer Mourn for Me was
finished. It then sat on the shelf, unpublished, for nearly 35
years. Glenn thought about that crudely executed early work, got ideas
to improve it, and sat down at the computer for a rewrite. The
original story was completely gutted, retooled, and reborn with a new title:
The Stars Rain Down.
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