Newly released TODAY in eBook format via Lulu and Smashwords – coming soon to Amazon – four new titles by Christina Engela!
Things aren’t always as they seem. Neither was Charlie Branson.
Outwardly, Charlie appeared to be the successful, respected, somewhat over-paid Captain of a commercial space liner. Charlie loved his job, and not just because being a semi-silent partner in Interstellar Vacations LLC paid well – but also because the uniform was a babe-magnet!
In truth, it was 2025 – space liners did not yet exist, Charlie was just a role player after bumming out as an aspiring porno flick extra – and the space liner Freedom was really just a very expensive set – a fancy simulator for wealthy clients! For 3 years, the company had taken passengers on simulated cruises into deep space to forget the real world for a while, to get away from it all – and they loved them for it!
Trouble was, in an atmosphere where people were locked away from reality for weeks at a time, and cos-playing and roleplaying redefined ‘normal’, telling fact and fantasy apart became more complicated than expected… For those who preferred the pleasant escape from the harsh realities of life outside, like Charlie, wishing it could all just be real became something almost like a prayer.
As it turned out, someone heard him.
The answer wasn’t quite what he expected.
“Duck Blind” (and “The Next Room”, the companion-story to this novella) tells part of the same larger story of opposites from the perspective of a different set of characters in different dimensions and times!
Things aren’t always as they seem. Neither was Andy Niksn.
Outwardly, Andy appeared to be the successful, respected, somewhat over-paid Captain of a commercial space liner. Andy loved his job, and not just because it paid well and the crisp white uniform gave him an opportunity to show off his assets – but also because it meant seeing his best friend Jim every day!
Trouble was, Andy felt trapped! He was in a relationship with Mandy Fringle – another colleague – a dead-end partnership that had no future and promised both even less happiness. Jim Sykes had never returned Andy’s affections – and on top of that, Jim had died recently, leaving Andy in the darkest place he’d ever been – and he didn’t mean space!
Andy, who felt that life had turned into a living, waking nightmare – wished he could just wake up to a different reality where everything could make sense again! It became something almost like a prayer!
As it turned out, someone heard him.
“The Next Room” (and “Duck Blind”, the companion-story to this novella) tells part of the same larger story of opposites from the perspective of a different set of characters in different dimensions and times!
Ghosts. Hauntings. Disembodied voices. Malicious entities that make it their goal to destroy their victims utterly. The things that go bump in the night… They’re real.
Sometimes the most unlikely of people find themselves under attack by supernatural entities – and usually no-one will believe them. If they say anything, they risk becoming the butt-end of countless jokes about the paranormal. Worse still, some will place the blame for their predicament squarely on the victims themselves!
Who would help them? The church? A priest – or pastor? And if not, who else? Who would get involved?
Would you?
In the case of Tracey, it was her closest friend – and a small unlikely group of dedicated associates. Together they would face the awful darkness inside the mansion on the hill – the one people sarcastically called “the white house”.
Launch into space, the future and beyond! Enjoy another humorous look at life in space in this second collection of unique sci-fi short stories by Christina Engela, spanning everything from adventure to suspense to comedy and then back again!
In Space Sucks Too! you will meet little green men, an alien in a human suit turns up at a radio station for a midnight talk show, a couple of vampires make out in a bar, the long-awaited alien invasion finally happens – and the inventor of the matter transmitter has an out-of-body experience!
Cheers!
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All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2020.