Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate–just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.

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This month my newest release, Midnight’s Ghost, is one of those books. So, after reading this exclusive excerpt, head on over to the EM website to leave a comment to be entered to win!

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“Let’s go, Reece. We need to get out of here fast,” I issued the order, slapping at the gantry lift panel as the three of us dove into Eidolon. I winced as I heard a few shots ping into the hull of my ship and wondered what kind of damage I was going to have to repair if we managed to get out of this unscathed.
Kerr started to head to where his cramped quarters were while he was onboard, but I managed to grab him by the scruff of his neck before he could escape. His arms and legs flailed as he protested my method of ensuring that he followed, but ceased when Wallace gave him a stern look.
“Thanks,” I said gratefully, knowing that in a pinch, we could probably use another pair of hands on the deck. Even if he didn’t know what he was doing, Kerr was obviously physically capable of helping out wherever he was needed. Since I thought this fell into the category, and Wallace’s statement earlier had marked this as Kerr’s problem, I dragged him onto the bridge with us.
Wallace slid into the chair beside mine; examining the status of the systems we would need online in order to leave. The same systems we just completely shut down an hour ago so we could dock inside the station.
“I see your talent for causing unrest isn’t just predicated to the bars on Nagol, Captain.” Reece’s sarcasm was unmistakable and I wondered if he’d been taking lessons during his downtime.
“Shut up or I’ll turn you into a trash compactor. Thrusters on full.” I was pleased to see several systems come online faster than Reece and I could have done alone. It was one of the advantages of having someone else onboard who knew the basic ins and outs of the ship. The extra pair of hands would be helpful, regardless of who they belonged to.
Reece, keying in systems of his own, added to his streak of being a master of the obvious. “We’re still tethered into dock, Captain.”
I slapped the release controls for the lines that kept us connected to the station. “Not anymore.”
Wallace shook his head as his fingers worked the controls to help out Reece, his motions just as quick and precise. “Theirs, not ours.”
“Blow them,” I ordered, my fingers flying over the panel in front of me as I saw a group of IGP guards closing in, weapons firing so even more shots pinged off the hull. Eidolon was going to look like a block of Swiss cheese if we didn’t get out of here soon.
“We can’t, there are too many people out there.”
I studied the images on the screen in front of me and realized Wallace was right; firing our shipboard weapons inside the docking station would surely result in unnecessary innocent casualties. Sure, the IGP was chasing us, but that didn’t mean the Surmies mother and child sitting peacefully on the bench just a few yards away needed to suffer as well.
With a low growl of frustration, I threw myself back from the helm controls, unbuckled my harness and stormed through the bridge. I ignored the alarms blaring a warning about a possible breech in the hull as I stalked through the corridor.
I toed the access cover at mid ship as I drew my weapon and dropped onto my stomach with a grunt. Stale heated air had me wincing as I dropped my head out of the hatch and looked around. I sighted the tethers securing us and studied them for a few seconds. It only took a few shots more than I would have liked, but I managed to hit the two deck clamps. Their power panels went dark as they short circuited and much to my satisfaction, the clamps withdrew their hold.
I heard the shouts of protest from the IGP guards over the increasing whine of Eidolon’s engines. Annoyed, I fired off a few quick shots at the group closing in and was pleased to see one of them drop their weapon as he fell to the ground incapacitated.
I slapped at the panel to close the hatch as I pushed myself up and jogged back to the bridge, a pleased smile on my face. I kept any comments I was going to make about sending a woman to do the job to myself and slid into my chair, ordering Reece to get us out of here.
Amid the hail of weapons firing at us, we blew through the docking hatch for incoming shuttles, narrowly missing a civilian transport coming in to dock.