We are thrilled to be revealing the cover for Bryan Prosek’s The Darker The Skies, which is the second installment in the Earth United series, along with an excerpt! Releasing on November 11th, Jake Saunders once again must try to save the Earth, but the odds are stacked against him as the planet’s future and the fate of the love of his life rests in the balance of his decisions.
The Darker The Skies is available for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound and Bookshop.
EXCERPT
Jake had enjoyed the easy life this past year. And that’s the way he acted around Cal and Diane. He had enough of fighting after the Battle of Craton and killing Romalor. Or at least he thought he did. Truth be told, he was growing bored. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Diane. He wanted to settle down and raise a family. He wanted that more than anything in the universe and he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that dream.
He’d lost eight years of his life thinking about nothing except revenge against Romalor and he’d almost lost Diane in the process of seeking that revenge. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. But deep down inside, he was much more like Frank than he cared to admit. He was a fighter. He needed action to keep him going. After a year sitting around at this outpost, he felt his blood flowing faster just thinking about going on an assignment.
Frank raised a hand, palm toward the screen. “Slow down there, horsey. I didn’t say anything about going anywhere. I just need you to look into some intel.”
Jake sank back in his seat. His excitement was gone. It was good to feel his blood pumping again, even if it was just for a moment. But this was probably for the better anyway. He had a date with Diane that night and would be proposing to her in just a few days. That was his life now. That was what he truly wanted.
“What intel?” Cal asked.
Frank cleared his throat. “We intercepted a transmission from one of the pirate spacecraft. We have been trying to intercept any communication we can among them but have not had any luck until now. They seem to run silent. We came across this transmission more by
accident.” He paused and shifted in his seat. “The problem is that it’s coded.”
Cal interrupted. “But we have programs that can break pretty much any code in the galaxy, especially since everyone in the galaxy has a translator chip implanted in their ear. That gets decoding over the first hurdle. Every language in the galaxy has been recorded at some point. Doesn’t the Legion have access to that data?”
“Yes,” Frank said. “In fact, it was the Legion who made most of the recordings. Our surveillance technology is second in the galaxy to only Vernius.” He paused. “But that’s just it. None of our programs can decipher it. They’ve either found an extremely advanced code for an existing language, which I doubt, or they’re using a language not in our database. And I can’t see how that could be. But either way, this code is far more advanced than any pirate capability.”
Now it was Cal’s face that lit up. Cal loved challenges like this. As much as Jake missed the heat of a battle, he could tell that Cal missed technological challenges even more.
Cal stood up, still looking into the viewing screen. “You got it, Frank. Send over the communication and I’m on it!”
Jake cleared his throat rather loudly, looking at Cal.
Cal looked at Jake and then back at the screen. “I mean we’re on it.”
Jake smiled. “I’m just joking, pal. We all know that this is all yours.”
“I’ll have the information sent to the Imperial Majesty’s mainframe,” Frank said. “She’s already said that you can work in their tech center. They have equipment that puts the Legion’s technology to shame. Let me know if you can figure it out.” Frank stood up, put his hat back on, and picked up his cigar. “I gotta ride on out of here. It was good to see you cowboys again. And be careful out there.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bryan Prosek is a science fiction writer and business attorney. Along with his debut The Brighter the Stars, A Measure of Serenity, and The Darker the Skies, he has published books and articles in legal trade journals and magazines. When he isn’t writing or practicing law, you can probably find him watching science fiction movies or television shows. He loves the big screen and the small screen. There’s a good chance that he’ll be watching one of the numerous Star Trek movies or series, but he could be watching anything from Guardians of the Galaxy to The Conjuring. You can find more about Bryan at his website, www.bryankprosek.com, taking you to new worlds.
