Showing results by author "C. R. Daems" in All Categories

Nisha has trained since a young child to develop her Qi—internal energy—with the goal of becoming a Qi'advisor. She is still a student at the Qi'temple when the unimaginable happens: war breaks out and she is chosen to be a Qi'advisor to a duke, although untried. Rhybac's king is dead, the kingdom in chaos, and warriors out of the Sands are circling for the kill. As a Qi'advisor surrounded by greed, treachery, and civil war, she must risk her life to reveal what others cannot or refuse to see. The fate of Rhybac, its people, and even its enemies are in her young hands.

The ruling Anixians believe Kayla is the "Wingless and Featherless" savior prophesied by Grey Seer hundreds of years in the past. As a consequence, they have given her the problem of saving Anixia from the multiple warlike races inhabiting the Milky Way. Unfortunately, Kayla is quick to realize she is in charge of a strategy with no chance of surviving contact with the three warlike nations currently known to exist: Tullizor, Soofir, and Jumanu. If that weren't enough, too many of the humans on Anixia believe stealing a cruiser and returning to Earth would make them rich and famous.

Anna's success as the Eastar NIA station chief has catapulted her into the position of Director of NIA Stations. Anna is uncomfortable with the promotion and bored. She has a master chief secretary, a lieutenant aide-de-camp, and 15 commanders and their staff to do the work. But she suspects not all of her commanders are happy with their new, very young admiral or are doing their jobs. But she has no way to observe those commanders as their stations reside on distant systems.

An insidious cabal has decided to change the direction of the United Alliance of Stars (UAS) with a coup d’etat - but not through a military takeover. They have devised a subtler coup: the manipulation of the Committee, the 15-star system that sets policy for the UAS. The UAS Committee enlists their de facto troubleshooter, Anna Paulus, to shut down the cabal, but they insists she leave the NIA and manage UAS Committee Security. For Anna it’s a nightmare scenario, leaving her safe world for a completely new environment dominated by macho men with years of combat experience.

Alisha is the newest Talon of the Raptor Clan, mercenaries prized by rulers, nobles, and the wealthy as elite bodyguards. Her skill with a blade and her foresight won her a prized place as a Talon, but unlike other Talons, she has a unique magical sigil given to her by an unnamed goddess. Alisha's first assignment for the clan is guarding a spoiled young princess. Surrounded by dangerous plots, keeping the girl alive takes all of Alisha's guile.

Ryana, a worthless girl-child, is sold to a mysterious woman who takes her to the home of the Shadow Sisters who are prized for their abilities as spies and assassins. She survives years of training in spite of being unconventional: adopting poisonous bats as familiars - something no one else would dare to do; choosing the blow dart as her weapon of choice - a weapon the Sisters don't teach; and relying on intuition rather than logic. As she completes her training, the Shadow Sisters are under attack and send Ryana out to find out who is killing Sisters and why.

The quiet, unflappable Rivka is truly a black mamba in a mouse's skin as kings, queens, and raiders are about to discover. Because of Rivka's successes, the Jax Contract Committee continues to accept more of the lucrative, non-standard projects, and General Issak continues to shamelessly call on Rivka to solve his impossible problems. As a result, Rivka increasingly finds herself in stormy, unchartered waters. The inhabitable universe is about to discover the mouse is cute, but the mamba's bite is deadly.

Demons are running loose in Chicago, killing, kidnapping, and hunting the last of their century old adversaries. After what were thought to be dogs kill her mother and attack her, Annette discovers she is the last female descendant of a line of women who, for over a century, fought and died fighting Countess Lenuta, her sons, and their packs of 978-1541292338. Aware that Countess Lenuta and her sons see an opportunity to kill her, the last of their century-old adversaries, Annette must choose to hide for the rest of her life or accept the legacy of her ancestors.

The threat from the JPU has been eliminated and the empires should be at peace, but fractions within the SAS have revised old resentments against the Riss and Freeland. These anti-Riss groups have distorted the facts of the war with the JPU and dispute the Riss' right to quarantine JPU, insisting the SAS should have exclusive rights to the JPU and the Riss quarantined. While the SAS plots against the Riss, an alien force enters SAS space and is annihilating inhabitable systems.

With the galaxy-traveling aliens defeated, Nadya feels it's time that a new leader be appointed to guide the Riss into the future. At last, they have the freedom to explore the stars with their own navy and their own home planet of Freeland. In the process of defeating the aliens, a friendly alliance between the Sadr Alliance of Stars (SAS), the United Free Nations (UFN), and the Riss nation developed.

What would it be like to be able to tell any individual's future - everyone except your own? Reene sees it as an opportunity to help people and agrees to accept the legacy from her grandmother. Of course, the true extent of the gift must be kept secret or chance being enslaved and at the will of the government, criminals, or someone with money and power. Besides her best efforts, a mysterious group discovers her gift and decides she can help them attain their goal - one with global consequences.

Anna survives a deadly virus at age four thanks to a poisonous red-headed krait. The medical community is excited since there is no known cure for the virus, but Anna and her snake, Red, have a symbiotic relationship. If she is ever separated from Red, she will die. As her krait becomes known and valuable throughout the three star empires as one of only a handful of such snakes, she fights off attempts to kill her and snatch Red. When the Naval Intelligence Agency, the NIA, recruits her, her adventures grow beyond fending off thieves and killers.

Mountain warriors raid Zara's village and make her a slave. That should have been her destiny, but Zara resists to the amusement of her captives, who let their young warriors train on her, believing they will cripple or kill her eventually. However, she survives the training and escapes—a savage warrior in a civilized land ruled by royalty. Zara tries to avoid the nobility and their unrealistic "requests" to help wipe out the mountain tribes only to come to the attention of a duke who asks her to save the daughter of a baron, captured in a recent raid.

Zenaida's father was murdered, leaving her alone in the outback of the civilized systems called the Rim. There, smuggling, bribes, and a Wild West "live-free-or-die" attitude prevails, and an eye-for-an-eye is the preferred method of retribution. For Zenaida, a child of the Rim, the death of her father requires retribution. But, she must first learn how to survive while trying to track down her snow leopard's stolen litter and her father's killers.

Today, people and groups who disagree on an issue are less likely to send threatening letters, hold demonstrations, or riot. They are more likely to hire professional assassins to resolve the issue. The government has experienced an increasing number of assassinations: members of Congress, government agencies, and VIPs. Desperate, Congress directed the creation of an Anti-Terrorist Group and gave Home Land Security two and one-half years to produce the first anti-terrorist agents.