Teaser Tuesday: “The Lost Fleet: Fearless”

So this week I was reading The Lost Fleet: Fearless, by Jack Campbell, which is the follow-up to The Lost Fleet: Dauntless.

For those who may not remember the Teaser Tuesday for Dauntless, The premise of The Lost Fleet is that, in the distant future, two human factions, the Alliance and the Syndics, have been engaged in over a century of war, which the Syndics have been gradually winning. The Syndic worlds are basically all part of a kleptocratic corporate dystopia whose citizens are just cogs in a gigantic profit-making machine; “Syndic”, by the way, is short for “Syndicate”, in case you were wondering. Obviously any organization that calls itself the Syndicate is going to be The Designated Bad Guy. Just ask The Kingpin.

Anyway, in The Lost Fleet, Our Hero is John “Black Jack” Geary, an Alliance captain from the distant past who made a heroic last stand against the Syndics to save his fleet and was then presumed dead for over a century, until his drifting life pod was picked up by the Alliance fleet when it was on its way to get demolished by engage the Syndics deep in Syndic territory. (If this reminds you of Ellen Ripley’s drifting escape pod getting picked up after over half a century, you’re not alone.) Then, when the current fleet commander gets blown up, John Geary is put in charge of the fleet, and starts using his knowledge of forgotten tactics to make gains against the Syndics while simultaneously trying to get the fleet back to Alliance territory, which is where the “Lost Fleet” part comes in. So maybe Private Hudson was on to something …

Being from the past, Geary has to spend a lot of time familiarizing himself with the present. This involves a lot of wandering around the ship talking to people, for instance:

One of the desks actually had a plant on it, a small splash of living greenery. Geary cocked a questioning eyebrow at the lieutenant, who looked a little more nervous as he responded. “That’s Audrey, sir.”

Of course. If a spaceship had plants on board, one was usually called Audrey. The reason for that, if there was a reason, was lost in the mists of the past, but it made Geary feel a little better to see something that hadn’t changed from his time to now.

Jack Campbell, The Lost Fleet: Fearless

Hmm, a plant called “Audrey” on every ship, eh? I wonder if we will … see more of Audrey later.

And now, for the teaser from one of my own books, The Gods of Randomness have decreed that the book is Television Man and the quote comes from location 379, so here we go:

He could see colorful pills inside the container.  “What’s that?”

“That’s dinner and a movie, partner.  Eat up.”

“Where am I?  Who are you?”

The man gave him a look that suggested he heard this question all the time.  “You’re at your vacation home in Aspen, and I’m your chauffeur, your butler, your chef, your brother.”

“This … This isn’t right.  I’m not supposed to be here.  I’m a vampire hunter.”

“A vampire hunter?  Really?  Last week you were Buck Rogers.  Maybe next week you’ll be President.  Take the pills, would you?  I have other clients to visit.”

James Viscosi, Television Man

Take the red pill? Take the blue pill? Who can say? All I know is, I would vote for a vampire hunter for President. After the apocalypse, we’re probably going to need someone like that in charge …