It is my pleasure to host Cara Bristol at my blog and Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2.
The (extra) ordinary animals of Pets in Space 2
By Cara Bristol
As a sci-fi author, I’m write about imaginative characters.
In Rescued by the Cyborg, my novella
in Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2,
I match a cyborg hero, a human enhanced with mechanical and computer parts, with
a winged alien heroine. Add to that, some panther-like alien villains. So, with
the pet sidekick, I went conventional. “Mittzi” is an “ordinary” little gray
kitten with white feet.
Some of my fellow authors went nontraditional with their
story pets. They tinkered with genetics to create hybrids and bioengineered
animals. Here are some of the more unique creatures you’ll encounter in Pets in
Space 2.
A foo dog. This is a smaller version of
the mythological Chinse foo lion. (To me, it looks like a cross between a pug
and a lion.) It’s mostly a mix of dogs with genetic tinkering. Pet Trade by Carol Van Natta.
StarDog. Don’t be fooled by the name. This vermin-hunting
pet is a dog-cat-weasel-mongoose mix. Courting
Disaster:StarDog 2 by Laurie A. Green.
A hugwort, an affectionate “plantimal,” a genetically engineered organism that
combines plant and animal genes (there's some cat in there) with alien DNA. Mascot
by Alexis Glynn Latner.
Tibbar, a cross between a rabbit and a hamster, with the
personality of a cat. Gib and the Tibbar
by Jessica E. Subject.
Artificial intelligence. A com unit becomes sentient and his
core is transplanted into an owl’s body. Senate
by Sabine Priestley.
What kind of pet would you want
to take to space?
Would you go traditional or would
you want to design your own?
What kind of hybrid would you
produce?
Embrace the Romance:
Pets in Space 2 description
The
pets are back! Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, featuring twelve of
today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors brings you a dozen original
stories written just for you! Join in the fun, from the Dragon Lords of Valdier
to a trip aboard award-winning author, Veronica Scott’s Nebula Zephyr to
journeying back to Luda where Grim is King, for stories that will take you out
of this world! Join New York Times, USA TODAY, and Award-winning authors S.E.
Smith, M.K. Eidem, Susan Grant, Michelle Howard, Cara Bristol, Veronica Scott,
Pauline Baird Jones, Laurie A. Green, Sabine Priestley, Jessica E. Subject,
Carol Van Natta, and Alexis Glynn Latner as they share stories and help out
Hero-Dogs.org, a charity that supports our veterans!
10% of the first month’s profits go to
Hero-Dogs.org. Hero Dogs raises and
trains service dogs and places them free of charge with US Veterans to improve
quality of life and restore independence.
Rescued by the Cyborg
(A Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance) by Cara Bristol
A cyborg’s haunted past and a Faria’s clouded future
entwine…
Hostage and
sole survivor Solia waits for death at the hands of vicious predatory aliens
when Cy-Ops agent Guy Roarke disobeys orders and charges in. A former medic, he
initiates emergency medical procedures before rushing her to Cybermed.
Guy is taken
with Solia, but the guilt of a past mistake won’t allow him to plan for a
future with the delicate, brave beauty. Life is so uncertain, he can’t even
keep Mittzi, the kitten his niece gave him. What he can do is see to it Solia
gets the help she needs for a full recovery. But when best intentions place her
in greater danger, it’s up to a little kitten to make everything all right
again.
Rescued by the Cyborg
excerpt
Something kept poking her. Solia rose to consciousness but buried her face in
her wing and squeezed her eyelids even tighter. She didn’t want to see what
existed in the light. Monsters were real, and they didn’t just creep in the
night. Don’t look. Stay here. Here,
wherever that was, with her eyes closed, was warm, pain-free, safe.
Safe from what? What was she forgetting?
Pat. Pat. Something pawed at her feathers. Then a rumble. Pat. Pat. Poke. Something sharp,
like a claw scraped across her face.
Claw.
Ka-Tȇ.
Jungle.
Cage. Death. Her lids sprang open. Two green Ka-Tȇ eyes
stared into hers. The creature yawned, revealing a mouthful of small, sharp
teeth, and then struck out with its paw.
Solia shrieked. The creature somersaulted and disappeared. Dragging her broken, torn wing, Solia stumbled for the door and plowed into a
massive chest.
“What’s happened? What’s wrong?” A man gripped her
shoulders. Though he barricaded the way, his presence exuded safety, calmed her
panic. More memories flashed. Racing through the jungle. This man carrying her
to a pod. Bodies hitting the window, scratching, clawing, trying to crack it
open. The man—Guy— had rescued her from Katnia. The floor hummed beneath her
feet. She was on a ship now.
But one of the creatures—“K-K-Ka-Tȇ. Here.”
“What? Where?” Disbelief knit his brows.
Solia gulped air and pointed. “Under the berth. It’s little,
but I woke up, and it was on me, scratching my face. It had green eyes. Claws.”
She patted her cheeks. There didn’t seem to be any injury.
“Mittzi.” Guy shook his head. He got down on all fours to
peer under the bunk.
“Be careful.”
He reached under the berth and pulled out a ball of gray fur
with white feet. Maybe Ka-Tȇ were born furry but lost their hair as they
matured? The creature spoke, emitting an odd little meow noise. Neither language training nor the implant provided a
translation. It clung to Guy, showing no sign of savagery, but maybe
viciousness developed with time, too.
“It’s not a Ka-Tȇ, it’s a kitten, a baby cat,” Guy
said, his tone gentle. “Don’t you have felines
on Faria?”
About Cara Bristol
USA Today bestselling author Cara Bristol writes steamy science fiction
romance with an emphasis on the characters and their romance, with a little
humor, heat, and danger added for fun. She is the author of three science
fiction romance series: sexy cyborg Cy-Ops Scifi Romance series, the dark
erotic Breeder series, and the new humorous Alien Mate series. She likes to say
that she writes science fiction for readers who don’t like sci-fi. Cara lives in Missouri with her alpha hero,
her husband, and Hannah, her cat, aka her writing supervisor.
