Privateer Tales Short Stories/Novellas

Two young orphans, Priloe and his sister, Milenette, managed to escape a lifetime of enslavement with a lot of help from Liam Hoffen, Privateer. As grateful as Priloe might be, he can’t imagine why Hoffen would give up his family to go careening around the stars, when family is all he’s ever wanted. A chance encounter with Silver, Liam’s mother, offers Priloe a new life on the family’s asteroid mining operation. He seizes the opportunity, not realizing that trouble is just around the corner. Before he has his feet under him, he’s dragged into a mystery at an abandoned mining claim. Though just a kid, Priloe has a lifetime of difficult decisions behind him, but those he faces now could well separate him from the family he’s desperate to join. When another’s life hangs in the balance, he must make a choice, no matter the consequences. Life of a Miner is a quick, enjoyable read that was originally conceived, written, and released on Jamie McFarlane’s blog at fickledragon.com.

Pete Hoffen has spent the last year in the rainforest of the Amazon, slogging through hell and back in service to his country. When an opportunity to join the Mechanized Infantry presents itself, Pete is first in line. He knows that he's going to get shot at one way or another, but the idea of sitting in a warm and more importantly, dry mechanized suit appeals to him almost beyond reason. While still training in the jungle, Pete's squad is called out to intervene in a skirmish in a nearby village. Of course, the Marines haven't seen fit to certify his squad with ordnance. The fact that they'll be up against a platoon of squishies doesn't convince him that's it's any better of an idea and things turn quickly to crap when they discover the squishies are protected by grav-tanks. Pete, Popeye and Olive is a fast paced, short-story with plenty of action.