QSFer William Tracy has a new queer sci fi book out, Biomass Conflux book 2: To a Fungus Unknown.
Forty years after landing on Lida, the colony still isn’t finished.
Agetha has survived many more battles than she anticipated when she first landed on her new home planet. She’s older and wiser, has gained family and lost loved ones. And yet her reward for four decades of service is to be pushed to the colony’s outer edges with the other aging Generationals.
But that was only the beginning of her adventure.
The biomass has spent years studying the intruders who landed on its surface, carving a new home from its very essence. Never satisfied in its attempt to communicate with this new and invasive species, finally it has found a way to express its intentions. The colonists may never be the same.
Discover the fate of the colony in the second book of The Biomass Conflux trilogy!
Get It At Amazon | B&N | Booksprout
Excerpt
His fingers moved of their own accord toward a hat. Juliane had long ago found resisting took too much effort and was a losing battle anyway. But this time felt more…deliberate. The three sensations had burrowed into his mind. They were—arguing? His hand passed from a high fez-like hat to a broad-brimmed conical one, to one that looked like a helmet. The sensation of fingers rubbing dirt grew stronger and his hand clasped on the wide-brimmed hat.
“This one, then? Interesting choice.” His other hand took off his current hat—a shapeless and beaten-up wool thing, though with a brim, and he put the new one on.
“That one’s thirty time credits,” the booth’s owner said. It was more than Juliane had to his name at the moment. More than he’d had in a while.
“Maybe I’ll just put it back then,” he said, his hand gripping the brim. It didn’t move.
For the first time in weeks, a spot of panic rose in him. These connections were new, not his old friend. Who else had a hand in—
No. No blanking. He had to figure out who…
His other hand dropped the wool hat on the table and for the first time, Juliane’s tongue refused to obey him.
“Take thissss one.” His voice slurred. “Exchannngshe.”
“I have to get back to work now, though. Maybe another time.” Choi set the hammer down and tried not to glance at the case they’d left on the ground. Seed and information. They were five meters away before the booth’s owner called after them.
“Muux! I think you dropped—”
Choi walked faster. The Vagals were looking around at the raised voice and Choi ducked under a stall and around a wall, cradling their drymelon.
“You alright there?”
“Oh! Stars above!” Choi jumped at the voice and turned to see Beth, her braids swinging as she stopped next to them.
“What are you doing out in Zeta?” she asked them. So much for avoiding her.
Agetha made the gesture that seemed to mean a connection between Others Who Liked to Walk. Phyllis had made it a few times, but Agetha hadn’t had a chance to do so yet.
“Seems like there’s something else to do today besides selling vegetables,” she said.
“I like selling vegetables,” Beth grumbled, but made one of the gestures she knew—brushing hair back behind her ear, but not touching her neck. Rider.
Agetha knew better than to try to touch the back of her neck. Something always—
The connection with Phyllis grew, from a distance Agetha hadn’t felt before. She closed her eyes, and the friend was in the middle of them. Phyllis was on the other side of the market, and Beth sitting here beside her.
Anderson pounded his prosthetic hand on the table, making a large mallet shake. The booth owner shut up, eyes wide.
“Who was here?” he asked.
“A person who had bought a drymelon stopped to look at my tools,” the man said. Anderson’s head swiveled to where the first person had disappeared.
“But when I called that he’d left his case, another man in a large hat picked it up. He went that way. I think he stole it!”
Anderson’s head swiveled the other way. What had been in that drop? There were now at least two other factions in play, and Anderson didn’t know either of them. Who had called with the tip? What was it? And who had intercepted the pickup? Finally, how had they known?
Muux, urgent information to report, Anderson texted. He was in for a good old reaming.
Author Bio
William C. Tracy writes and publishes queer science fiction and fantasy through his indie press Space Wizard Science Fantasy, which is open to submissions (spacewizardsciencefantasy.com).
His largest work is the Dissolutionverse: a space opera with music-based magic, including ten books and an RPG. He also has a standalone epic fantasy with seasonal fruit-based magic through a LGBTQ+ small press. He is currently working on a hard sci-fi trilogy with a generational colony ship and a planet covered by a fungal entity.
William is an NC native and a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy. He has a master’s in mechanical engineering, and has both designed and operated heavy construction machinery. He has also trained in Wado-Ryu karate since 2003 and runs his own dojo in Raleigh NC. He is an avid video and board gamer, a beekeeper, a reader, and of course, a writer.
You can get a free Dissolutionverse novelette by signing up for William’s mailing list at http://williamctracy.com
Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/wctracy for writing updates, cat and bee pictures, and thoughts on martial arts.
| Author Website | https://spacewizardsciencefantasy.com/ |
| Author Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/williamctracyswsf/ |
| Author Twitter | https://twitter.com/wctracy |