Bryan Thomas Schmidt: THE WORKER PRINCE

Hey, y’all. Remember that time I said I would be leasing blog space to friends with announcements and such to make. Well, here’s another installment in that series, this time featuring Bryan Thomas Schmidt, whose novel, The Worker Prince, debuted just a few short weeks ago.

Bryan was kind enough to let me post an excerpt from his novel for your perusal, so I’ll get right to that, shall I? Here goes!

Tela ordered a Tertullian Hammer and settled into a booth at the pub to wait for her drink. Through the dome overhead, she watched the sky fade from purple to gray as the planet’s two moons started their nightly climb.

As the waiter arrived with her drink, she spotted Davi behind him, coming in the door. Oh damn! She reached for her drink and took a long swallow. The ice cubes stacked in the glass held their position until the very last minute, then conveniently decided to collapse against her upper lip, sending a trickle of virulent green liquor down her chin to drip onto her clean, white jumpsuit.

God! Seriously? She swallowed hard and reached for a napkin, but it was too late. Glancing down, she saw a faint curl of smoke rising from the spreading stain on her collar as the drink melted the synthetic fibers. Oh, hells.

“Tela? What are you doing here?”

She looked up to find Davi standing across the table from her, smiling. He looked handsome in his flight jacket, his hair still wind-tousled from the training runs in the forest earlier. She blinked and offered a crooked grin.

Her head felt light all of a sudden. Was it getting hot in here?

A look of concern flashed across Davi’s face. “Is that a….Tertullian Hammer you’re drinking?”

Tela nodded. Her head was strangely wobbly on her neck. “Yez,” she said. Yez?

“Do you even know what’s in one of those?” Davi asked, shocked. “They’re almost pure, 160-proof Regallian vodka, mixed with spent fuel rod particles and synthetic alcohalgae! One sip is enough to knock a Vertullian yak on it’s hind end!”

Tela’s nose had gone inexplicably numb. She—

Bryan Thomas Schmidt: Excuse me!

Simon C. Larter: Um…yes?

BTS: That is not a scene from my novel!

SCL: *coughs* Are you sure? I distinctly remember a bar scene. There was a bar scene, wasn’t there?

BTS: Not like that, there wasn’t.

SCL: Oh.

BTS: ….

SCL: Perhaps I should copy directly from the text, instead of going from memory, then?

BTS: That might be a better idea, yes.

SCL: I think I can manage that.

BTS: Good. And, um…thanks for hosting me on  my blog tour. I think.

SCL: You’re welcome! Wait…what?

*

Davi nodded. “I know. I’ve been spending time in the Library learning the history of our people. I really believe in what we’re doing.” Tela couldn’t help being impressed by his effort. “That doesn’t make it any easier to think about sending kids to their possible deaths.”

“Some of them may surprise you,” Tela said.

Davi nodded. “I hope all of them do.” He took another sip, savoring the fruity taste a moment.

On impulse, she placed her hand on his atop the table. “Me, too.” She fought the urge to yank it back when she realized what she’d done. Yet he hadn’t tried to pull his hand away. Did he like this? She hated being so transparent, but then touching him like this felt so nice.

She slowly withdrew her hand. “We’ll have to work harder with them.”

Davi nodded. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.” He took one last long sip of his smoothie, and then set the empty glass back on the table. “I guess I should head back and start working up a more intense lesson plan.”

Tela joined him as he stood. “Do you want some help?”

Davi gave her a puzzled look. “Really?”

She shrugged. “Sure, why not?  I can come up with some decent ideas.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” She smiled. “

I know.” He nodded and tossed some credits on the table. “Okay, let’s go.”

She had an impulse. “Wait.”

“What?”

“One more thing.”

Without thinking, she rushed around the table, and, before either understood what was happening, she kissed him.

After a moment, she pulled away, straightened her clothes and headed for the door. “Let’s go.”

Davi stood there stunned and watched her go.

She turned back in the doorway. “You coming?”

He nodded, moving toward her.

Oh my God! She fought to control her expression. Why did I do that? This is just what I need. But then she realized, she hadn’t wanted to stop.

*

Erm…sorry about the technical difficulties there, folks. I think we finally got the real excerpt there at the end. :)

Anyway, if you’re in the mood for some good, old-fashioned space opera, leavened with love, faith, and gunship battles, why not give The Worker Prince a look? More excerpts, and signed copies, are available on Bryan’s website, and the book is available at your friendly neighborhood online retailers. Links below!

Powell’s Books

Amazon.com: Kindle and Paperback

Barnes & Noble