Cane, Nancy - Moonlight Rhapsody

Title: Moonlight Rhapsody
Author: Nancy Cane
Series: Book 2 of The Light-Years Trilogy
Pub: Dorchester (reissued by iUniverse.com)
Pub Date: October 1994 (reissued May 2000)
ISBN: 0-505-51987-9 (reissued ISBN: 0-595-00302-8)
Genre:
Time Period:
Setting:
Hero: Lord Rolf Cam'brii
Heroine: Ilyssa

Summary:

When Lord Rolf Cam'brii's ship crashes on the planet Souk, he's taken prisoner and thrown into a slave labor camp. Here he catches the eye of the beautiful female overseer, Ilyssa. As he learns her secrets, he finds himself falling under her spell.

Excerpt:

    CHAPTER ONE

Rolf had never been caught in such a violent storm. His spacecraft, buffeted in all directions, was like a plaything to the terrible ionic gale raging outside. Sweat beaded his brow as jagged streaks of blue lightning flashed in the darkness, but he was unable to see anything except roiling clouds when the sky lit up.

Gripping the armrests of his seat, Rolf cursed his luck. His mission was dangerous enough without his ship being caught in a maelstrom. Unable to take a heavier vessel to Souk, he'd chosen a small, lightweight freighter meant for evading radar through swift maneuvering. But in this tempest, the ship was like a feather tossed by the wind. Updrafts and downdrafts battered at him, and his stomach wrenched with each thrashing.

Monitoring the computer readouts, Rolf prayed that the bursting ion streaks would avoid hitting his ship. He couldn't request emergency assistance from the Souks as his descent into their atmosphere was unauthorized, and he couldn't risk being detected as he neared the ground.

Nervously, he swiped at a strand of hair, pushing it off his face. Any minute now, the computer would initiate the landing sequence. Maybe then he could relax.

"By the stars!" he cried as a loud jolt rocked the ship, straining him against his safety harness. An ion bolt had hit home! The lights in the cockpit went out, then flickered red as the backup system kicked in. Sirens wailed as a series of warning lights flashed on his display panel.

"Systems overload!" warned the computer's impersonal female voice. "Switching off actuator valves one and two to reroute flow streams. Core fuel injectors remain operative."

Read more

Comments: The Light-Years series

Book 1: Circle of Light
Book 2: Moonlight Rhapsody
Book 3: Starlight Child