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Sigil
by Tanna Borrell
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| Examples of proposed covers |
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In the family trading vessel Twilight Lamb, Den Protania is a failure. Not just any failure, although his father is the captain, Den was already kicked out of both command and astrogation, and now he isn’t doing too well in shuttle section. Den has no desire to work to achieve anything, yet he envies everyone who is more successful than he. He especially resents Natana Kern, the Twilight Lamb’s youngest master astrogator and a journeyman in psyonics. Natana succeeds in every area Den cannot, and he hates her because of it. When the Twilight Lamb detects a derelict courier vessel, Athelstan Cying along their flight path, Natana mans pilotage and Den is part of the salvage team. Both of their lives are about to change forever… Aboard the Athelstan Cying, a being has lingered a millennia—long dead, yet aware and extant. The Athelstan Cying houses the spirit of an Imperial commander, a psyonic master. When the Twilight Lamb comes within range of the Athelstan Cying, the Cying begins a preprogrammed attack plan. The spirit can barely stop the attack, and Twilight Lamb’s salvage crew boards her—including Den. Den, of course, doesn’t follow protocol. He explores the vessel without waiting for his partner, the shuttle master. The Athelstan Cying fought in a space battle long ago and one of the cabins was breached. Although the being tries to warn Den, Den opens the cabin door and is impaled on the structure of the ship. The spirit attempts to save Den, and when Den’s soul departs the body, it is locked inside. The being uses its knowledge to stabilize the body and saves it from certain death. Now, for better or worse, he has become Den Protania. The new Den Protania is very aware of his precarious position on the Twilight Lamb. His life depends on the truth of Den’s change remaining a secret. His problems are aggravated when the ship’s council rightly blames him for the accident, and charges him a debt that will take decades to reduce even for a master. Still worse, Natana Kern, as a psyionic journeyman, is assigned to help Den’s recovery. During Den’s first session with Natana, he experiences a flashback to his ancient life that she is drawn into. She realizes he is not the Den Protania she once knew, but what can she do? Would anyone believe her? Can such a thing really be true? When she was inside his mind, Natana realized the new Den’s power, compassion, and honor. They mutually call a truce and in exchange for training in psyonics, Natana agrees to help Den redeem his life in the eyes of the Twilight Lamb’s family. Den and Natana maintain an uncomfortable peace as he integrates into the ship’s family, works to reduce his enormous debt, and tries to determine who from the past he really was. Whatever the future brings the world for Den and Natana has radically changed. |
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A standard year ago, the Twilight Lamb salvaged an ancient Imperial courier ship, the Athelstan Cying. Onboard, Den Protania broke protocol and mortally injured himself. As he died, Den encountered a spirit who tried to save him. The being could not save Den’s spirit, but he stabilized his body and was trapped as Den Protania. Natana Kern shared Den’s secret and helped the new Den reclaim his place in the Twilight Lamb. They wove a friendship that soon became something more. In his ancient past, Den had been a psyonic master. Natana learned everything she could from him. On the planet, Neuterra, Natana and Den stumbled on a group, the Athenian Charter that used psyonic tools for political and criminal activity. The group kidnapped and experimented on Den and Natana. While Den and Natana were captives, the Athenian Charter introduced a super computer symbiot into Natana’s brain. The Athenian Charter hoped to use the device to control Natana. Instead, coupled with Natana’s intellect, it became a powerful tool that Den and Natana used to escape their captors. Den and Natana share a second secret: Natana’s computational capabilities and their source. Den and Natana discovered a worthy enemy—the Athenian Charter is accumulating the power to enslave millions. They have raided ancient archeological sites for psyonic equipment from the Human Galactic Empire and the Reps. To have any hope of countering the Athenian Charter, Den and Natana must recover as much information as possible about them. While still on Neuterra, they execute a foray on the Athenian Charter and the Neuterran archeological sites. Den is injured, but fortunately, the security of the Twilight Lamb recovers them. Their actions are seen as revenge for their kidnapping and luckily little comes of it. Den has gained more trust from the ship’s council and is made the leader of an Emergency Procedures and Special Capabilities team. Den trains his team well, and when the Twilight Lamb receives a distress call from the new space liner, Regia Anglorum, his team is sent to stabilize the reactors and get the ship back under control. While Den’s team works, the passengers are shuttled over to the Twilight Lamb. Unfortunately, the Regia Anglorum is a pirated ship. The Athenian Charter is using the Regia Anglorum as a decoy to take over the Twilight Lamb. In this age, the key to control of the Confederation of Human Space is the Family Trading Ships. Some of the passengers are pirates who use modern weapons and ancient military psyonic control devices to take over the Twilight Lamb. Now, Den, Natana, and their team must use every resource they have to recapture the Twilight Lamb—before their families are slaughtered. |
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