Preface

Dusty Carmichael works for UNSEC as an MP and a Detective with her partner and husband, James. In mid-2097, they were reassigned from their jobs on the Moon to a special task force. There is also a secret to their success. They are not ordinary people anymore; they are Mages.

This story covers a little adventure they had investigating crime syndicate that spanned more than one solar system. As per usual, Dusty’s curiosity got her and James into trouble. Her dad often joked that ‘Trouble’ was her middle name.

Disclaimer:

If you find any of my assumptions fabricated, I would like to remind you this is a fantasy/Sci-fi story and I have probably taken liberties with reality, as you know of it.

If you find grammatical or spelling errors, they are not the fault of my friend Anna Dapter who did try to edit my work. However, I do have a tendency to fiddle around after the fact.

The Australian Dictionary was also used. I also hope my colloquialisms are decipherable and you enjoy the story.

Did You Know?

Bickies - cookies in the US

Bingle - generally used to describe an accident involving a vehicle

Budgie smugglers - also known as dick-togs or Speedos

Buggies - four-wheeled vehicles with rollbars but no roof or full doors, some have a version of a solar-panel added onto of the rollbars

Camla - type of two toed mammal similar to a lama

Catalo - type of big cat

Emu - an Airbus that seats twenty-eight people in nine rows of two seats on one side with one on the other, plus a space to lock in a mobility chair. They were used for flights of short duration, less than two hours (It is also a very large flightless bird in Australia that runs fast and the dumb birds like to play chicken with traffic)

Esky - portable cooler for beer and whatever, used for picnics and camping

Dust-up - a fight

Fat-attack - go ballistic, rant, rave and be generally upset

Greyhound - an Airbus that seats sixty comfortably, in fifteen rows of four seats, they only need very short runways, and they can fly fast at high altitudes

Gunna – going to

Gonna – dying or dead

Hopper - Flying version of a motorcycle with fans and wheels for ground use

Kinda – kind of

Lanky - type of horse

Linger - invented 2070, Lingers have electric motor driven fans that provide the levitation. They have a set of wheels for parking or slower driving on land, making them an all-terrain vehicle for flying at altitudes restricted to less than 10m.

Lucked in – got lucky

Lucked out – out of luck

Mad - multi-application device worn on the wrist, replaces watches and mobile phones

Medi-vac - Flying version of an ambulance that can go higher than 10m but less than 15m for clear travel

Ozlium - Stronger and lighter than titanium, has high radiation and thermal reflection capabilities and is able to withstand extremely high-velocity impacts

Oznglass - Transparent in low light levels, as light increases, it darkened to reflect the excess light and most other undesirable radiation. A variant of Ozlium with similar thermal properties and strengths

Pash – passionate kissing

Peepers - Interactive Educational Shades, ‘IES’ or eyes. They got their nickname because they are commonly used for viewing and interacting with pornography

Chapter 1 »