P. E. Knapp

The day was like any other recently. Cold snow flurries and light wind. It was to be expected, as it was the end of November in New York City. Today was Thanksgiving though, and most of the shops were closed as I was walking towards the sounds of the music. My shoulder bag strap across one shoulder and my hands stuffed in my pockets. People clapping, children yelling for Santa. I snorted. Wait until they find out there is no Santa. I was cold and my pants got ripped last night. Chasing down anot

Ask yourself. What would happen if the world you thought you lived in wasn’t the real world you lived in? Secrets? What if you found what you believed to be true wasn’t? What if you discovered what you thought wasn’t true really was? If your own circumstances made you take a chance, that you never would have before. Would you? What if you made a wish in jest to humor a friend, no matter how fantastical it was, came true? Would you believe it? Come. Sit in front of the fire. Read about the World and the Holiday Season that you think you know. But truly don’t!

I'm sorry @ReaderPaul! I know I answered this, but I was jumping around and may have not submitted it last night as I had thought.☹️ Anywho. CONFED Navy is the space navy of the Western Confederation. Each Region is 8 Sectors. Each sector has a governor elected by the people. Each region has an Elected Governor and a Senator, appointed by the 8 governors to represent their interests at the Western Confederation Senate. Of which there are 37 Senators. That means 37 regions. 296 sectors and if you wanted to know. Between 2.1 and 2.6 trillion people are citizens of the Westward Confederation. Some sectors have populations in the tens of billions and some barely hit 1 billion people. CONFED Navy is the all-powerful big kid on the street. Extensive Intelligence, large and numerous fleets. Top of the line training and facilities. A capable force that everyone wants to avoid drawing the attention of. The Western Confederation itself was started by a group of billionaires they in turn elected a leader. That leader is still elected by the families of those original settlers. But, as has always been the case. That person is not a member of the families. Much like presidential elections here in the US. People come forth and campaign to be elected. Much easier than it sounds as there are batteries of tests the potential candidate must pass before the families will even consider them. Yes. There is an Army side of the military. Much smaller than the Navy and Marines, but still a viable fighting component if needed. Mostly used for planetary security to back up local law authorities. Especially when dealing with smugglers and pirates on planetary locations. Marc's mate... He's out there someplace. Should be Chapter 6 or so of Bk4. 😉

Lol. Yes. Eventually in book seven. Thanks for the comment Al Norris! And the binge reading.

Practice makes perfect!🤣

Yes, and we stopped here at chapter 16. So that means he meets his mate in Book 4 as originally intended... at or about chapter 6. Might be chapter seven as ch3 and 4 are under the 4th rewrite. 😁 Unless I drop in Book 3.5 before then...then it might be another 16-18 chapters away. 😈 But 3.5 is its own book... so probably not. Thanks for the comment akascrubber!

Either I'm early or I'm late. Depending on how I hold the glass. 😉 Movies... Wow. You know there are a few. Pretty much anything with Scrooge suits me best. There are a bunch of old ones. Holiday Inn: 1942 version, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby... haven't seen that one on in 2 decades. I guess for modern movies... Polar Express ranks up there with The Santa Clause. I'm sure I have more and just as soon as I hit submit, I'll remember the names.😇

If I remember correctly, they say 1000 lawyers at the bottom of the sea is a good start... how appropriate you posted the shark fin circling. 🤣 Thanks for the comment, Anton_Cloche!

That's true, unfortunately. And this timeline is 2006-7. Even less open than it is now. But still, I would restrict PDA's to shipboard only and then only to cruise lines I know are friendly to male/male couples. RCCL, Celebrity, Holland America Lines, Cunard and Norwegian Cruise Lines are the top ones I am aware of. Not 100% sure on the rest. Thanks for the comment centexhairysub!

Well... Yeah! 😉 Thanks for the comment drsawzall!

We made it to Eric’s on time and he had the champagne already poured for the five of us. Tanner walked between me and Quinn. Following Quinn into the condo. Amanda smirked as she looked at us. “I’m betting there were several rounds of sex, as TJ is now glowing too.” Which made me and Eric bark out a laugh as Quinn pulled the blushing Tanner tight to him. “Don’t tease Tanner. He is ours, not yours.” He said, which made me wrap them both in my arms. Kissing both before I released them.

Thanks for the comment ReaderPaul! Ice Mining... water. Yes, but mostly for fuel. Water reclamation is almost capable of providing for all needs after the initial charge. Planets... According to researchers. There is not a whole lot of human habitable planets around. I make do with man-made. It's easier to have whatever I want, instead of making it work to a world. There are other worlds, most of which come out in book 4. Non-human intelligences... I've tried to avoid them. But yeah, they are out there.

Thanks for the comment gmc! I try to keep readers up to date on my plans.

Thanks for the comment VBlew! I thought so too when I first wrote book 4. 1-3 were written in reverse order and book 4 was cut apart into 4 books. Mostly because i had to add characters from the 1-3.

Thanks for the comment @centexhairysub! It was fun to write all of them. Jessica, Rory, Hugo, Tom, Janek, Roman and Camile and lastly Sasha. All have earned places in the coming books as, with the exception of Tom and Jessica, they were not in the book. You once asked (Back in book 1) if Alexander Industrials was like one of the Imperial Houses in Dune. Then until this point. It wasn't. Spoiler Alert: Book 4 changes the circumstances and begins the House building. Book five completes it and it will be the equivalent of an Imperial House. Both in size and power. The days of Marc chasing every cute butt he sees is coming to an end. Working title is Fates, Mates and Pirates. Subject to change.

Thanks for the comment drsawzall! I'll start the Holiday story, probably Sunday and Book 4 will start... Probably the 22nd of December.

Thanks for the comment akascrubber! I am glad you enjoyed it! Marc's mate... well we will see.😈

Thanks for the comment Butcher56! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

It was a very nice trip out into the rocks with the newest of the Comet Class vessels. But. Play time was over and it was back to business. My new mining ships had all completed their upgrades, and I had crews for all of them. I also had crew training for Jay Thatcher and a few other of my small mining group friends. Jay was happy when I pulled my miners out of his group occasionally because it means they have to work harder to make quota instead of hoping my vessels with their improved systems

I'm seeing a private security shadow in Travis's future. I agree with Will. This stalker is dangerous and needs to be treated as such. Another good chapter from Mark Arbour!

Beautiful thing about writing stories. Anything is possible.😈 But yes. You are correct. In this I decided on just making it look like marriage, but in reality, they are their own corporation. And Tanner works as assistant to Quinn and Orion. Helping with sexual healing, cleaning the home, cooking dinner, staying warm in bed, guiding hired staff, handling file transfers between home office and work offices, and earlier, driving Orion to and from therapy, doctor's... ect. Now it has changed, and you see the three of them making meals together, plus Tanner has his job at the shop still, even if it is just part time now. Not drifting as much as slowly paddling the kayak towards a specific destination.😉 Thanks for the comment @Anton_Cloche!

That makes two of us! Thanks for the comment centexhairysub!

Tell me about it! We are below average temps for the past two weeks and 3 inches today. It's snowing now for another 3-6 by sunrise, then we warm back up to the 30's. Thanks for the comment drsawzall!

In the works... Kind of wish I took one now to get out of the cold and snow. Guess I'll have to write thoughts of warmth and steamy sex on the balcony. 😉 Thanks for the comment ReaderPaul!

Orion in the lower level of the condo. Walking around, I was double checking the work we had done. I was lucky when I reached out that the owners wanted to sell. They lived up in Seattle and didn’t have the time to use this anymore. The stairway was 4 days of dust and metal screeching as they cut through the floor. We simplified it by going with a circular staircase. Less than 30 days from the time they said they were willing to sell until we had the work finished and moved in. Moving our l