Three hundred miles below the departure lounge’s windows, a blue-brown Africa floated. Four years ago I’d volunteered for a tour in the Belt to escape the consequences of my then best-friend’s unwise decision to leave his fiancée in my care while he underwent basic training. (Nice girl. Hope he found it in his heart to forgive her.)
Pete Stone appears in the story “On Her Majesty’s Deep Space Service” by Jonny Nexus, published in The New Hero Volume 1.
Listen to Jonny Nexus reading a quote from “On Her Majesty’s Deep Space Service”.
In a retro alternate future where the sun never sets on a spaceship of the British Empire, Space Lieutenant Peter “Pete” Stone battles intrigue with brittle wit, harder fists, and a flair for brash improvisation—not to mention his ability hold his Jack Daniels with Coke, ice, no slice. When a member of the royal family goes missing out in the Belt, Pete’s leave is canceled… and his suspicions aroused.
In “On Her Majesty’s Secret Space Service”, Jonny Nexus does drollery right, grounding it by faithfully evoking the physics of space exploration. The fact that “Pete” is a nickname worthy of quotation marks tells you all you need to know about Nexus’ oak-paneled, orbital setting. Stone’s touches of loucheness add entertaining dimension to the two-fisted resourceful hero.
Jonny Nexus lives in Brighton, England, with his wife, their dog, and an array of chew toys that the dog invariably leaves on the top-most step but one. He was the editor, co-founder, and chief-writer of the cult gaming webzine Critical Miss, and wrote the Slayers Guide to Games Masters and a regular monthly magazine column for leading British roleplaying publisher Mongoose Publishing. His debut novel Game Night, published by Magnum Opus Press in 2007, was shortlisted for a GenCon EN World Award (an “ENnie”). For more information on Jonny Nexus, visit his website.
All New Hero artwork by Gene Ha.
The Stone Skin Press Kickstarter and more information can be found here.
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