What’s that you say? You need a good scifi adventure. With a pretty dollop of romance. And you could use a little quirkiness? It sounds like you are saying that you need a Pauline Baird Jones / Project Enterprise fix?
In that case, I have good news. Today I have a cover reveal of the soon-to-be-release Project Enterprise novel – Maestra Rising. It will be out on June 18, but you can pre-order it today. In fact, I recommend it. For today, here is a sneak peak at the cover (love it!) and at an excerpt from the book. Thanks to Pauline Baird Jones for giving us this tantalizing taste of what is to come!
About Maestra Rising
She’s a gifted scientist. He’s a robot with a human mind. Can they save a lost ship and find love among the stars?
Nivi awakes from cryosleep plagued by guilt. The scientific genius had hoped her people would avoid war if she went into cold sleep, but she learns her sacrifice was in vain. And now a vicious enemy approaches a stranded Earth spaceship. Desperate to reactivate the technology she needs for the rescue, Nivi enlists the help of an attractive robot with a human consciousness and wisdom beyond his years…
Moose survived slavery but never forgot the feeling of worthlessness it forced upon him. After living in the body of a robot for years, he sees an opportunity to help the brilliant Nivi if he becomes human once again. In a new body with new dangers, he worries that the genius scientist will never see him as more than the robot he once was.
Outnumbered by a relentless foe, Nivi and Moose attempt to put their desires on hold to ensure humanity’s survival.
With time running out, can they defeat the enemy and enjoy a future filled with love
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Excerpt from Maestra Rising
Here is an extended excerpt about Arian and Coop from Found Girl: Project Enterprise 6. You’ve all been wondering when they are going to be rescued! Well, this is the book where they try. But as you can see, if you read the excerpt, they are in a LOT of trouble because thing are heating up where they are.
Please note this is an unedited version because I (Pauline) couldn’t wait to share it.
Deep in the tunnels of the Phoenicopterian’s central planet, the intermittent ticking echoed off the walls, seeming to reach up and out into space itself. That was the plan, according to Arian, Captain Jackson “Coop” Cooper thought a touch gloomily, as he followed his bird guide down and then down some more through the dull and rather damp tunnel system. Waiting wasn’t really his thing and Pappy—General Boyette—wasn’t a great wait-on-events guy either.
Hope had been, well, not high. Not Pappy’s skill set either. But Arian’s SOS beat trying to hoof it home in a hundred years or more—if they managed to elude the fleet of vicious storks hungrily pacing outside this sanctuary. He suppressed a memory of his fight with the storks and the men who had died. He hadn’t watched the video of that fight, hadn’t wanted to watch it again. He’d been there, so it already played on an almost constant loop inside his head.
Pappy had watched it because that’s what commanders of men did. He’d never seen the old man come out of a briefing that pale.
They’d been brainstorming an alternate plan ever since, trying to learn from the skirmish and do better the next time, if the SOS didn’t work or help didn’t come in time. Ideas for what to do better or different were thin on the ground and now—well, that’s why Pappy had sent him here.
They passed into the fountain room, then out again. That damn fountain was the only way he knew he was almost there. Like the Phoenicopterians, all the tunnels looked alike to him.
The tall double doors opened at their approach. The first time he’d been here, he’d wondered if they were all on the menu. He was glad they hadn’t been, but finding out they were kind of friends had not helped that much.
The guide stopped, letting him enter on his own. The room had morphed from weird dining room to echoing space with nothing but the Urclock and then into a sort of not-fun home away from home for them. Not that he felt comfortable doing anything but hugging Arian when anyone could walk in at any time. And often did.
The Phoenicopterians had moved in a couple of chairs, a bed, and a work station so Arian could be comfortable during her vigil. Somehow they’d managed to accommodate her other needs without her needing to get too far away. Pappy let him spend as much time here as events allowed.
Or when there was bad news.
She looked around, as if she sensed him coming. His breath caught and his heart kicked into high. Her smile lit her face until she saw his eyes. He hated that he’d been the one to erase that smile. It was the first thing he’d fallen for—
“It’s—” She stopped, her head turning to the side as Hoteimai—him or her, Coop still wasn’t sure—entered, moving toward them with that peculiar flamingo-like gait. Coop had been around them long enough to be able to tell when they were worried. Like now.
Arian’s fingers tightened around his, but her voice was calm. “They’ve broken through again? Haven’t they?”
The large bird raised and lowered its long pink neck in a nod.
“Not big enough for a ship to get through. Yet,” Coop added because what they’d done once the storks could do again, particularly when the array had already been damaged.
She nodded, her glance straying toward the Urclock. He didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t help it. The third symbol still blinked red, then yellow. They’d had some hope when the seven signal came on, but then nothing. At this point, if anyone answered the signal, could they get here in time to help them?
Suddenly the Urclock pulsed, light coming from the symbols and it also seemed to come from the surface of the thing, too. Arian’s eyes glazed for a few seconds and then it was over. Coop blinked in the bright light, his grip on Arian tightened as she swayed slightly.
“Was that…them?” he asked.
Instead of answering, she looked at the Urclock. It had changed. Arian’s symbol still blinked yellow and red, and another one had joined in hers. One and seven were yellow. And the rest were red. Not blinking red, but solid red.
“What does that mean?” Coop asked. Maybe red didn’t mean the same thing to this tangram thing…
“The Tangram can not form.” Hoteimai’s tone was flat, almost resigned, as if it had expected this.
“It’s been a long time,” Arian said, her brows creased. “But the One is active. She—” Arian’s gaze turned dreamy, distant. “The Maestra will not stop trying.”
Despite her words, her wide worried gaze met his. He managed a crooked grin for her.
“So, maybe we won’t be home by Christmas, but Easter for sure.”
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Maestra Rising is the eighth novel in the epic Project Enterprise sci-fi romance series. If you like gripping adventures, captivating characters, and emotional out-of-this-world encounters, then you’ll love Pauline Baird Jones’ thrilling saga.
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Pre-order Maestra Rising at Amazon (releases June 18):
Other purchase links here: http://paulinebjones.com/books/maestra-rising/
Purchase books in the Project Enterprise series:
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About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Pauline Baird Jones never liked reality, so she writes books. She likes to wander among the genres, rampaging like Godzilla, because she does love peril mixed in her romance. Loves chocolate, bacon, flamingoes, and mid-century modern anything.
