1632 Snippets

Two Cases For The Czar – Snippet 02

Two Cases For The Czar - Snippet 02 Here was another puzzle to solve. She ran her hands lightly over the wood, and felt a crack where there shouldn't be one. Pushed, pulled. Nothing. More examination led to another spot. Two hidden cracks at the back of the wardrobe in the gap between wardrobe and wall. This time, when she pushed, a door popped open at the back left side of the wardrobe. She called one of the officers over to it. The papers were only partly in Russian, and even her Russian wasn't great when it came to reading. So she couldn't...

1637 No Peace Beyond The Line – Snippet 46

This book should be available now, so this is the last snippet. 1637 No Peace Beyond The Line - Snippet 46 Leonora forced herself to become calm. "Sophie, you did not act to deprive Laurids of his life. And whatever you may have felt about your marriage, I do not believe you wished him dead, did you?" Sophie shook her head mutely. "And you only learned of the three other children afterward, so they could not even have been a part of your initial reaction to his death." Sophie looked up. "What point are you driving toward, Leonora?" The young...

The Macedonian Hazard – Snippet 06

The Macedonian Hazard - Snippet 06 Carthalo figured he could do that. Before Padus Boca fell into the furnace mouth, Carthalo had several dracmas stashed away for work he did on the side. Maybe he was lucky. Besides, the woman who was buying him was attractive. He might be able to seduce her. Then he learned that he wasn't being bought by this woman. She was just acting as agent. He was going to sail on the Reliance. To New America. 214-216 12th Street, Fort Plymouth, Trinidad June 30, 320BCE Stella woke to a siren that lasted for almost a...

1637 No Peace Beyond The Line – Snippet 45

1637 No Peace Beyond The Line - Snippet 45 Sophie smiled. "My surname, of course." Cautiously now, Leonora! "What is strange about it?" "That it is still affixed to my person. You know, of course, that I was married." "Y-yes." It would not do to let Sophie know how very much Leonora knew of this. Her very personal curiosity could easily be misunderstood as mere nosiness. "Your husband died in the Baltic War, did he not?" "Yes, he did. So I am familiar with the many ways in which mourning can become a burden more trying than the grief that may...

Two Cases For The Czar – Snippet 01

Two Cases For The Czar - Snippet 01 Two Cases For The Czar By Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett From the Casebook of Miroslava Holmes The Spy Who Got Away Location: Room 22B, Ufa Dacha Date: May 10, 1637 I take pen in hand to record the second case of Miroslava Holmes, my companion and friend. Miroslava has taken to reading with a fanatic zeal, so when she was called to the scene, she was reading yet another children's book. Even for Miroslava, reading isn't something that you learn in an hour, though that was all the time it took her to learn the...

The Macedonian Hazard – Snippet 05

The Macedonian Hazard - Snippet 05 "A contract made under duress is invalid. And anyone signing a contract while a slave is, by definition, under duress. But you do bring up an interesting point, Dag. There were contracts of indenture. They were outlawed by the 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United States, at least as the Supreme Court has interpreted it. And the UN also had rules against it. But there are still binding employment contracts. It could be done. A person could, as part of the deal to gain their freedom, sign an...

1637 No Peace Beyond The Line – Snippet 44

1637 No Peace Beyond The Line - Snippet 44 Chapter 23 Oranjestad, St. Eustatia Leonora was grumpy. Yes, she had reason for disappointment, but it went beyond that. First, the seamstress who was to make necessary changes to the one gown she had brought from Denmark was overdue and her services were absolutely required. Leonora was still only fourteen and just six months' worth of bodily change -- much of which was quite welcome! -- absolutely required alterations or profound embarrassment might ensue. Secondly, after spending half an hour...

The Macedonian Hazard – Snippet 04

The Macedonian Hazard - Snippet 04 May 15, 320 BCE Ronald Kemper pulled the sheet up over Donald Carnegie's head. The allergic reaction to the insulin contributed to a chest infection, which in Donald's weakened state proved fatal. Other patients were doing fine, at least for now, on the fish-derived insulin that was only purified by centrifuge. But there were too damned many who died from allergy to the non-insulin element that the poor purification methods left in the juice, and even for those it did work for, there were often side effects....