The Witches’ Stones Book 1 – Rescue from the Planet of the Amartos

An attractive young space mechanic is sent to a space station, her first posting since graduation. But unbeknownst to her, spies on the station have discovered her to have unusual abilities that could alter that balance of power in the galaxy. Thus begins a contest, with a dangerous dictatorial power abducting her in an effort to make use of these deadly powers, while the other power, including Earth, must rescue her to prevent that cataclysmic outcome.

An agent, a pilot, and a fast scout ship are all that stand in the way of disaster, in a deadly game of cat and mouse. But the contest also includes the participation of the mysterious Witches of Kordea, whose uncertain sympathies may be pivotal in determining the winner of this galactic struggle.

The novel is about 100,000 words and is priced at $3.99 U.S. (or equivalent in other currencies).  It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is periodically offered as free promotion.

 

It is also available in paperback at Amazon, currently priced at $9.99 U.S..

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Here’s a more detailed summary of the novel:

Sarah Mackenzie had trained as a space ship mechanic at the Space Port of her home city on Earth. She left Earth to explore the galaxy, and, some months later, landed a dream assignment, to become the ship mechanic of an Explorer ship, the Beth 117.

The Beth was on its way to a planet at the edge of the galaxy, where its crewmembers were to search for the Witches’ Stones, or amartos, the mysterious crystals, which the Witches of the world, Kordea, use to channel and augment their psychic energies.

Sarah has no idea that she, herself, happens to be Stone-sensitive, just like the Witches are. Under perilous circumstances, she comes across the cache of the Stones which the Explorers are looking for, and, unwittingly, “keys” them, igniting a psychic blaze that attracts the attention of The Organization, the implacable foe of the Terra Confederation, the centuries-old star-spanning government of most of the human race, and its non-human allies. To make use of amarto-energy, The Organization needs, not just the Stones, but also amarto-sensitive individuals whom they enslave to the devices which they have developed in their pursuit of galactic domination. Thus, they want not just the cache of Stones; they also want Sarah.

To forestall galactic war, rescuers, from a counter-intelligence group, known as The Agency, are sent to the Planet of the Amartos. A fast scoutship, manned by an Agent and a Pilot, must try to fetch Sarah and the amartos, bringing them to a safe haven among the Kordean Witches.

Sarah, herself, has to deal with serious conflicts. In the psychic realm she must choose between The Organization and the Kordean Witches, while retaining mastery over her own mind. In the physical reality, she has become the centre of an armed battle between the Terran scoutship and a military task force sent by The Organization to capture her and the Stones. Her determination to keep control of her own self sends her into unexplored mental realities, while exciting but dangerous physical events swirl around her and the crew of the scoutship, Camin.

To further complicate things, she senses within herself, the beginnings of an attraction to the handsome Agent sent to rescue her. However, she’s merely a naive young woman from Earth; surely, her hopes are beyond realization....

The novel is about 100,000 words, or 250 pages. It is the first book in the Witches' Stones series, which explores the struggle for power among the Terra Confederation, the Kordean Witches and The Organization, as well as the personal and romantic entanglements of the characters. Book 2 and Book 3 complete the series.