How to Motivate Soldiers
General Powell likes for his men to stand out and sparkle. So after a battle his approbations and punishments tend to be heavy handed. However, in the Ridge battle, which would have been a disaster had Alisha not been able to teach fifteen Ryders how to perform a vertical drop in less than an hour of training, he declared that everyone did a superb job except for Colonel Sparkes. Sparkes he ran through a meat grinder for not knowing information about the Drug Cartels. It didn’t matter this was the first time MAC had sent them after a Cartel. But then it was the first time a cartel had taken over the Wind Farms to store their drugs. MAC depends on the electricity from those Wind Farms, so it wanted the nest of vermin removed. But neither MAC nor any Ryder comprehended what they were going up against. Only Senna knew a bit from the month she spent with Denny on the streets. He knew everything about anything that might improve his chances of surviving one more day.
Scavenger’s Mission
By Liza O’Connor
Blurb
Meet Alisha: A young woman who refuses to live the life her parents want.
In a single month, Alisha Kane has gone from a wealthy debutante to street girl to scavenger. While testing her new flying skills in the Cully Canyon, Alisha incurs a near-death crash landing. She’s “rescued” by a colonel of the SkyRyders and her life changes forever.
Meet Logan: A SkyRyder colonel in charge of a sleepy fort with little to do other than arrest the occasional scavenger.
For the first time in his life, Logan’s attracted to a young woman, only she’s probably a scavenger and he’ll have to arrest her. But first he offers her a shower and food while he checks on his crew. His videographer has captured her extraordinary flight through the Cully and her flying is astounding!
He forgoes arresting her and puts his career at risk by asking MAC to assess her skills and integrity as a potential SkyRyder. If he can get Alisha into the SkyRyders, it will be his greatest contribution to the Corps.
Meet MAC: The Artificial Intelligence that runs the SkyRyders Corps.
Upon seeing her arrival, MAC upgrades Alisha’s test. Her flying skills are not just excellent; they exceed what was previously thought possible. MAC classifies her as its top asset and soon she proves her value.
But…the SkyRyders remain a male dominated Corps where Alisha’s sense of right and wrong often clashes with her superiors. How long can a rebellious young woman survive in a regimented Corps?
Excerpt
Sparkes sighed and stood up. “Can’t say I’m looking forward to this one. The general has forewarned me I’m in for a public beating.”
Alisha looked up in outrage, but before she could protest, Sparkes stopped her. “For my initial battle plan and for failing to get proper intel on the situation.”
“That’s not fair! He obviously didn’t know about Wednesday being market day either. And the plan we took into battle was a complete and absolute success.”
Logan agreed with her arguments. He hadn’t known any more than Sparkes about “market day”. Drug raids were new. For years they’d been doing nothing but fighting terrorists and scavengers. This had been their first drug raid. Still, the speed with which Alisha came to Sparkes’ rescue caused a distinct tension in his stomach.
“Yes, and he took that into consideration, so I won’t lose my rank, but I will take a beating. It’s important for the men to know you can’t just perform well some of the time. You must do so all of the time.”
Alisha turned to Logan. “Under the same criteria, I shouldn’t receive any commendations either.”
“That’s true,” Logan said. “However, to not give you a commendation, the general would have to explain to his men what you did to undo your tremendous contributions of the day, and he doesn’t wish to officially charge you with disobeying an order. So, for the benefit of the troops, you will receive your commendation.”
“That’s not fair treatment. If he’s going to hold Colonel Sparkes responsible for intel he didn’t know, then he should hold me responsible for orders I disobeyed.”
Her continued defense of Sparkes pissed him off. “He feels your rapid escalation to captain may have left you unprepared to make good decisions under stress. It is my duty to train you as quickly as possible. And any future failure on your part will be seen as a failure on my part as well, so when I say you will accept your commendations today without incident, I hope you understand it’s an order and not a request.”
“Yes, sir.” She lowered her eyes.
“Then go to the mess hall and round up the squad. I’ll be down directly,” Logan snapped.
SALES LINK
The SkyRyder’s Series, Book 1
Scavenger’s Mission
About the Author
Liza O’Connor lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels.
SCIENCE FICTION
Sci-Fi Soap Opera with humor, romance, and science
Sci-Fi/Romance
The SkyRyders Series
Sci-Fi Romance
Scavenger Falters-coming 2017
Scavenger Vanishes-coming 2017
Loved this book! Can't wait for the sequel!! :)
ReplyDeleteWow, this looks action-packed!
ReplyDelete