Kidnapped by Maria Hammarblad

It’s a late winter night when Patricia Risden heads home in her car, on a road she’s driven many times before. She doesn’t have a care in the world, that is, until a man appears from nowhere, right in front of her.

The next thing she knows is being a prisoner of the unscrupulous Alliance Commander Travis 152; an intimidating man who demands information and complete cooperation. Travis soon realizes his mistake; Tricia doesn’t know anything, and she is incapable of even getting a glass of water from the ship’s computer.

Infamous for being a ruthless executioner, conditioned since childhood to feel nothing besides fear and pain, he still deems her harmless, and finds enough pity for the lost young woman to let her out of the cell; a decision that will change both their lives forever.

Praise from author Lynnette Endicott:

Kidnapped is a well-written Science Fiction story of a woman kidnapped from earth and taken on a whirlwind tour of the universe with a captor whose heart is thawed by her innocence. This does not please his commander, who pursues, captures and loses both characters. In the process there is fun, adventure, sizzle, and an introduction to different worlds and their impact, one day, on our own. Be sure to pick up Kidnapped by Maria Hammarblad available from Desert Breeze Publishing.

An Excerpt from Kidnapped

Everyone chosen for the corps was taught at young ages never to feel bored, and never to be lonely. He could spend years alone in his craft without anything to do or anyone to talk to. And still, here he was, chatting with a prisoner from a planet so remote most people had forgotten about it.

Giving the young woman a thoughtful glance, he decided he knew all he needed to, more than he had ever wanted to, and it was time to go. He rose up agilely and was surprised to hear her voice call out, “No, wait, please don’t leave me alone!”

It was surprisingly tempting to look back, but he didn’t; he marched out into the corridor with its endless rows of cells. A voice from his memory echoed in his head. It was his commanding officer snarling, “Such a pathetic little creature.”

He heard a woman’s scream, one of many imprints in his brain that would never go away, and his commander’s quiet laugh. Through the commotion in his mind, he could also hear the real but muffled sound of Patricia crying on the other side of the wall. Shaking his head made the imagined noises go away, but the weeping was still there. He turned abruptly and entered the cell again. “Don’t do that.”

Patricia lifted her face up and sniffled, “Don’t do what?”

He felt a frown forming, “The thing with your eyes.”

She was trying to shout at him, but her voice cracked, and he felt an unfamiliar twinge of sympathy when he heard the forlorn, “I’ll stop if you take me home. I didn’t do anything.”

Shrugging slightly, he answered amiably, “I know. You’re really useless, aren’t you?”

He looked down at his gloved hand, flexing it, but couldn’t help seeing she was trying to dry her eyes, evidently too afraid not to obey. “Maybe I should just kill you. Since you’re useless.”

The threat didn’t seem to faze her and he crouched down to be able to look into her eyes. “I can’t take you back. I’ve already reported in I’m bringing you. They’d kill us both.”

“So what? Now they’ll only kill me? Unless you do it first?”

Her feistiness was admirable, and he tried to tell her the truth. “No. You’re young and strong. You’ll be sent to some colony as labor. It could be worse.”

He rose up again and headed towards the door, and when he heard her voice call out for him this time, he did glance back over his shoulder. She said, “Can I have some more water?”

He surprised himself with flashing a quick smile. “Figure out how to get it.”

About the Author

Born in Sweden in the early 1970’s, Maria showed a large interest for books at an early age. Even before she was able to read or write, she made her mom staple papers together into booklets she filled with drawings of suns and planets. She proudly declared them, “The Sun Book.” They were all about the sun. She also claimed, to her mother’s horror, that her being on Earth was a big mistake and that her alien family would come and bring her home at any moment. This never happened, but both the interest in space and the passion for bookmaking stayed with her.

As an adult Maria’s creativity got an outlet through playing bass in a number of rock bands, and through writing technical manuals and making web pages for various companies and organizations. She did write drafts for a few novels, but the storytelling muse was mostly satisfied through role playing online on Myspace.

It was here, while writing stories together with people from around the globe, she stumbled onto Mike. They started talking out of character, and she moved over to Florida to him late 2008. Today the two are married and live in the Tampa Bay area with three rescue dogs.

Besides writing and playing bass, Maria enjoys driving off-road, archery, and Tameshigiri.