Nicole Blanchard & K Webster-The Vanished Specialist

Nicole and KWeb are once again drawing us forward on a space adventure to the planet Mortuus, where we have the 10 remaining morts and the 5 Earth women that they rescued. So far, our count is at Breccan, the Commander who has mated with Aria, who is now the head of the sub-faction of women, of which there is only one, Emery. The Vanished Specialist is her story, along with Calix.

Calix is the researcher for the morts. He’s the one who has been trying to research the Rades, the disease that destroyed his people, so that they can have a cure, just in case. He also does all kinds of other research. He has been watching over one of the women in the cryostasis, and checking on her regularly. He calls her his little lilapetal, after a flower. But, then Aria went and woke Emery up and she locked them in the sub-factions section, and now Calix can’t get to Emery.

Emery has asthma, and it isn’t a mild little case of it or anything. It’s serious, and it’s killing her. Day by day, she lays in her bed, trying to pull in a breath, and crying. But then, Calix comes, and all of a sudden, she’s no longer in a place where she’s terrified or where things are so different, she’s safe. Calix takes her to his lab and locks them in, and tells her that he’s going to cure her. So, he takes care of her, tells her that he’s going to start running some tests, and makes sure that she uses oxygen so that she can breathe.

Then consequences start happening, because of course they do.

I like Calix. I think I like him better than I like Breccan, and I like Breccan a lot. To me, Calix seems more… I dunno if caring is the word that I want, or nurturing, but something like that. He’s not giving away any of his alpha maleness protective stuff, but there’s just a… softer aspect to Calix than Breccan. Of course, that may just be because Breccan is the commander and has to consider the good of everyone, or it could be personality. It’s kind of hard to judge at this point. Calix does have a very strong sense of duty and responsibility, to his people, and especially to his mate. I think that’s a mort trait, but it definitely strong in Calix. He’s also very smart and very driven, but in a good way.

I have asthma, and have been hospitalized more than once because of it. There’s nothing like trying to suck in as much breath as possible through an opening the size of a swizzle stick. It’s terrifying. So, I really feel for Emery. Of course, when I couldn’t breathe, I was on Earth with medication that would work to stop the attack, not out in space slowly suffocating. I feel so bad for her that she feels so trapped in by all the beings at the base too. I think that she was really scared, and the fact that she couldn’t breathe well made everything worse, because if you get anxious over one thing, it starts to snowball up to more and more and more. I also think that Emery is incredibly strong and brave. She does things that she never thought that she would be able to, and she’s able to stand up for what she thinks is right.

I really enjoy this world, and I can’t wait to see what K and Nicole have for us next.

I got so mad at Breccan in this one. I mean, I get why he did what he did, and he’s the commander so he has to make the shitty decisions, but this one really could have had some very real life or death consequences to it. Of course, he redeems himself, so I guess I won’t smack him around too much or anything.

OK, that’s all for today! Go hit up the Zon and get your copy! Happy reading!