QSFer Chris Gerrib has a new queer sci-fi book out (bi, gay, lesbian): Gunmaker.
Martika Clybourne is the new legal consultant for the 433 Platinum Mining LLC on Gavin Station, a torus happily spinning inside the asteroid Eros. What was meant to be an easy job is turned upside-down when she’s called to investigate an officer killed by bullet wounds on a station with no projectile weapons.
Her investigation turns up more corruption and shady business than she thought possible for such a small colony. But when the operations manager Shah dies of natural causes, two sides form: the officers and company enforcers against the station workers. Martika quickly realizes Shah was the only person holding this spinning station of unrest together, and it may be up to her to keep it from turning to chaos.
Come for the civil unrest and stay for the rebellion, in Gunmaker, by Chris Gerrib!
Get It At Amazon | Publisher | Bookshop.org
Excerpt
Chapter One
Martika
Martika reluctantly untangled herself from the arms and other attractions of Anna Zerensky. She grabbed her phone just before it rolled to voicemail for the third time. “Who the hell died?” she growled into the phone. “I’m clocked out.”
“Then clock back in,” said Rakesh Shah, executive vice president and her boss. “You’re on salary, after all.”
Careful girl—barking at idiots, especially if they are your boss, is what got you here.
“Sorry, sir,” Martika said.
“So, to answer your question, we actually do have a body to contend with. We need Legal onsite.”
Just fucking wonderful. “Understood. Who and how?”
“Alan Hanford, and his death was reported to me as potentially officer involved. I want Legal on it.”
Martika bit back her immediate retort that the Station’s private security force was in no way a legal police force and the employees thereof not officers. “I thought our officers were unarmed.”
“They are.”
“Then how did one of them kill somebody?” Martika swatted away Anna’s hand.
“Maybe you ought to get over to the scene and help figure that out?”
Well, he is my boss. “On my way. Where?”
“One of the unauthorized structures.”
Martika was currently in an “unauthorized structure.” She lived in another. At least seventy-five percent of the people on Eros lived in an “unauthorized structure.”
“Doesn’t narrow it down much.”
“It’s called Shultz’s.”
“I’m familiar with it.”
“Good. I’m on my way there and will meet you.”
Martika disconnected and rolled out of bed, fending off Anna’s very talented hand, again heading for a sensitive spot.
“We’ve got fifteen minutes left on our session,” Anna said.
“The boss needs me,” Martika said.
“You still owe me for the time,” Anna said, flopping back on the bed. She brushed a tiny piece of lint off her bare breast. “Phone call or not.”
And that is a useful reminder of the nature of our relationship. “I’ve already transferred the money,” Martika replied, pulling on her pants. Anna was a good lay but very much in it for the money. I’m here to make money, not friends, she reminded herself.
“Cool. Where’s the fire?”
“Shultz’s, or so I’m told.”
“Damn. I like that place.”
“It’ll still be there.” Martika pulled on her shirt. “I’ll call and reschedule.”
“You do that,” Anna said. “Oh, and your shirt is inside-out.”
“Damn.”
Author Bio
Chris Gerrib has been an avid fan of science fiction and space exploration since he was a child riding his bicycle to his small town’s library where he memorized every book they had on the subject. Since then he spent a tour in the US Navy, got an MBA, and now has a day job with a multi-national software company as a Project Manager. He lives in the Chicago suburbs and is active in his local Rotary Club. His fifth science fiction novel, Gunmaker, will be released in August 2026.