QSFer Jaye C. Watts has a new queer sci-fi book out (bi, gender fluid, lesbian, non-binary, poly, pansexual): The New Worlds.
A dying Earth.
A polarized planet.
The only hope was to find new worlds.
The year is 2293 and the Truth no longer exists. In the future there are many truths, giving rise to many worlds, but each must be kept separate.
Born to protect the sovereignty of these truths, Axton Bryce patrols the New Worlds Star System—to observe, participate, and gather information. But as she learns the ways of each world, she must also hunt for those that defy their world’s truth: the Outliers.
While stationed on a nearby planet, Axton meets the charming Ambassador Bray Wilde. As the two become close, Axton reveals a shameful secret—that her first love was exiled as an Outlier.
Longing to see beyond their own world, the ambassador proposes a rescue mission—one that will bring both friends and foes, and ultimately a fight for freedom. But first, Axton must make a choice: between a life-long allegiance . . . and a love that has her yearning for a truth of her own.
Warnings: Brainwashing, parental abandonment
Get It At Amazon
Excerpt
“Seneka!”
The word shot through my teeth, waking me from a dream. I lurched up from a pool of sweat, heart pounding, lungs heaving. Clutching the sheets with white knuckles, I sucked in a breath. With a long, controlled exhale, I slowly came back to my current reality.
“Here,” I told myself. “You’re here… in Brokazaria, on the Middle World.” I examined my small, dark room— everything as it should be. As the drumming in my chest subsided, I realized what day it was.
January thirtieth.
I rubbed my face, dreading the day before it began. Five years, I thought, hoping this would be the year I’d start to forget. Nights were the worst, with memories twisting into nightmares, trapping me in the grips of regret. Guess that’s what I get for requesting the Dream World as my first assignment. The ability to explore worlds beyond wakeful‐ness seemed enticing at first but soon became a self- inflicted curse.
My nerves finally settled when the sound of my alarm buzzed through every one of my already tense muscles.
Get up, I told myself.
With a heavy sigh, I threw aside the blankets and rolled out of bed. “Blinds open,” I commanded. The fixtures obeyed, letting in pale light as I walked to the kitchen, only two steps from my bed. I poured myself a glass of water, then lit some incense, watching it burn for three seconds before blowing it out. “Lights on,” I ordered.
Stepping onto my mat, I set my water atop the coaster on my windowsill. I planted my feet, looking out at the constructed landscape—a !eld of skyscrapers hundreds of stories tall, with another crop of growing buildings assembling themselves one layer at a time behind it. Just like yesterday, and all the days before, my morning routine proceeded like a mantra.
While stationed in Brokazaria, a Mediator’s life was as predictable as the planet’s orbit. The rest of the job, however, was anything but. As soon as we left headquarters, life became an ever-revolving door of new people, places and possibilities. Ironically, many of us were the most solitary souls in existence—the perfect embodiment of nonattachment. Yet at the end of the day, upholding the Charter was an honorable duty we never took lightly. We were the Chosen Ones.
After a brief stretch sequence, I rose to my feet. With my eyes closed, I ran all ten fingers over my freshly buzzed head. The black stubble pricked my palms, and for a split second, her face was all I could see.
I flicked my eyes open, cursing under my breath.
With a forceful sigh, I redirected my attention. Snatching the glass from my windowsill, I gulped down water as I walked to the other side of my humble room furnished with little more than basic necessities: a single bed, a wardrobe filled with crisp clean uniforms and a small desk decorated with a fake plant. The thing had been collecting dust since the day they stationed me here. I touched one of the waxy green leaves. Not much grows in the city of Brokazaria, aside from the looming structures eating up more and more of my view.
Right next to my plastic peace lily lay the notes from my last assignment on the World of Now. I straightened the pile, aligning the papers with everything else in my tidy workspace. After three months of living on that timeless planet, you’d think my past would have vanished by now, but no—she was still with me. Always with me.
I clenched my fists. “Focus,” I told myself. Grabbing my communication cuff, I fastened it around my wrist. “INS communications, activate.” I opened my wardrobe and reached for a freshly pressed uniform. “Aurelia, give me today’s briefing.”
It lit up and responded, “Good morning, Axton Bryce, Mediator 245-03.”
As I pulled on my pants, the briefing continued. “We have received the resource, demographic, biological and cultural reports from your assignment on the World of Now. The status of each report is… complete. Thank you, Mediator Axton Bryce.”
“Proceed,” I said, beginning to button my shirt.
“Your next assignment will be on the Amorous World for a standard duration of three months. You are scheduled to depart today at zero six hundred Geo Time and arrive at zero eight-forty Geo Time. The latest reports on the Amorous World are available for your review. Do you wish to accept, Mediator Axton Bryce?”
I crouched to lace up my boots. “I accept.”
“On behalf of Chairman West and the Individual Nations Secretariat, we thank you, Mediator Axton Bryce, for your work in protecting the Truth of many truths.”
I rose to my feet, skin prickling at the back of my neck. Though I couldn’t see it, I could feel it: two lowercase t’s under one capital T, branded at the top of my spine—a permanent part of me ever since my Veneration five long years ago.
I reached back, digging my nails in, tempted to tear the tattoo right from my skin. “She should have been there,” I whispered. If only she’d kept those thoughts to herself.
I grabbed my utility belt and wrapped it around my waist, ensuring the gun was secure. Staring at myself in the mirror, I straightened the collar of my shirt. I’d never been to the Amorous World before.
Perfect, I thought. Some fresh scenery was just what I needed.
Author Bio
JAYE C. WATTS (he/they) is a queer and trans sci-fi writer living on Lək̓ʷəŋən territory in Victoria, BC, Canada. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, with a minor in Technology and Society, as well as a diploma in Professional Recording Arts from the Art Institute of Vancouver.
When he isn’t writing, Jaye can be found falling down rabbit holes of all kinds thanks to an unquenchable curiosity and lust for learning – homeschooling will do that to you.
Jaye also loves classic jazz, mixing cocktails, evening strolls in his downtown neighbourhood, and of course, people watching.
| Author Website | www.jayecwatts.com |
|---|---|
| Author Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/jayecwatts.bsky.social |
| Author Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/jayecwatts/ |
| Author Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/jayecwatts/ |