Ethan nodded, pursing his lips. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Of course I am. I’m always right.”
Ethan shot her a skeptical look. “Really?”
“I was right about marrying you, wasn’t I?”
“Good answer.”
“We were meant to be together.”
“You’re talking about destiny. What about people who had other partners as Immortals? What if those were the people they should be with, rather than the ones they’re with now? How’s that fit in with destiny?”
Alara withdrew from him. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
“I’m just trying to figure things out. I don’t think we have a destiny. Not anymore. I’m with you because of free will and circumstance.”
“Sounds romantic,” Alara said.
Ethan grinned. “And love. Did I mention that?” he asked, leaning in for a kiss.
Alara leaned away. “No, you didn’t.”
“Well, I was thinking it,” he said, and used the arm around her shoulders to pull her in for the kiss she was desperately trying to evade.
“That’s better,” she said as they withdrew.
Ethan took a sip of his fermented tea. “What do you remember from Etheria?”
“Not much, why?”
“It makes me wonder if things were actually better there. What if staying here, as humans, isn’t what we wanted? What if we didn’t walk into those stasis tubes willingly and this is actually some kind of punishment for failing Etherus’s test? Maybe the reason we don’t remember everything anymore is just a way to keep us from figuring things out.”
“Did you have those concerns when your soul woke up and suddenly you remembered everything?”
“No.”
“Then don’t worry about it. You’re still thinking like we’re living under Omnius’s thumb. We’re not. Etherus is everything Omnius pretended to be and more. We don’t have to look over our shoulders anymore, Ethan. If you want to remember your life in Etheria you just have to concentrate and it’ll come back to you. Etherus gave us new implants for a reason—to keep our old memories. They’re not irrelevant, but they belong to the old us, and we’re the new. Now we’re mature enough to cope with freedom because we’ve learned how terrible it can be.”
Ethan frowned. “I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s hard to stop doubting things when you have a lifetime of practice. It’s a defense mechanism, I guess.”
Alara rubbed his knee. “I know, but it’s okay. We’re safe. You can relax.”
Ethan sighed again and took another sip of his tea. “Yeah, I guess we are. What do you think Atton is doing right now?”
“The same thing as us—” Alara replied, smiling. “—wondering where we go from here.”
“Onwards and upwards,” Ethan suggested, looking up at the sky as the last blotch of color faded with the sun. As the sky finally disrobed, a multitude of stars came out in a glittering field that took Ethan’s breath away. Unlike the sky and the sun, which were artificial, those stars were real and recorded from visual feeds on the outside of the Icosahedron. Ethan’s eyes skipped between those brilliant points of light, wondering what else was out there that they didn’t know about.
“What’s the first thing you’re going to do when we get to Etheria?” Alara asked.
Ethan smiled wistfully as his gaze found a particularly bright point of light, one that he’d been told was actually the Immortals’ galaxy—Etheria.
“I’m going to find my son,” he decided. It was bittersweet to think of Atton being so far away, but the distance didn’t seem so vast when he considered they had quantum jump drives that could travel from one side of the universe to another in the blink of an eye.
“Ethan…”
“Yeah?”
“I have something to tell you.”
He turned from stargazing to look at her. “What is it?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Ethan blinked; then his eyes flew wide and he shook his head. “How… I mean… we’ve only been together again for a month!”
“And before that, we were together for years.”
“But you died!”
“I know.”
Ethan gaped at her. He remembered losing his wife, and now he realized that in that moment he’d lost his wife and their unborn baby.
“Omnius cloned me with the fetus,” Alara explained.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Because we were barely getting by as it was, and I was looking for the right moment. Then it was time for Trinity’s Choosing Ceremony, and I thought if we went to Etheria—the one on Avilon—maybe it wouldn’t be such a problem anymore. I kept trying to convince you to go, but it didn’t work.”
Ethan pulled Alara into a hug. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered beside her ear.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”
Trinity stirred on the other side of him. “Mom?” she asked, sounding confused.
“I’m right here, darling,” Alara said, leaning around Ethan to speak to her. “You’re going to have a little brother!” she exclaimed.
“I am?”
“It’s a boy?” Ethan burst out. “Wait—Trinity doesn’t know yet?”
“I didn’t think it would be right to tell her without telling you first. And after you… well, after I thought you cheated on me, I was too distracted. I think telling her without you around would have meant admitting to myself that we were over.”
Ethan stroked Alara’s cheek. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.” Then something occurred to him. “Wait a minute—we’ve been here for a month already! You could have told me weeks ago.”
“We’ve both been so busy, and I wanted to wait until I could tell you and Trinity together. Can you forgive me?” Alara whispered, pressing her forehead to his. Her lips were tantalizing close.
“Hmmm…”
“What’s his name?” Trinity asked, interrupting them before they could kiss again.
“We don’t have a name yet, sweetheart,” Alara replied.
“What about… Lucien,” Ethan suggested.
“Why Lucien?” Alara asked.
“Because it means light, and I think we’ve all had enough of the darkness. We spent years hiding from the Sythians in Dark Space, and then years hiding from Omnius in the Null Zone, but this life and this world are going to be different. They’re going to be full of light, and Lucien will be one of the first to be born into it. That’s his birthright—an unending kingdom of light.”
Alara nodded. “Lucien it is.”
“Now I have two sons that I’m waiting to see,” he said, patting Alara’s stomach. He couldn’t feel her showing yet, so at least he knew she hadn’t waited too long to tell him. “I’ll see you soon, Lucien,” he said.
Looking back up to the stars, he found that bright point of light once more and nodded to it. See you soon, Atton.
WHAT’S NEXT
EXCELSIOR
Coming December 2015!
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EXCELSIOR SYNOPSIS
The year is 2790 AD, and this is the Second Cold War. The lines are drawn, with the communist Confederacy in the East, and the free citizens of the First World Alliance in the West. With space elevators and giant orbital fleets hovering over Earth, open war looks inevitable, and people are anxious to get away.
In hopes of finding a refuge from the looming war, the Alliance is sending Captain Alexander de Leon to explore an Earth-type planet, code-named Wonderland, but at the last minute before launch, a Confederate fleet leaves orbit on a trajectory that threatens both the mission and Alliance sovereignty. The resulting power struggle will determine not only the fate of Alexander’s mission
, but the fate of the entire human race.
FOREWORD
My name is Captain Alexander. I live in a world where people are genetically-engineered to perfection, never to age and never to die—all for the right price. We call them Geners. They call us de-gener-ates. They live in the Northern States, while the underprivileged degenerates or natural-borns are relegated to the South. Geners and degeners don’t mix on any level of society. That might sound like discrimination, and it is, but it’s legal, and it’s actually enforced by the government. Degeners are overly aggressive, we have impulse-control problems, mental problems, and a host of other issues. We also score low on empathy and collective interest tests, which makes us bad citizens. But worst of all, we eventually die of old age. The only way to jump state lines from a degener state to a gener one is to take the retroactive therapies and implants to become like them. Problem is, that’s a hell of an expensive way to go, and who has that kind of cash?
Thankfully, there’s a war on; it’s a cold war, but people still die, and Geners don’t like risking their immortal necks para nada. Before you ask, we all speak English, but I grew up in the barrio, met my wife there, and got married there. I probably would have died there, too, but then I started contemplating eternity. The Alliance has this deal. They need pilots and crew to go up the space elevator and guard their half of the planet from orbit. In exchange, the Alliance promised to make us Geners. One four year term of service to buy one set of treatments and a passport to the heavenly North. I took two terms, one for myself and one for my wife. It seemed like a fair trade at the time.
But I was wrong.
They’re sending me away, far away, and now I’m never going to have a chance to enjoy eternity with my wife. Those kids we always said we’d have—she’s going to have them with someone else while I’m gone. When life gives you shit, you sure as hell can’t make lemonade.
Usually you just step in it.
PREVIOUS BOOKS
IN THE DARK SPACE SERIES
Dark Space I: Humanity is Defeated
HUMANITY IS DEFEATED
Ten years ago the Sythians invaded the galaxy with one goal: to wipe out the human race.
THEY ARE HIDING
Now the survivors are hiding in the last human sector of the galaxy: Dark Space—once a place of exile for criminals, now the last refuge of mankind.
THEY ARE ISOLATED
The once galaxy-spanning Imperium of Star Systems is left guarding the gate which is the only way in or out of Dark Space—but not everyone is satisfied with their governance.
AND THEY ARE KILLING EACH OTHER
Freelancer and ex-convict Ethan Ortane is on the run. He owes crime lord Alec Brondi 10,000 sols, and his ship is badly damaged. When Brondi catches up with him, he makes an offer Ethan can’t refuse. Ethan must infiltrate and sabotage the Valiant, the Imperial Star Systems Fleet carrier which stands guarding the entrance of Dark Space, and then his debt will be cleared. While Ethan is still undecided about what he will do, he realizes that the Imperium has been lying and putting all of Dark Space at risk. Now Brondi’s plan is starting to look like a necessary evil, but before Ethan can act on it, he discovers that the real plan was much more sinister than what he was told, and he will be lucky to escape the Valiant alive… .
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Dark Space II: The Invisible War
THEIR SHIP IS DAMAGED
Ethan Ortane has just met his long lost son, Atton, but the circumstances could have been better. After a devastating bio-attack and the ensuing battle, they’ve fled Dark Space aboard the Defiant to get away from the crime lord, Alec Brondi, who has just stolen the most powerful vessel left in the Imperial Star Systems’ Fleet—the Valiant, a five-kilometer-long gladiator-class carrier.
THEY ARE LOW ON FUEL
They need reinforcements to face Brondi, but beyond Dark Space the comm relays are all down, meaning that they must cross Sythian Space to contact the rest of the fleet. Making matters worse, they are low on fuel, so they can’t jump straight there. They’ll have to travel on the space lanes to save fuel, but the lanes are controlled by Sythians now, and they are fraught with entire fleets of cloaked alien ships.
AND THERE IS NO WAY OUT
With Brondi behind them, they can’t go back, and they can’t afford to leave the last human sector in the galaxy to the crime lords, so they must cross through enemy territory in the Defiant, a damaged, badly undermanned cruiser with no cloaking device. Making matter worse, trouble is brewing aboard the cruiser, dropping their chances of survival from slim … to none.
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Dark Space III: Origin
THE DEFIANT IS STRANDED
Ethan and his son, Atton, have been arrested for high treason and conspiracy, crimes which will surely mean the death sentence, but it’s beginning to look like theirs aren’t the only lives in jeopardy—the Defiant is stranded in Sythian Space, and the vessel which Commander Caldin sent to get help has used all its fuel to get to Obsidian Station, only to find out that the station has been destroyed. Now the Defiant’s last hope for a rescue is gone, and everyone on board is about to die a cold, dark death.
HUMANITY IS STILL FIGHTING ITSELF
Meanwhile, the notorious crime lord, Alec Brondi, is plotting to capture the remnants of Admiral Hoff’s fleet, just as he captured the Valiant, but Hoff’s men are on to him, and Brondi is about to get a lot more than he bargained for, forcing him to flee to the one place he knows will be safe—Dark Space.
AND A NEW INVASION IS ABOUT TO BEGIN
But Dark Space is only safe because the alien invaders don’t know exactly where it is, and now they have a plan to find it which will threaten not only Dark Space, but the entire human race.
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Dark Space IV: Revenge
DARK SPACE WON THE BATTLE
Humanity has just won a major victory against the invading Sythians—the first victory in the history of the war. The savage Gors have joined forces with Dark Space, and now for the first time since the invasion, it looks like the tide is turning. But the Sythians weren’t defeated. Humanity just bloodied their noses. Now they know where Dark Space is, and they are coming back for revenge.
THE WAR STILL RAGES
Admiral Hoff Heston is secretly terrified of what’s coming, but he’s lulling people into a false sense of security. He needs to buy time. The people of Dark Space are not as alone as they think.
AND EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO CHANGE
Avilon, a lost sector of humans, has remained hidden and untouched by the Sythian invasion. No one knew they even existed, except for Admiral Heston. Now he must send a mission to contact them and get help, but what humanity finds there will change more than just the course of the war against the alien invaders … it will change the very nature of their existence.
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Dark Space V: Avilon
THE SYTHIANS INVADED AGAIN
Dark Space, the last refuge of humanity, is overrun; its citizens are either enslaved or dead. The relentless Sythians have slaughtered humanity wherever they could find them, and now only a few hundred survivors remain. Desperate to escape, these few chase rumors of a lost sector of humanity and end up on Avilon, a planet covered with a vast, kilometers-high city that lies hidden and shielded from the rest of the galaxy by its impossibly advanced technology and its benevolent ruler—Omnius, the Artificial Intelligence who would be god to his human creators.
HUMANITY FOUND REFUGE ON AVILON
Omnius reveals that no one really died in the war—he couldn’t save them from the Sythians, but he did find a way to record the contents of their brains and resurrect them all in the bodies of immortal clones. Omnius keeps a record of everyone’s mind in order to make predictions about the future and prevent people from making mistakes. The result is a perfect paradise where you can be assured of a happy, successful life for the rest of eternity—just so long as you are willing to give
up your freedom and submit to Omnius’s will. If you refuse, you can live in the Null Zone, a city that lies cloaked in shadows below the immortal paradise where Omnius reigns supreme. In the Null Zone humanity has its freedom, but the result is chaos, death, and forced separation from everyone living in the Upper Cities of Avilon.
PARADISE FOR SOME IS A PRISON FOR OTHERS
To Ethan Ortane, who spent years exiled on a prison world in Dark Space, Avilon and its utter lack of freedom is the Netherworld incarnate, and Omnius the Devlin himself. His son, Atton, is not so sure—it’s hard to argue with Omnius’s governance when death and suffering have become just a distant memory. Even better, it looks like Avilon with all of its advanced technology might finally be able to put an end to the Sythians. Omnius is sending his Peacekeepers to Dark Space to rescue the human slaves and take the fight to the invaders….
THE ROAD TO THE NETHERWORLD IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS…
Despite the Sythian apocalypse, Omnius knows that humanity’s worst enemy has always been itself. Darkness lies in the human heart and if paradise is to be maintained, that darkness must be contained. For Omnius the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by a mathematical equation: the choice with maximal benefit for humanity and minimal detriment is always the right one. And with his ability to predict the future, who could be better suited to making those judgments? But when the looming detriment defies the very purpose of Omnius’s existence, the benefit that outweighs it depends very much on one’s point of view….
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