by CW Tickner
‘And the stars?’ Gorman asked.
‘More than I can count,’ Kane said.
Gorman smiled to himself. ‘What now then?’
‘We’re safe,’ Harl said. ‘Wherever we end up now is a new adventure.’
Epilogue.
I have left my entire wealth in a trust to the Compassionates in the hope they can help, but life is slipping from me. My story is ending, but my work will go on… must go on. As soon as the truth about them is known, the world will change. Energy, currency and politics, they will be altered forever. But that is for another generation to deal with.
‘What’s that?’ Troy asked, pointing at where the haze around the world met the darkness.
Harl scanned the area, but saw nothing other than the countless stars scattered at random.
‘Right there,’ Troy said, leaning against Kane’s console so he could jab a finger on the glass window.
‘I see it,’ Kane said, unclipping his belt and scrambling over the controls to get closer to the window. ‘Fascinating.’
Harl followed Troy’s finger and saw a star, or what seemed like a star. It was larger than the rest and pulsing gently.
They waited, anxiously, as the object lost its shimmer and grew in size until it was distinguishable as another ship.
All of them, except Gorman and Damen, had pressed themselves against the glass, eager to get a good look.
‘Judging by the proportions, it must be enormous compared to our ship,’ Kane said.
‘How is it up here?’ Sonora asked.
‘Two possibilities,’ Gorman said. ‘Either it came from below, as we did, or we came down from it. Either way, it’s been up here for a very long time.’
‘A ship of that size,’ Kane said, ‘would be difficult to launch from the surface.’
They were coming up behind the grey vessel and Kane had been right when he said it must be bigger than their own. It was far bigger than even the tanks the Aylen had made for them, more on the scale of the room the tanks had been kept in.
At the rear of the grey ship, a huge bell-shaped section housed what Harl guessed was the engine. The bell alone was big enough to easily swallow their own ship. The hull was pockmarked as if struck thousands of times with an Aylen hammer until no surface was smooth. Some of the dents were enormous, not breaking the hull but bending the metal deep in on itself. A scaffold of metal struts shot up mid way along the top. The ends were bent and twisted, as though someone had driven the ship through a tunnel that was too low for it and torn a section off.
‘We’re changing direction,’ Kane said, looking down at the panel in front of him. ‘And slowing.’
‘Look!’ Sonora said, as two square sections of the huge ship parted along one side to reveal a dark opening.
‘It still responds after so long,’ Kane murmured in awe. ‘It must have some source of power inside.’
‘Can we go back?’ Troy asked.
Gorman laughed. ‘Not until we reach the end of this journey. Maybe we can take the ship back down if we need to. I just wish I could see it for myself.’
Their ship turned into the opening and glided into a huge hollow within the larger ship. It was like a dimly lit corridor for Aylens, long and narrow, with square sections cut away along one side. Each cut-out was big enough for a ship to dock inside, like a harbour where boats could offload their wares.
‘I guess we’re the only ones who returned,’ Kane said, eyeing the empty bays in the docking area.
‘Maybe not,’ Harl said, looking at a row of windows and doors that lined the end of the bay they were heading for.
Sonora moved up next to him and raised one trembling hand to point ahead of them.
A thrill of excitement surged through Harl as he stared at what lay ahead.
There were people looking back.
Thank you for reading The Humanarium. Please forgive the small cliffhanger. I haven’t the skill to write all the books in one go, but it doesn’t end here.
Continue to read this series right now.
Humanarium book 2, Orbital, is out now.
Get book 2 Now!
Amazon Amazon.com
Reviews are so powerful when it comes to getting attention for a book and, without the huge budget of a giant publisher, I am unable to advertise in the special spots reserved for the cream of the crop. But I do have something so potent that all the main book publishers would shed blood for it:
You and other Committed loyal readers who understand how a few words can spread what they enjoy to other readers.
Please leave an honest review behind for others and fuel the life and future of this series. It takes only five minutes and you can jump straight to the page by clicking below.
About the author.
Thanks for reading the book. I thought you might like a few details about me and to find out where the idea for the book came from.
I live in Cambridge, England and work as a gardener so I have plenty of thinking time when it comes to standing behind a lawn mower and walking up and down to make stripy lawns.
The idea for the book came several years ago during a phase of keeping tropical fish. I always enjoyed rearranging the landscapes inside the tank and one day, I realised in some bizarre way that I could be considered a god to the fish inside.
I was the only one who fed them, cleaned them and looked after their well being, all in a non god-complex way, of course. But it was because of me that their quality of life was so good.
I chuckled to myself and said “I wonder what it would be like if I was one of the fish inside.” Perhaps with a fish on the outside being the sole provider...
From then on I could easily imagine a group of humans living inside and a small story began to form.
When I finally couldn't hold all the details in my head I had to put it somewhere and a crude story formed on a ragged piece of paper.
I had no intention of writing a story but was intrigued by the idea, the concept seemed almost unique. To be honest before the thought hit me, I couldn’t write at all and it has been a long learning process to get even close to something readable.
Thinking back on my childhood I realise that I was heavily influenced by “small concepts” I think it started with ants (they still fascinate me), watching them scurry back and forwards in a world that must have been overwhelming in size to them. A single foot or child’s hand could destroy days of hard graft and murder their comrades instantly.
I remember watching the borrowers by Mary Norton every week on TV and it held me enchanted with the little people living like mice in a human’s house, sleeping in matchboxes and “borrowing” everything they could. I guess it was 50-50 that I could have become a thief.
How the Humanarium blended into science fiction rather than solid fantasy? I have no idea, I guess a love of the stars and trying to make it seem plausible were key ingredients.
Anyway, there’s plenty more ideas of where to take the series, so I guess we’ll take the adventure together.
Chris.
Want to delve deeper into this fantastic world?
Sign up to The Aylen Club now for the exclusive story of “Redemption: Rufus”. Find out what happened to Rufus after Harl left him for dead.
Also get news and updates on the next instalments of the Humanarium series.
Join The Aylen Club
