CONTENTS
Copyright
About
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
COMING IN 2016
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
ISBN: 978-0-473-31704-1
THE SEASONING
Copyright © 2015-2016 by Imaginative Possibilities Limited
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Cover by Streetlight Graphics
Edited by Sue Copsey
www.suecopsey.com
Published by Imaginative Possibilities Limited
dennisingram.com
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sixteen years have passed since the eight crew of the Starship Hope arrived in the Tau Ceti system and established a colony on the fifth planet from the star, a planet they named Serendipity.
Their colony has thrived. Together with their children they have turned their habitat into a paradise, and begun to terraform the planet.
What none of them realize, however, is that another starship, carrying more than a hundred people, will soon arrive and change their lives forever.
The Seasoning continues the story started with Foothold, and tells of the arrival of the Inspiration and the events that follow.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is for you, my readers. I really hope you enjoyed Foothold, and are looking forward to finding out what happens next.
Thanks for buying my book – your support will enable me to continue the series.
Many thanks again to my loyal beta readers, without whom I couldn’t have finished this story to the same standard as Foothold.
A special thanks to my development editor, Merle, who has been invaluable in helping me pick through the minefield that is the English language to the unwary writer.
Thank you all.
CHAPTER ONE
The bamboo rustled as the boy halted before entering the clearing. Tall for his age and poised on the edge of manhood, he counted fifteen summers as measured in old Earth-time.
The boy shifted, his eyes scanning for a target. He was half naked, a pair of tight black shorts his only concession to modesty. Long streaks of camouflage were drawn with mud dredged from the river. Only the hard lines of the gun in his right hand detracted from his efforts to blend with the environment.
He stood motionless, waiting, listening. Sweat glistened on his skin. A fly landed on his shoulder, but he suffered the itch for the sake of stealth.
A smile lit up his face as a sudden movement attracted his attention. Slipping into the clearing, he signaled his partner. A slim, attractive girl with Eurasian features followed to squat beside him, eyebrows raised in a question. Like him she carried a light rifle, the magazine on top filled with projectiles.
She cocked her head. The hissing of the misters from high overhead blended with the far-off rumble of the waterfall. The only other sound came from insects buzzing around the orchids flowering nearby.
Satisfied, she nodded. The boy pointed to their target, perched in a tree not twenty meters distant, his back to them. He signaled she should sweep to their left while he moved forward. The girl gave a quick thumbs up and slipped away into the thick bushes. The boy advanced, using the undergrowth to mask his approach.
Once in position he paused, ignoring the beads of sweat threatening to sting his eyes. It was a warm day in Haven, and the ceiling misters had raised the humidity to an uncomfortable level. Uncle John swore this was better than leaving the air dry, but he had his doubts about that.
He settled down to wait for his hunting partner to locate her prey. When she launched her attack, he’d pounce.
A minute ticked by, then another. He drifted into a meditation focused on his target, one that left the humid discomfort of his environment far away. Then he heard a sharp snap in the distance, followed by an anguished howl – his signal to act. His quarry moved, alerted by the sound. Snap, snap the boy’s weapon sang, and a startled cry rewarded his efforts. The branches of the tree thrashed as his victim descended to the ground.
“Goddammit, Vasily, did you have to shoot me in the ass?”
Vasily Miller laughed. “It’s your most prominent feature.”
“Besides, if you didn’t want to be shot in the ass, you shouldn’t have worn yellow shorts,” Joyce Ng said, arriving with her own trophy.
Konstantin Merrick glared at her and then broke into a laugh. He’d inherited his father’s genial personality and could never stay angry for long.
“But did you have to shoot me twice?”
Vasily grinned as he checked his handiwork. Konstantin’s yellow shorts bore the impacts of two blue paint balls, one on each cheek. “If you hadn’t moved I’d have settled for one. But I had to be sure.”
Konstantin’s partner and fellow victim, Nicole Duplessis, spoke up. “That’s no excuse, an ass the size of Konstie’s is hard to miss!”
Konstantin poked his tongue out at her. “You’re supposed to have my back.”
She snorted. “Hey, you were the one up the tree looking out.”
Konstantin sighed. He clapped Vasily on his shoulder, then grimaced at the mud that came away on his hand. “Come on, we’d better clean up.” He turned and headed for the river.
Joyce shot Vasily a look as they made to follow. “You’re not fooling me – there’s no good reason he’s got two marks on his ass. You never miss.”
Vasily grinned and held a finger to his lips. “Quiet, he’ll hear you.”
Joyce just shook her head, but smiled as she did.
Sixteen years ago, the starship Hope had arrived from Earth, bringing eight crew. They’d established a colony they named Haven, in a vast cavern discovered on the surface of the fifth planet in the Tau Ceti system, a planet they christened Serendipity.
Over the years the original crew had produced twenty-five children between them. They’d expanded their settlement since then to include a mining site to the north and the beginnings of a spaceport on the coast southeast of Haven. Serendipity had less land mass than Earth, concentrated into three continents they named after the mythical Atlantis, Mu, and Lemuria, from old Earth legends. They picked a site for Haven in the north of Atlantis, where the temperature was mild in winter and warm in summer.
Captain David Miller and navigator Grace Ng were the parents of twins Vasily Miller and Joyce Ng, named for their counterparts in the backup crew left back on Earth. David and Grace had married, but no one on Serendipity changed their names afterward. Instead, they kept their own and passed them on to their children, boys taking their father’s surname and girls their mother’s.
Konstantin’s parents were Josh Merrick, team biologist, and Veronika Kovalevskaya, their doctor. Along with his contemporaries he took the lead in organizing mischief for the rest. The exception to this rule was the firstborn herself – Elizabeth Duplessis, born of mother Nathalie, their astronomer, and John Coultas, chief engineer. She had appointed herself leader of the second generation. The little ones hung on her
every word, but the elder were only nine months younger than her and did what teenagers do – rebel. They made it plain they resented her attempts to control their lives.
In the years since its establishment, Haven had changed beyond recognition. What was once a barren cavern now bloomed with life in a mixture of wild areas and landscaped gardens. It was home to thirty-three souls – the original crew of the Hope and their offspring.
An artificial river divided Haven into two halves. Forests and grassland grew to the west of the river, creating an adventure playground for the children. Solar Park ran to the north of Crater Lake on the east side of the river. A bridge provided the only connection from it to the wild lands in the west. Beyond the park were the colonists’ farms and buildings. Each family had a simple dwelling constructed from bamboo, aluminum, and glass, surrounded by gardens and connected by paths to the others.
The Miller-Ng household had expanded piecemeal over the years as their family grew larger. The design of their house was far from elegant, but it had a rustic farmhouse appeal and plenty of space for everyone.
Grace looked up from her reading as the front door burst open and Vasily, Joyce, Konstantin, and Nicole rushed in.
“Mom! We’re home!” Vasily said, making a beeline for the kitchen.
She shared a quick smile with David, who was tending seedlings at the dining table. David could see straightaway this was a transparent attempt to distract while Vasily prepared to pillage food.
“Is there any …?” Vasily asked, then stopped. “Never mind.” He grabbed three muffins from the tray cooling on the windowsill and tossed them to the others, who wasted no time stuffing them into their mouths.
“I’m starving,” he said, his voice muffled by a mouthful of muffin.
There was a commotion in the hallway as his younger siblings, Amber and Alex, arrived on the scene, followed by their friends Viktor Coultas, Robert Thompson, and the Kovalevskaya twins, Lidiya and Liliya. Their dog, Rex, lost in a forest of legs, tripped Liliya who clattered into Robert, bringing both of them to the floor.
“There’s food?” Amber asked, heading for the kitchen.
A scuffle broke out as Vasily tried to shield the muffin tray from the incoming horde.
Rex barked and ran around the room, his mouth open and tongue lolling.
Grace looked at David, widening her eyes a little. He grinned and shrugged. He loved his life. It reminded him of his own childhood, growing up on a ranch in Idaho. Thirty years ago, it could’ve been him clearing the kitchen of baking.
“Out!” she said, standing. “Take the tray outside!”
Vasily flashed a smile. “Thanks, Mom!” He headed for the garden, balancing the tray overhead like a waiter in a crowded bar, fending off attempts by the younger children to grab it. He winked at Nicole as he went, and she blushed.
Grace sighed as the door slammed and the chaos departed. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“You’d be more convincing if you weren’t smiling,” David replied.
Grace sighed. “I guess I wouldn’t trade them in, but a little more peace and quiet and a little less mess wouldn’t hurt.”
“Maybe we should stop with Emma,” David agreed, referring to their three-year-old daughter, who was on a play date with Inge Baumgartner, Nigel and Heidi’s youngest.
“Uh-huh. That isn’t even up for debate. I think we can leave it up to the next generation now. Speaking of which, did you notice how Nicole looked at Vasily?”
He nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he pops her cherry before long.”
“David!”
He grinned. “Well, they are teenagers. It’s just a matter of time.”
Grace snorted. “I have it on good authority that ship has already sailed.”
This time it was David’s turn to look shocked.
CHAPTER TWO
If one of the Hope’s telescopes had been observing the outer solar system, pointing toward Earth, it may have spotted a bright new comet traversing the heavens – the exhaust from the Inspiration’s engines reflecting the light of Tau Ceti as it swept inwards.
But they weren’t. Instead, they were hunting asteroids in the inner belt, watching for world-killers that might threaten Serendipity.
Unlike regular comets, this one winked out as the Inspiration ended six long years of deceleration. It fell to coasting on the final leg of a journey that began at Earth thirty-eight years ago, and would end at Serendipity in only forty-one more days.
The Inspiration didn’t need to creep into the system. The data the crew had received from the colony meant there was no need to explore. They knew what to expect. They knew where to go.
Lights came on throughout the living quarters on the great ship, and fans began to circulate warm air. The Inspiration’s computer executed its programming, preparing for the comfort of its human crew now it was almost at its final destination.
In the ship’s stasis suite, six individual chambers were lined up like technological coffins, each sealing in one member of the crew. Edward Harper’s diligent scientists and engineers had improved the technology. Modern stasis chambers were smaller, lighter, and oriented horizontally, so their precious cargo lay prone rather than standing up, as they did on the Hope.
Right on schedule, the field holding Edward frozen in time dissolved, and the lid of his chamber slid aside.
For Edward, it seemed as if no time had passed since he’d entered stasis at the start of the deceleration phase. One instant he had been deep in interstellar space, the next he was at Tau Ceti.
Rising like a vampire greeting the night, he looked about, confirming that the others remained frozen in their own chambers. To his left lay Carla Lewis, his companion, then the four crew of the Inspiration. Two of them, Vasily Abramovich and Joyce Martin, would soon be released so they could pilot the ship to Serendipity, after which their task would be complete.
He blinked, noticing that nothing had changed. This was a good sign. It meant that there had been no disturbances during his long layover, that no ghosts had walked his ship outside of his awareness. His fingers whitened as he gripped the sides of the chamber and pulled himself out. Taking a deep breath, he noted a metallic tang to the air. There were no human scents to overwhelm the odor of plastics and lubricants circulated by the ventilation system. Pearly light suffused the room, emanating from the walls and ceiling, designed to soothe. He shivered, despite the warmth. There was something sterile and antiseptic about this room, like a hospital ward, orderliness and cleanliness masking illness. It seemed like a nurse had subdued the lights, to ward off harm to the delicate eyes of those engaged in an unnatural sleep.
He glanced at Carla, once, as he left to check the status of his ship. The schedule called for him to awaken her now, but he stayed his hand from reaching for the controls. He wanted time to himself first, to contemplate his plans for Serendipity. He’d come to rely on Carla to take care of the day-to-day details of running his grand project, but she could be … distracting.
It took him three whole days to muster up the motivation to return to the stasis suite. He wondered why that was.
“Welcome back.” Edward reached out to brush an errant strand of hair from her face and offer her a hand.
Anyone else might mistake Carla’s smile for sweet. Edward knew better – the face Carla presented to the universe bore little relation to the personality lurking inside. She took his hand and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of her chamber. Her eyes glittered in the subdued light.
“Are we there?”
“We are where we should be, just past the orbit of Copernicus.”
He could see a hint of understanding in Carla’s eyes. She must know Edward hadn’t revived her as soon as he could have.
“Good.” She stretched as if she’d been asleep for six years instead of suspended in a stasis chamber. “I’m going to look around, check the ship. Then we can catch up.”
Edward nodded. He had plenty of experience with
Carla’s catch ups.
“I’ll be in my office.”
Carla smiled again and walked to the door, her skin-tight ship suit emphasizing every movement of her body. She looked back at him over her shoulder once before leaving.
Edward found himself rooted to the spot, like a mouse mesmerized by an approaching snake. He knew of the danger, but was powerless to avoid it.
Late at night, Carla prowled the decks of the ship. She trailed her hand along the walls of the corridor as she walked, not headed anywhere in particular. Her boots clicked a steady cadence as she let her thoughts wander.
The problem with Edward, she thought, was that all he focused on was his grand plan. The plan that saw him solving mankind’s problems by having everyone under his control. Even she wasn’t sure whether he was driven by misguided altruism or unbridled megalomania. Either way she hadn’t cared, so long as she could hitch her wagon to his rising star.
Truth be told, Carla felt little real attachment to Edward. She enjoyed humiliating him in the bedroom, but felt contempt that he allowed her to do what she did. She was smart enough to keep this to herself, though. That might change if he ever stopped being useful.
On an impulse, she turned toward the stasis suite. The schedule called for Vasily and Joyce to be awakened tomorrow, but it was boring being alone with just Edward for company. Waking them in the middle of the night would screw up their body clocks – perhaps that might be entertaining.
CHAPTER THREE
Elizabeth tossed her head then brushed a wayward strand of red hair out of her face as she concentrated hard. “There!”
Grace peered over her shoulder at the navigational plot she’d been working on and nodded in approval. “A Hohmann transfer?”
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