Excerpt from Convergent Space

A quick taster of The Convergent Space series - a short excerpt from the first book...

When he woke again three more days had passed.

He lay on the tiny bunk for a few minutes, coming to, collecting his thoughts. He performed the slow ritual of separating fantasy from reality, something that was becoming harder as his dreams increasingly became preferable to the real world. His dreams were varied: sometimes sad, sometimes happy, sometimes frightening; while reality was always the same haunting repetitive nightmare. It took him some time to persuade himself what was real and what wasn’t. Then before the panic took hold he took a small dose of sedative to dampen his emotions and help close off those parts of his mind threatening to go haywire and drive him back over the edge.

Once his thoughts were under control he rolled off the bunk onto his feet and crouched down to peer out of the tiny window that had become his entire world. Even before he looked out he knew exactly what he was going to see: the filing cabinet on the left, obscuring part of his view, the digital clock on the wall, the half open door, the workbench a few metres away and Sessi lying dead on the floor.

Everything was just as he knew it would be, as it had been every time he had woken and all the other times he had looked out of the window. Only this time what he saw didn’t quite gel in his mind, it wouldn’t come together and settle down. It was as if he was seeing everything from a moving vehicle or was looking at a reconstruction of the room rather than the room itself. Everything was in the right place but at the same time everything was wrong. It was different in some way, like he was looking into a different room, somewhere exactly like the room he had been staring at for weeks but not actually the same. As one side of his mind ticked off the checklist of what he expected to see and told him everything was where it should be, the other side of his mind was screaming that something was wrong, something was different. Had the bench moved, or the filing cabinet? The open door to the corridor - had it always been at nearly 45 degrees? Hadn’t it been nearer 30?

He peered out through his tiny window, trying to work out what had changed. He considered the possible explanations and began to panic. Heat pricked at his forehead like someone was holding a flame near his face. It could only be a rescue party. A rescue party had been and gone while he had slept. They must have been combing the buildings looking for survivors. He had slept right through his one chance to escape.

He couldn’t bear to handle the notion so he lay back down on the tiny bunk and put himself out again.

If you enjoyed this excerpt, read the entire 3-book series on Amazon - ConvergentSpace series

The Sensitist - Now Published

The Sensitist, third book in the Convergent Space series was published today. I hope followers of the series enjoy it.

The galaxy is in the grip of a delicately balanced cold war where neither side dares to act and the fate of thousands of inhabited worlds hangs in the balance.

Amilla Haretra travels from Earth on the request of a powerful but psychotic official on the Renaissance Supreme Council to fulfil a special assignment. But she soon finds herself dragged into the conflict and is forced to take sides.

With the galaxy veering ever closer to war, Amilla embarks on an epic journey to find the powerful Vapourgun. Pursued by the Renaissance and betrayed on all sides, she realises the outcome of her mission will not only determine her own fate and that of her home planet, it will also dictate the future of the galaxy for generations to come.

Maiden Flight

For those who enjoyed the Convergent Space series, here's a little bit extra - the prologue I wrote for the first book but never used.

‘Do you know who you are?' he asked, staring down at the brightly glowing orb where it sat on the temporary podium he had fashioned out of the ice.

The coloured filaments within the orb blinked and flashed.  ‘We know who we are – Do you know who you are?'

He blew out a breath in frustration and it hung in the cold, still air. ‘Tell me what you remember.'

‘What, everything? How long have you got? - Don't be a smart-ass – Shut up! - No, you shut up! - Who wants to talk about the past anyway?'

‘One at a time, please.'

'Listen to him - Who does he think he is? - If you'd shut up for a moment we'd find out.'

'What's wrong with you?' he asked.

‘What wrong with us? – What's wrong with you?' The orb flashed brightly. 'Something is broken inside - There's no cohesion – Nothing to hold us together.'

Up in the pale, grey sky the huge burn ship waited, dominating everything, dwarfing everything. It was almost fully loaded now. The last of the private ships owned by the rich fraternities and covens were being swallowed up through an opening in its obese, grey-brown hull. Its 120 engines, each powerful enough to drive any normal ship, were sparking into life.

It was an ugly ship. Different sections of the hull had been fashioned at different times from different materials and it looked old and worn-out. In fact this was its maiden flight. It was also its final flight. The burn ship would make only one journey, one very long journey with one very clear purpose. Then it would be scuttled.

‘I need to ask you some important questions,' he tried again, resting a hand upon the orb. 'Questions only you can answer.'

‘What questions? – What answers? – We'll try – No we won't – Who are you anyway?'

‘I told you, I'm Tihn Forlihn. A Phlegar, like you.'

‘Forlihn, that rings a bell – Of course it does – But why? – Who knows! - It's our name isn't it? – Is it? – Of course it is! – Oh for heaven's sake!'

Tihn shook his head. Had he really risked his life for this? He looked up at the burn ship.

‘I suppose we'd better go.'

‘Where?'

‘We're leaving.'

‘What? Now?'

‘Yes, now.'

Tihn had arrived the previous evening, ditching the treacherous skiteship in the cold waters of the partially frozen lake. It was essentially a flying coffin (in size, shape and reliability) so he'd been dreading the landing. He was convinced the skiteship would malfunction and burn him to a crisp on entry to the moon's atmosphere. It didn't and he swam ashore through the freezing waters to join the crowds of passengers waiting to board.

Now the ice-sheet was empty apart from a few stragglers like himself, some taking the opportunity to sift through the debris left behind on the ice – packing cases, bags, upturned food containers and other rubbish - looking for anything useful, valuable or edible. People who weren't travelling with their fraternities or covens would find resources very hard to come by on the flight. And was a long, long journey.

He had signed up for this trip as a last resort. He'd made a mess of his life thus far and booking a passage on a burn ship was a way of making a new start. It meant everything he'd done up until now would be wiped clean and forgotten. Forever.

He began packing things up, deflating the blow-up chair and putting it into his rucksack then folding up the bed and slinging it over one shoulder. Finally he lifted the annoying orb from its perch and slipped it into his rucksack.

Then he set off across the ice, making for the skyferry that would take him up into the bowels of the waiting burn ship where his new life would begin.

If you enjoyed this, you can read the entire 3-book series on Amazon - ConvergentSpace series