by J G Cressey
“We won’t be able to fit you with it on this ship though,” Viktor explained. “But when we get to the research base on Alvor, they’ll definitely have some decent surgeons and all the kit needed to meld the nano threads to your nerve endings. But that’s good though, see. It’ll give me time to make the arm top notch, way better than anything the military would ever dish out.”
Eddy gazed into the box for a good long while before lying back on the bed.
“That’ll be my new arm?” she asked, looking back up at Cal, her face unreadable.
Cal nodded. “Yes, Eddy, you’ll be able to use it just like your old one.”
The girl turned back to Viktor. “Will it be like one of Melinda’s? Will it be as strong as hers?”
Viktor also nodded. “Yep. You’ll be able to squish bones with this new grip.”
Cal winced slightly and exchanged a quick glance with Jumper.
“As long as you don’t go squishing my bones, little chick,” Toker said with a nervous laugh.
Eddy didn’t say a word. Instead, she turned her head to stare up at the high, bright ceiling.
Some time passed with the girl not saying a word. Cal was beginning to get worried, a sickening, helpless feeling taking hold. He looked around at the others and saw that his expression wasn’t the only one turning grim. “Eddy, I… I mean, we…” he started to say, but he aborted the words as he caught the look on the girl’s face. A smile had appeared. Thank God.
As had always been the case, Eddy’s grin was infectious, and before long, a similar one was spread across each and every one of their faces.
Then there was laughter.
EPILOGUE
The distant blue and green planet was a beautiful sight. Even from this distance, staring at it through the smart-glass of The Orillian’s viewing deck, Cal could see that Alvor was a planet bursting with diversity. Lush forests and jungles, immense mountains and deserts, lakes the diameter of large moons, and deep, blue oceans too vast to fathom. A giant-scale Earth of old, pristine and untouched by the industrial and technological age. Perhaps it would be the new hub of human existence. Cal hoped so. As long as they didn’t push it to its limits like they had Earth, he had a feeling it could make an incredible home.
“Sorry I’m late, Callum.”
Cal turned to see Laurence Decker entering the dim room, his progress slow due to his lingering injuries. The first-name basis was still catching Cal off guard. The man had obviously gone through a miraculous change over the past months, but the Captain Decker of old, with whom he was far more familiar, had never been a friend. Far from it. But Cal had never been one to hold a grudge, particularly against a man who’d recently played a big hand in saving thousands of lives. “No problem,” he replied as he watched the man hobble toward him. “I was just admiring the view.”
“So, that’s Alvor, eh?” Laurence said as he came to stand next to him. “She’s a beauty.”
“That she is,” Cal replied, turning back to gaze through the smart-glass. “With any luck, the perfect place for a fresh start.”
Laurence nodded. “I’m sorry it’s taken us so long to meet for a talk.”
“Don’t mention it. You’ve been in demand. And there’s all the pool time we’ve both had. Not easy to chat in the inky depths.”
Laurence grinned. “Yes, we both buggered ourselves up pretty good, eh?”
Cal returned the grin. Despite the miraculous nature of the pool, both of them still had a way to go before they were completely healed. “It was worth it though.”
“Couldn’t agree more. A shame it didn’t go quite as planned.”
Cal nodded. “Fucking pirates,” he muttered. He still couldn’t quite believe the timing of the bastards. “Still, everyone did well, despite the problems.”
“Particularly you, Callum. I’ve never seen someone take out a synthetic before.”
Cal stretched his right arm and did his best to flex his fingers. “You saw the footage?”
“Oh, just about everyone’s seen the footage. Quite a thing, the way you dealt with those pirates. Even injured, you made fools of them.”
Cal shook his head. “Wasn’t enough.”
“I understand one of them is still alive?”
“Barely,” Cal replied as he thought of the female pirate he’d knocked out with the knife. “Not even the black pool seems to be bringing her out of her coma.”
Laurence nodded. “I’m sorry…about the lady who was taken. Kaia. It seems we all owe her our lives.” He placed a hand on Cal’s shoulder. “I would tell you how there was nothing you could have done to save her, but you’ve probably heard that a thousand times already. I doubt hearing it again’ll make you feel any better.”
She’s not dead, Cal thought, but he didn’t voice it. Instead, the two men simply stood in silence for a while, gazing through the huge sheet of smart-glass at the distant planet.
It was Laurence who eventually broke the silence. “If you’re able to forgive me, Callum, I’d be grateful if Alvor could also mark a fresh start between the two of us.”
Cal turned to him, a little surprised by his words. “Why would you need forgiveness from me?”
Laurence shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? You know that I’ve made a lot of foolish decisions in my past, given bad orders, put people at risk.” He looked at Cal with solemn eyes. “I feel guilt gnawing at me every minute of every day. I need to ask forgiveness, and in all honesty, I don’t know who else to ask it from.”
Cal stared back at the man, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck. He was unsure how to reply and after a moment said, “Surely, there’s someone better than me.”
Laurence shook his head. “Who better than the man who saw fit to knock out one of my teeth because of that same foolishness?”
Cal continued to stare at him. “I got a little carried away. I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry. You did me a big favor that day, started a change in me, something that continued to change on that prison planet.”
Feeling a little weird, Cal took a moment before he replied. “Okay… To be honest, I feel like a bit of an idiot saying it, but yes, I forgive you.”
Laurence nodded his thanks, tense shoulders relaxing a little.
Cal studied him closely. The man must have been through hell down on that planet. But how could someone change so completely? Maybe sometimes, it took a true nightmare to wake a person up. “You know, I’m not just saying that because you’ve asked me to,” he said. “By all accounts, you turned the tides down on that planet. Turned despair into hope. Whatever past mistakes you’re guilty of, as far as I’m concerned, you’ve made a damn good job at turning things around.”
Laurence looked about to object, then let out a breath and said, “Thanks. Hearing that from you means a great deal.” He reached out an open palm.
Cal shook it as best he could with his screwed up hand. “Of course, you realize it’s not over yet. Not by a long shot.”
“No, I didn’t think so.”
“There’s probably countless others to save…once we find them that is.”
Laurence nodded. “You think we’ll get away with pulling the same trick twice?”
Cal shrugged. “I imagine we’ll have to get creative. And hope they don’t strike back first.”
Laurence turned his gaze back on the nearing planet. “You think they’ll find us here?”
“Most likely. Eventually.”
“We best be ready then, eh?”
Cal nodded. How the hell do you prepare for something like that? They fell into silence again.
After some time, Laurence tore his eyes from the view and looked down at the floor. “You, er, you mind if we sit down?”
“Christ, I thought you’d never ask,” Cal replied. “My legs are killing me.”
“Only your legs? Lucky bastard.”
Both men chuckled as they stiffly lowered themselves to the dark, smooth floor.
“I tell you wha
t, Callum, I feel about a hundred and two. I can’t bloody wait to get in that pool again.”
Cal sighed as he sat. “That makes two of us.” He rubbed at his legs and after a few moments said, “You know, it’s a shame your father couldn’t see you now.”
Laurence smiled. A sad smile.
For almost an hour, the two men sat in comfortable silence, staring quite literally into space, taking in the slowly expanding planet. By the end of that hour, Alvor was almost matching the height of the viewing panel, a mesmerising sight that Cal found pleasantly calming.
“I think that’s got to be the biggest, lushest planet I’ve ever seen,” Laurence said.
The words almost made Cal jump; they sounded ridiculously loud after the long silence. “I’ve been thinking the same thing,” he replied.
“Probably holds a lot of secrets.”
“A tonne, I’d imagine.”
“Good place for exploring.”
“Undoubtedly.”
“Fancy exploring it together?”
“I do,” Cal replied sincerely. “But I might have to take a rain check? There’s something I have to do.”
Laurence looked at him. “You’re going after the scientist, aren’t you? The woman. Kaia.”
“I am.”
Laurence nodded.
Rubbing at his face, Cal stiffly got to his feet, and after one last look at Alvor, he turned and reached down with an open palm. “A fresh start, my friend?”
Laurence grinned and took the hand. There was a good amount of clumsy stumbling and some chuckling as Cal pulled him to his feet.
“Aye,” Laurence replied once he was fully upright. “A fresh start.”
<<<<>>>>
Author’s Thanks
Firstly I’d like to thank you, the brave reader, for taking a chance on this debut novel! I hope you enjoyed reading Star Splinter as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did (and you like the idea of putting a big grin on a first time author’s face) I’d be incredibly grateful for a review, even a very brief one, on Amazon and/or Goodreads. I’ll do my absolute best to return the favour by writing plenty more books in the Fractured Space series for you to enjoy. If you’d like to be notified of the release dates for these books please feel free to sign up to my news letter at www.jgcressey.com/news-letter/
Also a huge thanks to my wife, family and friends without whom this book may still have been adrift in deep space. For your unwavering support and occasional kicks up the arse, I’ll be eternally grateful. A special thanks to my test readers (particularly those hardy souls who waded their way through the really early drafts!). Many thanks to Amanda Shore, my wonderful editor for your hard work and support. A big thanks to Oda Sonju for her fantastic cover art contribution and Keri at www.alchemybookcovers.com for her stella work on the cover design. Also thanks to Polgarus Studio for the great formatting, I dread to think what my level of tech skills would have produced without your service!
Table of Contents
Part One: Chapter One GUILT AND REGRET
Chapter Two JUMPER
Chapter Three REJECT RAFT
Chapter Four AN UNLIKELY TRIO
Chapter Five BOY GENIUS
Chapter Six JUNGLE BRAWL
Chapter Seven FRIENDS REUNITED
Chapter Eight TEETH
Chapter Nine THE FLATLAND RUN
Chapter Ten PALE MENACE
Chapter Eleven BIG BLUE
Part Two: Chapter Twelve BOREDOM, BOAR BACON, AND BLISS
Chapter Thirteen MAGNET CITY
Chapter Fourteen KUNG FU PUPPETS
Chapter Fifteen FELLOW HUMANS
Chapter Sixteen HOGMEYER
Chapter Seventeen STURDY SHIP
Chapter Eighteen CON
Chapter Nineteen BACKUP
Chapter Twenty THE JOYS OF A STAR SPLINTER, HARPER 7
Part Three: Chapter Twenty-One THE FATHER AND THE SON
Chapter Twenty-Two DESTINATION
Chapter Twenty-Three THE PERFECT PRESSURE
Chapter Twenty-Four LIGHTS OUT
Chapter Twenty-Five THE EARNING OF TRUST
Chapter Twenty-Six CAPTIVES
Chapter Twenty-Seven ESCAPE
Chapter Twenty-Eight CAUTION…AND PAIN
Chapter Twenty-Nine THICK AIR
Chapter Thirty KAIA
Chapter Thirty-One CATCHING UP
Chapter Thirty-Two INSIDIOUS MUSHROOMS
Part Four: Chapter Thirty-Three C9
Chapter Thirty-Four EYE CONTACT
Chapter Thirty-Five THE LAST TRIBE
Chapter Thirty-Six THE GIBSON GUN
Chapter Thirty-Seven WAITING
Chapter Thirty-Eight THE SYNC SPHERE
Chapter Thirty-Nine LYING IN WAIT
Chapter Forty INFILTRATION
Chapter Forty-One THE PLAN IS A GO
Chapter Forty-Two BEST LAID PLANS
Chapter Forty-Three UNINVITED
Chapter Forty-Four CHAOS
Chapter Forty-Five TIME TO FIGHT
Chapter Forty-Six RELENTLESS
Chapter Forty-Seven TIME TO RUN
Chapter Forty-Eight SURVIVORS
EPILOGUE
Author’s Thanks