by Sara Creasy
“Go back to sleep,” he said.
“I’m okay. How long was I out?”
“Five hours. We’ve jumped twice already.”
He palmed a switch by the window to dissolve the shutter. She got up and went to him, standing near enough that their bare arms brushed, and together they watched the nonsensical patterns of nodespace energy that the human eye and brain interpreted as chaotic ribbons of light lashing against black velvet.
“Are you okay with returning home?” she asked him.
He let out his breath slowly. “For now. But there’s work to be done, even if the fighting’s over. That strange planet of yours has given the Fringe worlds something to talk to each other about. We have an alliance to build. We’ll do it right this time.”
“First, we need to drop off that merc as soon as we can. And somehow I have to persuade Cat to return this ship. Doesn’t feel right to steal it just because it was Natesa who commissioned it.”
“She’s going to love that idea,” he said dryly.
They watched nodespace in silence for a while.
“Why did you come back for me?” she asked at last.
“I told you I wouldn’t leave you behind.”
“But I was trying to…you know, save the galaxy. Cat explained that to you, right?”
“Yeah,” he drawled. He turned to her, tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Just didn’t seem like a fair trade to me.”
She leaned against him. “Finn,” she whispered, “I only wanted to save the galaxy because you were in it.”
His laughed softly. “Galaxy saved. Mission accomplished. What do you want next?”
“I want you. In a bed, for once.”
She kissed him, rising on her toes as his hands swept down her back. She pressed against him but he broke the kiss, his brow furrowed.
“If you want me so bad, why did you fight me when I came for you?”
She pulled back and sighed and stared out the window again. “I was too far gone, barely aware of you. I was so tempted to merge with Scarabaeus. The world would’ve been mine.”
“Without your emotions and memories, you wouldn’t be you anymore.”
“It didn’t matter. I just wanted to let go of life and become part of something bigger.”
He tilted her chin with a finger and his eyes narrowed as he searched hers. “You don’t know life yet, Edie. You don’t know what you’d be letting go.”
A lump came to her throat at the tender look he gave her. Nothing she was leaving behind meant much to her, but it was all she’d ever known. She’d relied on that familiarity for a sense of safety. Yet the only place she’d felt truly safe was with Finn.
“Will you show me?”
“I intend to.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to my friends at Tucson RWA for their encouragement, especially to Cindy Somerville for being my emergency reader; to my agent Kristin Nelson for her support and understanding; to Diana Gill, Will Hinton, and everyone else at Harper Voyager Books involved in the book’s production; to Chris McGrath for a couple of great covers; to my wonderful mum for moral support and grandma duties; and to MCP, with love, for everything else.
About the Author
SARA CREASY grew up in a tumbling-down Victorian house in England, where she tapped out her first stories on a tiny blue typewriter. After moving to southeastern Australia as a teenager, her love of all things fantastical hooked her on science fiction. Meanwhile, in real life, a biology degree led to work as an editor in the educational publishing industry. She was associate editor of Australia’s science fiction and fantasy magazine Aurealis for several years, and her involvement with the SF community inspired her to write her first novel. Marriage to an American resulted in a second intercontinental move, and she lived in Arizona for five years. She now lives in Melbourne, Australia.
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RESOUNDING PRAISE for the breathtaking debut of an extraordinary new SF voice
SARA CREASY’S
SONG OF SCARABAEUS
“A powerful debut…gripping characterization,
non-stop action, fascinating biological speculation,
and a dash of romance. Don’t miss it!”
—Linnea Sinclair
“Song of Scarabaeus is an enjoyable, fast-paced slice of
adventure science fiction, infused with a measured dose of romance. The technological and political background is revealed with a deft hand, never getting in the way of the action.”
—BookPage
“This brilliantly conceived debut heralds a significant new
talent…. Creasy’s convincing scientific speculation, appealing
characterizations, and eerie alien landscapes
make this science fiction romance deeply satisfying.”
—Publishers Weekly (*starred review*)
“Traditionally, readers of fantasy are looking for well-developed
characters while SF fans want plot and action.
Song
of Scarabaeus definitely has both going for it.”
—Robin Hobb
“Sara Creasy is a new writer to watch, and Song of Scarabaeus is a novel to read and enjoy.”
—Vonda N. McIntyre
By Sara Creasy
SONG OF SCARABAEUS
CHILDREN OF SCARABAEUS
Credits
Cover art by Chris McGrath
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
CHILDREN OF SCARABAEUS. Copyright © 2011 by Sara Creasy. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
First Harper Voyager mass market printing: April 2011
EPub Edition © February 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-207872-8
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About the Publisher
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Table of Contents
Dedication
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter
14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Praise
Other Books by Sara Creasy
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher