by Dave Walsh
He quickly looped the rover around, heading instead out to the west by the third harvesters. The closer he approached, the larger the object became. Initially, he had just assumed it was another meteorite or even some space junk. There had been more and more space junk over the past few days after the fleets headed through the gate, but this was far too big to be junk from a ship. In fact, it was huge, looking almost like a ship, but not like one he had ever seen.
When he was finally a few meters from it he couldn’t ignore the fact that it was a ship and completely unlike anything else he had ever seen. Was it a Cydonian ship they were testing out? He couldn’t be sure, but he knew he had to check for survivors. He parked the rover and pulled his helmet back on, waiting for it to seal before he scooted over into the airlock, his heart pounding in his chest. The green light felt like it took an eternity before he was able to throw the small door open and make a dash for the ship.
At the door, he fumbled around looking for an airlock switch like he was used to, but couldn’t find one. He blindly fumbled around with his hands against the hull until he felt something depress and saw the door slide up into the ship. He stepped inside and looked for a similar button, pressing it and the outside door closed down. After a few seconds, the inside door opened up and he stepped inside, noticing the smoke and sparks coming from the ship but his helmet reading that it was still pressurized. He tugged his helmet off but kept it at his side.
“Hello?” he called out, carefully stepping over debris that lined the steel floor. A wire buzzed at him overhead, sending him jumping back and hitting the wall, his head bouncing off a pipe. “Goddamnit,” he said, rubbing his head but still moving forward. He reached a set of stairs and found himself climbing up them. “Hello, is there anyone here? I’m here to help.”
He reached the top of the stairs, finding a similar switch to what he found outside and pressed it, only for the door to zip open and for him to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
“Stop right there,” a man’s voice said. Rorian raised his arms up, his helmet dropping at his feet.
“Okay, wait,” he said. “I’m here to help, I saw the crash and came to see what I could do, I promise.”
“You aren’t with the Earth Ministry?” the man asked, a woman at his side holding two knives at the ready.
“No, I mean,” he paused. “My dad kind of is, but he’s just a farmer.”
“Okay,” the man said. “We need your help…what’s your name?”
“I’m Rorian,” he said.
“Okay, Rorian,” the man lowered his gun. “My name is Jace and this here is Ka—”
“My name is Eja,” the woman said, cutting him off. “Eja Krios and this is my dipshit of a husband, Jace. We are sorry we startled you.” She tucked her knives away. “There was a crazy battle where we just came from and we got caught up in it, but somehow we ended up here. Where is here?”
“Um, this is Ganymede,” he said, puzzled. “Wait, did you come through the gate? That gate up there?”
“Yes, Rorian,” she smiled at him, her blonde hair matted down on her face, stuck there by a patch of dried blood. “We are from Andlios.”
“Holy shit,” he said. “There’s no way.”
“Yes, way,” she said. “We need your help, Rorian. We have a friend who is injured down in our med bay, do you think you can help us?”
“Yeah, my rover is just right outside, although it’s pretty cold out there, do you have heated suits?”
“No,” Jace shook his head. “We have suits, but how cold are we talking.”
“It’s 115 Kelvin right now, so…-158?”
“Gods,” Jace swore. “Could you just pull it into the cargo hold, as long as I can open it, then pressurize and we can move our friend into it from there?”
“I think so,” Rorian said, looking around what must be the cockpit of the ship. “This is a pretty big ship, I should be able to fit it in here.”
“Okay, good.”
“Rorian,” Eja said. “Do you think anyone will notice or come looking for our ship?”
“Out here?” he laughed. “Fat chance. Ever since they assembled those fleets up there by the gate, we’ve had a bunch of crap fall down here. I was out here to repair any of the damage from it when you fell down.”
“Good, good,” she said, looking relieved. “And will we be safe with you?”
“It’s just my dad and I,” he said. “We’re always pretty lonely and nothing ever happens to us. You’ll be fine, I think.”
“Great,” Jace said. “That’s great, kid.”
The adventure continues in Andlios Book Three: Ganymede’s Gate.
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
CYDONIA RISING
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2019 by Dave Walsh.
Edited by Amanda West.
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.
First ebook edition: September, 2019.
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition: September, 2019
Find out more about the author and his upcoming books at https://www.dvewlsh.com or @dvewlsh.
Table of Contents
000. Space Girl
001. The Princess in Exile
002. The Palace
003. The Plot
004. The Dark Side of Cyngen
005. The Mad King
006. The Grand Illusion
007. The Collector
008. The Fallen Empress
009. The Gods Among Us
010. The Blade Dancer
011. The Chase
012. The Long Journey
013. The Monastery
014. The Cold Night
015. The Return
016. Security Breach
017. Leaving Hope
018. Home Again
019. Homeward Bound
020. Calculated Risks
021. Old Friends
022. Arrival
023. The Regret of Detainment
024. The Wild Ones
025. Lost Time
026. The Ruler’s Folly
027. Wild at Heart
028. Memory Lane
029. Systematic Failure
030. Zahira Nights
031. Bonds
032. The Raid
033. Of Plans and Failures
034. Promises
035. Things Falling Apart
036. Crash the Gates
037. Forced Hand
038. The Bait and the Prey
039. The Palace
040. Meeting of the Minds
041. The Scourge of the Fourth Fleet
042. Escape
Epilogue. The Crash
Copyright
Table of Contents
000. Space Girl
001. The Princess in Exile
002. The Palace
003. The Plot
004. The Dark Side of Cyngen
005. The Mad King
006. The Grand Illusion
007. The Collector
008. The Fallen Empress
009. The Gods Among Us
010. The Blade Dancer
011. The Chase
012. The Long Journey
013. The Monastery
014. The Cold Night
015. The Return
016. Security Breach
017. Leaving Hope
018. Home Again
019. Homeward Bound
020. Calc
ulated Risks
021. Old Friends
022. Arrival
023. The Regret of Detainment
024. The Wild Ones
025. Lost Time
026. The Ruler’s Folly
027. Wild at Heart
028. Memory Lane
029. Systematic Failure
030. Zahira Nights
031. Bonds
032. The Raid
033. Of Plans and Failures
034. Promises
035. Things Falling Apart
036. Crash the Gates
037. Forced Hand
038. The Bait and the Prey
039. The Palace
040. Meeting of the Minds
041. The Scourge of the Fourth Fleet
042. Escape
Epilogue. The Crash
Copyright