At first, Reva had no perception other than a vague sense of falling. It was neither dark nor light, neither cold nor hot, and she couldn’t tell whether she was the one falling or the world all around her—if you could call it a world. Time, space, and consciousness were all beyond her immediate awareness. And yet, the void filled her with a strange restlessness, as if something important were about to happen—as if she were about to experience rebirth.
Short streaks of multicolored light flashed past her as she fell, stirring her to awareness. She had a very distinct and powerful feeling that she was going somewhere. In a few moments, she would find herself in a strange place far from home, and she had to be prepared for anything. The thought seemed so important that she held onto it like a lifeline as the flashes grew in length and intensity. Her mind began to stir, her consciousness to awaken; time and space unfolded before her mind, and the void gave way to darkness.
Cold darkness.
She gasped, and the air felt like knives. Her whole body burned like fire and ice, as if her heart were pumping poison through her veins instead of blood. She arched her back and fell into wild convulsions.
Hot steam bathed her body, seeping through her skin like a healing balm. There wasn’t enough of it, though—not nearly enough. She gasped desperately for breath, filling her lungs with the blessed warmth. The convulsions stopped, and her muscles turned to water. She slid to her ankles just as her stomach began to heave.
The next few moments passed in a blur. A sharp hiss filled her ears, followed by voices speaking an unfamiliar language. Hands reached out to her, touching her all over. She gasped again, tears streaming from her eyes as she vomited cold bile from her empty stomach. It was more than she could bear. All she could do was surrender to the pain and hope it didn’t kill her.
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Strangers in Flight (Sons of the Starfarers: Book III) is now available as a $2.99 ebook! You can pick it up from the following sites, or if you haven’t read the other two books yet, you can find links to those in the sidebar. I’ll post about ten or twelve short excerpts from Strangers in Flight over the next few days just to give you a taste of it. Enjoy!
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Strangers in Flight
When Reva went into cryosleep, she wasn't prepared to be the sole survivor of a people that history never remembered. Isaac wants to help her, but he carries a secret that may decide the outcome of the war. Little does he know, the Imperials aren't the only ones hunting him.
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