Description

Mankind has achieved great feats of knowledge and spread across the stars. Human civilization is a rickety house of cards.

The crew of the starshipNinevehhave a distinguished career in salvage and rescue in the Outers. But waking up in deep space with the task of retrieving an object of unknown origin may be their most difficult task yet. Their contracted employer is anonymous, they are near the edge of hostile alien space, potential threats lurk all around, and there is no possibility of reinforcement. The stress uncovers the insecurities among them and evil waits. It will take all their strength and wit to survive the horror that lurks in deep space.

You will experience POV mostly from four characters:

De Silva – The ship’s Captain. He’s genetically enhanced, gifted with talent, and well over 100 years old, yet he’s physically still in his prime of life. He’s intelligent and has seemingly done everything, giving him considerable command presence, great confidence, clear focus, and a calm demeanor.

Patterson – Although young, she’s the ship’s senior Science-Medical officer. She is a genetically enhanced human who has pushed her mind and body to the peak of perfection, and many wonder if she is fully human. Her past work and life is shrouded in secrecy. She is exceptionally intuitive and intelligent.

Holly – The ship’s Navigator and the most junior officer aboard. She lacks the crafted genetics and the deep experience of her fellow officers. And her background makes her feel like an outsider. She looks up to her peers but also fears them.

Stocky – Called such because of his build and because he doesn’t have a given name. He is a sapient bioengineered hominid designed for work in dangerous high gravity environments, and he is far stronger and more durable than any human. He also has heightened sensory organs and increased awareness. He’s psychologically conditioned to be obedient to humans but secretly looks down on them.

Starts off with plausible life aboard an interstellar space ship and then there is slow burn horror where anyone can die. It is intended for the reader to not know who will be the survivor, or even if there will be one. Get attached at your own risk.

Community Reviews(1)

User_DeletedRoyal Road

★★ 2.0

The writing and grammar of this story are the only reason I gave this story two stars. It is the dialogue and forced ambiguity that drove me nuts. I think this story is about a ship run by religious adherents that build a family environment but it might also be pseudo-military. They may or may not be on a mission to retrieve something and they may or may not have the skills to complete this mission. The dialogue continues to reinforce the idea that we have no idea what is going on.
We learned very early that there was another mission that was basically a job interview. That is all we know. Not what skills were needed to complete the mission nor information on the mission. I hope the author refines this issue because it detracted from otherwise outstanding writing.