A Excerpt from Haven 6
Chapter One
Unexpected Calling
Matching request denied.
Eri stared at the response on her
computer screen as reality prickled the hairs on her arms and then sunk like a
bomb in her stomach.
Alea iacta est. The die has been
cast.
She thought of all the ways to
express disappointment in the languages of Old Earth: apogoitefsi in
Greek, rozczarowanie in Polish, die Enttäuschung in German, and désappointement
in French. Such useless knowledge. Her linguist mind teemed with words,
making her the most archaic and impractical colonist on the Heritage.
Not only was her job obsolete,
but now she’d never have a computer-designated match.
An oscillating holopicture of her
parents’ faces drew her attention. She refused to blame them for her
predicament. As an illegal DNA crossing resulting from an unrecognized pairing,
she knew the computer would never consider her DNA acceptable for lifemate
pairing, especially at her ripe age of twenty-five. Her profile had too many
question marks, plus a few propensities for disease.
She should have known from the
start. She shouldn’t have persevered, pressing the Matchmaker for a decision
she couldn’t make because of the rules. How could the Matchmaker argue with a
system that had worked successfully for hundreds of years? Eri’s determination
raised her own hopes only to crash them down in the end each time she sent a
request.
Well, this was
the last time, wasn’t it? She clicked off the screen.
All of the men her age were
taken, and the age discrepancy between her and the graduating class was
scandalous. She wiped her eyes. If I can’t work within the system,
then there must be some way to beat it by hacking into the matching
program or changing my genetic report.
Would the Matchmaker catch it?
How embarrassing would that be? What would the punishment be?
Her computer alarm beeped.
Fifteen hundred.
Aquaria’s pairing ceremony.
Damn!
She scrambled through her desk, overturning
broken light sticks and soybean wafer wrappers to find something to tame her
hair. Using the black computer screen as a mirror, she clipped her frizzy strawberry
curls with tiny plastic clips. How could she let so many hours slip away?
Daydreaming about having her own
pairing, that’s how. She shot up from her desk and pulled her arms through the ceremonial
blazer of her uniform. The Heritage’s coat of arms badge decorated her
left breast pocket. Pressing the portal panel, she watched the particles dissolve
like her dreams.
The corridors lay as empty and
silent as a barren world. The Guide dictated that all colonists must attend
each pairing ceremony. Eri shook her head. She had lamented her own lack of
pairing to the point of disobedience. Her boots clunked on the chrome as she
rushed through the clear glass corridor connecting her small bubble of offices
to the belly of the ship. Stars sparkled like pinpricks all around her. One
point in particular glittered like a giant diamond, outshining all the others.
The sparkle wasn’t a star.
Haven 6.
A product of an illegal
pairing, Eridani is the only woman without a lifemate aboard the
colonization ship, the Heritage, and she is determined her less than
perfect DNA will not get in the way of finding love. As the ship nears
it's final destination of Haven 6 after five hundred years of travel,
images of the surface show evidence of intelligent life on a planet
that's supposed to be uninhabited. Commander Grier assigns Eri to the
exploratory team to spy on the alien society and return with information
on how to defeat them.When Eri's team lands, tribes of humans attack and Eri is saved by Striver, the descendant of a colonist and a pirate from Old Earth's colonization efforts in other parts of the galaxy. Striver helps Eri rescue her team and they are drawn to each other despite their different allegiances. While Striver battles with trusting Eri, Eri must decide whether to warn him and his people about the commander's intentions, or follow orders and complete her mission.
To purchase on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Click here to add it to your Goodreads list.
Aubrie
Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. Her writings have
appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Hazard
Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, A Fly in Amber, and Aurora Wolf. Her books
are published by Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, and Gypsy Shadow
Publishing. She recently signed her YA sci fi novel with Inkspell
Publishing titled: Colonization: Paradise Reclaimed, which will release
in November 2012. When she's not writing, Aubrie teaches flute and plays
in orchestras. She's a big Star Trek TNG fan, as well as Star Wars and
Serenity.
11 comments:
Awesome excerpt! It's a great book.
A great excerpt and a great blurb. And I gotta love anybody who loves Serenity.
Best of luck, Aubrie!
Thanks, Christine and MJ!
And thanks, Cherie for posting!
Loooooved the excerpt. Aubrie is definitely talented. Thanks so much, Cherie! :D
Loved reading the excerpt! Great premise, too.
Such an interesting premise. I enjoyed the excerpt very much!
That's a great idea, although the other languages gave me a "whoah...I need a universal translater" moment.
It kind of reminded me of Ally Condie's book "Matched" although I know the two are entirely different. Just there's a moment in "Matched" where the main character is also concerned over her pairing.
It's very dystopian and kind of highlights how much pressure there seems to be in our society on those who are single.
Thanks to everyone that commented and read the excerpt!
This sounds like a gripping read! Nice excerpt. :)
Congrats on the Ten Tales news, and on completing almost all your Sept goals. Good luck with October's goals - you can do it!! :-)
Sorry - that was supposed to be a comment on your new post. *face palm*
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