“We’re over the ships, Cederic,” Sybell said as she swiveled away from her consoles.

“Excellent,” Cederic answered, bringing the shuttle to a near motionless hover. “Have we figured anything else out, yet?”

“No,” Sybell droned, returning her attention to the consoles.

Cederic ground his teeth but managed to ask, “How deeply are they buried?”

“Fortunately, the ships are close to the surface” Sybell chirped. “We should be able to dig a path to them quickly...

Marcus walked away from the meeting hall, shoving his hands into his pockets. Before he could get far, someone grabbed at his arm and asked, “Marcus, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine Talia,” he answered, smiling as he turned to look at the spindly woman. “I just wish they paid more attention to our survival.”

Putting her hands on her hips, Talia sighed with exasperation, “Stop exaggerating, you know they’re focusing on our survival. The Western region started breeding the surviving animals.”

“Easy Talia,” Marcus said as he raised his hands in surrender. He walked over to a tree and leaned against it, “I wasn’t trying to diminish your good work...

Last month we followed Sylvia’s final efforts to prepare for Kameron’s celebration. She collected her equipment from Gregor. Then she went about securing the two paths that Kameron’s guard missed. Then we followed her actions during the celebration. This month we return to watch Harrison follow his latest investigation with a relic...

With a sigh, Lucious withdrew something from his pocket before re-reading it.

Come to the local museum. Tonight, by six, locate the trio of paintings featuring a mother and child, then settle onto the nearby couch.

Lucious glanced at his watch as he ran his fingers through his hair, ignoring the bald spot. “Fifteen minutes early.” He crushed the note, pocketed it, and sat down in the middle of the little nook. Lucious leaned against the back of the sofa, staring at the center portrait. He let his eyes dance upon every line of the woman and child glorified in the central canvas. While he absorbed the painting’s beauty, Lucious’s hand reached for the top of his head...

The old man’s knuckles rapped softly on the door, and he took a step away from the door, waiting next to Darren. A few seconds later, the door flung open, and a lithe woman flew into Darren, wrapping her arms around him. A man followed on her footsteps and glared at the older man, “Who are you, and why do you have our son?”

The man inclined his head, “My name is Leodor Sultasar.” Lifting his head, he asked, “I assume you’re Darren’s parents. May I come in?”

“Oh,” Darren’s mother squeaked. “I’m sorry for my husband’s tone, we’re worried about Darren.”

Leodor nodded, “I understand, but we need to talk...

Daniel and Rachel paced around the wine cellar, studying the extensive collection. As they toured the racks of wine, Daniel studied the milling crowd. Meanwhile, Rachel focused her attention upon the expensive wine when her eyes caught sight of a particular bottle. She scurried towards the unique bottle and whipped her head around to stare at Daniel. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and Rachel tapped at his shoulder and then pointed at the bottle. “Daniel,” she exclaimed her eyes following her hand towards the wine. “I can’t believe they have a bottle of…”

“Not now, Rachel,” Daniel chastised, grabbing her wrist before she could touch the bottle of wine.

“But Daniel,” Rachel pleaded as she lifted her perfume atomizer. She turned to the bottle, and the finger hovered above the plunger...

As the garbage truck came to a stop, Leland took it out of gear and tapped his partner’s shoulder. “Veit, we’re back. Go on and start emptying the load.”

“I did it last time, Leland,” Veit complained.

Leland scoffed as he looked at his diminutive partner, “It’s not my fault you can’t drive the truck.”

“That’s not fair,” Veit grumbled as he yanked his door open. “You’ll have to take a turn doing this work eventually.”

“No, I won’t,” Leland replied as he threw the lever to open the garbage truck for Veit. “Come grab me once you’ve emptied the trash...

“Did the message buoy get dropped?” Someone in the back of the shuttle called out.

Rylan groaned and replied, “Yes, I dropped the buoy before we lost sight of the ship. When I dropped it, I made sure we could communicate, and they instructed us to stay the course.”

“Not what I asked,” the same voice called back.

Rylan ignored the comment and returned to his scan of the planet. Laria was just as dead as the other two worlds, and that stole the resolve from most everyone in the shuttle...

Quinn and Caitlin maneuvered their agendas with the help of Malark, and now they have to deal with Olyver who wants to make them pay for that success…..

Last month Harrison followed his familial duties and thanks to the influence of his friend, Lucas Roth. As with any duty, Harrison could not escape it for long. This month we shift to Sylvia, who is now dealing with the fallout of her employer’s demands...

Rushing to the precious center of a section of the wall, Tarian grabbed one of the rifles of the dead still lining the failing wall. He bent down, and a tear threatened to escape, but he forced the emotions down. He could grieve for the dead later. Tarian wished that the dead could have been given the respect they deserved, but they couldn’t spare the manpower. As a result, bodies and their rifles littered the walls.

With burning, hatred, Tarian popped up and fired upon the advancing horde. After getting a couple of shots off, he spun back under the meager protection the wall presented him. After a couple of moments, he turned toward a hole in the wall, and he could see the undulating mass below. Tarian brought his weapon to bear upon the swirling mass of body and sinew...

Nathaniel stood on the beach of the closest continent. As the waves lapped up against the man’s legs, he watched as bodies flowed out of the Novus into this strange new world. Some headed away from the claimed shore.

Someone tapped on Nathaniel’s shoulder, and the man’s head turned around and saw his friend, Marcus, standing behind him. Marcus stepped closer to his friend and pointed at the raft coming towards the shore...

A common definition of a compromise is an agreement where no one ends up happy. It appears that Quinn doesn’t listen to that definition…..

As Amelia’s feet carried her forward, she tugged at her hood to keep the chilly air from overpowering her. But when she stepped onto a slick patch of earth, her foot slid, causing her to stumble. After she hit the ground, she propped herself up and ran a finger through the muddy surface. She rubbed the mud between her fingers before standing up and staring into the sky. Her eyes widened as she raced up the small hill.

When she reached the summit, Amelia raised a hand, and the first raindrops slammed against her palm. As each droplet collided with her skin, it rippled, absorbing the drop like a stone thrown upon a clear lake...

Placing his hand on his chest, Rylan tried to force his raging stomach to settle. As his fingers went through the motions of lacing up his boots, his mind kept returning to the fact that according to the long-range sensors Laria was another dead world. Yet there was another planet in this system that teemed with life, and he couldn’t explain it.

As he finished tying his shoes, Cederic sat down next to him. “How are you holding up Rylan?”

Rylan sighed as he wet his cracking lips with his tongue. “I’m doing pretty well...