Excerpt of FE959 by Michael Barnette
Supernatural Alliance Book 1
Coming in August from Shadowfire Press


Frontier Explorer 959 is out at the edge of known space when he receives a distress call that will change him forever.

The distress signal came through strong and steady as a heartbeat. A frown crossed Frontier Explorer 959's face as he debated what to do. He could send the signal on a relay and let another, better equipped ship -- probably condemning more people to slow death on the surface below--or he could get off his ass and help them himself.

Technically aiding crashed colonists wasn't in his job description, but the litany of coded problems his communications unit received told him they were in dire need of assistance.

If the readings coming in were correct, half the colony ship's complement of lives were already dead, and more were passing into the Dark Lady's embrace with every passing moment.

In the end that was what decided the issue for FE959. No one could reach them in time to help. No one but him.

"Damn," he muttered. He never left his ship except on those rare occasions when Frontier Exploration's Central Command approved a newer model of ship for him, or he had to go in for physical testing to make sure he was still in prime condition for his duties as an FE.

Or when he had no other alternative but to get out.

Like now.

He'd made the decision, yet he vacillated, hesitant to actually commit himself to the task. There were many reasons why he dreaded the thought of going down there. Reasons that went well beyond the toxic atmosphere of the planet and the dangers of entering a vessel all but torn apart by a crash.

But he really didn't have any choice. While he sat there debating his course of action two more of the colonists slipped beyond the grasp of life into the embrace of death.

He shuddered as their spirits faded into the nothingness of finality.

That sensation alone made him want to run, to turn around and depart as fast as the small exploration ship he was encased in could carry him.

A thought sent his ship toward the planet.

There just wasn't any other option.

He only hoped they'd be grateful enough for his help that they could overlook what he was.

The sleek ship hurtled toward the seething reddish cloud cover that surrounded the planet and obscured the landmasses and seas from view. If it weren't for his ship's instrumentation he wouldn't have any idea what lay below the blood-colored sky.

He was relieved to discover that the heavy cloud cover didn't extend to the surface of the planet not that what lay below it was any comfort. The ground was a mass of jagged lava flows and the seas were an almost sulfurous yellow.

Inhospitable and uninhabitable. Of all the planets a colony ship could crash land on in this sector FE959 could think of few that were worse.

He let the ship guide itself toward the wreck, riding the distress signal.

A bank of low clouds hid any trace of the downed ship until he was almost on it.

"Oh hell," he muttered as his mind made sense of the jumbled debris.

The colony ship had been a large one. Too large for anything made in the last fifty years if not longer. His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the shattered ship's drive. Old. Very old. That meant it was a Legacy Ship, something sent out from old Sol over two hundred years in the past. It was an incredible find and he only wished he could have identified it more accurately. There was a long list of such ‘Lost Ships' posted back at Central. Dozens had been sent out. Few had been found in the generations since they'd abandoned Earth to the pollution storms and blazing heat ravaging her surface.

But the ship was just too broken up for him to make a positive identification, and it wasn't being sent in the information in the distress signal which was odd, but not totally unheard of in a ship that old.

He tried checking the database in his ship for an ID, but quickly gave up in favor of landing as close as he could get to the area where the life pods should be located. That at least was partially intact. If it hadn't been he wouldn't have bothered to land. There wouldn't be any survivors to rescue.

The sealed hatch of his ship opened. FE959-- who was totally naked-- stepped out onto the sharp edged ground. He winced as his bare feet tore, leaving smears of blood on the lava as the toxic gas of the planet's atmosphere burned in his nose.

Moving quickly he hopped down from the hard ridge of lava and reached one of the support beams from the ship. It was still hot and he felt the searing bite of the metal but the pain was fleeting and he jumped down, looking for a way in.

* * * *

Korrine opened her eyes and blinked, trying to bring the world into focus. Acrid smoke seeped into her lungs as she drew a shuddering breath.

Something is wrong. Very wrong, she thought as the smoke tore at her throat. Burning plastic, the stink of hot metal and something else. Something she couldn't identify. Whatever the stuff might be the mix was probably very toxic.

Dull memories drifted to the surface of her mind.

She'd been...in a sleeperpod. On a colony ship bound for another world.

If they'd landed she should be looking at Doctor Rickman or one of the other medical staff, not blearily staring at the casing of the pod.

Yes, something was very wrong.

Another whiff of the acrid smoke trickled into the pod, and she coughed, sucked in more and coughed even harder.

She tried to move her arms, but they felt dead, unresponsive and she came to the conclusion that if no one had released her she was probably trapped by the safety restraints in the pod.

Korrine fought the straps, but her inability to free herself went deeper than the strength of the straps. Her body really wasn't answering her orders all that well. While the pod could induce wake-up in an emergency situation, it soon became apparent to her that the dosage wasn't sufficient to totally override the long-sleep holding her captive.

She felt... well she wasn't totally sure how she felt, but freezer-burnt came to mind.

Another streamer of choking smoke billowed in, this one thicker and far more disturbing for what it might be implying.

Fire.

Of all the ways to die it was the one she feared the most.

You can purchase FE959 from Shadowfire Press.