• A Conversation

    A Strange New World Galen turned to start preparing what I assumed was tea as I studied Jessie. She was still engrossed in the map, eyes flitting from one part to the next, learning more about Stormrock in moments. The map couldn’t tell her everything she needed to know, but it was a start. Explaining how dangerous it was to be where we were would be the next step. Preferably before she got too attached to the idea of being a part of the rebuild. Jessie looked at me. “How far are we away from any other town?” “At least a week’s ride, probably more.” I shrugged. “Stormrock is the…

  • Lessons

    A Strange New World Stepping out of town hall I took a few seconds to work out my next steps, so I’d be back as quickly as possible. I trusted my people to do what needed to be done when it came to the ship itself, but that wasn’t the only thing we needed to be worrying about, as it was probably going to draw in the monsters around Stormrock. Even though we were used to dealing with them the situation was unusual. We couldn’t know what might happen. Jogging back up the hill the scent of burnt metal hit me once more, a reminder of what could have been.…

  • A Strange New World

    The New Arrivals Something I noticed more than I probably normally would have done was how warm Arlo was. There was an urge to simply let myself wrap around him, to steal that warmth, which I could only explain as related to the after effects of being in stasis for a long period of time. Him being an attractive man most definitely didn’t help, but I pushed those thoughts aside as best I could. I’d just met him. He was helping me a time when I was at me weakest, in so many ways, making it natural for me to feel the way I was feeling. Galen being there helped…

  • The New Arrivals

    The Crashed Ship “Arlo, do you know much about what happened to the ship?” Galen glanced at me. “I know you managed to get one of the engineers off the ship.” “Yes, Tom. He wanted to share everything he knew, as I’m pretty sure he believed he’d die before we managed to get him off the ship, and it was important to him we knew we needed to be careful. The engines were damaged in such a way he believed someone sabotaged the ship. However he never found out who it was. There is a chance they’re one of the survivors here.” I looked at the young woman in the…

  • The Crashed Ship

    Rescuing the Trapped Waking to the sound of blaring alarms was terrifying. Finding I was trapped, unable to move from the stasis bay, was a hundred times worse. They were meant to automatically open, especially in cases where there was an emergency. Breathing in deeply, doing my best to stay calm through the very worst experience of my life, I thought through what I could do in order to free myself. During orientation we were told, should there be any kind of emergency, it was best to focus on getting yourself to safety, so it didn’t seem likely trying to get the attention of someone else would help in any…

  • Sabotage?

    Escape Keeping a ship like the Paladin on track to get to where we were meant to be going was complicated. We were all mortal, so we had to make use of stasis to make sure there would be someone there for the entire journey. Each crew worked a little differently, but, for us, the system meant keeping ten of the hundred crew awake at any one time, with the rest in stasis. Our job, in general, was relatively simple. The ships were made to last, and I’d never known one not get to where they were supposed to be. Of course there was no way back for us. We’d…

  • Escape

    Alarms blared. Confusion swept through me. I remembered, vaguely, being put into stasis, to make the long journey to one of the worlds furthest from everything I knew. Coming to the way I had wasn’t a good sign. Something I’d gone over multiple times was what to do if there was an emergency, and I focused on the voice in the back of my mind, telling me I needed to be grabbing the emergency bag they’d set up for me. Pushing myself from the bed, arms weak, I found the bag easily. The door to the room was open, and the sound was almost too much for me. Yet I…