Childhood Dreams (A Game of War, Part One)

By Michael Cairns

A fast paced sci-fi adventure, Childhood Dreams blends dizzying excitement with a whirlpool of emotions to keep you gripped from beginning to end. Like Suzanne Collins? You’ll love this!

“This is a real page turner, characters you can believe in, horrible bad guys and cool action. Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games or anyone who likes their sci-fi to have a human edge.”

Ally flies and dad shoots. She’s got a gift for flying, always has, even before she joined the Game.

The Game?

A weekly contest between slaves, winner takes all, losers get to walk home, assuming they survive that is.

The slaves are owned by The Lords, aliens with something to hide, and spaceships like you wouldn’t believe.

This is the first part in the story of Ally’s life; her first flight, her first love, aliens with attitude and whole load of bad-ass flying and shooting. With the amount she’s done, you’d be forgiven for thinking her life was nearly over.

Turns out it’s only just beginning.

WARNING: Cliff hanger is not for the faint hearted and will leave you desperate for part 2

Join Ally as she remembers the first 16 years of an extraordinary life, download ‘Childhood Dreams’ the first part of ‘A Game of War’.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Cairns
• Release date: Mar 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9781909699014

Michael Cairns

Michael Cairns was born at a young age and could write even before he could play the drums, but that was long ago, in the glory days - when he actually had hair. He loves chocolate, pineapple, playing gigs and outwitting his young daughter (the scores are about level but she's getting smarter every day). Michael is currently working hard on writing, getting enough sleep and keeping his hair. The first is going well, the other two...not so much. His current novels include: > Young adult, science fiction adventure series, 'A Game of War' 1. Childhood dreams 2. The end of innocence 3. Playing God 4. Breathing in space 5. Escape 6. Gateway to earth > Urban fantasy super-hero series, 'The Planets' 1. The spirit room 2. The story of Erie 3. The long way home >Paranormal horror post apocalyptic zombie series, 'Thirteen Roses' 1. Before (Books 2-6 due for release in spring)

Book preview

Childhood Dreams

A Game of War

Part one

by

Michael Cairns

Publishing

Published by Cairns Publishing at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Michael Cairns

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

1st Edition

Find out about future releases by Michael Cairns at http://cairnswrites.com

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Intro

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Outro

Thanks

Intro

The road stretched before them, dust rising in blankets from the soles of a thousand survivors. Glancing behind them, he could make out the tail of their convoy, disappearing into the haze. He was acutely aware of the ache in his feet, of the dull throbbing that threatened to drag him down and he was so tempted to sink gratefully into the grey monotony they walked over.

Not far ahead, the port beckoned. There they could once again take ship and get the hell off this horrible planet, away from the still bitter taste of defeat and pointlessness. Next to him, Alicia walked determinedly, her chin jutting out. That she was still on her feet was a constant amazement to him, but then she'd amazed him since the day she was born. He shook his head, feeling a little lighter on his feet and grinned.

She was sixteen, had walked for three days solid and the only thing bothering her was that the Overseer had got it so wrong. She was an astonishing pilot, and developing well as a strategist, but in these big battles she was still seen as a grunt compared to the older pilots. Viran had made his decision, as he always did and they'd followed it. Perhaps one day she would be the Overseer. He grinned again, his face aching from the unfamiliar expression. That would be worth seeing. He shook his head again, took a deep breath and looked forward. The sun was beginning to dip below the distant hills and the wind was getting up. The dust began to batter against them, driving them forward toward their ship.

Chapter 1

She stole a glance up at dad. He was getting tired and she could hear his feet scuffing against the ground. She smiled to herself as he looked back at her with concern. He still saw himself as the guardian, the one doing the looking after, and she would never tell him otherwise, whatever the reality. There was much in her life that she could be bitter about, but there was also some good. Many of the people who walked in front and behind them had no family, working together only to keep themselves alive. They went from game to game in a lonely panic, finding berth at the last minute sometimes. She had dad.

From her earliest memories, he had been the only constant; aside from the game of course. He had been the one who taught her to fly, to fight and to think. He'd also shown her reading and sums and a hundred other things she might need when the day finally arrived. She knew it was never going to come, but she kept up with the learning anyway. He was the calmest person she knew, but got angry if she ever spoke about how futile it all felt. It was probably because deep down, he agreed with her, but had held onto his dream for so long that admitting that was all it was would be too big a jump, too horrible to contemplate.

Her eyes were fixed forward, scanning the horizon constantly for signs of port, but the wind was throwing dust in them and she bowed her head. The ground beneath their feet was rock and her knees hurt from the days of walking. The Lords liked to remind them how helpless they were, as if fighting for their lives wasn't enough. She spat at the thought, her saliva a thick wad filled with fine grey dust. Dad clipped her around the head and she stumbled, then righted herself and glared up at him. He raised an eyebrow in return and she made a face.

Mum had been there, at the start. She had vague memories of her hands, a few expressions she used to say, but couldn't really picture her. She didn't know what colour her eyes had been, or what shape her face was. Dad swore blind that she was the spit of her, the same dark brown hair, thick and long and the same thin, drawn-out features, saved from plainness by her smile. So dad said. Of course, dad