The Second Enlightenment (The Ark Project)

By TJ Hudson

A series of short interconnected tales set in the Ark Project Universe.

Almost a thousand years into the future and humanity is enslaved. There appears to be no hope for freedom, merely survival. Can a plan set in motion hundreds of years ago save, not only humanity, but the rest of the galaxy?
A man invested with strange and exotic powers must work out their true purpose, where others have been unable to before.

A Novella of 18,000 words, this is a future science fiction story.

This is the second book in The Ark Project Trilogy. The complete Ark Project Trilogy is also available as a complete set.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TJ Hudson
• Release date: Mar 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301015313

TJ Hudson

TJ Hudson lives in Yorkshire, UK. Although his body resides there his mind can often be found wandering away to who knows where.He decided it was about time these meanderings into the land of imagination were written down, and just maybe make some sense of it all.To find out more visit tjhudson.net.

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The Ark Project Book 2:

The Second Enlightenment

By TJ Hudson

Second Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 TJ Hudson

TJ Hudson's Smashwords Author Page

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Though this book does not contain DRM, if you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for supporting and respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

2857 AD - The Omega Manifests Itself

3060 AD - Mind Paintings

3061 AD - Katabasis

3083 AD - The Complexity of Creativity

About TJ Hudson

Other Books by TJ Hudson

Thanks Tilly, Frodo, George and Meg.

The Ark Project Book 2:

The Second Enlightenment

2857 AD - The Omega Manifests Itself

It was an alien, definitely alien, it had to be. But it was nothing like anything he or anyone else had seen. Harry decided it was more demon than alien; that made sense to him. Soon enough others on the same ship came to call it a demon too. As people were transported between ships the description stuck: these alien things, were demons, all of them Demons.

Harry had now encountered at least one member from each of the thirteen other known alien species. As exotic as they were, he could at least comprehend them. He thought of them as true aliens: the type of aliens you learned about at school and grew up watching humans have adventures with in films. The thirteen other species of aliens all breathed, ate, drank, wore clothes, held conversation and interacted with the world around them in ways that seemed entirely natural. They were most definitely of this universe.

That thing, that Demon, was something else and Harry had strong suspicions it was not of our universe.

There was one Demon aboard the ship Harry was on. A crew of two hundred humans all subservient to that one being. It was not in command, they were instead subjugated to it. Its official designation was that of Overseer.

The Demon Overseer had made its home in one of the humans, who was Harry's old boss. He was called Artimus: a rather unassuming man for most of his life. That is until he had become infected by the Demon. With that, everything changed. Which ultimately resulted in humanity's enslavement.

Artimus was now quite a powerful individual. He had been allowed to hand pick some of his crew, Harry was one of his choices. Was it out of spite or a form of gloating? Harry did not care; he had stopped worrying about himself years ago. Harry worried about and cared for those around him now. Particularly when the Demon was on the prowl, as it was at the moment.

Edward kicked open his door and spilled out into the corridor. The dark of the cabin behind followed him out into the corridor. The lights above flickered on and off. Gradually more and more refused to come back on once they had been extinguished. He landed heavily on the floor and continued screaming.

Almost as soon as they heard the noise, two of the crew left their cabins and headed straight for the poor soul. Others opened their doors to look at the commotion, some of them quickly closed their doors when they realised exactly what was going on. A few remained, looking at the scene. There were some who did not even look out of their cabin, they knew what was happening, as they had experienced the horror themselves. These people, understandably, wanted no part of this.

The two who had raced to their colleague's aid both stopped when they were several paces away from Edward. The air around him had a harsh chill to it. They looked into his room. Everything in it was covered in a light frost. Not sure what to do they stood motionless, looking down at him. The cold and growing darkness around Edward created an overbearing sense of foreboding.

Harry appeared at one end of the corridor. He had not heard the screams, instead he had sensed the despair of Edward. He took one look at afflicted man and raced away, heading straight for Artmus's quarters.

Two minutes later he arrived at the main door to Artimus's lavish cabin. Being a personal aid to Artimus meant he had the security clearance to override the door's lock and make his way in. Harry strode through the door and looked from side to side for Artimus. A pulsing light behind a half closed door indicated to Harry that Artimus was in his bedroom. Harry ran towards it and burst in.

The air in the room was full of small pulsing globules of light. They hung where they were or gently drifted with invisible currents. Some were as small as a speck of dust, others as big as a grain of rice, and there was every size in between.

As he neared Artimus, who was sitting crossed legged on his bed, the concentration of the light globules increased. Harry stopped next to the side of the bed and prodded Artimus in the shoulder.

'Loser, you useless loser,' Harry said as he pushed Artimus again. He continued to insult Artimus, trying to break the trance the possessed man was in. Artimus eventually opened one eye and look at Harry, as he did so all colour drained