Occurrence: Episode One

By W.R. Edmunds

In the late 21st Century, Earth's ecosystem is rapidly approaching the point of complete collapse. In a stroke of luck, an ancient alien ship is discovered on Mars with technology that could allow mankind to relieve the pressures on their homeworld and settle the stars. Many people view this wondrous technology as a gift, but there are those on Earth who wish to see it destroyed as a danger to everyone. When a team of researchers is lost after receiving an ominous alien warning during a prototype test, UNSA Commander Adrian Daniels is forced to participate in a political cover-up and lead his remaining crew into unknowable danger, while struggling against a tide of deadly intrigue. Meanwhile, Sally Yeung, the young prodigy who leads Commander Daniel's research team, must race to uncover the secrets of a vanished alien civilization to not only save the crew, but possibly all of humanity as well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W.R. Edmunds
• Release date: Jun 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9780991885800

W.R. Edmunds

W.R. Edmunds is a new author, testing the waters of speculative fiction. His first work is the episodic science fiction novel OCCURRENCE, for which Episode One was released free on February 1, 2013. When not writing, he keeps busy renovating his house and doing the odd bit of consultant work to pay the bills.

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OCCURRENCE: Episode One

by W.R.Edmunds

Published by W.R. Edmunds at Smashwords

All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2013 W.R. Edmunds

Cover Art Copyright 2013 El Fedora Design

Smashwords Author Page

Stay up to date at http://www.occurrencenovel.com

ISBN: 978-0-9918858-0-0

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

Prologue

Interlude

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Epilogue

Credits

March 14, 2073: UNSS Rimor

Sahi Bahai’s thoughts whirled as she pressed herself tighter into the confines of the storage locker she had chosen for a hiding place. Her hands were covered with blood and she could feel something warm dripping down from her ears. What had happened? What were those glowing creatures? Sahi tried to think back to when it started.

The test had been authorized by the science team on L1 Station. The drive was functioning optimally and there would have been no gravitational interference with its operation at the Earth-Moon L1 point. When it engaged and moved them to travel space, everything went as smoothly as a shift from one dimension to another could be expected to go. No, it was after transition that this started.

Sahi had been sitting at the command console, filtering through test data with her comm implant, when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up, triggering a spate of the dizzying perspective changes that came along with being in travel space. Seeing nothing, she was about turn her attention back to her monitors when she noticed a translucent form glowing faintly above Kiko in his acceleration chair. She watched it slowly descend and melt into him as he began to scream, clutching at his head. He started shuddering, his body warping and deforming as it lost connection with its three-dimensional shape before becoming hazy and indistinct. His cries turned into a piercing howl which drilled into Sahi’s brain, causing the bridge to swim in her vision.

She must have lost consciousness briefly, but according to the test timer running in her comm it had been for less than a minute. Then Sahi noticed that the other four researchers on the bridge were gone, leaving only her. She could hear startled shouts coming from engineering and had to stamp down on a rising sense of alarm.

She opened a channel to the engine room using her comm. Engineering! Williams, report! she barked to cover her fear.

She received nothing in response to her hails even though wordless cries still echoed down the passageway. Fighting back the faint feeling of nausea that came with trying to move in travel space, she unbelted and pushed herself to her feet in the artificial gravity the alien engine created when it was engaged. Once she entered the hall connecting back to engineering, Sahi saw one of the scientists who had been with her on the bridge curled up just outside the door, rocking back and forth against a bulkhead moaning.

Dmitriy! Are you all right? Sahi asked as she knelt down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. What’s going on? What happened to the others on the bridge?

He just stared off in to the distance and mumbled something in Russian, as if completely unaware of her presence.

She gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, glanced toward engineering, and then tried to force a soothing tone through her mounting panic as she told him, Wait here, Dmitriy, I’m going to check engineering. I’ll be right back, okay?

Dmitriy only uttered more disjointed Russian as Sahi left him and continued down the hall.

The shouts from engineering were escalating from surprise to terror. She was still unable to make out any words so she tried to page them again. Robert! Someone respond, damn you! What’s going on back there?

Receiving no response, she commed a direct message to Robert Williams, the engineering chief, as she walked. ::Robert, seriously, why is no one answering me?::

Just then she saw him come into view beyond the entry to engineering. He was running toward her, waving her off and shouting, Sahi! Get out of here – stop the drive!

Sahi saw a glowing form moving beyond his shoulder and she screamed, pointing behind him. Williams glanced back and then lunged at the emergency lock controls which snapped the entry way shut just as Sahi reached it.

Robert, no! she shouted as she pounded on the door and watched through the window as the entity sank into Williams. And just like Kiko had earlier, he underwent a reality bending metamorphosis, causing his body to shift and flow into impossible shapes before fading into a fuzzy outline and disappearing.

She froze, staring in shock at the space Robert had occupied only moments before. A moving reflection in the window caught Sahi’s eye and she whirled around to face Dmitriy who was lurching toward her. His body was surrounded by a bright nimbus that was sending off pulsing streamers into the surrounding passageway, as if one of those things was inside him.

No, the tortured word escaped from Dmitriy’s struggling lips, echoing as if coming from a vast distance. No. Not. Belong.

Sahi was nearly overwhelmed in horror of the thing in front of her and panic shot through her voice as she replied, Who – what are you? I don’t –

Not belong here. Danger. Coming here, it stuttered in hollow tones as Dmitriy’s body began to lose coherence and bleed into the luminescence around him.

LEAVE! The last word blasted out violently from the creature inhabiting Dmitriy and Sahi clutched at her ears to try to protect them from the assault of noise. His body then rapidly deformed across infinite impossible realities before disappearing completely, this time leaving one of the ghostly figures floating where he had stood.

Sahi’s hands came away from the side of her head covered with blood. She knew she was screaming, but she could only hear a loud ringing in her ears. She stumbled and fell hard against the wall while trying to back away from the alien being as it seemed to consider her. In a state of panic the only thing she could think of to do was hide. She dragged herself into one of the storage lockers and then pulled the door shut behind her as terrified sobs wracked her body.

What had happened? What were those glowing creatures? Why did the one in Dmitriy try to warn her about some sort of danger in coming to travel space? She had just enough time to piece together her memories