Edge

By Kevin Tumlinson

"Not since the Martian and Andy Weir has there been a better science fiction combination."

"If you think you know plots, I dare you to figure this one out before the conclusion."

Charles Martins, prisoner number 61789, is serving time in a body suit—a prison cell that he wears 24/7. One part prison cell, one part life support system, it takes care of every biological need, provides video for re-education, and even gives him psycho therapy from an AI psychiatrist. What it doesn't do is allow him to touch or feel anything. And while it monitors his every action, it prevents him from doing anything that feels real.

When Charles learns about the Edge—the edge of the world, maybe, or maybe the edge of some virtual reality—he volunteers for the most dangerous community service the penal colony offers. He risks life and any chance of future freedom to enter the Red Zone, where his job is to remove an ocean of zone sludge and earn time off of his sentence. 

Charles wants to escape, but he may not like what he finds on the other side of the edge.

"In parts, it reminds me of Larry Niven's Ring World."

"I haven't been this thrilled since reading David Brin's Existence."

"In terms of sheer geeky coolness, Kevin may be the next Ernest Cline."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Happy Pants Books
• Release date: Jul 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516399239

Kevin Tumlinson

Kevin Tumlinson is an award-winning and bestselling novelist, living in Texas and working in random coffee shops, cafés, and hotel lobbies worldwide. His debut thriller, The Coelho Medallion, was a 2016 Shelf Notable Indie award winner. Kevin grew up in Wild Peach, Texas, where he was raised by his grandparents and given a healthy respect for story telling. He often found himself in trouble in school for writing stories instead of doing his actual assignments.  Kevin's love for history, archaeology, and science has been a tremendous source of material for his writing, feeding his fiction and giving him just the excuse he needs to read the next article, biography, or research paper.

Book preview

EDGE

EDGE

A NOVELLA

Kevin Tumlinson

Happy Pants Books

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Stuff at the End of the Book

HOW TO MAKE AN AUTHOR STUPID GRATEFUL

About the Author

Also by Kevin Tumlinson

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin Tumlinson

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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Chapter One

Clear the Ground

He had the urge to clear the ground—to look out and see nothing.

That’s what happens when you’re the equivalent of 80 stories up, facing an expanse of landscape that becomes level ground only after a sharp drop from a very high cliff. You clear the ground. You look out and see nothing. And then …

He leapt.

The air was rushing past him, but he couldn’t feel it through the suit. He couldn’t hear it through the helmet. He regretted not having that connection to the atmosphere. It would have been better. The thrill would have been greater. Instead he could only rely on the feeling of gravity and the sight of the cliff face blurring by as the ground rushed upward. He had turned to face the ground, to point his head directly at it. And in that moment he wasn’t falling—he was rising. The ground was the new up.

It was closer now. It would be seconds before the impact. He would hit head first, he would drive into the ground like a spike. He would shatter within the suit. It would hurt. It would be over.

Closer. The sky was completely obscured from his view now. Only the ground existed. Only a couple of seconds left. And then …

He was floating. The air around him had become dense, and he had been moved several hundred miles away to a flat, level, boring piece of ground nowhere near the cliff.

Charles Martins. Prisoner number 61789. You have attempted to end your life. This has added one year to your sentence and 80 hours to your psychiatric evaluation.

The voice echoed through the helmet, and Charles fought the urge to groan.

It wasn’t a suicide attempt, he said.

You would have died in 1.6 seconds if transport had not relocated you.

Yes. I know. That’s why I jumped. I knew transport would relocate me.

You made no attempt to halt your fall, the voice said.

Exactly, Charles said.

There was a pause. Your case has been re-evaluated. The one-year extension of your time has been reduced to six months. Your extended psychiatric evaluation has been reduced to 40 hours.

I can’t get that down to zero?

You attempted an action which forced the safety protocols to engage. This is a violation of the terms of your incarceration. Justice demands punishment for rule infractions. Have a nice day.

The field holding him in place suddenly vanished, and Charles slammed to the ground after