The Woman Who Didn't Speak

By Clint Westgard

In a failing colony, one woman will do whatever it takes to survive.

Soon after their arrival on the planet, everything starts to go wrong. Crops fail. Strange fevers afflict the colonists. Terrible storms rack the settlements. All the while their supplies slowly dwindle.

In the face of such calamity many retreat into despair, refusing to leave their homes. Others embrace an optimism, oblivious of all facts. Marjiana chooses a different path.

A story that asks what you would do when there is no hope to be found in the farthest reaches of space.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lost Quarter Books
• Release date: Jun 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781928035244

Clint Westgard

Clint Westgard is the author of The Shadow Men Trilogy and the science fiction epic The Sojourner Cycle, the first volume of which, The Forgotten, was published in 2015. In addition, he has published a work of historical fantasy set in colonial Peru, The Masks of Honor, and a retelling of the Minotaur legend, The Trials of the Minotaur. Clint Westgard lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Book preview

THE WOMAN WHO DIDN'T SPEAK

CLINT WESTGARD

The Woman Who Didn't Speak

Published by Lost Quarter Books

June, 2017

The Woman Who Didn't Speak by Clint Westgard is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.  

ISBN: 978-1-928035-24-4

Cover Design by James, GoOnWrite.com   

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE WOMAN WHO DIDN'T SPEAK

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALSO BY CLINT WESTGARD

1

There was no light in the sky when Marjiana rose from bed. The red sun—which she had yet to grow used to in the fifteen years she had lived on this planet—remained hidden from sight behind the horizon. It did not feel like home this place. Not even after all this time living here, not to mention the extended journey to arrive at this destination. It was still a place she had come to, not a place she was from.

And also the place she would be spending her remaining days, however many they might be. For there was no leaving here, no matter how much they all might wish to.

That was a thought best not dwelt upon, especially not first thing in the morning, lest it cast a shadow over the rest of the day. There were shadows enough in this place without bringing more into this world. Life was hard enough as it was.

She did not turn on any lights in the house, preferring to move about by feel, and wanting to preserve their reserves of electricity for necessities and emergencies. A splash of cool water on her face after brushing her teeth was the only luxury she allowed herself. That and the coffee she set to boil atop a gas burner .