Last Refuge from Earth

By Trevor Marsh

The Earth died as a result of nuclear winter when Jonathan Martinez was just a young boy growing up in Texas. Then the Paulani Dominion came, a species of seemingly benevolent aliens offering salvation and an escape from extinction. Jonathan’s family took to the stars as refugees but over the years they have become separated and lost from one another.

Now Jonathan has learned that his wife has passed away on an alien world far from him and he has no news of his daughter’s fate. Jonathan will risk everything to find her, crossing many worlds and facing serious dangers along the way all in a bid to protect the last family that is left to him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trevor Marsh
• Release date: Jun 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463611869

Trevor Marsh

I have a lot of science fiction influences in my life that have driven me towards writing. Besides all the science fiction I’ve read, watched, and played over the years I have also tried to incorporate my own personal experiences in my writing. I was raised in a military family myself, but I ultimately took a different path in life. My father proudly served in the United States Navy for thirty years, retiring as a captain. Growing up as a navy brat, I was constantly fascinated by military technology, history, tactics, and strategies. I was also offered the opportunity to grow up in a variety of locations around the world. The one that influenced me the most was Singapore. Seeing so many different people and cultures mixed together in one place was a very eye opening experience for me. From that point on, I knew I wanted to work in a field where I would constantly be interacting with people from all over the world. My studies eventually led me to studying international relations and political science in college, followed quickly by a legal degree with a focus on international law. My interest in geopolitics and diplomacy heavily influenced the non-military aspects of my science fiction writing.

Book preview

Last Refuge from Earth

Book One of the Refugees of Earth series

Trevor Marsh

Copyright © 2018 Trevor Marsh

All rights reserved

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real persons, events, or places are purely coincidental; any references to actual places, people, or brands are fictitious.

Cover art provided by Adam Bradshaw

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

Contents

Acknowledgements

Epigraph

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

About Trevor Marsh

Connect with Trevor Marsh

Acknowledgements

To my wonderful wife Mary and our beautiful daughter Avery. Your constant support and encouragement keep me writing and your assistance in the editing process is always appreciated. This book is dedicated to both of you.

"When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt."

- Leviticus 19:33-34

Prologue

Should we stay, or should we go? Sarah Martinez asked her husband as they sat together at their kitchen table on a storm-filled night in southern Texas, her voice trembling with hesitance and hope at the same time.

I don’t know, Samuel Martinez replied with exhaustion, his shoulders tense with indecision as he leaned back into his chair and put his forearms on the worn wooden surface of the table he and Sarah had bought together when they first married ten years ago in 2107.

Samuel’s mind briefly flashed back to happy memories as it always did when he placed his hands on the table of times when he and Sarah were newlyweds sanding down their bargain basement find and turning it into something they could share together, something fresh and new. The sound of distant thunder shook Samuel’s mind free of his happy reminiscing and brought him back to the terrifying present and uncertain future.

If we stay we’ll likely starve to death or die in a riot, Sarah offered analytically, her mind approaching the situation as she did with all things in life using a hard logical bent. Crop failure on a global scale is inevitable once the nuclear winter sets in.

The nuclear winter to which Sarah referred was brought on by a limited nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan several months ago. India blamed the government in Islamabad for the detonation of a dirty bomb in Mumbai by an Islamist group which quickly led to a war of accusations and provocations until finally the nuclear genie was allowed to slip out of the bottle. Sarah and Samuel were not sure who fired the first missile, but that did not really matter now. With millions dead and massive amounts of particulate matter ejected into the Earth’s atmosphere the pair of NASA engineers formally employed in Houston had other things to worry about.

And if we go we’ll be venturing into space aboard unknown starships to God knows where, Samuel countered with a shrug. Wasn’t very nice of the Paulani to go and put us both out of a job just as the world is falling apart.

The massive-yet-graceful starships of the Paulani Dominion had descended from the heavens just before the entire world could collapse into utter chaos, as if they were angels sent to deliver salvation unto humanity. Of course, being NASA personnel at the time of the alien’s arrival Sarah and Samuel knew better. NASA and other space agencies around the world had tracked the speed of the Paulani starships’ arrival to the Sol system in utter shock and disbelief. The alien vessels moved at many fractions of the speed of light, far beyond the capabilities of human spacecraft. NASA made a valiant effort to argue it needed to remain operational to better study the new arrivals and their stunning space arks, a term coined by international media, but with worries over mass famines and border wars for Earth’s remaining natural resources at the forefront of their thinking the government of the United States decided it was unnecessary to keep NASA funded during the crisis.

I wouldn’t mind getting to check out one of those arks up close and personal, Sarah said with an air of wonder as she pulled her legs up onto her chair to sit with her legs crossed, something she often did when she got excited about tackling a new problem.

We can’t base major family decisions on your child-like desire to poke around in an alien spaceship, Samuel answered with an undertone of humor. I’ve already got one child to worry about. I don’t need you acting the part of a second.

Sarah and Samuel’s son, Jonathan, was sound asleep in his room as the rains continued to pound southern Texas. When he was first born thunder and lightning would often wake him up, but now that he was four he was sleeping through even the loudest of thunderstorms.

I know that, Sarah replied with mock frustration before settling into a more serious tone. We’re not just deciding for two here. We need to think about what is best for Jon.

The Paulani arrived at Earth with an offer for the entire human population. They broadcast their message via the internet through a method of transmission that was still being debated by the brightest minds from Silicon Valley to Shenzhen. However they did it, the bird-like creatures had forced their way onto ever digital device screen with an active internet connection at once upon entering Earth’s orbit. Their alien appearance startled hundreds of millions with their short beaks, wide-set eyes and colorful crests atop their heads, at least on the males anyway. Humanity came to learn a fair amount about their potential saviors in the days following their arrival as various governments and individuals sought to communicate with them and learn about their unique history and culture.

The Paulani Dominion was the administrator of the sector of the galaxy in which Earth was located. They had been watching humanity’s evolution for thousands of years, holding themselves to a strict policy of non-interference except in the case of a catastrophic event. Several of Earth’s extra-solar probes and data returned by orbital telescopes had been manipulated over the years to ensure humans remained blind to the presence of the Dominion when needed, but otherwise the Paulani preferred the role of enigmatic observers in their dealings with the lesser advanced species in their sector of the galaxy. The same could not be said for other species within the Pan-Galactic Council, a governing body of the galaxy’s most advanced alien civilizations, but the Paulani were reluctant to say little more about wider galactic events than that.

I just worry about what kind of life we’d be giving Jon as a refugee from his home world, Samuel said with a sigh as a flash of lightning briefly lit up the room followed by the predicable roll of distant thunder. Can we really take him away from everything he knows in the hopes the grass will be greener elsewhere?

The Paulani made a simple offer to humanity. Seek refuge aboard their vast starships or be left behind to march towards inevitable extinction. Some of Earth’s nations predictably reacted to this offer with a sense of hostility and suspicion. Indeed, nuclear launches against several Paulani vessels in low orbit had been made from a variety of nations around the global. The avian creatures must have predicted such a response because their ships were on high alert and deftly neutralized all incoming warheads with pin-point accurate fire from some kind of advanced laser weaponry. The Paulani showed extreme patience in once again making their offer to the world, although this time keeping their vessels in a slightly higher orbit. They brought seven arks with them, a term that the bird-like aliens quickly adopted for their own use once they learned of its meaning. The arks were spread across the globe concentrated above the highest population density centers. The Dominion’s representatives readily admitted that even a star nation as powerful as theirs lacked the resources to save the billions of humans clinging to life on a rapidly dying Earth, so instead they engineered a genetic lottery system. If any human sought passage off the planet, all they needed to do was present themselves at an ark. Their genetic code would be scanned and if they held the lucky sequence in their DNA they would be welcomed on the vessel. The arks had begun their landing process several days ago and they would be departing forever shortly.

Not much chance the grass is getting any greener on Earth anytime soon, Sarah replied with a smirk. See what I did there?

Very funny, Samuel replied as he got up from his chair and moved to stand behind his wife and gently massage her shoulders. But seriously, what do you think we should do? Are we crazy to even be considering this?

No crazier than thinking we can keep our family alive and together once the Paulani leave, Sarah said as she leaned back into her husband’s hands with a soft sigh. It’s not just the crops that are failing. Most of the advanced nations like the United States are heavily reliant on solar power. With nuclear winter setting in, massive blackouts are already starting to become a regular occurrence. Couple that with the fact that fossil fuel production has cratered thanks to the residual fallout from the nuclear strikes in Pakistan blanketing the Middle East and you’ve got a recipe for a power-starved world. With no food and no power conflict is inevitable like we’re already seeing in South America and East Asia.

So we leave, Samuel said with as much certainty and confidence as he could muster in his voice. We head south towards the border and try our luck with the ark which landed near Mexico City. I’ve got an uncle who lives there who could give us a place to stay until we’re ready to give the ark a shot.

How do you know the Paulani are even telling the truth? Sarah asked aloud as she tilted her chin up to look at her husband’s face. For all we know they could be taking us as slaves or something.

Seems like a lot of trouble for them to go through just to haul us away as prisoners, Samuel replied with a shrug. Besides, I don’t see what use an advance spacefaring species like the Paulani would have for slave labor. You’ve seen the robots they’ve got working for them.

News coverage of the aliens had been intense since their arrival. The Paulani were pretty open to questions and even gave reporters tours of the arks upon request. On those tours humans had encountered strange and mystifying technology, including incredibly advanced robots the Paulani used for most forms of manual labor.

I can’t say I wouldn’t mind getting a chance to study their tech up close and in person, Sarah confessed. So, are we really doing this?

Yes, Samuel answered. We’ll make this work. It will be life’s greatest journey, but if we don’t take this risk now I don’t know what kind of future Jon will have here on Earth.

Ok, Sarah replied. Then let’s get packed.

Chapter One

Jonathan Martinez was not a patient man, especially not today with a line of angry clients slowly growing in length outside the ramshackle tech repair shop he operated in the largest alien refugee camp on the planet Qualin. Qualin was a regional capital within the Paulani Dominion, a world of several billion inhabitants safely nestled near the heart of the Dominion’s territory. Renowned for its natural beauty, especially its vast savannahs and brushlands, the people of Qualin were not overly fond of the refugee camp that the Dominion’s archpriests had deemed necessary for placement just a few kilometers from the capital city with its shimmering ivory towers and other architectural marvels. Paulani architecture focused on height above all else, likely a nod to the species’ avian roots. Tall spires with sharp edges and hard angles were common place with white and gold often used to wrap the structures in ornate decadence befitting the rigid yet opulent design of Paulani society as a whole. Not that any of that mattered to Jon at the moment.

You promised my transformer would be completed two days ago! an angry Kardogan named Yondoth snarled at Jon. How am I supposed to power my Paulani refrigeration unit with a Gorben energy cell without a transformer?

Kardogans had the appearance of overly fat lizards that stood on two hind legs which gave them an imposing two meters in height, but Yondoth was big for its species easily clearing two and half meters and out massing Jon by a hundred kilograms. Jon was of an average height and build for a human male, which put him at a distinct disadvantage when compared to his angry customer. Jon took a moment to study Yondoth, clearing away his messy brunette hair from blocking his dark brown eyes.

What was scary to Jon was that Yondoth’s gender remained a mystery to him which made him wonder if Kardogans of the opposite sex grew even bigger. Its razor-sharp claws were extended and on full display as it hissed in anger at Jon, separated from the man by only a flimsy piece of plastic which Jon had converted into a workbench.

I’m sorry but if you couldn’t tell from the line outside, things are a little busy today, Jon replied with as calm a voice as he could manage, gesturing with his head over the large alien’s shoulder to the motley collection of other refugees waiting their turn to complain. I told you when you bought that energy cell from me last week that Gorben tech is notoriously fickle and doesn’t play well with non-Gorben equipment.

The brutish lizard-like alien snorted loudly through its nostrils as it scratched itself behind the small hole on the side of its head that functioned as an ear. Jon sometimes got the same itches. They came from the universal translators implanted in all Paulani-registered refugees to facilitate better communication. Jon still felt uneasy every time he remembered what he was hearing in his head in perfect English when he spoke with aliens was the result of some kind of complex programming wired directly into his brain, but he had to admit it was nice to avoid the language barriers that would have doomed any chance of an alien settling on a foreign world.

If I can’t power my refrigeration unit, my produce will rot and my market will close, Yondoth countered after satisfying its itch. And if that happens I’ll have no money to finish paying you for both the energy cell and the transformer. So, consider it in your best interest that you finish the transformer now. Otherwise you’ll have done nothing but waste your own time and angered me. Have you ever seen an angry Kardogan?

"I thought I