Eden

By Andreas Christensen

Years ago, Auroran colonist Nick was captured and brought onboard the Morninstar, the Chinzhoi generation ship that has roamed the galaxy for two centuries. Eventually Nick was accepted as part of the Morninstar crew, and he accepted his fate; that he would never set foot on solid ground again, or return to the planet he had ever so briefly called home, Aurora. He counts himself lucky though, for most of the others onboard have never even seen the stars, let alone set foot on a planet. They are born to eke out their lives inside the starship, from the day they are born and until they die. Nick has seen the stars though, and he still gets to see the stars once in a while, since he is one of the few chosen to perform the EVAs necessary to maintain the ship. That has been enough so far. Then, one day he learns that he may have a chance to be part of a small settlement on an Earth-like planet that seem able to sustain life. Most Chinzhoi colonies have so far proved to be unsuitable for humans, and it seems that Management uses colonization more to cull the growing population from time to time than for anything else. Whether Eden will prove otherwise has yet to be determined, but Nick has survived a dying Earth, war on Aurora, and years of captivity. He is determined to survive Eden as well.

Eden is an Aurora Universe story, and takes place several years after the events of Genesis, the third book of the Exodus Trilogy.

"For a long time, there was Heinlein, Drake, Weber, and some of Ringo's stuff. Add Andreas Christensen." James R. Kratzer

"Andreas keeps getting better and better with each book he writes!" Traci Maynard

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andreas Christensen
• Release date: Mar 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386954118

Book preview

Morningstar

Nick Gilbert watched his left hand, trying to keep his fingers steady. They shook, just a little, but he was told that was to be expected. Nobody had to tell him though; he knew from experience. The crew on the Morningstar spent some of their time in cryo sleep, as opposed to the general population, and rotated on two-year shifts. He remembered that his last shift had ended eight years ago. He tried to remember how many shifts he had pulled, but his mind was still fuzzy from the cryo sleep. It would come back to him though, that much he knew. Just like the shaking would stop, eventually.

He looked around. Three others sat around, with the same blank stares as he imagined he must have. He recognized one of them, Richard something, an astrobiologist of British heritage he’d spoken to a few times during one of his earlier shifts. Richard was a descendant of non-Chinzhoi specialists brought on board years ago, in the final stages before leaving Earth. Nick thought about his own journey, how he’d been captured years ago, during the war on Aurora, and brought on board more dead than alive. He thought about how he had eventually come to accept his fate, that he was never going to see his own people again, that his stay on Aurora was but a short interlude, that his life’s journey still might have more surprises to come.

Are you up to walking? one of the nurses asked. He nodded slowly, careful not to provoke a headache; another lesson learned from experience. He got up. Richard and two others, a male and a female Chinzhoi, joined him. Richard leaned over.

"What kind of shit job do you think they’ll have