Destroyed: Alien Chaos, #1

By Sophie Stern

Sasha has lost everything that ever mattered to her, but she's about to lose one more thing: her planet.

The entire world around her is about to be completely obliterated, and she's got one shot at escaping. The big, bad alien man who scours the universe looking for people to save is more than just her ticket to survival.

He's her ticket to living.

When she manages to get onto the ship that can carry her to a new world, something happens that threatens her survival and she's forced to make a terrible decision.

Will she fight for survival even if it means losing herself?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sophie Stern
• Release date: May 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386957232

Book preview

Destroyed

Alien Chaos Book One

Sophie Stern

Copyright © 2019 by Sophie Stern

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

I don't have anywhere else to go.

I don't have anywhere else to hide.

It's just me against the universe now.

My child is gone.

My planet is lost.

My future is...

Well, I don't know.

But I do know one thing: that big, bad alien leaving my planet? He's my ticket out of here, and I'm not planning on getting left behind. No matter what it takes, I'm going to escape. No matter what.

Her planet is about to be destroyed.

His life is in chaos.

Their worlds are about to collide.

She knows that running from the past never got anyone very far, but Sasha is ready to leave Cravenloua and never look back. When she has a chance to sneak away on a supply ship, she jumps at the opportunity to escape.

Only things aren't always as they seem.

Max has been to the darkest corners of the universe and he's somehow been able to walk away with a smile on his face. His daughter needs him. He'll do anything to protect her. No matter what threat he finds, he'll terminate it if it means his little girl gets to stay safe.

Even if that threat is beautiful.

Even if that threat is a stowaway on his ship.

The bravest thing I have is hope. - Brave Saint Saturn

When I’m here with you, I said the world could be burning, burning down. -Jack’s Mannequin

Chapter 1

Sasha

The grave in front of me is no longer fresh. The grass has grown over the place where he is buried. It doesn’t seem like enough time has passed for him to be fully, completely gone, but it has. I can’t remember what he smells like anymore. I can’t remember exactly how his voice sounds. It’s been a year. I’m starting to forget, and my heart hurts when I admit that to myself.

What kind of mother am I? Who forgets the way their little boy’s voice sounds?

It shouldn’t be possible. I watched him grow. I was with him every step of the way. I was there when he spoke my name for the first time and for the last time, and all of the times in between. Now I’m forgetting, but I don’t want to.

I want to remember.

Then again, maybe I don’t.

Sometimes remembering is too hard.

I kneel in front of Zack’s grave, and I place my hands on the space where he is buried. A small, tiny plaque holds his name, along with twenty others. There’s not enough room for full burials anymore. Each person is cremated: their ashes carefully lowered into a gravesite. My little boy doesn’t even get his own plot. It’s not like things used to be, long ago.

Things are different now.

Time to go, a voice pulls me from my thoughts. I shake my head, pleading, but I know it’s no use. Caleb hauls me to my feet and I drop right back down, tears streaming down my face. I don’t want to go. I want to stay here with my little boy. I want to be here with him.

Always.

It’s what a good mother would do.

It’s what I should do.

I should stay. I should stay and let the world pass me by. There’s no one to miss me anymore. There’s no one left to remember me when I’m gone. It was me and Zack. Then it was just me. Why should I get up and leave? I could stay with him for just a little while longer.

I could stay with my little boy.

Sasha, Caleb says, more gently this time. We have to go. We’re going to miss the ship.

I don’t care about the ship, I tell him.

Well, I do, he says. And I don’t want to be on this planet when it blows up. Let’s go.

That’s what it’s come down to.

The planet we live on is in the midst of a war. It’s always been impossible for Cravenloua and Dreagle to get along, but now there’s no reason to stay. Word on the street is that we’re losing the war. I know that if we don’t leave now, we’re going to die.

I don’t want to die.

I know my cousin doesn’t, either.

I know you miss him, Caleb says finally.

More than anything, I choke out.

He wouldn’t want you to die, Sasha.

No, I agree, shaking my head. He wouldn’t.

We have to go.

I stare at my baby boy’s grave for one more minute, wishing above all else that he was coming with me. The time since he left me has been slow and impossible. Each minute, I have to remind myself how to breathe, how to think, how to be.

And now I’m running away again.

This time, it’s permanent.

This time, it’s for good.

This time, I’m going to get a fresh start.

For real.

I don’t care about fresh. I don’t care about starting again. Caleb keeps telling me that I need this, that it will be good for me. The only thing I can focus on right now is taking things one minute at a time. One step at a time. There are days when the pain is so strong, so palpable, that it takes everything I have just to keep breathing. I force myself to eat, to drink, and to move my body. Sometimes I think I should have killed myself when I lost Zack.

Sometimes I think it would have been easier than living without him.

Caleb takes my hand and we run. We move swiftly through the apocalyptic world around us. On the surface, Cravenloua is still looks alive. Not every village has been ravaged by the war. In some places, Martians and dragons have come for the citizens. They’ve offered safety and asylum on their planets. Not here, though. Not in my home.

Although there’s no fighting near our little town, every citizen has felt the impact of the war. We’ve all felt the hunger, noticed the lack of supplies, and seen the dwindling populations as citizens go to fight. There’s a stillness in the air now that I can’t quite explain. There’s something that hangs over us, reminding us that even in places that are not defined as war zones, the world is ending. It is going to die.

We weren’t supposed to know that Cravenloua would be destroyed. The rest of the village doesn’t know. They still think we’re getting help from the other planets in our universe. People walk down the street and they think sure, we’re at war, but they don’t realize just how bad things have gotten. They still cling to hope. They look past all of the signs because they want to believe that things will get better.

This time, I don’t think they’re going to.

The town we live in is small and isolated: hundreds of miles from the nearest big city, which is why our food and water is delivered by airship. The soldiers who are on Cravenloua have come from many different planets to help us. There are Sapphirans. There are Mirroeans. There are even a couple of Earthborn humans, if rumor serves to be correct.

Last night, Caleb and I were in the right place at the right time to overhear some of the Sapphiran soldiers talking about how they shouldn’t have bothered with the food delivery since the planet is going to be destroyed in just a few hours.

Let them have one last good meal, the taller soldier said. He was more than seven feet high: probably closer to eight feel. The other man shook his head.

It’s a waste of resources. This food could be used for other planets. You know, places that are going to be around for awhile. Or have you forgotten that the world exists beyond Dreagle and Cravenloua?

Don’t be a complete asshole, Red. the first man said. We came here to be kind. We came here to show goodness and compassion to people in need. These citizens didn’t ask to be born on a dead planet. They didn’t ask to be from a place that is going to be lost to the wars of Dreagle.

You wish you could save them, the second man said thoughtfully.

Isn’t that the entire point of us coming here? The first man furrowed his brow. We should have worried less about bringing food and more about helping the citizens escape. There are hundreds of other planets. They could have found refuge. They could have continued living. Now it’s too late for any of that.

The second man reached out and touched his companion’s shoulder. It’s going to be all right, he said. When the sun rises, it will all be over.

The first man nodded. What time do we leave?

0800, his friend said. That will give us enough time to get out of the blast radius.

I wish we could save them all.

Me too, my friend. Me too.

My feet hit the ground as I run, keeping up with Caleb’s grueling pace. He was kind enough to bring me to say goodbye to Zack for the last time. Now I try not to replay last night’s conversation over and over again. The soldiers knew the planet would be destroyed. They still brought us food and supplies one last time. The attitude of our city is somber now, though. On some level, I think people realize that the war is going to end soon.

Maybe they just don’t realize it’s not going to end in the way we want it to.

How much longer? I manage to get out. My chest feels tight and it’s hard to breathe. I’m out of shape. It’s been months since I ran: maybe longer. Do we have enough time?

We’ll make it, Caleb says. Just run.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

My feet hit the dirt over and over again as we make our way to the place where the supply ship is docked. Security is very thin in the city. All of the best soldiers were sent to fight long ago. Once we get to the ship, though, everything will be fine. We’ll be able to sneak on – or fight on- and hide away.

Neither one of us knows what we’re going to face once we’re off Cravenloua.

In all honesty, it just doesn’t matter.

We need a place where can find peace, where we can live.

We need a place that holds more for us than just death.

Soon Caleb and I reach the docking station and we stop, peering at the ship from behind a cluster of trees.

Four soldiers, I tell him. They aren’t from around here. Sapphirans.

They’re easy to spot because they’re huge.

Their skin also has a blue tint to it, which makes them stand out from just about any other type of person.

Doesn’t look like they’re taking anything too seriously today.

We watch for a few minutes, but they all seem to be chatting, rather than loading the ship back up. Then again, the people of my world are so hungry that I doubt there are any supplies to load back up. Anytime a supplier comes, the remaining citizens gather around and practically fall over one another for even the smallest scrap of food.

It’s sad.

That’s what we’ve come to, though.

Looks like they’re just waiting to leave, I tell him. We wait for a minute, then five, and then ten. Eventually, one of the soldiers receives a message on his communications device and they move around to the other side of the ship. The hatch is open on this side, and when Caleb motions for me to follow him, I do. We book it to the ship and quickly dart up the platform so we can get inside. It’s a narrow ramp, but we make it in record time.

That’s it.

We’re inside.

So this is what a space ship looks like.

Caleb seems to adapt to the lighting easier than I