Carrier

By Sarah Buhrman

To combat over-population, humanity has condensed itself. Now, there are carriers, people who host 12 other consciousnesses, riders, along with their own. When one of Kat's riders is convicted of a heinous crime and condemned to death, all 13 of them are sentenced together.

Kat must flee for her life and search out the truth with the help

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sarah Buhrman
• Release date: Jun 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781087891095

Book preview

Carrier

By Sarah Buhrman

Copyright © 2020

Sarah Buhrman

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof, excluding the exceptions listed below, 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.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2020

Chapter 1

Kat was angry in a way that made the blood boil in her gut until it bubbled up and leaked out in the form of hot tears. She ground her teeth together in rage and denial as her fingers clenched on the thin mattress covering the metal cot in her cell.

Outside the blinding white room, a pair of guards stood in the hallway. She could see them through the large windows made of 3-inch thick clear plastic. The cold expressions on their faces underscored the lack of mercy inherent in the system that held her.

Overpopulation leads to systemic under appreciation for the sanctity of each life.

Kat pressed her lips together, a combination of annoyance and amusement bubbling in the back of her head. The thought drifted like smoke across her mind, but she knew it came from one of her riders. Probably Cyril, a professor of socio-psychology.

Kat ran her fingers through her short dark hair, once a fashionable pixie cut but now shaggy, then pressed her hands against her belly. The emotions roiling through her gut were only partially her own. Her riders were also angry and outraged by the situation.

Riders.

Kat could remember the day she applied to be a carrier for the twelve human consciousnesses hanging out in the back of her mind. She'd done it because it was the best of her choices. It was either that or mandatory labor for ten years, then a ten-year sleep cycle. Repeat until death.

Unless she joined the military or the space program, as a guinea pig, of course.

Without the breeding and education of the elite, Kat's options were few in a world where population was firmly controlled, and resources used sparingly.

Those who had earned enough credits through the lottery of birth or extreme service, or even through bonus programs, could alleviate the unfortunate side effects of the sleep cycle. Apparently, stasis sleep could become boring. Unlike being comatose, stasis sleep left a person with plenty of brain activity, and, without the sensory input of waking hours, there were... problems.

Most people lost the ability to learn new things, or deal with changes, but some went completely insane. An acceptable number, of course, said the system created by the elite, who could afford the credits to become riders during their sleep cycle.

Carriers automatically became riders during their next sleep cycle, but the application was intense, and most people simply didn't have the mental elasticity needed to carry riders.

Kat had