The World Always Begins in Light: Lost Colonies

By Ruth Nestvold and Jay Lake

New science fiction from award winning authors Ruth Nestvold and Jay Lake!

 

Sharan never wanted to be fleeing for her life on a foreign planet. But when Arnoldson leads a mutiny and takes over the ship, that is exactly where she finds herself.
She never wanted to betray Polity Force Protocols either — only, in order to survive, she doesn't have a choice. While Arnoldson attempts to become a god, Sharan assists the rebels fighting him. Will they be successful? And even if they are, will Sharan ever be able to go home again?

 

Praise for the fiction of Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold: "The best science fiction stories are a blend of both fascinating concepts and interesting characters and their interactions. 'The Canadian Who Came Almost All the Way Home From the Stars' is one of the better such offerings this reader has come across in a while."   
— From a review by Eugie Foster in Tangent Online

• Language: English
• Publisher: Style Monkey Press
• Release date: Apr 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201865801

Ruth Nestvold

A former assistant professor of English in the picturesque town of Freiburg on the edge of the Black Forest, Ruth Nestvold has given up theory for imagination. The university career has been replaced by a small software localization business, and the Black Forest by the parrots of Bad Cannstatt, where she lives with her fantasy, her family, her books and no cats in a house with a turret. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous markets, including Asimov's, F&SF, Baen's Universe, Strange Horizons, Scifiction, and Gardner Dozois's Year's Best Science Fiction. Her fiction has been nominated for the Nebula, Tiptree, and Sturgeon Awards. In 2007, the Italian translation of her novella "Looking Through Lace" won the "Premio Italia" award for best international work. Her novel Flamme und Harfe appeared in translation with the German imprint of Random House, Penhaligon, in 2009 and has since been translated into Dutch and Italian.

Book preview

New science fiction from award winning authors Ruth Nestvold and Jay Lake!

Sharan never wanted to be fleeing for her life on a foreign planet. But when Arnoldson leads a mutiny and takes over the ship, that is exactly where she finds herself.

She never wanted to betray Polity Force Protocols either — only, in order to survive, she doesn’t have a choice. While Arnoldson attempts to become a god, Sharan assists the rebels fighting him. Will they be successful? And even if they are, will Sharan ever be able to go home again?

The World Always Begins in Light

A Lost Colonies Story

Prequel to Second Contact

By

Ruth Nestvold and Jay Lake

Syle Monkey Press

Copyright © 2022 by Ruth Nestvold

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Contents

The World Always Begins in Light

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Author’s Note

About the Authors

Other Books

Excerpt from Second Contact

The World Always Begins in Light

Prequel to Second Contact

1

In her earliest days, Sharan Armsgiver came to her people as unknowing as any child

Sharan plunged through the woods with the blind panic of someone who knew that her pursuers would murder her on sight if they caught up with her. The trees on this world were both more brittle and spongier than she was used to, and she left a clear trail of bent branches and shattered twigs in her wake.

If Arnoldson decided to take up the hunt himself using the ship’s tech, she wouldn’t have a chance even without leaving a trail. He could track her with everything from sniffers to orbital reconnaissance. The bastard had all the power of the starship Hesperides and her AI at his disposal.

But right now, it was the locals here on the planet of Bonificium with their bronze-bladed spears and square shields who wanted her blood. If they found her, she’d be just as dead from their ancient weapons as she would be from an orbital burn. At least she had a better chance of escaping them, since they didn’t have starship technology.

She crested a low rise at a dead run. Just as she reached the peak, she lost her footing, and the ground slipped away from her like a steep bank on a winter lake back home. She started sliding down the hillside and through the mud.

Mud? It was the dry season on this planet. It must be some kind of trap. Sharan grabbed for traction, only to have a sandaled foot slam