The Protected Heart: A New Era, #1

By Eva Holmquist

A New Era – Near-future science fiction

 

When a thief steals Ilona's heirloom necklace, "the Protected Heart", she must do everything she can to get it back. Because the necklace hides a terrifying secret. One only Ilona knows.

Pursuing the thief lands Ilona in a dangerous new place; a space station orbiting Earth. Low gravity, maze-like construction, strangers all around.

Will Ilona find the protected heart before it's too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eva Holmquist
• Release date: Apr 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9789188381538

Book preview

DESCRIPTION THE PROTECTED HEART

A New Era – Near-future science fiction

It's a hundred years into the future and humanity has reached the stars. There are colonies within the solar systems and the first ships are sent out into the galaxy.

The stories in A New Era series follows those individuals that experience the start of a new era.

When a thief steals Ilona’s heirloom necklace, the Protected Heart, she must do everything she can to get it back. Because the necklace hides a terrifying secret. One only Ilona knows.

Pursuing the thief lands Ilona in a dangerous new place; a space station orbiting Earth. Low gravity, maze-like construction, strangers all around.

Will Ilona find the protected heart before it’s too late?

THE PROTECTED HEART

Ilona took the last step from the spaceship into the space station, feeling light-headed in the lower gravity. The smells assaulted her senses. The sweat of all those people filled the air as did the smell of diesel, spices, and garbage. Overlaying it all was the strange smell of space; acrid, burnt, metallic and just plain strange. The space station should have an environmental system. Couldn’t it clean the air so it smelled nice?

The sound was overwhelming, like being in a steel container crowded with agitated people trying to make themselves heard over the noise. She scanned the area, looking for an escape, but it was impossible to find one. There were people everywhere. She felt a hard shove in her lower back and tumbled down into the crowd.

You’re not the only one needing to get off the ship, a gruff voice said.

The crowd swallowed her whole, so she couldn’t see who had spoken. All she could see was people’s backs because she was too short to reach over the crowd. She was moved forward, not of her own accord, but was carried by the crowd.

The walls were metallic and looked ancient. The station was almost a hundred years old, but she had foolishly expected it to look like the brochures. Now, she realized, the pictures were probably taken when the station was new. Well, not entirely new. They had built upon a previous one, but the additions were so numerous it was practically new. She knew they had added to it during the years, and because of the dispute regarding the governing of the space station, it probably wasn’t well kept. Still, she’d expected it to be new, and it looked far from it.

She passed through a narrow corridor made of steel with dirt on the walls. The smell of diesel grew stronger, permeating the air, and it made her head ache. It was strange walking in such low gravity, but perhaps she should be more surprised about there being any gravity at all. If it hadn’t been for the person who discovered a way to bind graviton to material, and create artificial gravity fifty years ago, she’d be floating down the corridor, pushing from handholds or something. What was the scientist’s name again? Mei, Min, or was it Mu? She couldn’t remember, but she didn’t understand how it worked, either. She was just glad it worked at all. The visit would have been even more unbearable than it already was.

At least she shouldn’t be here for a long time. Just until she could retrieve her necklace, the protected heart. The locket in sterling silver was engraved with a heart, and a single rose in the middle. Small diamonds decorated the edge of the locket. Inside was the emerald that others imagined was the heart. Only she knew the truth about it. Her family had kept it safe for generations. How could she have been so reckless to let Roger steal it? She’d been a fool; but no more. The space station was the best lead to find him she’d had since the theft. He had to be here. When she retrieved what belonged to her, she could go back home again. Earth would always be her home. She couldn’t understand why anybody would choose to live in this god-forsaken place.

The pace got slower, and finally stopped altogether. She couldn’t see what was ahead. The sound was loud. Everybody seemed to be talking to someone. Nobody was alone like her. She didn’t recognize any of the languages. It was like she was on a beach and the sea drowned her with every wave.

The crowd started moving again, slowly at first, but soon picked up speed. An enormous wall with four doors opening at irregular intervals, letting one person in at a time, blocked the narrow corridor. Maybe this was border control. There were extensive controls in place before they let you on board the space station.

The crowd before her was thinning. Her heart started thumping. Her hands were sweaty. Would they believe her?

The man before her went to the right-hand door. Then the door to the left of that one opened, and she walked forward, legs numb. The gigantic doors opened, and she was let inside. The air was chilly, the body odors less prominent. Instead, it smelled of motor oil and something else she couldn’t identify.

* * *

The door closed behind her. In front of her was a steel desk with a man behind it, dressed in a gray uniform and with a gray beard. He ushered her forward without meeting her gaze.

Don’t hold up the line, dear, he said.

She hurried forward and sat down in the chair in front of him. It was deliberately uncomfortable, so the conversation would be as brief as possible. The desk was empty, with no obvious devices on it. Did they still