Extinction Academy: Spark: The Extinction Academy Series, #0

By Andrew D. Connell

500 years in the future, humanity faces extermination.

 

Our last line of defence against the insidious alien species is a young generation of cadets, raised and trained to fight alongside genetically resurrected dinosaurs. Among them is Cadet Zayla-8311, a loner and introvert who is unexpectedly paired with the most ferocious dinosaur in the academy.

 

This unlikely partnership catapults Zayla to the forefront of a galactic war, where she must overcome her insecurities and bond with a lethal 10-ton killing machine to fight for humanity's survival.

 

If you're a fan of sci-fi classics like Starship Troopers, Jurassic Park, and Ender's Game, you won't be able to resist the gripping action and thrilling adventure of the Extinction Academy series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erebus Books
• Release date: Mar 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9780995354395

Book preview

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ALSO BY ANDREW D. CONNELL

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

CHAPTER 1: MONSTERS [BONUS CHAPTER]

A NOTE FROM ANDREW D. CONNELL

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALSO BY ANDREW D. CONNELL

The Extinction Academy Series

Extinction Academy: SPARK (Book 0 - Series Prequel)

Extinction Academy: FLAME (Book 1)

Extinction Academy: EMBER (Book 2)

Extinction Academy: ASH (Book 3)

The Sean Livingstone Adventure Series

Monsters, Myths, and Microchips: A Sean Livingstone Adventure (Book 0)

Crown of the Pharaohs: A Sean Livingstone Adventure (Book 1)

Ark of the Gods: A Sean Livingstone Adventure (Book 2)

The Spearhead of Creation: A Sean Livingstone Adventure (Book 3)

The Complete Sean Livingstone Adventures

Kindle Collection (Includes all four books in the series)

Also available in paperback:

Crown of the Pharaohs (Special Edition)

Includes the prequel novella:

Monsters, Myths, and Microchips: A Sean Livingstone Adventure (Book Zero)

Extinction Academy: Spark (Book 0, Series Prequel)

Copyright © Andrew D. Connell 2023

Version 1.0 (Version 1.0, May 2023)

Published by Erebus Books

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Find out more about the author and upcoming books online at andrewdconnell.com

I grip the hilt of my knife to settle my trembling hand and peer about the dimly lit space. The surrounding crowd of cadets stare straight past me, all struck with the same wide-eyed terror. This place isn’t nicknamed Extinction Academy because we train alongside genetically resurrected dinosaurs to fight an alien threat – it’s because many of these cadets won’t make it past their first bonding.

Some of us are moments away from a gruesome death, so if I survive the next few minutes, I’ll be doing well.

I’ve spent my entire life within the metal walls of the Union academy. All I know is a regimented routine of physical training and intense theory, but after 18 years, I’m finally here, standing in this grimy departure bay alongside several hundred cadets the exact same age as me. Nobody speaks as we stare at the well-worn metal door, anxiously waiting for it to open.

I try swallowing the nervous lump in my throat. It doesn’t budge.

We’re about to confront creatures that ruled the world 100 million years ago, but unlike regular academy training, there will be no metal bars or electrified fences separating us from the carnivores. We all must find and bond with our own unique dinosaur. Any cadet skilled (or lucky) enough to do so will move onto the next phase of training with their prehistoric companion. Some will be eaten, others maimed, and if you’re injured bad enough, you don’t return to the academy. Nobody knows what happens to them.

Live, die, or disappear, our fate is about to be decided.

I glance at the metallic bracer locked around my left wrist. My name, gender, and birth code, ZAYLA, FEMALE [BETA–8311], appears on the screen. Every cadet wears the same gleaming band displaying their unique identification. Once we’re released into the jungle enclosure, our bracers will illuminate with one of three colours, specifying the zone in which to find our designated species, then unlock and drop off.

The Bonding isn’t a random free-for-all. Our trainers have been watching us, secretly grading our interactions with different species, providing no clues as to what class of dinosaur they selected for each of us.

There’s one thing I know for sure – it won’t be a placid herbivore. Those poor creatures are used to feed the voracious carnivores.

Until we complete a bonding, that’s what we are too. Food.

The immense door rumbles to life and several anxious cadets look around for an escape. Those are not disciplined. Or focused. They’ll die first.

I concentrate on my breathing. Deep and steady breaths. Annoyingly, I can’t control my trembling as the whine of well-used gears reverberates through the departure bay and the door finally descends.

A pair of panicked cadets back up and clumsily push to the back of the crowd. They’re wasting their time. There’s nowhere to go.

A blinding shaft of light spills over us and everyone shields their eyes. With light comes a blast of air, thick and humid, and the door disappears into the floor, exposing us to a primeval landscape.

We are now overlooking a grassy clearing that leads down to a verdant valley. The silhouette of a dormant volcano looms in the distance, rising from the mists hovering over the jungle. The entire landscape is set within the walls of a megalithic artificial enclosure. The lush wall of trees conceals a jungle teaming with life.

Two cadets rush forward. The moment they step out of the departure bay, their wrist bracers illuminate with a colour: one red, one blue. Moments later their bracers unlock and fall to the ground, leaving them to progress without it. More cadets follow, anxiously eyeing their bracer. Some bracers glow with a yellow light.

Blue means you head to the centre of the enclosure, atop the volcano’s caldera, where the largest and lethal carnivores roam. Yellow designates the middle zone, red the outer. Each zone is home to a different species and military class of dinosaur.

Unless you’re aiming for the command ranks, you don’t want blue.

The cadets on either side of me scramble forward, carelessly bumping me as they pass. Our barracks were separated for the Bonding, so I don’t recognise anyone around me. The Union doesn’t want friends working together.

Don’t look for your friends during the Bonding; they are a distraction – one that will get you killed. That’s what our instructor drilled into us. Doesn’t matter to me, I don’t have friends anyway and prefer being alone.

It’s my turn to leave. I don’t want to be left with the nervous stragglers milling behind me, whose fear can be smelled from miles away. I race into the clearing and anxiously watch my bracer. Come on. What’s going on? What’s