But a conspiracy hundreds of years in the making comes to fruition at the beginning of humankind's greatest achievement, and its greatest failure.
For the fifteen thousand occupants of the decommissioned space station, Sekai No Mirai, and its commander, Shani Akinye, the point where everything ends for humanity is the point where the fight for survival begins.
Lost, stranded, millions of light years from home, the crew and the people of Mirai station must fight to return home against ever-increasing odds against them and, in the process, save the enemy that brought disaster to the Earth.
An SF epic in the vein of Battlestar Galactica, Space:1999 and The Expanse, from Wattys 2021 winner, Jan Karlsson.
Table of Contents
1
Some of those stars weren’t stars. They were the objects that had made Commander Shani Akinyi’s posting utterly obsolete and she felt... Read Chapter
2
The Command Centre was abuzz, but with little agency. Everything depended on Doctor Ikeda and his dangerous plan. Shani sent Chief Engine... Read Chapter
3
Shani felt impotent, relying on a man that had suffered severe problems in his past. Who had only remained in a job due to the interventi... Read Chapter
4
Shani glared through the one-way glass at Chiara Ricci. She had already set assignments for repairs, for housing the hundreds of new pers... Read Chapter
5
Jie felt uncomfortable, so close to the Commander, who stood head and shoulders taller than her in the confines of the cupboard. Akinyi k... Read Chapter
6
A strange atmosphere filled the air within the officers’ canteen. Both subdued, and filled with chatter at the same time. Rationing had... Read Chapter
7
“Repairs and maintenance are ongoing. Structural integrity of the station is largely unaffected by the loss of the Africa Habitat, but ... Read Chapter
8
Jie looked around at a place as close to home as she would ever see again in her life. She recognised the plant life, the animals that st... Read Chapter
9
Shani strode through the corridors toward the brig and everyone scrambled to move out of her way. They could see in her eyes that she wou... Read Chapter
10
The artificial sunlight filtered through the trees of middle European lineage and a cool breeze wafted through the area, keeping Wilson c... Read Chapter
11
Shani could only stare in utter bemusement at Ikeda. She showed nothing upon her features, but, inside, she could hardly believe her ears... Read Chapter
12
Chiara opened her mouth and then closed it. She couldn’t answer Ikeda. Not because she would give away the plans of her people, but bec... Read Chapter
13
Tensions were mounting, not only in the Command Centre, but all across the station. Another two weeks had passed and, to everyone, they w... Read Chapter
14
Jie had exhausted every resource she had with no further signs of the people who had murdered Zachary Thompson. She felt as though she ha... Read Chapter
15
It wasn’t protocol, to have civilians in the Command Centre during an operation, let alone two, but Shani wanted to see the alien’s r... Read Chapter
16
Kessel emerged from the wormhole and found, somehow, travelling through had managed to stabilise the bird, but it didn’t stop his momen... Read Chapter
17
Mpho Nkosi had lost the security staff that had tried to keep him within the medical centre. Now, running through unfamiliar corridors, h... Read Chapter
18
Repairing the thrusters was, Kessel considered, possibly a mistake. The repairs had taken more effort than he had expected and his air su... Read Chapter
19
Jie held her eyes closed tight as the station shuddered and rattled around her. Her hand felt pain from the grip of the woman beside her ... Read Chapter
20
Strictly speaking, as the new Chief of the Air Arm, Kessel should not be here, but he couldn’t leave this to anyone else. It was an opp... Read Chapter
21
Valdez marvelled at the CiC of the alien space ship. Not because of how different it was, but for the similarities to their own technolog... Read Chapter
22
Doctor Ikeda could only feel a little joy in the fact that these aliens had, somehow, managed to commandeer a cargo shuttle without killi... Read Chapter
23
Shani had anticipated much, but not that they would keep Ikeda alive. The man stood there, riveted to the floor, unable to move due to th... Read Chapter
24
Shani watched the view-screen, along with everyone else in the Command Centre. They couldn’t see much of anything, the alien ship maske... Read Chapter
25
In the weeks since encountering the alien ship, Wilson still had much work to do in translating the alien archive. Most of what he found ... Read Chapter
26
In many ways, whether Commander Akinyi had power on the station, or Captain Stone, made no difference to Ikeda’s work. In others, it be... Read Chapter
27
Mpho Nkosi didn’t like going against orders, but he had chosen a side and that side was the honourable one. At least he hoped it was. T... Read Chapter
28
How the tiny camera drone made its way to her quarters, Shani would never know, but her team were among the most clever people she had ev... Read Chapter
29
The Command Centre descended into stunned silence as Shani reached to her cheek, touching wet, sticky liquid that felt warm to the touch.... Read Chapter
30
It was a bold move. Possibly a misguided one. Jie watched the interview again, broadcast throughout the station, and considered the impli... Read Chapter
31
Shani watched the footage of the nominations for the Civilian Council and, at every gathering, the talk turned to colonising the planet. ... Read Chapter
32
The view-screen showed the dwindling sight of the planet as Mirai’s thrusters carried the station to a safe distance. Upon that rock, o... Read Chapter
33
Shani waited for Valdez’ report. For two weeks they had pushed the Myriad drives hard, travelling further in those two weeks than the r... Read Chapter
34
Weapons, then engines. Nothing else. No kill shots. Weapons, then engines and only weapons and engines. And only the engines if their opp... Read Chapter
35
Mirai exited the wormhole with only the barest of trembles, thanks to Ikeda’s tinkering. Shani had no need to issue the orders that she... Read Chapter
36
The shuddering continued for what seemed like an age. Battered by debris, Mirai’s entire structure groaned at the assault. The shieldin... Read Chapter
37
The Victory emerged and the process looked tortuous. Threads and ribbons of some kind of violent energy rippled along the surface of the ... Read Chapter
38 - Epilogues
Ikeda adjusted the parameters of the scanner, feeling more than a little joy at having the ability to observe such a phenomenon. A super-... Read Chapter
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