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Keep reading for a sneak peak of Saving Askara: A Sci-fi Romance

And away we go!



Chapter One

Dr. Victoria Davis fidgeted nervously as she felt the shuttle dock with the south gate of the Amendment. It was the largest Earth-orbiting maintenance station, though the occupant ship was anything but terrestrial.

Her heart pounded, and her throat was dry as she tried to ignore the uneasy ache in her stomach. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe this is happening.

The morning had seemed to start out normal enough. She’d barely started her shift when she received an emergency page from her supervisor, Dale Johnson.

“And it begins,” she’d sighed, a little peeved she couldn’t even shove down some breakfast before the daily mayhem began. She sent a quick text to her best friend that she wouldn’t be able to make it to the cafe for their usual grunting over coffee, since she so wasn’t a morning person.

Liv was the closest thing Tori had to family since her parents had died. They’d met in med school, but Liv had dropped out to ultimately pursue counseling, deciding the stress and demands of being a doctor weren’t worth it. Sometimes she’s absolutely right, Tori thought. Her best friend’s reply was instant.

DIDN’T YOU CATCH THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST??!!!

Tori frowned. What emergency broadcast? Come to think of it, something did seem off, she realized, looking around. The halls were unusually empty, and the few staff she did glimpse seemed tense and hurried.

No, pulled a double. Slept at the Clinic… Why? What’s going on??

She’d barely sent the response when her ear-comm went off. “Ugh, come on,” she muttered before answering. “Davis here.”

“Where the hell are you?! I need you here now, as in five minutes ago!” a male voice barked.

Tori frowned, a little taken aback. “Jesus, Dale, I’m on my way,” she said, picking up the pace. “I only just got your page; what do we have?” She’d never heard him so worked up. Blunt and demanding, yes. But as Chief of Medicine aboard the Phoenix, the most advanced orbiting passenger ship, literally the size of a small city, with a fully staffed, hospital-sized Med Ward, Johnson was always cool, calm and collected, no matter what the situation.

There was nothing but silence, and for a moment she thought he’d disconnected.

“You’re kidding.” He sounded stunned, another first. “You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what? What’s going on?” she repeated, getting a little annoyed.

Tori looked down just as Liv’s reply came through, and stopped in her tracks. This must be a joke, she thought, blinking at the clip Liv had forwarded.

Dale’s voice was in her ear, but she stood frozen, trying to mentally process what she was seeing.

Holy Hell. It’s actually happening.

The mind-shattering discovery that extraterrestrial life existed was made quite some time ago and had since been accepted as common knowledge. That life had been in the form of small bacteria-like microbes on the surfaces of moons like Titan and Europa, but the point was made nonetheless; life outside of Earth was possible and did exist. The real game-changer, though, had happened relatively recently, when an advanced new probe sent into deep space had detected a signal. A signal, scientists argued, that was not naturally occurring and not man-made.

The implications had rocked the world. But no matter how hard they tried, experts hadn’t been able to crack its meaning, or origin, and most people didn’t know whether to believe it or not. Religious groups denied it as a hoax, as did some governments. As a space enthusiast, Tori was more than excited at the possibilities, but those weren’t reality, and life went on. The hype eventually died down, but there was no doubting that things had never been the same since.

Faced with potential proof that humans weren’t the only intelligent beings in the universe, most developed nations had begun to invest heavily in technology and space travel to prepare for, maybe not the inevitable, but the probable. The world of only fifty years before seemed primitive in comparison, and one liked to think the race, as a whole, had mentally matured to some degree. It was pretty damn amazing what people could accomplish when they got their heads out of their asses and started working together.

No one could deny, however, what lay beneath it all… Fear of whatever was out there, what it was capable of.

“Davis!” Dale’s authoritative tone broke through her stupor. “Did you understand any of what I just said?”

Tori’s heart pounded, and her mind reeled. He let loose a vicious curse, another rare occurrence.

“Never mind, just get your butt down here ASAP. I’ll brief you then. We have a shuttle leaving in twenty and you need to be on it.”

So here she was, about to come face to face with extraterrestrials.

Once she got over the initial shock, or at least acted with-it enough to seem so, she’d been quickly briefed and loaded onto the transport shuttle. As head of emergency medicine on a space-faring vessel, Tori was used to functioning under extreme stress, keeping a cool head no matter what she was up against…but boy, was this pushing it.

In a few short minutes, they’d be ushered through the shuttle doors, onto the Amendment and directly to the station’s Med Ward. An image of the holo-pics she’d seen surfaced again, and Tori had to reach deep to steel her resolve.

Demons. That’s what they were calling them, and she could understand why. They had dark, graphite-colored skin, sharp teeth, pointed ears, and large, almost cat-like eyes. Plus, they were big—standing, on average, well over six feet.

First impressions? They were terrifying. Which is why as she looked around the shuttle’s cabin, she was grateful for the military guards who would be escorting them.

There were four other doctors besides herself, the Phoenix being the only vessel in the vicinity with sufficient, highly trained medical personnel to spare for such an operation. Tori recognized Hodges, Menez and Matthews. Great.

Matthews was a neurologist/neurosurgeon and the biggest prick Tori had ever met. The man took the term “God complex” to a whole new level. She always hated having to deal with him for consults—he treated everyone, even colleagues, like they were total morons. Not a great first impression for mankind, in her opinion.

She glanced over to catch the gray-eyed stare of Delia Brooks, one of the ship’s anesthesiologists, and the only other woman on the shuttle. The petite blonde looked about as calm as Tori felt, so she gave her a tight, reassuring smile before facing forward again. She swallowed hard, mouth feeling like cotton, and clenched her hands in her lap to stop their trembling. Just breathe.

“You’re not gonna pass out on me, are ya, Doc?” a deep voice rumbled near her ear. “You look awful pale.”

Her eyes flew open to catch the concerned gaze of the guard sitting next to her. He’d introduced himself earlier, but Tori barely remembered, everything was a blur. He seemed nice enough, and in any other circumstance she might have found his warm brown eyes and muscular six foot…two? frame attractive, but not today.

“It’s Tori, and I’m fine. Just missed breakfast…though I suppose that’s a good thing,” she muttered, thinking there was no way she would have kept it down right now.

“All right everybody, listen up.” Their team lead stood, commanding everyone’s attention. He was dressed in the same black uniform as the man next to her, with weapons clearly visible, strapped to both thighs, and a protective vest.

“Just to reiterate, when the shuttle doors open you’ll be led to Decon, then on to the Med Ward. You’re to report to Ambassador Wells; he’ll fill you in and direct you to where you’re needed. Remember, the Amendment is a repair station, not a first-class luxury cruiser, so you won’t have access to the kind of advanced equipment you’re used to.” He paused, frowning slightly. “Also remember, they’re going to be able to understand you just fine. We suspect some sort of advanced neural interface, but they’re able to speak all languages fluently.” He paused again, eyeing them each pointedly. “You’re representing the human race, boys and girls. Let’s act accordingly.”

The guy sitting next to her leaned closer. “I’ve been around them since they arrived. Take some getting used to,” he said in a low voice. “But don’t worry.” He winked. “You’ll have plenty of us looking out for you.”

Tori blinked.

Awesome, I get to deal with flirty Captain America, she thought, right before they all began to exit the shuttle. At least it kept her mind somewhat distracted from what she was about to face...

Want more? Buy/preview the first three chapters of this book on Amazon Kindle (also available in Print and Audio) 😉 

Saving Askara by J.M. Link 
Copyright 2018, J.M. Link
All rights reserved.