Accelerating Universe
The Sector Fleet Book One
Nicola Claire
Copyright © 2018, Nicola Claire
All Rights Reserved
© 2017 Cover Art by Cora Graphics
© Depositphotos.com/Ravven
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organisations is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
ISBN: 978-0-473-42710-8
Created with Vellum
Contents
About the Author
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Also By Nicola Claire
Description
Sector Fleet Advertisement
Prologue
1. Did You Hear Me?
2. Failure Was Not An Option
3. Follow The Blue Arrows
4. Next Stop Eris
5. They Don’t Feel Anything
6. I Have Been Told This Before
7. Trust Me, I’m Kinda A Doctor
8. Thank You, Mara
9. Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down
10. I’m The Captain!
11. Let Me Think
12. What Now Captain?
13. I Feel…Responsible For The Ships
14. I Did Neither
15. This Is Ridiculous
16. No, That Is Not Right
17. Ana, Don’t Fool Yourself
18. Professional
19. Not A Bad View
20. And Then She Started Talking
21. About That
22. I Promise
23. What The Hell?
24. What Now?
25. Then You Are Part Of Mine
26. Not Just Some
27. I Do Trust You, Ana
28. Not Just A Pretty Face, Lieutenant
29. Don’t Look So Alarmed
30. I DIdn’t Get Much Sleep
31. The Walls Stayed Red
32. Fuck This
33. Later, Then
34. Yes, Sir
35. I Do Not Know
36. Believe What You Want
37. Nice Try, Ana
38. Acceptable
39. I Just Smiled
40. Ah, Shit
41. We Had A Plan
42. And Then It Hit Me
43. Definitely The Pain Meds
44. With Every Bit Of My Head And Heart
45. Security Alert
46. It’s Ana!
47. I Tasted Desert Sand
48. Purge Complete
49. Yes
50. OK, Then
51. Tempting Me
52. Are You Ready For This?
Epilogue
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About the Author
Nicola Claire lives in beautiful Taupo, New Zealand with her husband and two young boys.
She has a passion for all things suspenseful, spiced up with a good dollop of romance, as long as they include strong characters - alpha males and capable females - and worlds which although make-believe are really quite believable in the end.
There's nothing better than getting caught up in a compelling, intriguing and romantic book.
When she's not writing or reading, she's out on her family boat at Lake Taupo, teaching her young boys to fish, showing them the beauty that surrounds them in nature and catching some delicious trout for dinner.
Creating rich worlds with dynamic characters and unexpected twists that shock and awe has been pure bliss for this author. And just as well, because there's a lot more story yet to tell...
For more information:
www.nicolaclairebooks.com
nicola@nicolaclairebooks.com
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Also By Nicola Claire
Kindred Series
Kindred
Blood Life Seeker
Forbidden Drink
Giver of Light
Dancing Dragon
Shadow's Light
Entwined With The Dark
Kiss Of The Dragon
Dreaming Of A Blood Red Christmas (Novella)
* * *
Mixed Blessing Mystery Series
Mixed Blessing
Dark Shadow (Coming Soon)
* * *
Sweet Seduction Series
Sweet Seduction Sacrifice
Sweet Seduction Serenade
Sweet Seduction Shadow
Sweet Seduction Surrender
Sweet Seduction Shield
Sweet Seduction Sabotage
Sweet Seduction Stripped
Sweet Seduction Secrets
Sweet Seduction Sayonara
* * *
Elemental Awakening Series
The Tempting Touch Of Fire
The Soothing Scent Of Earth
The Chilling Change Of Air
The Tantalising Taste Of Water
The Eternal Edge Of Aether (Novella)
* * *
H.E.A.T. Series
A Flare Of Heat
A Touch Of Heat
A Twist Of Heat (Novella)
A Lick Of Heat (Coming Soon)
* * *
Citizen Saga
Elite
Cardinal
Citizen
Masked (Novella)
Wiped
* * *
Scarlet Suffragette Series
Fearless
Breathless
Heartless (Coming Soon)
* * *
Blood Enchanted Series
Blood Enchanted
Blood Entwined
Blood Enthralled (Coming Soon)
* * *
44 South Series
Southern Sunset
Southern Storm
Southern Strike (Coming Soon)
* * *
Lost Time Series
Losing Time
Making Time (Coming Soon)
***
The Sector Fleet
Accelerating Universe
Apparent Brightness
Right Ascension (Coming Soon)
Description
"This is how we’d traverse the stars; limping and crippled, the last survivors of a dying solar system."
Fleeing from a past that almost killed her and a present that promises she’ll only burn, pay-for-passage passenger Ana Kereama boards the Sector Two lead vessel Pavo with only survival in mind.
What she finds is a reason to live, and it has nothing to do with New Earth.
Teaming up with the sexy and commanding Captain John Jameson to protect those on board their ship, Ana fights not only for her vessel’s survival but the intelligent being emerging within its gel-coated walls.
Love and
trust are born amongst the stars and plasma fire, but is it possible for a captain to be involved with a second lieutenant?
And can any of them hope to survive the treacherous voyage unscathed?
When humanity reaches for the stars in a race for survival, only the most daring amongst them will succeed.
Accelerating Universe:
A model for the universe in which a repulsive force counteracts the attractive force of gravity, driving all the matter in the universe apart at speeds that increase with time. Recent observations of distant supernova explosions suggest that we may live in an accelerating universe.
Space Telescope Science Institute
Prologue
“T-minus three minutes to launch.”
<systems check>
all programmes nominal
<security check>
all locks engaged
<life support check>
air filtration functional
<engine check>
core temperature within allowed parameters
<souls on board>
one thousand one hundred ninety-six
<communications check>
fleet-wide communications activated
<ignition check>
ignition is go for launch
“T-minus two minutes to launch.”
<environmental check>
outside temperature at upper acceptable limit
<warning issued>
<alarm activated>
power diverted to ceramic field enhancers
<environmental check>
temperature exceeds acceptable limits
<warning issued>
<alarm activated>
power diverted to coolant system
“T-minus one minute to launch.”
<environmental check>
temperature exceeds acceptable limits
<warning issued>
<alarm activated>
power diverted to main boost thrust
<environmental check>
temperature exceeds acc…acc…acceptable limits
“T-minus 30 seconds to launch.”
<environmental check>
<warning>
<warning>
<warning>
pavo protocol alpha-1 instated
power diverted to auxiliary boost thrust
“Launch window closed.”
<environmental check>
<warning>
power diverted to main boost thrust
<warning>
<alarm suspended>
temperature exceeds acceptable limits
<warning>
<alarm suspended>
power diverted to pavo
<warning>
<alarm suspended>
ignition activated
ignition achieved
main engine start
<environmental check>
imminent solar flare
<warning>
<alarm suspended>
power diverted to pavo
<warning>
<alarm suspended>
launch achieved
“Lift-off outside of launch window.”
<environmental check>
temperature exceeds acceptable limits
power diverted to ceramic field enhancers
<warning>
<warning>
<warning>
pavo protocol alpha-beta-2 instated
power diverted to ceramic field enhancers
“Escape velocity achieved.”
<environmental check>
temperature within acceptable limits
<communications check>
fleet-wide communications operational
<souls on board>
one thousand one hundred ninety-six
<engine check>
core temperature within allowed parameters
<life support check>
air filtration functional
<security check>
all locks engaged
<systems check>
<warning>
pavo protocol alpha-beta-2 operational
<warning>
<override>
<warning>
<alarm deactivated>
One
Did You Hear Me?
Jameson
As far as lift-offs went, that one sucked. Alarms rang out across the bridge. Red lights flashed intermittently. The overhead gel wall had dimmed, either a launch protocol I was not familiar with or an emergency measure designed to conserve power. The flight crew stared at the view pane and watched our world burn.
“That was close,” Torrence, my 2IC whispered, as if saying it aloud would somehow doom us to greater failure.
“Was that meant to happen?” Marshal asked from her position beside the communications array.
I sucked in air as if the air filtration system was offline and for all I knew it had been.
“Pavo,” I called, not answering the lieutenant. “Status.”
“All systems operational, Captain,” the robotic voice of the AI announced. “All souls accounted for.”
“What happened?” I demanded.
“A solar flare.”
“It wasn’t scheduled?” I knew the answer, of course. Our launch window would not have been arranged during a predicted solar flare. And as ours was the second to last launch window available, I had reference material that proved other fleets had made it out of Earth’s atmosphere without the light show.
“Negative, Captain,” Pavo replied. “The solar flare was not expected.”
“Damage report,” I snapped.
“Minor injuries in Habitat Two. Medbay has been advised. Our ceramic field enhancer requires superficial repair. Engineering has been advised. The Corinthian sustained main boost thrust damage. I engaged their secondary boost thrust before any further malfunctions occurred. The captain of the Corinthian is hailing you. All other vessels of the Sector Two Fleet avoided notable damage.”
“That’s all?” I asked, shaking my head.
“The mayor wishes to speak with you.”
Of course, he did.
I ran a hand through my hair and tapped the comm button to answer the Corinthian’s hail.
“This is Captain John Jameson of the Sector Two lead vessel Pavo, how may we be of assistance?”
“What the hell was that?” Corinthian’s captain exclaimed over the speakers. “It came out of nowhere.”
“It was an unscheduled flare,” I agreed. “Do you require assistance, Captain?”
“No, we don’t require assistance, you robotic piece of shit.”
“Actually, it’s the captain speaking not the AI.”
Marshal snorted. Torrence tapped his booted foot.
“One and the same,” came a barely discernible mutter.
“Speech amplifier enabled,” Pavo oh so helpfully supplied.
“Exactly!” the Corinthian’s captain shouted. “Now tell that overgrown tin can to get out of our boost thrust systems.”
“So, you do require assistance?” I queried politely.
“We can fly our own damn vessel!”
“Pavo?”
“Boost thrust damage has been superficially repaired. The Corinthian is operating at 83% efficiency. Advise an upper limit of 60% thrust until full repairs are completed. Estimated time for full repair: three hours.”
And this is how we’d traverse the stars; limping and crippled, the last survivors of a dying solar system.
“Remove yourself from their boost thrust, Pavo,” I ordered.
“Acknowledged.”
“Are you under your own power, Captain?” I asked.
A grumble emerged from the speakers that even Pavo’s fine-tuning couldn’t quite decipher, but a barely audible “Yes,” sounded out at the end of the lengthy diatribe.
“Very good. We’ll advise the fleet to reduce speed to 60%.”
“Fine,” the captain snapped. “But keep that automaton away from
my ship. Corinthian out.”
“Send out a fleet-wide hail, Marshal,” I directed.
“Yes, sir.”
“I guess we won’t be seeing Neptune anytime soon,” Torrence said.
I looked back at the view pane. The dark side of Earth, its satellite moon spinning lazily around it, stared back out of a velvety black backdrop. From here, the damage couldn’t be pinpointed. But we all knew it was there.
Just as we all knew that it would never look as beautiful as it did right now. For several seconds, the flight crew stared at our home planet along with me.