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ISBN 978-1-61160-465-8

Credits

Cover Artist: Gemini Judson

Editor: Melanie Billings

Printed in the United States of America

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT

NEW WORLD BOOK 4: APPARITION

“Doss was so lonely and so good at heart he broke mine. My favorite of the series.” ~ Night Owl Reviews

Other Books by Author Available at Torrid Books:

www.torridbooks.com

New World Series

Shield Book 1

Armor Book 2

Impenetrable Book 3

Apparition Book 4

Vampire Coven Series

The Brethren of Tavish Book 1

Dedication

For Suzy

Thank you for being the inspiration behind this story

Prologue

“Bye Abri, goodbye. We love you.”

Abri didn’t answer. She couldn’t have formed the words and made them work. Her face was plastered to the shuttle window. Her nose squished to its cool hardness. Tears streamed down her cheeks from the dark green eyes she saw reflected back at her. She watched her mother and father wave to her, encouraging her to be strong. They would make a shuttle trip eventually.
Soon darling, soon, we promise you won’t be alone for long.
For now, only the young and healthy were being considered for the new planet, Ulsy. As well as the rich—Abri’s parents had sold everything they had to get their only child to safety.

Earth had begun being plagued with terrible disasters. At first, sporadic occurrences had people oohing and ahhing over awful tragedies as one country suffered then another. The suffering intensified—the tragedies were reoccurring—everywhere. Their world was slowly losing communication between countries. Before long there would be none. There was no more denying the doomsayer rants.

Flooding was rampant as was soaring heat. One side of the world burned while the other drowned. There was no rhyme or reason to Mother Nature’s numerous assaults. It was apparent global warming wasn’t at fault. There were many theories—none man made. It was as though they were entering into a new era, not unlike the ice age. Except there was no one to either claim or disclaim the concept.

Food sources were being desecrated by drought. Prices soared into the thirty dollar mark for a loaf of bread. Bottled water was gold. Anarchy was at an all-time high. It was the death penalty to be caught looting. You were shot where you stood. Many took the risk, not having any other choice. The Bible was now found in the form of self-survival books. Weapons were being gathered at an alarming rate and hoarded away. A person became a casualty if they ventured forth into the streets unarmed.

The government hastily deployed space vessels to search the galaxy. Long months passed before hope came. Thankfully, a wormhole leading to a new and flourishing planet was found. The wormhole was tricky at best to maneuver, but most opted to take the chance. What was out there? “You’ll see,” was the response. The words were eventually slung together and the planet Ulsy was discovered in the nick of time to save the suffering human race. Once the storms passed, humanity could return to Earth and pick up the pieces if they so chose.

For now, a multitude of fertile, healthy women and strong, fit men were transferred on a daily basis to the new planet. The diseased and elderly were left to fend for themselves. Children were squeezed into crafts as long as the pilots were prepared to offer induced sleep. A six-day trip in a small, closed vessel was hell on a toddler or preschooler—and surrounding occupants. Similarly with animals that needed exercise.

Abri continued to watch her parents waving; they became smaller as the craft ascended higher. A whirling sensation, a bump, and then the humming sound from the engines reached her ears. Her gaze remained filled with the sight of her mom and dad, hanging on until the last second. They were all she had, and now she felt strangely as though she had nothing. Her mother had laughingly referred to her departure as though she were merely college-bound. Abri took no comfort in her teasing when they wouldn’t be a phone call away—but an entire universe.

Abri gasped as suddenly the earth beneath her parents’ feet shifted. Her mother stumbled and would have fallen if her father hadn’t pulled her to his chest. Abri cried out, her hands splayed against the window wanting to reach out to them. People below were running haphazardly. An earthquake rocked the ground. Horrified, she saw a car sucked into an opening sink hole taking a crowd of onlookers with it. A small, strangled cry tore from Abri’s throat.

Buildings in the distance collapsed like stacks of toothpicks. Dust rolled up from the ground to billow in waves, engulfing people. Trees uprooted and fell like soldiers on a last march. Hell wasn’t fire and brimstone—Abri was seeing it for what it really was. Hell had many faces—all victims of this devil looked terror-stricken as they were destroyed or devoured.

“Shit!” came a bellow. “Get us out of here, now.”

Abri tore her gaze from the frightening scene below and looked to the front of the shuttle window. Her eyes grew round, widening in new terror. A massive wall of water was moving towards them. Abri blinked hard never having seen such a wave. A thought finally registered. Oh God, a tsunami. Abri gripped her chair arms so tightly her knuckles went white, no doubt matching the color of her blood-drained face. The shuttle pitched forward with a roar of the engines. Abri almost lost her breakfast. Her belly sunk into her guts and danced back up to fill her throat. She gasped and choked.

A woman screamed when the sound of rushing water smashed the hull with a boom, driving them sideways, then sending them spinning until the captain gained control. Abri sucked in a tortured breath and looked back to the ground for her parents. She could see nothing but the bottom of the shuttle riding the tide like a crazy surfboard.
Mom?Dad?

“God damn it, pull it up,” the captain yelled.

“I’m trying,” howled the co-pilot. “I can’t hold the fucking helm. I’m almost sitting on the throttle.”

“Drop the cargo. We need to break free.”

“We’ll starve to death, Captain.”

“If we don’t, we’ll die anyway. Do it, damn it.”

A frantic swoosh was heard and Abri was flipped sideways. She found her voice and added her screams to the other five passengers’. The shuttle flew through the air, breaking free of the water at the last moment. Like a slingshot, they pitched forward—fast. Abri’s head smashed into the back of her seat stunning her. She groaned and almost blacked out. Her entire body was shaking as the vessel rocked under her like a wooden rollercoaster run amok. Higher, higher they climbed. There was a mechanical whine and the ominous sensation of an engine powering down. The craft shuddered and jumped.

Breaking through the atmosphere was surreal. It became dark, cold. Absolute quiet followed. The shuttle was lazily spinning like a top, about to surrender to a motionless state. Abri could hear the expulsion of the Captain’s and co-pilot’s breath. She blinked, taking in her surroundings. She was met with devastation on each of the passenger’s faces. Around her, the sounds of crying began and steadily rose in tempo. Reality set in like a sledge hammer to Abri’s guts. They were gone—those on the ground waving them off, laughing and crying. Calls of, “See you soon,” would never be fulfilled.

Abri couldn’t stand the ache in her chest. There was no way her parents could have survived that. She was alone. She never should have left; she had abandoned them. So much suffering was overwhelming. Abri lifted her hands to cover her face; she didn’t want to see the world around her—she wished she couldn’t hear it; she wished she could turn off her hearing forever.

* * * *

Deep fretful breathing woke Abri from her fitful slumber. Her dry tongue snaked across dryer lips. She was so thirsty. Her tummy gurgled, then quieted, as if it knew there was no sense in complaining—food wouldn’t come to offer her belly relief. She had no tears left to cry.

The shuttle had been lumbering through the galaxy; an engine had stalled with the expulsion of the cargo and slingshot effect. The six day trip would now take nine, if not more. It had been four days since leaving earth. During that time there had been no food or water. The air was stale with the breath of so many others. The Captain had apologized to the six female passengers. Some of the shuttle’s valves weren’t working, broken during the tsunami and flooded. He couldn’t even offer them the relief of induced deep slumber. It was sheer luck they had air to breathe. They suffered in silence for the most part. They spoke little to conserve energy. Some found solace in sleep.

Abri looked over at the large woman beside her; she didn’t even know her name. She didn’t really care. The shock was too raw, too recent for idle chatter. Each woman there had lost someone on the ground that terrible day. Speaking of it would make it real. Abri’s only consolation was in hoping her parents had witnessed her escape. Her heart began to ache as she realized if they had they would have died happy. It was too much. She wanted to turn off her thoughts.

Glancing out the window, Abri could see floating debris every once in a while. Mangled metal pieces tumbled and rolled, and she wondered at it. The objects had obviously been vessels at one time. Some were charred as though fired upon. She wondered what had happened to them, to their passengers. Abri suppressed a shudder wondering what would happen if something were to breach their hull. What would it be like to be sucked out into nothingness? Would it match the ache in her heart?

“Up ahead.”

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