Welcome to this week’s M9B Friday Reveal!
This week, we are revealing the first chapter of
Temper (Lifer #2) by Beck Nicholas
an upcoming Month9Books title!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
FREEDOM COMES WITH A PRICE.Free from the spaceship and reunited with Samuai, Asher should be happy. But thoughts of her dead family weigh heavily on her mind.Things worsen when temper problems in camp lead to a murder. When Asher volunteers to get the drug need to calm people down, tension ignites.Loyalties are questioned.Jealousy rears its head. Sparks fly.And when rumor of a second ship hits close to home, all bets are off.Have the aliens returned? Is this the end of everything Asher has ever known?
Temper (Lifer #2)
by Beck Nicholas
Publication Date: Feb. 23, 2015
Publisher: Month9Books
Chapter
One
[Asher]
They
come for me at nighttime.
They
gather around in the darkness, cold and empty
and
begging me to feel something. I welcome them, the ghosts of
those
who’ve died for my freedom. A freedom I thought would
solve
everything, or at the very least be better than the Lifer
sentence
I’d been destined to live out before the revolution and
the
truth of our incarceration.
In
my head, Mother is loudest, demanding answers for the
loss
of her son. If I can find out exactly what happened to my
brother,
Zed, maybe I’ll find peace.
As
I sit alone, guarding the rocky outcrop above the field
where
the rabbits we brought over the mountains are penned,
a
part of me longs for the Pelican and the safety of the world I
knew
on board the ship. My world might have sucked, but there
was
comfort in the known. Comfort in the certainty of my place
in
the order of things.
The
splat of the first drops of water on my makeshift shelter
has
my fingers tightening on the Q I hold. I’m on my feet before
the
shine of drops on the foliage around me registers in my sleepdeprived
brain.
It’s nothing but rain. Simple, brilliant rain. A
marvel
after a lifetime inside. It’s not the Company attack we’ve
been
expecting since we set up camp here on the other side of the
Upheaval
Mountains. But understanding doesn’t let me relax. I’d
rather
fight—it’s the waiting that has us all on edge.
Single
drops become a patter, and the plump rabbits below
move
to huddle in the shelter of the overhang on which I perch.
I
step out and lift my face to the cloud-filled sky, letting the water
run
over my cheeks and down my neck to dampen the ship-issued
singlet
I still wear. If Samuai recognizes it as his that his mother
gave
me when I thought he was dead, he hasn’t said anything.
Once
we would have talked about it because we talked and kissed
every
chance we could. Not now. Since he returned, everything
that
happened while he was gone has built a mountain between
us
too big for young love to overcome.
I
open my mouth, and water drops fall on my tongue, fresh
and
clean, and missing the faint plastic taint everything had on
the
ship. A taste I learned now not integral in the liquid itself,
but
rather a product of the recycling method used. Or worse, a
result
of whatever it is they did to us to make us immune to the
weapon
that still has some of our allies in a Q-induced coma,
fighting
for life.
While
most of us sleep in simple tents, one of the few intact
buildings
at the settlement site is used as a hospital. The setup is
basic,
but the equipment is a collection of the best of what we
could
remove from the medical bay of the ship, and the green
robes’
own supplies from their former hideout.
Once,
it would have moved me to see families sitting in vigil
next
to their loved ones. But I have nothing left for them now.
The
Company took everything from me when they killed my
brother
and mother. All that is left in me is the hope of revenge.
I
sense, rather than see, the small shape moving through the
bushes
below. A flash of white eyes and a blur of brown. Time
for
guard duty. I steady the Q and aim for a rock in front of the
creature.
The weapon that once only worked on living things is
now
more useful. A press of the button and what was a boulder
now
becomes chunks of gravel. Undeterred, the creature slinks
low
onto its belly, ribs clear even from this distance. It’s ignoring
the
threat of me above, its starving hunter’s instincts focused on
a
plump rabbit.
I
aim closer, fire again. A rock explodes right in front of the
dog’s
nose. A yelp pierces the air. “Get away,” I shout. I don’t
want
another death on my conscience.
I
breathe again when it disappears into the undergrowth. It
will
be back, I’m sure, but hopefully not while I’m here.
There’s
movement on the path a few feet below. I straighten
and
try to see through the gloom. Something strides over the
crumbling
rock with ease, sending no cascade of rocks and gravel
behind.
Too big to be another wild dog. Too early to be the
changeover
for
the next watch. My blood sings. Confrontation
at last.
I
lift my weapon, prepare to attack. “Don’t move.”
The
shape ignores my barked command and continues
toward
me. My muscles tighten, ready to spring.
“I
thought I’d find you here,” Davyd says, stepping into a
small
clearing at the top of the cliff. There’s something intimate
about
the way he speaks, as though we have some kind of
connection.
Like he knows me.
I
exhale, but don’t relax my stance. It shouldn’t be light
enough
to see him clearly, but I do. I see the details of lean hips
in
training pants and the singlet fitted to every hard muscle and
meet
eyes I know are ice gray.
“That’s
hardly a brilliant deduction,” I snap. “It’s my watch.
The
schedule is posted on the board where anyone can see.”
“But
last night wasn’t supposed to be your watch.” His pause
is
deliberate. “Or the night before.”
Only
he would notice I’ve been volunteering for extra night
shifts
protecting the animals we brought from the ship from stray
dogs
running around our new settlement. Anything to avoid the
community
that feels as much like a cage as the spaceship ever
did.
Only the bars are of my guilt and regret and the questions I
can’t
bring myself to ask.
“It’s
no secret,” I say, trying for casual but unable to hide the
strain
in my voice. I hate the way he makes everything I mean to
say
come out all wrong.
His
mouth kicks up at the corner but he remains silent. The
rain
has made his blond hair dark, and if I squint, I can almost
see
Samuai, his brother and the boy I thought I’d love forever.
The
boy I last saw laughing at dinner a few hours ago with his
green
robe friends. The boy I have been avoiding for the weeks
we’ve
been here.
I
fold my arms. Davyd’s no longer my master. In this new age
of
freedom, those who were once superior Fishie and lowly Lifer
are
now equals in the war against the Company who tricked us
all.
“What
do you want?” I spit the question.
“You.”
My
traitorous body heats at the intensity in the single word.
“No
chance in hell.”
“But
there is a chance? Hell, huh?” He lifts his hands in the
air,
his eyes making a sweep of the jagged, barren rock exposed
by
the earthquakes that were part of the Upheaval all those years
ago.
It’s as though in unspeakable agony the very earth has tried
to
push out its insides. “Does this qualify?”
I
breathe in. The scent of rain on the rich soil where we keep
the
rabbits fills my lungs. It should be heaven to be able to farm
like
I always wanted, but the darkness inside me makes enjoying
it
impossible. I shake myself free of might-have-beens. It is what
it
is. All I can do is move forward, move on. “Go away. I don’t
want
to play your games.”
“That’s
not what you said back at the ship.” He steps closer,
uncaring
that my body tenses. “It might have been weeks ago but
I
only need close my eyes and the memory is right there. You and
me
… I’m sure you haven’t forgotten the night of the ball?”
“The
night of the rebellion when we Lifers gained our rightful
place
as free people. People who are no longer forced to serve you
Fishies
to pay for our ancestor’s sins.”
“You
know that’s not what I mean.”
I
do. Damn him, I do. Before the fighting and the fire and the
shock
of Samuai’s return from the dead, there was the ball and
the
dress and his arms around my waist and his tongue teasing
between
my parted lips.
“Admit
it,” he says softly. “You’ve been thinking about it.”
My
vision blurs. All I can see is the smug smile on his face.
Like
always, goading me, trying to make me break. “It meant
nothing.”
I don’t recognize the voice that scrapes from my tight,
raw
throat. “Nothing.”
“Really?”
“Really.
It was an act.” I let my lip curl. “Surely you could
tell.”
His
mouth twitches.
Did
I hit a nerve? A moment later his mask of assurance is
back.
“So you’ve talked about it with my brother? That kiss we
shared,
the intimate press of our bodies. Sought out some time
alone
to clear the air and get back to how things were before
between
you two.”
I
swallow. My hands grip the rock behind me. I didn’t realize
I’d
backed up, but I revel in the sharp edge; feel the sting of flesh
breaking
and press harder. What I really want to do is close the
distance
between us and punish him.
“We
will talk. Relocating from the spaceship hasn’t left a lot
of
time for deep and meaningful conversations.” I don’t intend
to
explain anything to him, but the defense slips out and hangs
lamely
between us. The same lie I’ve been telling myself.
The
truth is, Samuai and I haven’t spoken properly since the
aftermath
of the fight outside the Pelican; I’ve done everything I
can
to avoid him. If we speak, he’ll know what I’ve become. Or
worse,
he’ll think I’m the same.
“But
I’ve found you,” says Davyd. “We’re all alone with
plenty
of opportunity for talking … or other things.”
He’s
laughing at me again. Damn him. Would it be so hard
for
him to leave me alone for once with the stories I tell myself
that
allow me to keep going?
Anger
surges up inside me, claws at my throat, wanting to
get
out. It’s not like I want Samuai to choose me over his new
friends.
I have nothing for him now. The love that once flowed
through
me isn’t so much gone than blasted out. I’m not the girl
he
left behind.
“Why
do you do this?”
“Come
and talk to you?” He frowns. “We’re old friends from
the
ship. We have to stick together.”
“We
have never been friends.”
“Allies?”
He moves even closer, and I arch back hard against
the
rock, just to keep him
mountains?”
He
ignores my jab. “They do now. We need to fight, and we
need
to make plans.”
The
urgency in his voice sparks something inside me. A
flicker
of drive where for weeks there’s been only emptiness.
“from
touching me. “I’m here because you know this isn’t happily
ever
after. Nothing is resolved, and we can’t do anything about it
until
you admit there’s something wrong.”
“With
Samuai?”
A
pulse throbs in his jaw. “Forget my brother. He’s too busy
buddying
up to the green robes, and he’s forgotten the real
enemy.”
“The
Company?”
“Yes.
They locked us up, lied to us, experimented on us,
and
what have we done in return? Killed a few officers and then
scurried
like rats to hide in the mountains.”
“Do
rats even hide in Attack the Company?”
He
ignores my sneer. “Why not? Those of us from the ship are
impervious
to their great weapon. We have strength and speed.
They’ve
made us strong. I say we use the way they’ve enhanced
us
against them.”
No
wonder Davyd is never lonely for female company. I
hate
him and yet find it hard not to get caught up in his desire.
His
voice, his energy, echoes the need for revenge that keeps me
awake
at night. But inside me lingers the voice of reason, too.
“We
need to establish a secure base.”
“You
mean give them time to organize an attack?”
“Maybe
they’re not. We escaped them before. They could be
cutting
their losses.”
“Do
you really believe that?”
I
push past him to stand at the edge of the cliff. From here I
can
see the settlement off in the distance, glowing with light in
the
darkness. Filled with the green robes who’ve been resisting
the
Company for years and with the people the Company were
breeding
for battle.
“They’re
not going to take the loss of decades of investment
in
their little spaceship program well,” I admit eventually.
“They’re
going to come for their property. I don’t intend to be
sitting
waiting for collection when they do.”
He’s
including himself. Back on the ship he was important
as
the head Official, Fishie’s, son. Out here he’s just another
specimen
with no idea what the Company has done to him.
We’ve
all been violated, and we don’t even know how.
“What’s
your plan?”
He
runs a hand through his wet hair, scattering water drops.
“That’s
what I wanted to talk to you about. If I go to the council
as
a lone voice then they’ll shoot me down; but together we could
present
a case for action.”
“Why
me?”
“Apart
from this special connection we have?”
In
a few swift steps my hand is around his throat. “Don’t
push
me.”
“Look
at you, taking any excuse to touch me. It’s almost
romantic,”
he squeaks.
The
rain has cleared, and the clouds thin, letting the moon
light
up his perfect, mocking face.
My
fingers tighten. I’m squeezing, feeling the muscles and
tendons
give way to my pressure; his airway begins to cut off. The
anger
inside me glories in the way his eyes bulge and his lips part
in
a desperate gasp for oxygen.
He
doesn’t move to defend himself.
I
hold his hateful gaze for one second, two. Now I have all the
power.
It spreads hot tendrils through me, giving me strength.
My
vision blurs, and spots appear in front of my eyes. I could
shut
him up forever.
Squeeze
a little tighter.
It
would be so easy. All I need to do is …
Nothing.
I drop my hand and crumble to my knees, pressing
my
forehead to the rocky ground. Shudders wrack my body as I
rock
back and forth.
What
have I become?
Somewhere
above me he sucks in a shaky breath. “Temper,
temper,”
he says softly.
My
eyes sting, but no tears will fall. “Leave me alone.”
“Until
the rage inside you overtakes everything else? Until
you
do something you can’t undo?”
“I
warned you not to push me.” I grasp hold of that fact. I
did
warn him. He drove me to act, goaded me until I didn’t have
a
choice.
But
did his teasing deserve death?
I
block out the voice in my head. But I can’t ignore the one
a
few feet away.
“This
isn’t grief making you act this way,” he says, kneeling in
front
of me. “And you’re not the only one who’s losing control.”
“Don’t
make excuses.”
“I’m
not.”
His
hand brushes the top of my head where my hair has
grown
into soft fuzz. It’s been weeks since Lifer regulations of
shaved
heads have been left behind. Electricity skitters across
my
skin when he touches my forehead, and it dampens the rage
within.
As the anger in me cools, I find the strength to lift my
head.
“I’m guessing you have a theory?”
His
mouth curves. “I would say ‘that’s my girl’ since you
worked
it out so fast, but I don’t have a death wish. I suspect you
don’t
belong to anyone.”
Against
all reason, I smile at the hint of admiration in his
voice.
I curl up and wrap my hands around my knees. I let myself
look
up at him, relieved when the marks on his neck are already
fading.
“There are others?”
“You’re
the first who’s actually tried to kill me, but surely
you’ve
noticed the fights in food lines? The shoving over shower
use?
The extra injuries in the practice fights that go too far?”
Guilt
nibbles at the back of my mind. Why didn’t I notice
any
of this? “I haven’t been around much.”
“Believe
me, it’s only a matter of time before someone from
the
ship loses control. Probably a Lifer.”
“Because
we’re less sophisticated.”
His
eyes don’t quite meet mine. “Because whatever it is
they’ve
done, I believe they’ve done it to you more. The hardships
you’ve
faced as a group, it’s made you … stronger for lack of a
better
word.”
I
want to argue but I remember too well how easily I could
have
crushed his throat. Only weeks ago when we fought in the
low
gravity training rooms on the ship, he could overpower me
without
breaking a sweat. “Something’s changed.”
“But
I can’t work out what.”
The
rain begins to fall again. I close my eyes and let it cool
my
skin. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to water falling from the
sky.
I’ve been too long in an artificial environment where every
molecule
I’ve ingested came from a particular source.
I
jump to my feet. “The ship.”
Davyd
blinks up at me. “What about it?”
“They had control of our food and water.” I
pace around
him
as I think aloud. “What if they were drugging us to keep us
pliable?
Now, without the drug, the changes they’ve made have
no
check, nothing to keep control.”
“But
we brought the majority of the food and water
production
with us.”
“It’s
the Nauts.” In my urgency, I slip back to calling our
leaders
by the old name from when we thought those in the gray
suits
were piloting us in space. It takes a beat before I correct
myself.
“The Company added it themselves to the water, or
maybe
the very air we breathed. Don’t you see? It’s a part of them
having
control over the experiment. We have our own inbuilt
self-destruct
sequence. We’ll all turn on each other before we can
possibly
rise against them.”
“They’re
the only ones who can save us.”
“But
they want to destroy us.”
“We’ll
take the fight to them, there must be a way.” Anything
else
Davyd might have said is cut off by a bang from the direction
of
the settlement.
“Did
you hear that?” I ask.
But
he’s already running. “Come on.”
“But
I’m supposed to be on guard.”
He
spares me a glance over his broad shoulder. A look that
shines
through the darkness and the drizzle and slices through to
my
soul. “You play babysitter for some rabbits if you want to. I’m
going
to fight.”
I
hesitate a beat. Long enough for him to disappear down the
trail.
This time his hurried steps send rock and gravel tumbling,
and
the sound echoes over distant shouts. The sound of a battle.
My
longing to be alone wars with the need to know what’s
happening,
and the fact that no matter how much I want to, I
can’t
sever all links with those who came with me from the ship.
Q tight in my hand,
I run.
I always wanted to write. I’ve worked as a lab assistant, a pizza delivery driver and a high school teacher but I always pursued my first dream of creating stories. Now, I live with my family near Adelaide, halfway between the city and the sea, and am lucky to spend my days (and nights) writing young adult fiction.
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