As promised! In the spirit of the Holiday Season, whichever present-giving holiday you prefer. A selection from the beginning of my new book Scent of Metal –now undergoing final rewrite. A tale of science, courage, and Pluto…
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The emergency survey team moved down the rough-surfaced corridors at a jog-trot, looking for changes. The air was dry and cold, with no scent. Lea Santorin did her best to keep up, holding panic at bay by trying to figure out when things had gone wrong. It couldn’t have been their ship; after all there had been at least three ships from Earth before Kepler and nothing happened. Removing the alien…device hadn’t done it. But she had, just briefly, put the thing back in the niche where it had been found. The surface ablation of the ice layer had started shortly after.
“It’s my fault,” she mumbled, sure of it.
Ivars continued his careful, quick sweep of the corridor like he hadn’t heard her, weapon always pointed where he looked. “If you know that, then you know how to fix it.” The other soldiers behind her didn’t even pretend to pay attention to the conversation, and Dr. Adi was still slack-jawed with horror and shock.
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