Remembrance

  Copyright © 2021 by SJ Moquin

  Artwork: Adobe Stock: © grandfailure

  Design: Services for Authors

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or Crooked Cat/darkstroke except for brief quotations used for promotion or in reviews. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are used fictitiously.

  First Dark Edition, darkstroke. 2021

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  To D. Thank you for believing in me before I believed in myself.

  Acknowledgements

  They say to surround yourself with those who inspire you, who see greatness within you, and those who encourage and support you. Without individuals like these, this book could have never happened.

  To my critique crew, The Scribbler’s Society - Your wisdom and dedication to helping others hone their craft week in and week out is invaluable. Thank you for looking at my story and not seeing the absolute mess it was as a first draft, but the gem it could be with a bit of polishing.

  To my writing family - Sydni Lynn, Jessica Cunsolo, Jordan Lynde, Kenadee Bryant, and Lauren Jackson. Thank you for making me push my limits, encouraging me to continue when I didn’t want to, and being there day in and day out for all my rants, questions, and ramblings. I’m so lucky to be friends with you beautiful ladies.

  To Cynthia Wiedefeld, my writing sister - Your support from day one of this project has been immeasurable. I could not have made it without your feedback, critiques, prayers, and swooning over the tender Gwelle/Raiden moments. I love you.

  To the darkstroke crew - Your talent and professionalism has been a tremendous help on this journey. I couldn’t have asked for a better first publishing experience. Thank you.

  To all my Wattpad family and readers - You believed in this little story when it was only a short story and then a very rough first draft. Without your support, encouragement, feedback, and love for reading, Gwelle and Raiden’s story would not have made it this far. I appreciate each one of you.

  To my beautiful daughters - You were the reason I started writing. I love you with all my heart.

  To my son - Thanks for sharing my love of science fiction and watching shows with me no one else would.

  To my darling hubs - At my lowest point, God sent me you, the answer to all my prayers and dreams. Thank you for putting up with me during long writing sessions and even longer editing ones. Thanks for answering all my questions about war, fighting, weapons, military protocol, and soldiers in general. Thank you for all you sacrificed to help make my dreams a reality. You are my hero.

  About the Author

  SJ Moquin writes from her home in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Life with seven kids, her darling hubs, and four adorable Morkies never allows for a dull moment. She divides her time between her five girls still at home, a never ending TBR pile, and creating magical worlds full of strong heroines, quirky side-kicks, and handsome leading men. She’s a southern girl who loves crisp autumn mornings, snow days, black and white movies, and is a sucker for a love story.

  Remembrance

  Prologue

  She looked down on the planet below, nothing but blobs of green and blue from her vantage point. Today is the day. The words chanted over and over in her head. She’d said farewell to her home already, the only home she’d known. She’d take the memories with her, running through the corridors, listening as her feet pounded a rhythm on the metal floor, crawling one last time through the maintenance conduits of the large starship, gathering with her friends on the holodeck for a game of rugball. It all seemed a fitting send off. After all, it was everything she had known for her entire sixteen years. She had been born right here on Deliverance, as had her friends.

  She’d listened to the stories. Her mother often spoke about when her own parents had been children living on Earth. Before his death, her father had passed on stories his grandparents told him. It was during her grandparents’ childhood that the planet had died and Deliverance, along with many other starships, was launched. Now, ninety years later, it was finally time to make a home on a new world, a new planet. They’d endured the years in space. Now paradise awaited.

  A deep, shaky breath left her lips as she wrapped her arms around her middle.

  “Are you ready, Gwelle?” she asked herself in a low raspy whisper.

  Life from now on would be completely different. By this evening, she would take her first step on soil, her first breath of pure air, and see her first sunset. She would be home.

  Chapter One

  Breaking the Rules

  Gwelle swiped her brow, wishing for a cool breeze, just one, or a late summer shower, anything to cool the heat beating down on her from above. Sweat trickled down her back as she straightened from her task, rolling her neck back and forth. Around her, people worked, laughed, ran, and played. Where had the year flown? This time a year ago, she’d stepped foot onto the planet for the first time. And the work hadn’t stopped. She thought life aboard Deliverance was stifling, but the never-ending list of chores, education classes, and internships in Nova-Zera cordoned her off from any chance of fun or adventure by consuming every precious minute of her days.

  Life here was different. Hard. New. But so worth it. At this moment, though, she needed a break. She’d promised her mom she’d volunteer a few times on the new construction for the inhabitants of the Endeavor. But she was definitely not feeling it today, deciding to return home for a quick rest. Skirting the row of homes, Gwelle jogged along, dodging kids running down the dirt path, turning the corner up to the home she shared with her mom.

  The small square house looked much like each one on the row — each one in the settlement if one was technical about it — but despite the similarities of the metal and wood structure, it was home. Hopping onto the porch with a skip in her step that hadn’t been there moments before, she reached for the door.

  “Gwelle Airda! Aren’t you supposed to be volunteering today?”

  Her hand shook, half extended towards the door, as she skidded to a halt. Long, dark hair swirled around her at the sudden stop in motion. How did she always seem to find out? It was so frustrating how her mother did that.

  “Mom.” The word stuttered out as she turned to face the diminutive woman. While her mom was a good three inches shorter than her own average height, Nia Airda was a force to be reckoned with. Especially when she was upset.

  “Gwelle, you promised. The settlers from the Endeavor need homes as soon as possible. I’m working around the clock on their health screenings so we can bring those poor people down here as fast as possible.”

  “I know, Mom. They’ve had it so much worse on the journey than we did.” She repeated the words she’d heard whispered in every conversation since the Endeavor entered orbit a few weeks before.

  Everyone was buzzing with excitement over the arrival of newcomers; Endeavor was only the second ship of ten to arrive since leaving Earth over ninety years ago. Originally, each ship was to create their own settlement spread out over Varax, but something had gone terribly wrong onboard, and Endeavor was forced to land near her own settlement instead. According to the latest count, less than two hundred people had survived the accident, not even half the number that had arrived on Deliverance.

  Her mom’s face softened. It wasn’t an expression she saw often, at least not since the founding of the colony. Her mother reached up, cupping her cheek, much like sh
e did as a child when she’d been scared.

  “It’s been hard for us too. I know that. And I hate that you couldn’t enjoy your youth more.”

  “I don’t mind, Mom. Really,” Gwelle interrupted.

  She hated when her mother was right but hated even more when she made her mom feel guilty. The copper skinned woman standing in front of her had faced tragedy and kept on fighting, raising a daughter single-handedly while working as ship medic and eventually rising to head doctor. She stared back into brown eyes too much like her own for comfort, before blinking.

  “Take the afternoon off. You worked all week at your internship. It’s not fair to spend your day off working too. Go find your friends.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  Gwelle grinned as she turned to find her friends, but swiveled at the last moment, placing a kiss on her mom’s cheek. Nia Airda may have been a firm mom and headstrong doctor, but she had been a teen once, too. Sometimes she even proved she still remembered how it felt, Gwelle thought with a chuckle bubbling up inside her as she headed off to find her friends.

  ***

  “Are you sure about this?”

  “Yes.”

  “How do you know about this place?” Lark asked once again. Her deep brown eyes never landed on one spot too long before bouncing to another.

  “Botany expi last week.”

  “Do you even know where you’re going? You don’t have a plex pad or the coordinates,” Knox said, pushing through overgrown leaves and limbs.

  The forest crossed in thick patches of green, lush foliage. Once off the rover paths cut through the wildlands, one could easily become lost if not careful.

  “Knox, if I had my plex then we wouldn’t be OTG, would we?”

  Knox laughed, realizing the truth of her words. Gwelle’s insides did flips just thinking about it. Going off the grid meant leaving her communication and tech device at home so there was no chance of them being tracked. Honestly, she was surprised she’d gotten Lark to agree to this at all. Going outside the gates wasn’t something they’d ever done on their own, but she’d never let a few nerves stop her before.

  Lark gasped as the group broke through the last patch of ferns. Gwelle felt her lips twitch with a smile. Yes, it was worth it just for that sound of happiness from her friend. Lark worked hard… they all had been working hard… and deserved this, she thought, pushing aside any further doubts about going OTG.

  “Why have you kept this to yourself?” Lark blurted out. The rush of water from the falls filled the air, causing her to yell loudly. Lark’s short brown curls bobbed as her head swiveled in each direction.

  “Last one in,” Knox called, rushing into the chilly water having already shucked off his outer clothes.

  Lark gave Gwelle one panicked look before shrugging and stripping down to her tank top and shorts. Following her friends’ lead, Gwelle joined them, teeth chattering the first few steps into the water. After the heat of the day, the cool water was a refreshing change. Diving under, she swam to the other side, opening her eyes as she went. The blue shimmered beneath her, almost glowing in the depths. Breaking the water’s surface, Gwelle trod where she was for a moment, looking up at the bubbling water racing over the top of the hill. The longer she watched the mesmerizing scene, the easier everything around her faded.

  She forgot work, family, and friends. She forgot she was on a strange world they knew very little about. She forgot the cold ache in her chest when she remembered her dad. The memories faded away with the rush of the water. Engrossed in the beauty, she was halfway up the climb, jumping rock to rock, before her plan registered. As a child, her impulsiveness got her in trouble more than not. As a teen she tried curtailing it, but still failed, much to her mom’s displeasure. Something inside her drove her to discover, to chase that wild idea or find a new path, and today was no different. She would listen to that inner voice even though everything else was screaming this was definitely her most idiotic plan of all.

  Standing atop the falls, balancing on a rock at the edge, Lark and Knox looked like dolls rather than people bobbing in the clear aquamarine water. She heard their shouts, but their words were picked up by the wind and carried away. She waved, courage building in her, the wind tugging at her wet locks as if it were trying to help her jump. Looking down below once more, she closed her eyes, pushing away from the top of the cliff with all her might. The water’s spray hit her as she rushed past. Her legs flailed a moment before she pointed them just before the water rushed up to meet her.

  “What were you thinking?”

  Lark’s shriek was the first thing she heard once she surfaced and the ringing in her ears cleared. Luckily, Knox shaking his shaggy blonde hair as he pulled himself out of the water saved her from answering.

  “Oh, no! Not you too!” Lark called.

  “Or what? Gonna come get me?” Knox teased, climbing up the cliff side to the top of the falls.

  “Look what you’ve started,” Lark whispered, but the small smile on her face softened the words as she watched Knox climb the cliff once more.

  A smile tugged at Gwelle’s full lips thinking about her two friends, practically from birth. She couldn’t ask for better partners in crime. A large splash drew her attention back to a now screaming Knox.

  “Yeah, but you've gotta admit you're enjoying the view,” Gwelle teased.

  A flush of pink stole across her friend’s tawny cheeks. Would her friends ever realize they were perfect for each other? Lark huffed and splashed Gwelle, which she answered with a splash of her own. By the time Knox dove again, a water fight was in full swing.

  She’d not had this much fun since… she couldn’t remember. The entire past year had been nothing but work, commitment, and survival, but now that things were settling into a routine, she’d make more time for the fun things, even if the fun things meant breaking a few rules now and then.

  A couple hours later, the girls lay on the large rocks surrounding the vivid blue water. This must be how a reptile feels, Gwelle mused, as the sun soaked into her skin, making her drowsy. She watched a little blue and purple lizard waddle over the craggy rocks before flopping over, letting the sun heat its belly. Knox hovered at the edge of the water, not quite out, but not in enough to swim. The hum of tiny birds hovering and flitting toward the nearby flowers filled the air. Their nimble wings blurred in gold and white streaks as they drank in the nectar of the small trumpet shaped blooms she’d studied with one of the expeditions last week. If only it was darker so she could see the small white flowers glowing gold and silver. Like many new species of plants, flowers, and fungi they’d discovered on their new planet, they were bioluminescent.

  “Who would have guessed all those holodeck excursions to the ocean would pay off in real life, huh?” Knox asked, kicking at the water with one foot.

  “Mhmm,” Gwelle answered, smiling at the memories his words invoked.

  Every chance she’d gotten she’d begged, borrowed, or stolen time on the holodeck, earned or not earned. Half the time these two were involved as well. It was surprising how well they’d all turned out despite the trouble which always seemed to find them… well, in all honesty, find her. They were more like innocent bystanders who always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Life on board Deliverance ensured they grew up fast, though. She couldn’t remember a time in her life she wasn’t volunteering in one sector or another.

  Now that schooling was complete and their internships had officially started, they’d each be headed in different life paths. Nothing would stand in their way as friends though. Today was a prime example. Both Knox and Lark dropped what they were working on to join her. They’d obviously needed this respite as much as she had.

  “How are things at school? Are you enjoying the training?” Gwelle asked Lark.

  “Yes,” she answered with a yawn. “The littles are so adorable. Were we ever that young?”

  “Once maybe, but not him.” Gwelle teas
ed Knox, who had always been a stocky kid. He’d slimmed up some since reaching the planet’s surface. She remembered his grandfather called him a linebacker one time, whatever that was. He tried explaining, but they’d lost him once he mentioned it was a game where people just chased each other trying to capture a weird shaped ball. Nothing like rugball. Now there was a game she could support. A large splash of cold water over her now warmed skin had her jerking upright, gasping from shock.

  “You’re so going to pay for th…” Gwelle started but trailed off as she looked past Knox into the surrounding trees. Knox turned in the direction she stared.

  “What is it?” he whispered. By this time, Lark had sat up hugging her knees against her chest, her dark eyes darting around.

  “I… I thought I saw something, but when I looked again there wasn’t anything there.” Gwelle tried explaining the strange shimmering she saw against the leaves, almost like she was looking through water.

  “That’s called guilt, Gwelle,” Knox teased.

  “Maybe we should head back,” Lark added.

  Gwelle shrugged. Maybe it was nothing.

  The forest did give her the heebie-jeebies at times. Everything about Varax was bigger, brighter, or more ferocious than what she’d learned about Earth through the archives. Yet at the same time, it was so similar. She’d seen the large beasts the biologists captured to study and brought back to the science lab she interned at. While she was only studying botany, her path crossed with the other scientists from time to time. She’d never admit her insecurities to her friends.

  “That’s fine. It is getting late.” Gwelle looked towards the large sun sinking faster towards the horizon.