Hope Everlasting: A Dystopian Sci-fi Novel (The Variant Saga Book 3) Read online

  J. N. Chaney

  Copyrighted Material

  Hope Everlasting Copyright © 2016 by Variant Publications

  Book design and layout copyright © 2016 by Variant Publications

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Jeff Chaney.

  www.jnchaney.com

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  HOPE EVERLASTING

  J.N. CHANEY

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PART 1

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  PART 2

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

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  BOOK DESCRIPTION

  Hope Everlasting

  Variant Saga #3

  Take a journey on the road to Everlasting.

  Terry is on the run, having escaped from prison and killed its overseer. He and his friend Ludo need to find a way to get to the northern border. That's where Ludo's wife is being held, but time is of the essence. If they don't hurry, she'll be sacrificed to the gods as part of some barbaric ceremony. With an army at their heels and a continent to cross, Terry and Ludo will need all the help they can get. The clock is ticking.

  Meanwhile, Mei Curie has opened a portal to another world…and it isn’t what she expected. There are worms the size of cars, animals with bulletproof hides, and an advanced alien race unlike anything mankind has ever witnessed.

  Not to worry, though. Johnathan Finn has just the ticket: a rifle stocked with bullets, ready to deal with whatever threats come knocking. Along with his team of soldiers, John is here for a single purpose—to find his missing friend and bring him home—but in a world as strange as this one, a simple search-and-rescue mission could prove deadly.

  For S.M. Boyce,

  who pushed me through

  the looking glass.

  PART 1

  A ship is safe in harbor,

  but that's not what ships are for.

  – William G.T. Shedd

  The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,

  The furrow followed free:

  We were the first that ever burst

  Into that silent sea.

  – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  PROLOGUE

  SOMEWHERE IN ANOTHER WORLD, deep within the forests of a planet known as Kant, two men walked together, each on the verge of collapse. One, a former servant to the Temple of the Eye, husband to a warrior priestess and father to a missing child. The other, bred and trained as a soldier, genetically engineered in an underground society, and the first human to travel to another living world.

  Each of them, a fugitive.

  Each of them, starving and afraid.

  “How long before the border?” asked Terry, the younger of the two.

  “Several days,” said Ludo, clutching his wounded side. “We must first look for Talo in Capeside, then go north.”

  “Your family is from Capeside,” remembered Terry.

  “My grandmother has a house near the market. Talo knows. He will have gone there by now.”

  “We’ll find him,” said Terry. “We’ll find your wife, too. Both of them.”

  When the twin suns had set, the two men slept under a clear night sky, blanketed with stars, no cloaks or furs to keep them warm. They had only their prison uniforms, ragged and torn—a reminder of what came before.

  Terry awoke several times to the chilled air of the countryside. What he wouldn’t give for a bed and a soft pillow, a warm bowl of soup to calm his aching stomach. Instead, he had only the brush and dirt beneath him.

  But he was still alive…and he had Ludo by his side.

  Lying on the dirt, and with his friend asleep, Terry closed his eyes and concentrated, quieting his mind until everything went dark. He imagined an empty blackness, never-ending and eternal, and he let himself fall into it. The void washed over him, surrounding his mind and bringing tranquility. A wave of peace.

  He forgot his worries, forgot the field and mud around him, forgot the freezing cold. Everything faded and dissolved, and suddenly he was elsewhere, far and away from the place he had been.

  A bath of light broke through the night, touching his face, replacing the shadow. A vast and violet sky stretched beyond the horizon as two suns beat down against his cheeks, warming his skin. Now, at last, he stood atop a wide plain, a mountain range in the distance.

  A bird chirped behind him, near the edge of the forest. Flapping its wings, the blue and yellow creature squawked excitedly. It leapt forward into the air, and all at once a flock emerged from deep within the trees, scattering.

  They filled the sky like stars. They filled the sky with wings.

  Before him stood a building, a familiar, inviting farmhouse. Several lots of tilled land surrounded it, encased within a fence. Ludo’s home, or so it had been, back before the soldiers came and burned it to the ground. In the real world, nothing remained of this place. Nothing but ash and dust and memories.

  But not here. Here it stood preserved, pristine and untouched, an eternal memory stuck inside the mind of a young, human man.

  Terry had created his own little universe and filled it with grass and sky and things. Birds and bugs and animals, each living separate lives, with goals and personalities. In this place of make-believe, he felt the warmth of the suns, the pressure of the wind, and the wetness of the river. The whole wide world remained as he’d made it, another reality in his imagination.

  As long as he was here, it was real in all the ways that mattered.

  Terry placed his head against the grass, and the afternoon heat relaxed him.

  He closed his eyes, suddenly tired. Now, he could finally sleep. He could rest.

  When he awoke, he found himself once again lying on the wet dirt, freezing. “Welcome back,” said Ludo. “I feared you would never rise. The light is new and we have far to go. Let us leave before the second sun rises.”

  Terry blinked, then rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Sorry. I must have been tired.”

  “I am certain that is true,” said the farmer, helping Terry to his feet.

  “Will we reach the village today?” asked Terry. He wiped some mud from his hands.

  “Tomorrow or the day after.”

  Terry examined him. Ludo seemed stronger than yesterday. There was more strength in his posture. “Do you feel better today?”

  Ludo nodded his agreem
ent. “The wounds are healing. Soon they will be gone.” His gaze drifted toward the direction of the prison. “Though, I will not forget.”

  Terry remembered the look on his friend’s face when he stood over a dying tyrant, back in the compound. A man named Gast Maldeen, the Lord of Three Waters, had tried his best to kill them—an act which Ludo had managed to reverse. Gast was dead, and the two of them had fled, but the memory would never fade.

  Terry had expected a battalion of soldiers to come running, calling for their heads. You killed our Lord, they would cry. We will chase you forever.

  Yet, somehow, days had passed and here they stood, no army at their backs. Only the wild country around them, forests and fields and rivers, as though they’d marched to the far edge of the world where none could follow.

  With so much behind them, the two men looked forward. First Capeside, and then north to the border to Everlasting.

  Everlasting, thought Terry. The glowing city on the hill. The place where everyone flies.

  A hundred questions darted through his mind, circling endlessly. How large must such a legendary city be? What were the people like who lived there? Were they like Ludo…or somehow different?

  He’d never find the answers, but it hardly mattered. The only mission now was finding Ludo’s family. Terry owed the man his life, and he’d follow him to the edge of oblivion if that’s what it took.

  Right to the bitter end.

  CHAPTER 1

  S.O.F.T. Mission Report

  Play Audio File 13

  Recorded: February 4, 2351

  FINN: We found the entrance to this place, finally. Big old staircase going to the surface. I haven’t poked my head out yet, but I could see light shining in from the door.

  CURIE: Do you think it’s a good idea to go up there already? You still haven’t finished exploring the facility.

  FINN: We’ve seen enough. Looks like it’s been abandoned for years. If you don’t mind, Mei, I’d rather get on with the real reason we’re here.

  CURIE: I know. It’s okay. I’ll have Zoe send the flippies and we’ll map the rest of it. You focus on finding Terry.

  FINN: I wonder what’s waiting for us up there. Think we’ll find something cool?

  CURIE: Like what?

  FINN: I don’t know. Maybe zombie robots from Planet 9. I could use a pet zombie robot. He’d make a good sidekick.

  CURIE: I’m sure you could. I have no idea what you’ll see, but I’d say anything’s possible. Be careful, though.

  FINN: Awesome. Don’t worry about me, babe. I’ve always been the careful type.

  CURIE: Says the guy who rushed into a portal to another planet without so much as a second thought.

  FINN: Always the critic.

  End Audio File

  Bravo Gate Point

  February 4, 2351

  John munched on a protein bar, gobbling it down and wiping the crumbs from his jacket. He and his team had spent nearly two days exploring this underground facility and they still hadn’t found anything useful. Oh, sure, some scientists back home would probably end up obsessing over every little detail of his reports, every frame of recording, every picture taken, but none of it brought him closer to the true purpose of this mission: to find his oldest friend and bring him home.

  Ever since they found Terry’s pack in the room with the portal, John had hoped for more. Another clue as to his friend’s whereabouts, but so far there was nothing. Only an underground cave with some fancy machines here and there. No signs to point his way.

  But today his team had found the exit. A way to leave this empty place and see the real world. Surely, if Terry was alive, he’d be out there somewhere, waiting. John could almost imagine it. He’d climb those steps and reach the top, walk into the light, and see his old friend waiting. “What took you so long?” Terry would ask, and John would shrug and together they’d laugh.

  “Boss, you good?” asked Hughes.

  John blinked and looked at his teammate. Mason Hughes was smaller than most, coming in at around 157 centimeters, but what he lacked in physical strength and stature, he more than made up for with skill. Hughes could shoot the wings off a fly from two kilometers away. “Yeah, I’m fine,” said John, a second later. “What about you, Hughes? You ready to head topside?”

  The marksman nodded. “Been itchin’ for a chance to see what’s out there.”

  “We all have,” said John. He got to his feet. “Tell the boys to rally. We’re leaving in a few.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Hughes.

  John thumbed the side of his rifle as it rested gently along his leg. The process of finding Terry would probably take some time, so he’d have to wait, but patience was never John’s strong suit. Hopefully soon, he thought, digging his fingernail into his stock.

  His team convened quickly, gaggling together a few yards in front of him. Hughes saluted. “Ready, sir.”

  John nodded. “Alright, folks. Here’s the plan. Most of us are going topside, but I need two of you to stay here and guard the gate. Any volunteers?” He paused. “No? Okay. Mickey and Track, you’re up.”

  The two men released a short sigh, but didn’t complain. The protest had been involuntary, almost reflexive, so John couldn’t fault them. If he wasn’t a genetically engineered hybrid with superhuman senses, he never would have noticed. “Once we’re on the surface, we’ll have to set up some signal repeaters. Which one of you has them?”

  “I do, boss,” said Brooks, standing near the edge of the group. She reached into her pack and held one of the boxes above her head. “Got six of these from Bartholomew this morning.”

  “Good. While you’re doing that, we’ll need to scout the area. I’ll assign once we get there. Everyone ready?”

  “Yes, sir!” said the group in unison.

  “Alright, Blacks. Saddle up your gear. It’s time to see what’s out there.”

  ******

  John and his team traveled through the tunnels of the underground compound, each of their weapons at the ready. Despite having already explored most of the surrounding area, particularly the main tunnel, they stayed on their guard. It took nearly two hours to traverse the massive subterranean path on their way to the exit, but they eventually found the end.

  John stared beyond the staircase and into the distant, beaming light of the outside world. He couldn’t help but wonder what awaited them there. If his time chasing razorbacks had taught him anything, it was to always be prepared for the worst. Monsters and enemies might be waiting around every corner, through every open door, seething at the mouth for a chance to chomp on human bones and rip apart their flesh.

  Then again, maybe this planet was different. Maybe he’d find a litter of puppies up there, playing in a field of daisies. It certainly wouldn’t be the strangest thing he’d ever seen.

  John grinned. Here’s hoping, he thought.

  The Blacks reached the bottom of the staircase, and John gave the signal to move. Privates Meridy and Short took the lead, while the rest follow two at a time. John stuck to the rear—his job as the squad leader.

  The air grew warmer as he climbed, until the light of the outside world finally touched his skin, bathing him in light and heat. He felt suddenly relaxed.

  The light hit his eyes, and he flinched. It was bright. Was this common here? He had no way of knowing yet, having been outside for only twelve seconds.

  Near the entrance to the cave sat a couple of domed buildings, cracked with age and neglect. John peered into one of the windows, only to see an overgrown garden of weeds inside, covering most of the floor. Useless. “Whatcha think, boys?”

  “Lots of purple, same as home,” said Short, one of only three females on the team. “And I’m not a boy.”

  Hatcher snickered. “Careful boss. Don’t wanna set her off. Short just broke up with her girlfriend.”

  “With Michelle?” asked John, glancing at Short. “What for?”

  “Cheated on me with a Collector,” said Short, fanni
ng her hand. “Dropped her ass as soon as I heard.”

  John laughed. The Collectors were one of the other squads working under Colonel Ross’s new SOFT program. They’d received their name after an early expedition where the team had stumbled into a den of Otters—a species of giant rodents found mostly in the southern caves, far from the city. After killing a few of the animals, the team decided to bring a few home. They turned one of them into the Science Division for studying purposes, but kept the other as a sort of trophy, stuffing and mounting the head in their command hall. The Science Division was thrilled with the new discovery, and requested the team continue bringing them any new species they encountered. A few dozen kills later, and with a wall of trophies under their belt, people started calling them the Collectors, and it stuck. They also had a rather morbid reputation.

  “A Collector? Gross,” Hatcher remarked. “You’re better off. Anyone who screws with a Black deserves to get dumped.”

  “She’s lucky she didn’t get a beating,” said Short, narrowing her eyes. “Took everything in me not to kick her teeth in.”

  “Always the lady, this one.” Hatcher grinned, pointing his thumb at her.

  Short glared at him. “Want to test me, Hatch?”

  He held his arms up, but kept smiling. “No, ma’am. I’m good.”

  John glanced around the field. “If you two are about finished, what say we get on with it?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Short and Hatcher.

  “Hot damn, would you look at that?” barked one of the soldiers. Hughes, by the sound of it.

  John jogged to where the young sniper was, several yards away, near the edge of the rock wall. The kid was facing the other direction, looking beyond the ridge. John expected to find something outrageous, like a pack of wild animals.

  No such luck.

  “What is it?” he asked, seeing nothing.

  Hughes stared into the sky, wide-eyed, and he pointed. “Look, boss!”