Andrew J. Morgan's Blog: Aspiration Keeps Me Alive, page 9

So what happens next?

You may (or may not) be wondering where Vessel goes from here, so I’d like to dedicate a few blog posts to the next few steps in the journey of my manuscript. I’ve got a couple of directions I can go, but there’s nothing set in stone. Hopefully by blogging what I’m doing I can help other authors by showing what I’ve done, and perhaps spark the intrigue of readers who are interested in where something like this goes from here.

The first step for me is the editing process. My manuscript is curre...

Epilogue

‘Doctor!’ the nurse called out through the open door, before turning her attention back to Sally. ‘Don’t worry, everything’s going to be ok.’

Sally found it hard to believe. Mikhail’s memory had hit her like a train, the full force of it knocking her clean off her heels. He was gone, forever, and she was never going to see him again. A man in a white jacket skipped in through the door.

‘Is everything ok?’

The nurse looked anxious.

‘I think it’d be best if you update her,’ she said, nervously play...

Chapter 28

‘Pitch twelve degrees, alignment with target confirmed,’ said Taylor, concentrating hard. ‘MRM-2 in visual range.’

‘Copy, Soyuz. Looking good our end. Ten metres, one zero,’ replied CapCom.

‘Pitch two degrees, yaw one degree. Forward thrusters fire, one second burst.’

‘Forward thrusters fire, one second,’ Wilson confirmed, executing the command. The deceleration made both their helmets bob forwards.

CapCom: ‘Eight metres.’

‘Eight metres, copy. Roll one degree. Pitch one degree.’

‘Target aligned,’ W...

Chapter 27

Sally didn’t talk to Mikhail about his brush with death. She tried not to think about it herself either, but the best she could do was push it back into a corner of her mind that only spoke in whispers. While she was asleep, however, she could not control her mind, and flashes of Mikhail’s face, eyes rolled back, lips contorted in agony, blood rushing from his ears and nose, haunted her dreams. It would happen to him again, she knew it – she could feel it – and it would probably be worse next...

Chapter 26

‘Hello?’ Sean yelled, his voice hoarse, but still no one came. He had seen shadows flit past the crack of light, but he wasn’t sure if they were people, or just plants moving in the wind. He hadn’t heard anyone, he knew that much. He was thirsty – very thirsty – and the stench of urine continued to shamefully remind him that he hadn’t been able to hold it long enough.

‘Hello?’ he yelled again.

* * *

Banin drummed the desk with his fingers, shaking his head.

‘Aliens?’

‘I know it seems far-fetched,’...

Chapter 25

That night, Sally dreamed that she was on a boat, lost at sea. There was a storm, and the waves crashed higher and higher around her, rocking the boat, tossing her from side to side. The waves rose over the edge of the hull, falling as foam around her, on her, soaking her to the bone. But the water was warm, and it caressed her, folding around her in soothing blankets that gave her a feeling deep inside that was wonderfully comforting. She felt safe.

She awoke in Mikhail’s arms, and she savour...

Chapter 24

‘Like I said in the notes, detective, we found traces of skin on the knuckles of the deceased’s right hand.’

Banin sighed. He hated dealing with these white-coated nerds.

‘So he was drunk, punched someone in a bar fight somewhere, got into his car and drove it into a post. Game over. End of story.’

‘I wish it were that simple, detective. We ran a sample through the database, and we got a match.’

‘So? Probably some other drunk that’s been picked up for fighting before.’

‘You would think so, but no....

Chapter 23

The weather flying home was not as great as it had been flying out. If it weren’t for the constant battle to keep his innards down, Sean would have been terrified by the way the small plane was being tossed about by the angry sky, but given the game of ping pong his entrails were playing, he was merely alarmed. Death wouldn’t have been entirely unwelcome.

The European coastline was a welcome sight that only became apparent a few miles off shore as the cloud line broke, and he inwardly thanked...

Section 4: Vessel – Chapter 22

‘Who are you?’ Sally said, her throat so tight it strangled her voice.

The naked man unfurled, his pale body tense as though it was stiff with pain. Sally drifted cautiously over to him, then stopped, realisation hitting her so suddenly that she clapped her hand over her mouth.

‘You’re – you’re Mikhail Romanenko …’ she said through her fingers.

Mikhail looked at her, his eyes wide against his gaunt face.

‘Where am I?’ he whispered.

Sally helped him into the service module, where she found him some...

Chapter 21

There was so much to be learned up there, and Sally was learning it fast. She had successfully completed her black hole analysis, gathering data that to her knowledge had never been seen before, and as each day passed, her time on board was proving to be more and more lucrative. She had only hit one dead end, and that was with UV-1. With UV-1, she had discovered nothing.

There was battery of frequencies in her arsenal with which she could broadcast to the vessel, and she had, several times, to...