Earth Shadows Quotes

“The march took Addy past her old apartment building, the place where she had lived with Marco for two years. The top few stories had fallen, including their apartment. Marauder webs coated the rest, and the aliens were scuttling across them. It had been a difficult two years, living in that cage, watching Marco spiral into the depression and madness of shell shock. But Addy missed those days now.”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“The humans stood, staring around, hesitant. Claws reached out, grabbing clothes, ripping them off. People shouted. One man fought back, hurling stones. The marauders grabbed him, knocked him into the dirt, and ripped off his arms. "Clothes off!" rumbled the marauder on the web.”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“shivering cold, sweat soaked her. Mud rose around her ankles. The corpse of a child lay before her, its face gone, trampled into the mud. A broken school bus smoldered nearby, human skeletons within it. Addy knelt, lifted a stuffed animal from the mud, and yowled as a marauder jabbed her back with claws. She marched on, moving toward the massive ships. "Undress, humans!" a marauder cackled, dangling from a web between metal poles. A red triangle was painted onto his forehead, denoting his rank of command. "We burn your flea-infested clothes." "Clothes off!" shouted another marauder, clattering toward them on six legs. "You stink of parasites." The humans stood, staring around, hesitant. Claws reached out, grabbing clothes, ripping them off. People shouted. One man fought”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“Six legs grew from their bodies, covered with spikes and tipped with claws. Their jaws could swallow men whole. The skulls of vanquished enemies, dozens of species, clattered atop their bloated abdomens, forming ritualistic armor. They made the scum look cute. And they were hungry. Hungry for human flesh. We're not prisoners of war to them, Addy thought. We're cattle. "Move it!" A marauder lifted a prod. "Faster!" More electricity crackled across Addy. She yowled and moved faster. An old woman trudged ahead of her, barely keeping up. A boy wept behind Addy, calling for his mother. The line of captives stretched for kilometers. With New Earth's foggy atmosphere,”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“They all stared outside, and they laughed with joy. Through space they glided, a whole pod of them, mighty starwhales. The largest were the size of starfighter carriers. The juveniles were no larger than the Marilyn, quick and playful. Gently, Kemi lowered the ship onto the whale's back. The pod moved closer together, and the round organs on their temples expanded, pulsed with light, and thrummed. Around the pod, the light of stars stretched out. "They're forming a bubble of spacetime." Marco rubbed his eyes. "They evolved organs for it. Amazing." Lailani shrugged, smiling. "Hey, it works for the ravagers. Why not the starwhales?" The whales reached out their flowing barbels, interweaving them, and streams of light ran across the elongated organs. The whales bugled, the sound passing through the tendrils, into one another, into the ship. A whale's song. A song of joy, of exploration, of family. The song of the cosmic ocean.”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“He nodded. "Yes, but you know our captain. She lives off danger like a grunt lives off Spam." At the thought of Spam, he cringed. Addy had loved the stuff. Addy—taken captive by the marauders. Addy—his best friend, the person he loved most in the world. A prisoner of war. Kemi seemed to see his pain. "We'll get her back, Marco. We'll find the Ghost Fleet. We'll raise that armada and defeat the marauders. And we'll get Addy back. I promise you.”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“They're not spiders," Addy said. "Spiders have eight legs. These ones have six. They're more like insects, and—oh fuck me, I sound like Poet now." "Is Marco here?" Grant said. Addy shook her head. "We were fighting the marauders outside the city. We had a ship. The fuckers got me. I think Poet got away.”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“grabbed the hilt of her sword. She drew her ivory blade—his tooth. The tooth she had taken from him in his starship. She stared into his last eye. That eye widened, and at the end, it was full of”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“All right, we're good to go!" he said. Ben-Ari raced by him—back onto the Saint Brendan. "Captain!" Marco cried after her. "We need to go—now!" He glanced back behind them. The ravagers were even closer. Shards in the darkness, specks of fire. Twenty-two”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“She lost so much, Marco thought. I can't even imagine her pain. As he kept working, a new thought popped into his mind: Yet right now, I myself feel no pain.”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“Ben-Ari frowned and stared around the galley. "We'll need more than computers. The Brendan has sensors too. Telescopes. Radio dishes. Lots of hardware. We might be able to move some of it over. The navigational systems I can probably move. We might have to duct tape them onto the Anansi's hull, but . . ." She nodded. "We might just be able to navigate on that thing.”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“where she had lived with Marco for two years. The top few stories had fallen, including their apartment. Marauder webs coated the rest, and the aliens were scuttling across them. It had been a difficult two years, living in that cage, watching Marco spiral into the depression and madness of shell shock. But Addy missed those days now. We were alive. We were together. Tears filled her eyes. Now I don't know if I'll see you again, Poet. "Move!" The humans marched on, leaving the ruins behind. They entered a field where the rubble had been swept aside. Scattered fires burned, and metal poles rose from the ground, tall as electrical towers. Webs stretched between these jagged monoliths, and marauders crawled across them, overlooking the”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“from within the ship, goading forward two bleeding soldiers, survivors of the crash. The men's hands were raised, their faces bleeding. Addy looked away, jaw clenched. She wondered if these creatures were attacking Earth too, if her planet still stood. The great Human Defense Force, the army that had defeated the scum, had been drastically downsized since that devastating and costly war. Did any humans still fight? "Move it, meat!" a marauder grumbled, and a prod slammed into the old lady in front of Addy. The woman screamed and collapsed. "Grandma!" Addy said, kneeling”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows

“him. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. I hate this. I don't want to sell my soul to win." Steve placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're not selling your soul. Maybe you're just . . . lending it out for a while." She closed her eyes and gritted her jaw. Could she do this? Could she truly make a deal with the devil? Even if they survived, how would she then live with herself? Steve hugged her from behind, and Addy held his hands, silent, eyes closed. They made love—silent but hard, eager yet so weary. When she climaxed, she shouted into his palm, and she fell asleep in his arms. She never wanted to leave his embrace. In the morning, she walked through the military base. She wore no uniform, just jeans and a hockey jersey. She carried her rifle across her back, a bandoleer of bullets hung around her waist, and a cigarette dangled from her lips. Her helmet hung askew, scrawled with the words Hell Patrol. Her people walked behind her, just as ragged. She looked like a haggard survivor, bruised, scratched, her eyes sunken. But the fire burned”
― Daniel Arenson, Earth Shadows