Winter dread, p.1
Winter Dread, page 1
Winter Dread
Space Seasons book 5
Dawn Chapman
Winter Dread
Copyright © 2021 by Dawn Chapman
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written consent from the author, except in the instance of quotes for reviews. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the internet without the permission of the author and is a violation of the International copyright law, which subjects the violator to severe fines and imprisonment.
This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, incidents, and place are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real except where noted, and authorised. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events are entirely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or names featured are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.
The author and editor have taken great effort in presenting a manuscript free of errors. However, editing errors are ultimately the responsibility of the author.
Dedication
To my husband, Paul, and the many discord friends who kept me going through once again one heck of a year.
x X x
Acknowledgments
I’m sending special thanks and shout outs to my writing buddy. Michael Chatfield. And my closest friends K. T. Hannah and Luke Chmilenko. Thank you for being you and being there for me as always, and of course just being plain awesome (guys and gals, these authors books are mint, check them out)
Of course, huge thanks also goes to my editing team Jami and Evan. And Tara who is just awesome! Without all of you amazing people this would not be as polished.
Finally to all who chat to me daily, and whom I adore, and to the extra special people in the office you all know who you are, and working along side such professional people, is the best. I couldn’t ask for more.
There’s also of course, an extra shout out to my publisher for the main arc in this series. MDP, who has been a joy to work with.
To the guys and gals who I knew and now know even better.
Love you all!
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
About Dawn
Space Seasons
About Mountaindale
Other Recommended books
1
“We have a lot to discuss.” I’d glanced around to all my friends, who now looked confused. “Welcome to the real war.”
“The real war?” Dylan asked, his fingers entwining with Hiroto’s.
I frowned. I’d a lot of explaining to do. I glanced at Tyto. “Are the base and planet secure?”
Tyto’s eyes misted slightly, and he checked his internal systems. “Confirmed. Everything is secure.”
I wobbled slightly, and he stepped to my side. “You need to rest.”
I shivered and tugged the blanket around me; my respawn still reverberated through my new body. I looked around the room to see all the faces that were with us. So many denti I didn’t know. My eyes landed on Hiroto. It was definitely weird to be able to look at him, and I found myself staring. His denti body was tall, lithe, his facial features distinct, but I had no idea if they were moulded off his or the denti he was now possessing. Of course, I’d seen a lot of denti and their bodies. This was different. This was one of my closest friends. Someone who I had never met in the flesh. Someone who had resided in my mind for the last six years.
“I’m not going anywhere, Kyle,” Hiroto said to me, his face calm, yet his eyes danced between everyone in the room too. “I’m here, in the flesh.”
I blushed, and when I finally looked away and back to the room of people that were still around us, I realised I’d lost focus for a while. Not only just because of Hiroto but thinking of those final words: “Welcome to the real war.”
The decisions I’d make here were massive, and shivers ran through me at the thought of those consequences. I wanted to do the usual, check my character sheet, the updates, the levels. I knew there was a lot. I’d seen them stack up from fighting Motaki and then beating down the defence on the Denti homeworld. Everything the Metal Titans did affected us all. With so many watching my every move, now wasn’t the time. I’d need to sit, study, go over everything the system had given or taken away from me.
“No,” I said. “There’s no time to rest. I need to . . . We need to . . .” My legs gave way, leaving me with no choice but to lean forwards, panting.
Tyto took a knee beside me. “I’m calling Sadie.”
Kyle, we have just been through a lot, Sol said on the inside of me. I’m struggling, sorry.
“Give me a minute, Ty,” I said, holding a hand up to him. He held onto me. His hand on my back. Supportive.
Don’t be sorry, I replied to Sol. Each respawn is different. This one, a joining, is very different.
We will be okay? he asked.
Yes, it just takes time. The truth was, I hadn’t even known it would work. It had been a gamble, but it was our only choice. Worth it though. It proved this now—we could build from it. Together.
Someone kneeled before me.
“Kyle.” A sweet voice drifted to me that I vaguely recognised.
Melody? Yes, her name was Melody. Her friend had said it before Tyto had killed me and I respawned. I was drawn to look at her, instead of the floor.
She had amazing eyes, and her gaze alone settled me. “You need a little extra energy. The transfer is struggling to stick.”
I understood her words, but I lacked the energy to speak back. She gently sparked her kenosi and placed her hand to my forehead. Tyto let her, to my amazement. I presumed maybe he hadn’t thought of it or hadn’t much to spare from our ordeal in the first place.
When I felt her energy free-flowing into me, her strength surprised me.
The tingling spread through me, soft and warm. I let out a deep sigh as tension left my whole body. “Thank you.”
“It seems we have a lot to talk about, but you needed it.” She put her hand to her forehead in a kind of salute. She stood once more and moved to the others in her small group.
Tyto lowered his hand to me. “Think you can stand?”
I took his hand and raised myself back up. “Can you get me some real clothes, and we can . . .”
“We can do that,” Melody said, motioning to the girl standing slightly set back on her left. “Beth, would you run to the laundry house for clothes for both these new denti?”
“Of course.” Beth dipped her head and rushed off.
I was still shocked at the number of women who were around us. I guess they might be curious. We were, after all, invaders. Their faces still varied, though from dubious to curious, and I struggled with where to start.
Hiroto almost whooped and glanced my way, his eyes beaming. “I have a character sheet!”
I smiled over at him. “I can’t wait to see it.”
“We must convene and talk about our future.” A blonde older woman stepped closer to Melody. “Without them.”
Melody nodded and met my gaze. “You will be escorted to one of our barracks.” She waved a hand, and we were suddenly surrounded by women. “You will wait while we talk.”
I did not like this. It wasn’t going to end well.
Tyto stiffened at her stark words, and I panicked.
They would decide the fate of all of them without us? I cringed on the inside. “No,” I said, “we need to talk. All of us.”
“You are not fit enough. You must rest, or you risk the denti body you have been gifted.” Melody then looked Tyto up and down. “You are one of Kyle’s most trusted men?”
“I am,” he said, straightening his back.
She stepped towards him. Her kenosi sparked.
“Wait,” I managed to stammer out. She was not going to hurt him. Not while I was here. “He’s Eekan. Here only under the queen’s orders.”
There were gasps all around us, they lowered their heads, wouldn’t look at Tyto at all.
As for Melody, her kenosi dropped, her eyes misted. “The queen?” she asked, her voice trembled.
“Yes, Melody,” Tyto said, lowering his head slightly. “She chose my missions. Has been guiding myself and Kyle through any means necessary.”
I heard more murmurs around the room and looked at him. “I don’t und erstand?” I asked. “She’s been guiding us?”
“I’ve had updates from the world ship.” He lowered his head more.
I hoped it was due to trust issues. I’d trusted them all with everything. They couldn’t tell me this? I felt awful. But wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. “World ship?” I asked.
The denti world ship. If it is the Soteria, it is as big as this planet, Sol informed me. We presumed it had been destroyed.
“World ship?” I asked again. The connotations of a world ship. The size of a planet—that was . . . just. Wow.
“Both Xirob and I never told you everything,” Hiroto said to me, Dylan by his side still. He glanced behind him as Beth returned at last with the clothes they’d asked for. “There were a lot of things we talked about while you slept.”
I swallowed, jealousy rousing. “Didn’t you trust me, either of you?”
“It wasn’t just about trust. You’d a lot to deal with already. Some things you didn’t need to know.”
I was pissed now. “I didn’t need to know the denti queen was alive, that she’d been guiding ‘us’. That’s a joke, right?”
“There was just never the time to tell you. Our lives were so active, so hectic.”
“Yeah.” My shoulders slumped; I’d actually thought better of them, both of them. Xirob too, but then those memories surfaced, him and Ohara standing on the front line fighting a war in gigantic mechs with power I could only dream of. “Only so much time . . . right?”
“Yes and no,” Hiroto took the clothes Beth handed him. “Thank you.” He pulled on the black trousers before handing the blanket to one of the other ladies.
I copied him, instantly feeling much better with the security of the fabric around my junk. Last thing I wanted was to flash these new people.
“We’ve all got things we’ve kept from each other. We all have a lot to talk about,” Hiroto said, looking at Tyto.
Melody turned to me, and I struggled to read her face. She stood taller, her skin paler, lips tighter. “It was rumoured our queen perished many, many years ago, leaving us with nothing at all. No future, no one in charge.”
“There was no one else to take control of the denti?”
She threw her arms around herself. “Do you not see this? We’ve been nothing but lied to and mis-treated.” My heart sank, yet she held my gaze with hers. Her emotions poured off her in waves. “Without the thought our queen was alive, that the Eekan were alive, we . . .” Tears brimmed, and she struggled to contain them. “We almost gave up.” Beth went to her, wrapped her up. She took a few deep breaths. “Please, Tyto. Tell us more.”
Tyto swallowed. He looked to me, then to all the others who had now drawn in much closer. “She is very much alive. It was at her request I took this mission on. From my first respawn as human/denti, to my training, to my mission on Tolsa, and then even sending me hints about where to make money to upgrade Artemis. The journey which brought me to you was her first priority, always. She only hoped it would happen.” He looked to me. “That hope, her constant pushing. We wouldn’t be here without Kyle.”
“You revere him that much?” Melody’s eyes met mine again.
I shivered, still from the waking of my senses and muscles in the vat.
“There are many wonderful things in this world,” Tyto continued; his voice wavered slightly now though. “There are very few men I would put my life on the line for again and again. One of those men is standing right before you.”
The blonde let out a gasp. “That’s very high praise indeed, knowing where you came from.”
Tyto lowered his head to me, and heat rose up my neck.
“Beth,” Melody said. “Take Hiroto, and Kyle to 17788 barracks. They both need rest. Dylan can re-join the others. Tyto, you are with me.”
It was the way she turned around and walked away—Tyto was about to follow. I reached for him, and he stopped. “Kyle, trust me.” He frowned. “Go rest up for a while. I will come find you.”
“I would never not trust you, Ty,” I said and held my fist out for him. He bumped it gently. Then in one last burst of his emotions he pulled me to him again and squeezed so tight my spine popped slightly.
“Love you too, buddy.” I laughed as he walked away, following the two most prominent women in the room.
Beth sheepishly looked towards Hiroto, Dylan, and then myself. “Would you follow me, please?”
“I don’t want to leave you,” Dylan said.
Hiroto nodded. “I know, we have time. I promise.”
It was odd to see Dylan pull my friend closer to him. He was just that bit taller, but he was much more well-built. He made Hiroto look small against him.
“I’ll look after him,” I promised. Then I wobbled. I didn’t have the energy.
Quick to step up, leaning towards me and offering an arm. Hiroto said. “Dang, not even in your head anymore and I still have to prop you up.”
Dylan chuckled beside us both. “You have no idea how happy I am right now to see you both, like this.”
I stopped walking for a second, and I nearly fell over. “This isn’t gonna be any kind of weird threesome.”
“Kyle, you’re an idiot.” Hiroto laughed, then Dylan did, and it became infectious. In the end, I laughed too.
“You are amazing,” I said. “You know that?”
He grinned at me, and I took his arm, leaning into him. “You’re not bad yourself, Kyle.”
As we followed Beth, silence stretched between us. She pointed to a door with a number on, and Dylan left us to stay with the others. Walking now, with the close proximity of the friend I knew I had, was what I needed to really get through this. This body, this transfer, had been hard, the hardest thing I’d ever done.
I heard that small, unsure voice inside me once more. I hope you’re going to explain some of this to me soon, Sol said.
Of course I will. You should be able to see everything inside my mind; everything I am is now a part of you. You may take some time and get to see it for yourself or I can run you through it in quick points.
Oh, yes, I can. How wonderful. I will catch up if I can. He paused. This is a lot to take in.
You’re not young?
No, I am a fully formed and thinking denti mind, he replied. You are something else, Kyle.
I nodded on the inside. We were something else, yes. Hiroto and I. Xirob, Hiroto, and I.
He went quiet for a while as we walked.
Damn, this base was huge. “My mechs . . .”
“Some of your other team members were looking after them,” Beth replied. “They were thinking of getting them back to the ship for repairs.”
“You know a lot of what’s been going on since Tyto killed me?”
“I am her second in command.” She grinned.
“Oh.” I was interested more now. “There’s a hierarchy in here?”
“Very much so.” Beth took another corner, and we followed. “There’s so many of us, we had to get organised over the years.”
I could understand that, and it made much more sense that when I had stood before them that they’d both stepped forward. But it would take me a while to get used to who they all were and what they would mean to us, this world. To me as denti.
I glanced to my character sheet and looked at what I was.
There it was in black and white. Just—denti.
I was pure denti. That was just amazing. Nothing inside me was human anymore. Nothing but my mind.
