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Winner of a 2015 Galaxy Award!
(Previously titled Atrophy) No one on Erebus escapes alive... Twelve years on the prison planet Erebus makes a man long for death. The worst part for Tannin Everette is that he was framed for murder. He’s innocent. When the ship Imojenna lands for emergency repairs, Tannin risks everything to escape…only to find himself face to face with the captain’s undeniably gorgeous sister. Zahli Sherron isn’t planning on turning Tannin in. In fact, she actually believes him. Sure, he’s sexy as every kind of sin, but he’s no criminal—so she hides him. But no one escapes from Erebus and lives to tell about it. With every day that passes, Zahli further risks the lives of the entire crew…even as she falls in love with a man she can never have for herself. |
"In true Firefly fashion, this story is funny, dark, and romantic with a variety of colorful characters." -- Anna McClain, Galaxy Awards Judge.
"Best science fiction romance book by Jess Anastasi that I have read. If you loved Joss Whedon's Firefly series or his Serenity movie, than this is a book that needs to be on your radar." -- Literati Literature Lovers via Goodreads
"I really loved this story. It has all the romance, suspense, action, angst, and sex a good book should have. It made me feel." Gthopmson via Amazon
"There's a motley crew to get to know, multiple conflicts waiting to unfold, shady & tortured pasts to uncover and loads of unresolved sexual tension to strip away -- all of which remind me of Firefly on steroids set in the ever-faulty Millennium Falcon, full of cynical humor, spiffy dialogue, and all kinds of mad behavior." -- Disir via Goodreads
"Best science fiction romance book by Jess Anastasi that I have read. If you loved Joss Whedon's Firefly series or his Serenity movie, than this is a book that needs to be on your radar." -- Literati Literature Lovers via Goodreads
"I really loved this story. It has all the romance, suspense, action, angst, and sex a good book should have. It made me feel." Gthopmson via Amazon
"There's a motley crew to get to know, multiple conflicts waiting to unfold, shady & tortured pasts to uncover and loads of unresolved sexual tension to strip away -- all of which remind me of Firefly on steroids set in the ever-faulty Millennium Falcon, full of cynical humor, spiffy dialogue, and all kinds of mad behavior." -- Disir via Goodreads
Chapter One
Onboard the Imojenna, somewhere in void-space
“So, tell me how we’re not going to explode this time?” Zahli Sherron grabbed onto the back of her brother’s chair, the wail of multiple warning alarms and urgent flash of red emergency lights cutting right through her skull until her head throbbed.If it weren’t for the fact she knew the Imojenna was just a ship of mechanical parts, she would have sworn the old girl had a mind of her own. One that occasionally tried to kill them.
Dizzying weightlessness pulled at her as internal gravity failed, and she held tighter to the back of the captain’s chair. That was all they needed—one more malfunction added to the impressive list of utilities already flat-lining. If the heat was anything to go by, environmentals had failed for the fifth time this month.
Rian slammed a fist against his console. “Come on you fat assed, lazy whore!”
“You know she always gets into a mood when you call her names.” Gravity returned and Zahli’s knees jarred when her feet thumped back down to the floor.
“I wouldn’t have to call her names if she’d cooperate once in a while. Why aren’t you belted in?” Rian glanced over his shoulder at her and wiped at the sweat running down the side of his face. Her brother turned his attention back to the display screen across the main viewport as data flashed, warning about the impending depressurization of the cargo bay from a hull breech. “Not the Grigorian liquor, you crotchety bitch!”
“Automated full ship lock down and venting of cargo bay in thirty seconds,” the monotone voice of the Imojenna announced.
Frecking great. When the last lockdown had sectioned up the Imojenna, the bridge hadn’t opened afterward with the rest of the ship, and it’d taken almost an entire rotation to override the command. She’d thought it kind of funny at the time because she’d been on the outside. Next time Rian tried to buy hull sections from a dodgy parts dealer on some backwater moon, a slap upside the head should remind him not to bother.
Not wanting to do any ceiling-surfing if gravs shut off again, Zahli fell into one of the emergency seats and raked the safety straps across her chest while the ship rumbled and shook as though it’d break apart at any second.
“Lianna, do something. That’s two months’ worth of currency about to be vacuumed into void-space.” The glass, wood, and stone beads Rian wore in a thick band around his right wrist clinked against the crystal display as his hand shifted over the screen.
In the co-pilot’s chair, Lianna Mackenzie leaned forward against her seat harness, attention focused on the display in front of her. “The only way I can stop it is to shut off hyper-engines and drop us out of void-space.”
Oh no. Anxiety roiled through Zahli’s stomach like she’d eaten a plate of bad replicated chicken. She tilted to the side and tried to see around Rian’s big head, but couldn’t quite make out the navigational data. “We can’t just drop out of void-space. Where the hell are we?”
“Twenty seconds to vacuum and counting,” Lianna reported.
“Just do it, pull us out.” Rian swiped the information from his screen and tabbed up an open comm channel to the rest of the ship. “All hands, lock it down. Emergency drop out in fifteen seconds.”
“Have I mentioned today how much I hate you, Rian?” Zahli closed her eyes and started counting down to the last possible second until she could hold her breath.
Onboard the Imojenna, somewhere in void-space
“So, tell me how we’re not going to explode this time?” Zahli Sherron grabbed onto the back of her brother’s chair, the wail of multiple warning alarms and urgent flash of red emergency lights cutting right through her skull until her head throbbed.If it weren’t for the fact she knew the Imojenna was just a ship of mechanical parts, she would have sworn the old girl had a mind of her own. One that occasionally tried to kill them.
Dizzying weightlessness pulled at her as internal gravity failed, and she held tighter to the back of the captain’s chair. That was all they needed—one more malfunction added to the impressive list of utilities already flat-lining. If the heat was anything to go by, environmentals had failed for the fifth time this month.
Rian slammed a fist against his console. “Come on you fat assed, lazy whore!”
“You know she always gets into a mood when you call her names.” Gravity returned and Zahli’s knees jarred when her feet thumped back down to the floor.
“I wouldn’t have to call her names if she’d cooperate once in a while. Why aren’t you belted in?” Rian glanced over his shoulder at her and wiped at the sweat running down the side of his face. Her brother turned his attention back to the display screen across the main viewport as data flashed, warning about the impending depressurization of the cargo bay from a hull breech. “Not the Grigorian liquor, you crotchety bitch!”
“Automated full ship lock down and venting of cargo bay in thirty seconds,” the monotone voice of the Imojenna announced.
Frecking great. When the last lockdown had sectioned up the Imojenna, the bridge hadn’t opened afterward with the rest of the ship, and it’d taken almost an entire rotation to override the command. She’d thought it kind of funny at the time because she’d been on the outside. Next time Rian tried to buy hull sections from a dodgy parts dealer on some backwater moon, a slap upside the head should remind him not to bother.
Not wanting to do any ceiling-surfing if gravs shut off again, Zahli fell into one of the emergency seats and raked the safety straps across her chest while the ship rumbled and shook as though it’d break apart at any second.
“Lianna, do something. That’s two months’ worth of currency about to be vacuumed into void-space.” The glass, wood, and stone beads Rian wore in a thick band around his right wrist clinked against the crystal display as his hand shifted over the screen.
In the co-pilot’s chair, Lianna Mackenzie leaned forward against her seat harness, attention focused on the display in front of her. “The only way I can stop it is to shut off hyper-engines and drop us out of void-space.”
Oh no. Anxiety roiled through Zahli’s stomach like she’d eaten a plate of bad replicated chicken. She tilted to the side and tried to see around Rian’s big head, but couldn’t quite make out the navigational data. “We can’t just drop out of void-space. Where the hell are we?”
“Twenty seconds to vacuum and counting,” Lianna reported.
“Just do it, pull us out.” Rian swiped the information from his screen and tabbed up an open comm channel to the rest of the ship. “All hands, lock it down. Emergency drop out in fifteen seconds.”
“Have I mentioned today how much I hate you, Rian?” Zahli closed her eyes and started counting down to the last possible second until she could hold her breath.
