First contact gone terribly wrong. Can one person make a difference?
What if the savior was the one who needed saving?
All Claudia wanted to do was escape the mistakes of the past and start over. But when she answers an ad for a medical officer on a merchant ship in the Fringes, the captain recognizes her and blackmails her into taking the job.
The Holiday’s Captain Bennet is amoral and has a short fuse. Claudia steers clear of him as much as possible while trying to care for the crew he lashes out on. Then the rumors start that their latest mission is to a location Bennet won’t even share with the pilot.
The secret coordinates take the ship and crew to an uncharted system in the Fringes. To a planet that holds intelligent life, and despite the odds, also a humanoid one.
Bennet plans to use these aliens to climb up the power ladder at the borders of the Dominion. Even if it means placing the Avians into brutal servitude for the rest of their lives.
Can Claudia stop the impending exploitation of this newly discovered sentient species all on her own? Or is there a worse fate than blackmail waiting for her if she tries?
Excerpt
"Another accident, I presume?"
A flash of something crossed Stevens' eyes. Whether it was good or bad, Claudia couldn’t tell. Instead of answering the question, the first mate placed the unconscious woman she was carrying onto the scanner bed. Her patient had a large lump on the side of the head, and her nose looked broken.
Claudia had just activated the bed and was checking the unconscious woman's vitals when Stevens broke the silence. "The captain doesn’t tolerate failure or disobedience well."
Cold fury flared inside her, her suspicions of abuse by the one who commanded them confirmed in the matter of fact tone. She was amazed her hands didn’t shake as she programmed the scanner. Now that there was a medic onboard, did it mean Bennet was showing less restraint than usual? This would make her being here a boon and a bane to everyone on board. If the captain took things too far one too many times, might the crew decide the downside was worse than the benefits?
Claudia shook her head. "You still work for him." It wasn’t quite an accusation.
Stevens came up close. Claudia held her ground and didn’t step away. "We all have our reasons for being here. Whether we like them or not."
Claudia gave her a startled look. So Bennet did have something on her as well? How many of the crew had he blackmailed into signing up? She was desperate to ask but held her tongue.
Stevens stepped back, her expression as bland as always. "Please do what you can. When Quang is conscious, send her back to her post. The captain will be watching for her." Her eyes flicked a glance to the medbay’s corner and back again, no other part of her moving.
Claudia stared unseeing at the scanner’s readouts fighting not to glance in the direction Stevens indicated. Her fury went from hot to cold and back again as the implications sank in. The captain was watching.
She'd known he kept tabs on them, but somehow the way Stevens acted made her think it went beyond that. The ship had been wired to spy on them, and not just for entertainment as the first mate had implied weeks before. Claudia felt Bennet’s noose tighten around her neck just a little more.
Professional Reviews
A Fantastic SciFi Space Novel!
★★★★★ out of 5
Alien Redemption by Gloria Oliver is a fascinating deep space novel about a woman with a past that haunts her and has made her a pariah amongst those around her, so she tries to disguise herself in the hopes of being able to slip under the radar of anyone who may know her so that she can get a job. What she’s not prepared for is for the captain of the ship she applies to recognize her and then proceed to blackmail her into his service. The path ahead is fraught with dangers, but what choice does she have if she wants to stay alive and keep her secrets?
Alien Redemption is the first book that I have read by Gloria Oliver and this book truly fascinated me. The author gives me the main character with a hidden past, and a desire to redeem herself for those mistakes. My curiosity is immediately piqued as I want to learn more about what happened, but then the author hands me an unscrupulous captain who shows that he’s not above doing shady things to his own crew if they so much as displease him in the slightest. My emotions are brought to the forefront constantly throughout this book. My curiosity towards Claudia’s past, then my anger and disgust towards the Captain at how low he will go and how he truly views those who are aboard his ship. Like Claudia, I thought that my disgust and disdain for him could not go any lower, but the author proves us both wrong when they come across the mysterious planet with the unique alien beings.
I was absolutely delighted with the amount of detail that the author gives me concerning the planet and then the sentient alien beings themselves. I could picture their vivid colors in my mind, and my heart just grew fit to burst for them as Claudia goes about trying to do her best by and for them, despite the contemptible demands of the captain. I feel for Claudia as she goes about doing what she can and trying to find a way out of the dilemma that she has found herself in. I couldn’t help but smile at some of the interactions that she has with some of the aliens as well.
There honestly isn’t much that I can complain about concerning this book. The author has written it very well and knows how to pull readers deeper into the storyline as they go along. While I truly despise the captain himself there is always that one character in a story that you have to hate and let me tell you…he fits the bill perfectly.
I am rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. I look forward to reading more of this author’s work in the future as she has truly proven that she has a way with words and painting a vivid picture. If you enjoy science fiction novels with the discovery of new sentient beings and the question of morals then this is a good book to pick up. I would recommend this book for those who are 17+ as it does contain some sexual references.
Seraphina
Vine Voice, Amazon
How Far Will He Go?
★★★★★ out of 5
Claudia unhappily was meeting a prospective employer at the seedy Turbic Station bar, dark inside and bad-smelling from smoke and bodies. She was low on money and looking for a new start as a medical officer on a merchant ship in the Fringes. She had few other options since she could not risk them doing a background check on her and her ID was fake. So a job on a ship was her best chance of success. She was there to meet Captain Ricardo Bennet and found a man who rudely did all he could to ignore her. She introduced herself as Aya Maynard. He judged her as educated, entitled, and moral – as if it were a dirty word. Then he told her he knew who she was and if she tried to leave, he would yell out her name for all to hear! Knowing she was overqualified for his ship job, making her work for him would mean he was getting a great bargain, so he blackmailed her into taking the job.
Seeing the MedBay for the first time made Claudia feel she had hit rock-bottom. Equipment was ancient, at least 30 years out of date. Tape covered all the cracked plastic on the surfaces, and the room smelled stale. She fixed what equipment she could by running their diagnostic programs. Her first patient was the Engineer Dubrai who fixed the examination table that wasn’t working before she got to ask him about his ailment. He had a calcium buildup in his joints which medication could easily fix. The captain even commented that he saw him later dancing around the room! Later when one of the crew came at Claudia with a knife to make her open the drug cabinets, the Captain caught him and severely beat him. Claudia was not allowed to treat him, and the Captain took bets with the officers on whether the man would survive the night! His disappointment the next day was only that the man caused his own death after they left port, so the Captain would be short a crew member!
Because Captain Bennet has no morals and a bad temper, Claudia continued to avoid him whenever possible. Talk of a secret mission starts, and they end up in an uncharted system in the Fringes. There they find intelligent life which the captain plans to use to his own advantage, putting the sentient Avians they discovered into servitude. Can Claudia stop him from exploiting the new species? Or will she be putting her own life into further danger instead?
This was an interesting story, first raising the reader’s curiosity about whatever Claudia did that let the Captain blackmail her. Then throughout the rest of the pages, the author slowly built up the reprehensible Captain by showing the reader all the cruelty he freely dispensed on others. Keeping the reader’s emotions in turmoil was very effective in setting the tone and making it obvious how far the Captain would go to get his way and how little he cared about even his own crew – so a new species would not generate any kindness either. The story was done well. Grab your copy and see whether Claudia will get involved and if anyone will back her up if she does. Be ready for the excitement!
Emily Pennington
Top 100 Reviewer, Amazon
First Contact and Redemption Rolled Into One
★★★★★ out of 5
A fun first contact read with plenty of action, some blackmail, and a struggle for redemption that will keep you glued to each page.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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