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Merita King - Science Fiction Novelist
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Category:
Science Fiction
Publisher: Merita King
ISBN-10: 0957052065
Type: Fiction
Pages: 251
Copyright: Jun 9 2013
ISBN-13: 9780957052062
Price: $1.99 (eBook)
Jake Elloway, the inter-galactic movie phenomenon, agrees to spend 3 months living & working aboard an inter-galactic freighter to research for a new movie role. Once aboard however, he finds not everyone is happy to have a celebrity amongst them, and he soon finds himself within a terrible nightmare battle for survival.
In order to make this movie, first Jake must survive.
Jake Elloway has a glittering career as one of Earth’s most celebrated vidicom movie stars and enjoys his privileged lifestyle to the full. An arrogant megalomaniac, he is handsome and talented, but selfish and indulgent.
Jake reluctantly agrees to spend three months living and working aboard an inter galactic freightliner as research for a new role, but finds few friends amongst the crew.
Life aboard the Mayan Queen quickly proves to be anything but comfortable, and when events suddenly take a dangerous turn, he realises not everyone on board is keen to protect him.
With space pirates hot on their heels, Jake and his friends make a desperate bid for freedom, and find themselves in a new and terrible nightmare.
Excerpt
Nef led the group down the gentle incline, making sure everyone knew to leave a clear trail for their pirate stalkers to see and, he hoped, follow. He led them straight towards the edge of the flat plain that bordered the deep forest and separated it from another identical forest a mile to the west. Once they reached the tree line, they turned northeast again and headed into the trees.
“It would be wise to try to keep at least several feet from the trees themselves wherever possible,” Shib reminded them. “We want to try to avoid any close encounters with the indigenous animal life, since we don’t whether they are dangerous or not. And please remember not to let any flying insects land on you.”
“Sure thing buddy,” Captain Nagle replied. They trudged through the undergrowth, being as careful as they could and all worried about where they were putting their feet.
“Hey guys,” Jake called out, “look at these. Aren’t they beautiful?” Everyone looked at the delicate white blooms that Jake was admiring; the slender five petalled stars massed above a bloated stem as thick as a man’s wrist. He bent down to smell them and failed to notice the nearest flower slowly bend its delicate white head towards him. Shib leapt forwards, bundling him out of the way roughly so that he almost fell to the ground.
“What the fuck?” Jake exclaimed as he stumbled. “What’s your problem buddy?” Shib stood and turned to face him and everyone saw the tiny needles embedded into his cheek and neck and watched as they withered and fell away within seconds. Everyone gaped.
“Holy shit,” Crib hissed. “What is that?”
“I think we’ve most likely found what killed Stella Bodecki,” Shib replied.
“Oh man I’m sorry,” Jake said, eyes wide with shock.
“Do not apologise Jake,” Shib smiled. “Now we know where the poison that killed her came from, we know what to avoid.”
“But how did you know?” Manlee asked.
“I saw the head of the flower bend towards Jake as he bent to smell it,” Shib replied, “and it occurred to me that it seemed almost as if it knew he was getting close.”
“Is there anything on this rock that doesn’t want to kill us?” Ace remarked as they set off once again.
“Well I don’t,” Arsh replied.
“Thank god for that,” Captain Nagle said.
They walked for a couple of hours without incident until they came to a small stream and decided to stop to refill their water bottles and take a rest. Shib tested the water and found it to be drinkable so they drank plenty and filled their bottles. Jake took off his shirt and the vest he had wrapped around his head and had as decent a wash as he was able. The water was icy cold but he felt sticky and dirty and didn’t mind. His jet-black hair so beloved of his millions of fans was covered in a film of dust and he hated the way his scalp itched. He ran a hand over his chin and jaw and wished he could have a shave as well. After rinsing his shirt and vest, he laid them out on a boulder to dry. Everyone watched in envy and within minutes, the little stream filled with men, stripped to the waist and braving the icy chill to wash the sweat and dust from their bodies and hair.
“That feels mighty nice,” Manlee said as he sat down beside Jake. “I hate being sweaty and sticky.”
“Same here,” Jake nodded. “If I turned up anywhere looking like that on Earth I’d drop ten places on the ranking board within a day.”
“It must be a pain having to be so obsessional about the way you look all the time.”
“I’m used to it. I’ve been in the movie business for twenty years and the way you look is a huge part of that. You have to take care of yourself and keep yourself looking good, at least if you want any decent roles. It’s hard work keeping in shape and I’ve been lucky with good genetics but I work hard at it so I enjoy the rewards.”
“It’s not exactly work though is it?” Captain Nagle said as he sat down beside Manlee. “I mean not in the proper sense. Anyone can stand, smile, and kiss young girls. Jeez I’d love to do that for a living and earn your money.”
“Do you smoke Captain?” Jake asked.
“Occasionally yeah, why?”
“Do you drink alcohol?”
“Sure, socially.”
“Do you take drugs of any kind?”
“Hell no.”
“What about painkillers, cold remedies, sleeping pills?”
“Well of course, sometimes. What the fuck has that got to do with it?”
“I can’t smoke. I can’t drink alcohol, take painkillers or a cold remedy. Nice things like doughnuts or cookies are not allowed because I have to watch my weight and keep in shape. I have to work out three hours every single day. It’s impossible for me to go to the store, my folks and I can’t go out to a restaurant and walking down the street is simply out of the question. The only people I ever have proper conversations with are my parents and my staff. If I want to keep my job, I have to smile all the time, to everyone, no matter how low I may be feeling. People ask me the same old questions in every single interview and I have to look happy to answer them every time. Learning lines takes weeks and we have to do scenes over and over again. I have to be gracious and deal with the paternity suits, death threats and petulant wannabe actors who hate me because I’m good at what I do. At any moment, I know that I could be murdered or kidnapped and sent to some prehistoric hell hole with some guy who obviously hates me and everything I stand for, and I’m not allowed to punch him in the face because I’d never work again. So it’s not real work? You try it for a month buddy.” He glared at Captain Nagle, trembling with anger.
The Captain didn’t know how to reply. He hated to admit that he’d never thought about what life for celebrities was actually like or what the downsides of such a life might be and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wouldn’t last a day with such restrictions.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he got up and went to speak with Shib.
“What the fuck is that asshole’s problem?” Jake hissed.
“I’ve no idea Jake,” Manlee whispered, “but if it’s any consolation, we’ve all begun to wonder the same ourselves.”
“You have?”
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