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Orbs II: Stranded: A Science Fiction Thriller - Softcover

Buch 2 von 4: Orbs

Sansbury Smith, Nicholas

 
9781501133251: Orbs II: Stranded: A Science Fiction Thriller
Softcover
ISBN 10: 150113325X ISBN 13: 9781501133251
Verlag: Simon & Schuster/ Simon451, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

The thrilling sequel to Nicholas Sansbury Smith’s bestselling Orbs—when one of their own is captured, Dr. Sophie Winston and her team of survivors must exit the safety of their biosphere and fight off the growing horde of aliens.

The Organics are still draining the oceans, raising temperatures worldwide, and the few remaining humans have been herded into farms, where the water in their bodies is harvested to support the growing alien army. Humanity’s last chance lies with the biospheres that the mysterious New Tech Corporation has planted across the globe. With resources dwindling, and a new, more terrifying form of alien hunting humans down, not all the biospheres will make it.

But there is still hope. In Sophie’s biosphere, her team has managed to create a magnetic weapon that just might give the human resistance a fighting chance—if they can live long enough to use it. Meanwhile, the lone survivor of another failed biosphere treks across the California desert to the ocean and is rescued by an NTC submarine that has been tracking the movements of Sophie’s team and the development of their magnetic weapon.

An exciting update of the classic alien invasion story, Orbs II weaves together horror, suspense, and science fiction in a thoroughly fresh, modern, unputdownable book.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Nicholas Sansbury Smith is the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Hell Divers trilogy, the Orbs trilogy, and the Extinction Cycle series. He worked for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management in disaster mitigation before switching careers to focus on his one true passion—writing. When he isn’t writing or daydreaming about the apocalypse, he enjoys running, biking, spending time with his family, and traveling the world. He is an Ironman triathlete and lives in Iowa with his fiancée, their dogs, and a house full of books. 

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Orbs II

CHAPTER 1

DR. Sophie Winston replayed the message on her tablet again. It was the fourth time in as many minutes, but she needed to hear it once more just to be sure it was real.

“This is Alex Wagner with the Biosphere facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California, requesting assistance. Over.”

Their mission had been a lie from the beginning. A damned rotten lie straight from the mouth of Dr. Hoffman, the CEO of New Tech Corporation—the man she had thought would lead humanity to a sanctuary on Mars. But there was at least hope: Someone else had survived the invasion, someone who needed help. And if there was one, Sophie knew there would be others.

Dr. Emanuel Rodriguez crossed the mess hall and plopped down on the metal stool across from Sophie. He slid a glass of water to her and with a hesitant smile said, “It’s starting to sound like a broken record’s playing over here.”

Sophie frowned and studied the clear liquid in a way she never had before. At first glance, there was nothing special about it. Then again, gasoline had seemed ordinary before the resource had become scarce.

She met Emanuel’s concerned gaze and tried to return his smile.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, there’s just a lot on my mind. Sergeant Overton still can’t get a message through to this other Biosphere, and their SOS stopped replaying four days ago. Something catastrophic must have happened,” Sophie said.

Emanuel sighed. “Well, then I should probably keep this next comment to myself. I don’t want to add to your stress,” he said, reaching for her hand.

She smiled but pulled away from his touch, reaching instead to massage her side. The weeks-old injury was healing nicely, but there was still the sporadic pain, and the scar that would be with her for the rest of her life. A slight twinge of pain followed her fingers but quickly faded away.

“Just spill it,” she said.

“It’s the readings from the drone we sent outside. The temperature is still rising. In the past five weeks, it’s already gone up two degrees—and that’s about to become three. If this keeps up—”

“We may die before the Organics drain the oceans after all?”

Emanuel nodded. “I’m concerned about the carbon locked away in the polar ice caps. When they melt, it will be released, increasing the greenhouse effect. That’s probably why the temperature is rising faster than Alexia calculated.”

“My God,” Sophie whispered.

Even after five weeks of living in this new world, Sophie still hadn’t fully grasped what had happened outside the Biosphere doors. Sure, she’d seen the empty streets, the orbs, and the alien monsters, but it wasn’t until she crunched the numbers that it finally became very clear—the planet, and all the life upon it, was taking its last breaths.

She had to remember the positives—the things she was thankful for, starting with the fact that the Biosphere was functioning well and Biome 1 was close to producing its first harvest. They still had power from the solar panels and backup generators for an indefinite amount of time. The reverse magnetic pulse generator they had taken from Luke Williard’s bunker was still fully operational. Without the RVM, they would have perished weeks ago. And Sophie couldn’t forget Alexia. The AI had proven more useful than she ever imagined.

Sophie reached for the glass of water and took a slow sip, savoring the liquid as it slid down her throat. “What about the oceans?” she asked. “What do we know about their current levels?”

Emanuel shrugged. “It’s hard to tell. The only way to really know is to send another drone.”

Sophie crossed her arms and watched Emanuel as he compulsively pushed his glasses farther up his nose. It was something he always did before testing a new hypothesis.

“I think we should send the second drone,” he said.

“We already discussed this.”

“I know, but things have changed. The temperature is rising faster than we thought.”

Sophie sighed. They only had two robots. One was in the field, and the other was out of commission. They could fix it, but she didn’t want to risk losing them both. “I’ve said it before: We need to wait for the other drone to get back safely.”

The PA system suddenly crackled to life, and Alexia’s holographic avatar flickered over a console in the center of the mess hall. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Doctors, but a pressing matter requires your attention,” she said in her calm voice. Emanuel spun in his chair. “What ya got, Alexia?”

“Sir, our drone has picked up some unusual activity outside.”

Sophie stood, groaning from a jolt of pain. “Unusual?”

“I think it’s best if you go look for yourself . . . and I encourage you to go now,” Alexia said in a voice that sounded almost frightened. Can robots feel fear? Sophie wondered briefly. She shook the thought away and raced out of the mess hall, with Emanuel close behind.

The sound of their footsteps echoed in the narrow passage as they made their way to the command center (CIC). Sergeant Overton met them at the door. He wore a serious face, more pale than usual, but it was his eyes that caused Sophie to skid to a halt. They were wide and intense.

What has he seen? What has Alexia found?

She stood on her toes to get a look at the blurry monitors at the other end of the room, but couldn’t see anything besides the flickering glow the devices emanated.

“Will you move, please?” she blurted, her voice anxious.

“I don’t think you want to see this, Sophie,” Overton replied.

Whatever the drone had relayed to the CIC had turned the battle-hardened sergeant into a silent observer. It was odd not hearing him curse or grumble. Sophie’s curiosity grew. The scientist in her wanted to see, had to see what it was.

“Excuse me,” Sophie said, edging past the marine.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said as Emanuel followed her.

Sophie moved up to the monitors and saw the drone had stopped on the edge of a clearing surrounded by a forest of dead trees. Leafless branches swayed in the light breeze, partially obstructing the view.

To the north the ground fell away and dropped several feet into a dry lakebed. Moving across the cracked dirt was a long line of . . . something.

Sophie edged closer to the screens. Squinting, she focused on the shapes as one of them let out a blood-curdling—and undeniably human—scream.

She clapped her hands together when she realized what they were looking at. The drone had found a group of survivors. So why did Overton seem so disturbed?

When she saw the alien tails of two Sentinels flicking across the dirt, her joy quickly turned to shock. The humans were prisoners, being herded across the lakebed.

The team watched the monitors in helpless silence.

A tiny blue dot flickered on the horizon.

“What’s that?” Emanuel asked. He pointed at the light racing across the skyline toward the clearing.

“One of their drones,” Overton said.

The ship stopped over the lakebed, filling the empty basin with its blue light. It was then...

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Verlag
Simon & Schuster/ Simon451
Erscheinungsdatum
2016
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
150113325X
ISBN 13 
9781501133251
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
272
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