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Vampire in Space Part 2: Fear and Hate

The Starburst was still headed in the direction of the Outer Rim. I hailed the ship to see if the vampire had been captured. There was no response. The escape pod I was in was barely just over the size of a sleeper pod. It was cramped to say the least. Outside I saw the other escape pods flying automatically to Crete. A hail came through as I passed the mining ships. I answered the hail, “Hello, this is Adriel.”

“Hello this is the crew of Blue Robin. Would you like to dock at our ship? We are headed toward the Outer Rim next.” Generally escape pods were like being trapped in a cage. People would offer travel to escape pods to present a less claustrophobic option. In the meanwhile the new passenger would share the gossip as to what happened to their ship. I would have no problem recounting the horror of the vampire attack for curious crew members. My escape pod docked on the Blue Robin. There was a clicking sound as the escape pod connected to the side of the ship. A rush of air and sanitizing spray entered the pod before the door opened for me to step out.

The room I entered was empty save for a crew member that came to greet me. She was a Felix Dominae, a cat-like bipedal species that greatly resembled the domestic cat.

“Welcome aboard, Adriel.” She purred as she spoke my name.

“Thank you, Miss?”

“You can call me Tas. Follow me.” Tas’s tail twitched slightly at the tip as she led me down a corridor that was free of advertisements. The ship must have pulled in funding from other sources.

Eventually we came to a lift which deposited us on the top floor. We entered a doorway into the bridge. Tas introduced me to the officers and captain.

Captain Ando said, “Tell us what happened to your ship?”

“I’m not sure you will believe me but-” I recounted the horrid affair. I spoke calmly as if the events happened to someone else. I was surprised by the end when I noticed I was wringing my hands.

“A vampire in space, huh?” The captain looked at the other officers.

Vampirism was found in a variety of species but none hailed from anywhere near this star system. The crew heard my tale with little interruption. Now that I was done a silence fell over the room. 

“Alright Adriel, you have been through enough. Why don’t you stay in your guest quarters and get comfortable.”

I didn’t argue and happily followed Tas to my room. The room boasted a bed and bathroom. There was no cooking unit. Soon I would have to leave to eat. I was not looking forward to it. Undoubtedly people would ask me questions I no longer felt like answering. I survived a traumatic event and had a remarkable sense of calm about the ordeal. I still remembered some of the bloody bodies I saw on my way out. I shook my head as if I were shaking off the dark thoughts.

When the time came to eat dinner I left my quarters. I followed the ship’s schematic to the mess hall. Tonight’s dinner was garlic tofu with rice and beans. The ancient tofu dish was tasty and a tad bit spicy.

“Tofu is my favorite.” Tas sat down across from me.

“My favorite is beef burger.”

“We only eat real food. No imitation beef based on long dead cows,” Tas used her chopsticks to pick up tofu and popped it in her mouth.

Dinner passed with little interruption. People didn’t notice me in the crowded mess hall filled with hundreds of people. For that I was thankful. Once done I bid Tas farewell and headed back to my quarters.

A hail came from the captain. I answered the call, “Hello Captain Ando.”

“Adriel, we are approaching the Starburst. Would you like us to hail and see how the crew is doing? I will keep the comlink open so you can hear them.”

I agreed knowing it would likely be radio silence again. 

“Hello this is Captain Ando from the Blue Robin. Do you need assistance?”

The viewing screen on the wall showed the Starburst floating nearby. Almost all the escape pods were ejected. 

“Hello this is captain Ando-“

“Hello this is Captain Wendel. Please allow me to board your ship.”

My breath hitched, captain Wendel was alive.

“Captain Wendel, we were informed there’s a hostile entity on your ship. Did you neutralize her?” 

Captain Wendel responded,”No she has not been neutralized. She has taken the lives of countless crew members and there’s a minute chance she will chase me to the escape pod. I’m abandoning our ship and cargo because while she is free she will kill and feed on anything in sight.”

“Alright Captain Wendel, if you can make it to an escape pod you’ll be allowed on this ship for safe passage to the Outer Rim.”

“Thank you Captain Ando.”

It was a few hours later when Captain Wendel contacted Captain Ando. “Captain, my escape pod isn’t operational. The only way I can come on the ship is if you dock it to mine.”

I was glad the bridge kept my com on line so I could hear the latest request. I immediately hailed the bridge, “Captain Ando, this is Adriel. I strongly suggest that you do not dock to the Starburst. The vampire can break into this ship and cause havoc.”

Captain Ando dignified my request with the response, “We have more security personnel, all will be fine.” There was nothing left to say now that my request had been denied. I waited to see what would happen.

The ship docked with the Starburst. The door to the Starburst opened after the sanispray was released. A lone female figure stood in the doorway. It was not captain Wendel.

Security personnel immediately tried to apprehend the vampire but she used her superior speed to dodge their weapons and cuffs. Until finally she ran past them to enter the ship. Immediately an intruder alert alarm was activated.

“Intruder alert, all non essential personnel please lockdown in your room or the immediate area.” The sounds of doors shutting nearby reminded me to lockdown my own room. I had been watching the docking on the display screen in my room. I tried to maintain a link to the bridge so I could see what happened next. Unfortunately the connection broke. A message went across the screen.

“Please remain in lockdown until the intruder is caught.”

I remembered the vampire’s strength and knew it was the luck of the draw whether she would choose to break down the door to my room. Outside the window I could see the docked Starburst. It disconnected from the Blue Robin and continued its course to the Outer Rim. Captain Wendel must have realized the vampire was no longer on board which meant she could haul the supplies and sell them on her own. The crew had abandoned the ship so they forfeited their portion of the profit. A part of me was disgusted that Captain Wendel would leave the Blue Robin with her problem. Still one had to hand it to her, she didn’t lose sight of her goals.

Screams erupted from the hall and the loud sound of banging metal soon joined the chorus of sounds. An alarm began ringing and the ship’s AI repeated, “Intruder alert,” over and over. I took a deep breath and looked at my bed. It was attached to the wall so I couldn’t put it in front of the door. A banging sound began to ring on the other side of my door. The metal was folding into the shape of a fist as the vampire banged on my door. Maybe if she got to me she’d just drink my blood and knock me out if I was lucky. Bang. Bang. A hole formed in the center of my door. I was out of options; there was only one door to my room. The sound of a gun going off caught my attention. If the vampire was shot she showed no indication of pain or recognition. The banging continued and my door continued to open wider and wider. My breathing increased speed, and the room began to spin. I had to put my hand on my chest to calm myself. I slowed my breath. Weaponless I raised my hands into fists just in time for my door to open up into a gaping hole large enough for the vampire to come through.

Her skin was pale and her hair a dark shroud pushed away from her face. Her ears were pointed. She hissed revealing fangs. I swallowed my breath catching in my throat. My hands were raised next to my face into fists. She came so fast I didn’t have time to even think let alone move. She stood directly in front of me and I attempted to punch her. My right hook didn’t even nudge her. Her body was like punching concrete. My hand immediately felt sharp pain. The vampire hissed and grabbed my neck. She raised me off the ground looking into my eyes with pure hatred. I didn’t understand how she disdained me. Whatever the reason for her anger, I soon began to see spots before my eyes. The world went black.

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New Chapter Released for Free

This week was tough, we had severe flooding in my corner of the world. Thankfully my house still has power and I got a day off work. That down time was time that I utilized to relax and write. Today I posted chapter 1 of Vampire in Space on my Patreon. The previous parts were the prologue. In chapter 1 we encounter Ela in the prison she was assigned to. If you want to read the chapter for free please go to my Patreon. Recently I’ve been keeping up with writing Dreams of a World Unknown so I’ve been writing two stories at once. I’ve been reading Tag Team by SJD Peterson. During my down time I’m watching That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime (that’s an anime). I love fantasy stories set in another world and for that matter I love science fiction too.

My love for science fiction and fantasy led to Vampire in Space (which was first inspired by a dream I had). Originally it was going to be a short story, but once I started writing it I had too much fun to let it end. I wanted to know more about the vampire Ela, I wanted to see her grow and change. Now in addition to Dreams of a World Unknown I may have another novel on my hands.

If you read Vampire in Space I would love to hear your feedback. You can comment below or on the story itself.

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What I’m working on now

Last weekend was Mother’s Day, I forgot to wish a happy Mother’s Day to everyone so happy belated Mother’s Day! When you read this I’ll have just gotten back from seeing my mother and aunt. I went on a four day trip to see them. 

Speaking of trips, part three of Vampire in Space is still in the works. We will see everything from Adriel’s perspective. I will post part three for free on my Patreon. Thank you to my patrons for your support. Your support helps me to continue my work.

I’m still writing Dreams of a World Unknown. I’ve been writing at a crawl with little direction for the scenes. I’ve been having an easier time writing Vampire in Space. My main goal has been to finish writing a full novel. I’ve heard of authors taking years to finish their first book. Hopefully this year is the year the book gets finished.

I’d say I’m more than ready to finish my book. Sharing it with the world will be the next step. Correction editing the book would be my next step. There’s so much that goes into having a polished story. I am glad I have the resources to get the story to where it needs to be.

Please feel free to leave a comment below.

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Vampire in Space Part II

Part II of Vampire in Space has been released on my Patreon for the paid tier. I hope my patrons enjoy it. I have been thinking of releasing more short stories based on the Vampire in Space world. I know the title is silly, but it plainly states what the story is about. I want to make the whole story free for people who sign up for my newsletter, but I’m still struggling to get the newsletter set up. There’s some technical stuff I have to sort out to set up the newsletter. Hopefully I can set that up sooner rather than later.

I’m still in the process of writing the tentatively titled, Dreams of a World Unknown. I plan to share exclusive previews of excerpts of the story on my Patreon for patrons. If any of you are interested in seeing exclusive excerpts on my website let me know in the comments below. Thank you for following my writer journey. I’m hopeful that soon I’ll finish my novel and have my first book to share with you sometime this year. 

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Vampire in Space Part 1

My dreams have been the inspiration for most if not all my stories. Vivid dreams about life in other worlds has led me to write and draw what I’ve seen. In my last post I discussed a dream I had of a vampire attack aboard a spaceship. That dream inspired me to write a short story about the attack. The story will be released in two parts on my Patreon.

 The first part of the short story will be free and the second part will be part of the paid tier on my patreon. Here is part one below:

Starburst had a minimal crew to ship the food from the world Crete to the Outer Rim.  I was not looking forward to this month’s trip as it pulled me away from my wife and kids. Still, the credits would help with finances at home. I sat in the mess hall eating some tubers and bug meat when Adriel walked in.

“Morning Wendel, how are you doing?”

“Eh, much the same as any launch date. You?”

“I’m looking forward to our trip through the Outer Rim. I heard there are some crazy life forms out there.”

“A couple of Gorgots aren’t so strange.”

The tentacled sentient life forms were rare to catch sight of. Still I bet they weren’t that exciting to meet. The ship’s priority was to get to the Outer Rim without too much interruption. There was a low likelihood for any encounters with aliens. The route we were taking through the asteroid fields was seldom taken except for mining ships. Our ship was capable of the maneuvers necessary to get through the fields just fine. I finished up the grubs on my plate and got up. 

“I’m headed to the bridge,” I put my plate in the sani-unit. Adriel saluted me, his mouth full.

The walk to the bridge was a quick one. Marketing advertisements for soda pop were following me as I approached the bridge. I could have dismissed the advertisements but I didn’t feel like spending the credit to keep the walls clear.

The cost of travel was paid for in part by the advertisements. I was not looking forward to being constantly bombarded with advertisements. The bridge was a blessedly quiet space. I walked to the helm and input my key card. The ship registered my identity.

“Welcome Captain Ella Wendel. Please confirm the coordinates for our heading are correct.”

“Coordinates confirmed.”

“Excellent, we are estimated to arrive in five cycles.”

Five cycles would be a cheap run. The only catch was we would be traveling through the Outer Rim. Hazardous space was an understatement. Oh who cares what could happen, the credits spoke louder than anything else. I rubbed my wrist where my credit chip was implanted. Soon I’d be making a profit off the delivery.

I took a seat and brought up the ship’s travel log. Everything was above board. The ship entered the asteroid field. We were on a different heading than originally planned to get through relatively unscathed. As we passed through there were other ships along the way. Ships parked on asteroids to gather metal deposits. We ignored the hail from one of the mining ships. It was after we reached the midpoint of the field that ships were no longer a presence.

A distress signal came up on the radar – an incessant chime that I had no choice but to pay attention to. The ship in need of help was adrift not tethered to anything.

“Hello, this is captain Wendel, are you in need of assistance?”

No answer. I had to decide whether to let the ship remain adrift and press on or try to save the passengers. Tom, the ship’s engineer, broke my thoughts, “I say we dock them and take whatever valuables are left.”

“Tom, that’s not very kind. We can’t just take their resources.”

“Sure we can, they clearly died or something to be adrift and unreachable. I say we scrub it with sanispray and hop on over to collect the goods.” Tom had a point. We could use the extra credit from salvaged parts.

“Alright I’ll dock them.” I maneuvered the ship next to the port.

“Hello this is Captain Wendel, prepare to be boarded. Please note we will use sanispray on your ship. If the crew does not want a scrub done please respond.”

All that came after my words was silence. And so as we warned a sanispray cleaning was issued. Then I suited up and entered the other ship. We found a hull full of goods. The crew took what could be carried and the rest was marked for later pickup. Tom looked proud of himself.

“I told you they had resources we could grab.”

“I admit you were right. Now to find the right customer.”

Our ship’s display flashed red, “Warning, intruder alert.”

“There was no one on that ship, what are you talking about?”

“Intruder alert.”

Tom looked at a live ship schematic, a red dot was in the mess hall. I brought up a visual of the mess hall. On the screen there was a pale figure. Her hair came down to her waist. She wasn’t alone, a member of the crew was there. The crew member approached the pale figure. She opened her mouth, a set of fangs became visible.

“Oh no, get out of there!”

The crew member couldn’t hear me. They didn’t get away. The creature bit their neck. When she was done feeding she dropped the crew member’s corpse and stared straight into the camera. She didn’t need to say, ‘I’m coming for you’ for me to get the message.