Title: Beneath the Surface
Series: The Outsider Project, Book One
Author: Rebecca Langham
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: January 15, 2018
Heat Level: 2 - Fade to Black Sex
Pairing: Female/Female
Length: 93700
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Sci Fi, interspecies, captivity, teacher, politics
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Synopsis
When a change in collective
conscious sends the Outsiders, a group of aliens, to the shadows below the
city, humans reason that the demonization of their peers is simply more
“humane.” There’s no question, nor doubt. Just acceptance.
Lydia had embraced that sense of
“truth” for as long as she can remember. The daughter of a powerful governor,
she has been able to live her life with more comforts than most. Comforts can
be suffocating, though, and when the opportunity to teach Outsider children in
their private, “humane” community becomes available, she takes it.
What she finds beneath the city is
far from the truth she had grown to know. There she meets Alessia, an Outsider
with the knowledge and will to shake the foundation of all those who walk above
ground. The two find a new and unexpected connection despite a complete
disconnect from the technological world. Or perhaps in spite of it.
Still, it takes a lot more than an
immutable connection to change the world. Lydia, Alessia, and a small group of
Outsiders must navigate a system of corruption, falsehoods, and twists none of
them ever saw coming, all while holding on to the hope to come out alive in the
end. But it’s a risk worth taking, and a future worth fighting for.
Excerpt
Beneath the Surface
Rebecca Langham © 2017
All Rights Reserved
Prologue
Alessia’s mother roused her from a
peaceful sleep. “Darling,” Rey whispered. “They’re coming for us. We need to
move.”
Alessia blinked several times, forcing
the tiredness from her eyes as she looked about the dimly lit cave. Outside, an
owl hooted and tree branches fought back against a gust of wind, but she heard
nothing else.
“We’ve talked about this,” her mother
said, guiding her up from a nest of blankets and cushions. Alessia had never
heard Rey so concerned. “You need to get moving.”
“But I want to stay with you,” Alessia
replied. Her mother, and the reality of the situation, were coming into focus.
“I know, Lessi. But if you do, it’s more
likely they’ll track us all down. Start down the eastern tunnel. Go carefully
and try to stay as quiet as possible. You know where to meet us when they’ve
left.”
Living in a cave may not have been
especially comfortable, but at least they knew their way around in the area
closer to the cave mouth. Within minutes of leaving her mother’s side, she felt
lost, having no experience of navigating this area of the system.
Alessia slid a hand along the smooth,
slime-covered rock of the cave wall. Shuffling along at a snail’s pace, she
played a life-threatening game of hide-and-seek. The edge of her shoe acted as
a poor guide, but it was all she had to help her avoid any sudden drop-offs. A
depression in the stone could be anything from a small trench to a gaping hole
one could fall through for hundreds of metres. Caves were like wild animals.
They could protect you, take small bites out of you, or swallow you whole. For
a moment, she wasn’t sure what was more terrifying: being captured, or trying
to find a place to hide.
She inched along the wall as quietly as
possible, until the echo of hurried footsteps brought her to a halt. Her legs
felt like hollow reeds, liable to snap at any moment. Be calm. It’s just how
sound works down here. The humans could be anywhere. You’re safe, she told
herself, it’ll be all right.
The footsteps faded, leaving only the steady
dripping of water from stalactites. Alessia put a hand to her chest and willed
her heart to slow its exhausting pace. She didn’t want to pass out before she
had moved deep enough to avoid detection. It took all her strength not to call
out for her parents, to see if they had been rounded up, or if they’d managed
to find somewhere to hide.
Get moving. She probed forwards with her
foot once more.
No matter how many times she blinked,
Alessia’s eyes would not adjust to such thick darkness. Her family rarely
ventured so deep underground, and for good reason. Supplies were scarce,
reserved for passages closer to the surface, and not to be wasted in such
labyrinthine zones. With no food, water, or even so much as a torch, she had to
move far enough into the tunnels to hide, but not far enough to lose all hope
of finding a way back out.
The ground gave way, and her leg plunged
through the earth, taking her courage with it. Her arms flailed as she fell,
seeking something to stop her fall, but they found no purchase. Alessia cried
out as her backside hit the wet rock, her leg lodged in the hole she had fallen
through.
An icy sense of fear stabbed at her
chest. They’d probably heard her. With eyes clenched shut, she forced herself
to take slower, deeper breaths. One. Two. Three…she counted to twenty before
she let herself believe no one was running towards the sound she’d sent
reverberating through the space.
Finding the ground, she pushed herself
up. A bolt of pain shot through her thigh. The unpleasant sound of fabric
tearing frightened her more than the warm blood gushing over her knee. Alessia
bit her lip to hold in another cry.
Damn it to hell! The thought screamed
its way through her body. She felt the waxy indignation of it in every muscle.
She pictured her mother’s face, paler than ever, as she had pulled Alessia to
her just before they parted ways; a tight hug goodbye before tossing their
wrist-lights to the ground. Alessia shook her head, banishing the image. Rey,
her mother, was fighting her own battle somewhere else. She couldn’t even
hazard a guess as to why her father wasn’t there when she’d been roused. She
was on her own.
Alessia needed to focus on reality. It
was pointless to wish they’d stayed together.
Trying to pull her leg out again might
cause more damage, and then she might be unable to walk, which meant death. If
she didn’t, though, she would be trapped in that spot, left to her own thoughts
until her body gave out. There wasn’t a choice. She had to free herself and it
was going to hurt.
A flash of light swept across the wall
in front of her. The sudden severity of it burned her eyes and she clenched
them shut. When she opened them again, two more beams of light joined the
first. She had been walking towards a dead end draped in sand-coloured
sulphurous flowstone. And now they’d cornered her. It was over.
“Boss! I’ve found one!” came a bombastic
voice. “Down there. Looks like a teenager.”
Heavy footsteps moved closer, dashing
through puddles and navigating uneven ground. They’d found her. The human
government had changed its mind about her family’s freedom, as they’d been
bound to do eventually, and they’d hunted them down. Her fear evaporated with
each outward breath, with each jump or sweep of the torchlights. The terrifying
darkness that enveloped her had been broken, and for the moment, that was all
that mattered.
“It’s the daughter,” said another voice,
more mature than the first. Alessia glanced at the dancing beams of light, two
of them growing larger and rounder as the United Earth Alliance’s bounty
hunters closed in on her.
Alessia’s leg throbbed. She bent her
elbows, leaning back to rest on her forearms. Tightness had taken hold of her
body, and it brought on a manic kind of exhaustion. Two men approached and
stood before her. The older of the two, a sweaty beast of a man, took another
step forwards. He bent down and examined what could be seen of her leg before
dimming the light and turning it towards her. After the dense darkness, it was
too bright, and she turned away.
“Well, then. Premier Abel will be
pleased we found you all alive, Alessia.” His voice dripped with pleasure at
his own achievement. She released a soft sigh. The UEA had gone back on its
promise to her family. They’d get nothing from her.
Dropping the light between his legs, he
leaned forwards and rocked on the balls of his feet. Stale remnants of musky
cologne made Alessia’s stomach clench, but she kept her face as still as she
could. Her discomfort belonged to her alone.
“It’s for the best, girl,” he told her.
“This isn’t exactly an ideal way to live, is it? In the dark. Now, let’s see
about getting you out of this hole.” The man stood, removed a handkerchief from
his pocket, and then wiped the condensation from his glistening forehead.
“You’re not going to kill me?” Alessia
asked, her mouth dry.
“Kill you?” he laughed. “Of course not!
We’re not monsters.” He faced the other man. “Spray the wound and get her out
of there, Mick. Let’s see about taking these people somewhere safe and
protected.”
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Meet the Author
Rebecca Langham lives in the Blue Mountains (Australia) with her partner, three children, and menagerie of pets. A Xenite, a Whovian and all-round general nerd, she’s a lover of science fiction, comic books, and caffeine. When she isn’t teaching History to high schoolers or wrangling children, Rebecca enjoys playing broomball and reading.
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