Snippets from My Sci-Fi Novel!! (Under the Blue Sun)

Hello hello, reader! I hope you are having a fantastic day, but I also hope reading this blog post makes it better!

Today, on popular request, I’ll be sharing a few snippets from my sci-fi novel I completed not long ago, Under the Blue Sun.

Now, a quick disclaimer before we jump into it, this sci-fi novel is a very very rough first draft! So, if a few things don’t make sense, sentences aren’t flawless, or there are a load of grammar mistakes, that is to be expected! XD

However, with that out of the way, I present to you, snippets from Under the Blue Sun. Enjoy!

Snippet #1: Emergency Evacuation

“Look, the escape pods!” Yelsona pointed as they turned a corner leading into the large docking bay. People began to rush to their own escape pods and leap inside, jerking the doors shut before others could enter behind. The panic had clearly entered their heads, and they weren’t thinking of anyone but themselves.

Maj and Yelsona headed for the furthest escape pod and ducked inside the open door. “All right, let’s go!” Maj said, gasping as he flopped down on one of the escape pods hard benches that protruded from either side of the eight-foot wide interior.

“We need to go through the flight procedures!” Yelsona retorted, shutting the door with a click of a button and accessing the main screen on the inside of the hatch. She began to flick through the procedures, checking boxes and flicking levers that made no sense to Maj.

“We were probably running for two minutes,” Maj said. “That gives us three minutes before head officer Haden’s command commences!”

“I’m going to have to have a talk with that ignorant pig when we get up to the higher levels,” Yelsona hissed. “He could have got someone killed! It’s a good thing everyone got out in time.”

Maj nodded. He had been thoughtfully gazing out the window, watching the other humans in the escape pods quite obviously skip the flight procedures and zip out of the docking bay and into the air lock room, where the oxygen would be sucked from the interior and they would be let out into space. Then he sucked in a sudden gulp of air. “Yelsona, you spoke too soon! Someone’s still there in the docking bay!”

“What?” Yelsona jerked her head around and looked out with her friend. A tall, slim female was jogging toward the last two escape pods remaining. She wore a bulky item over her back, and a helmet covered her face. She pounded on the window of one of the pods, but in reply, it’s engines were fired up and it zipped away toward the air lock. That left no other pods but their own.

“Let her in, Yelsona!” Maj yelped. “She’ll die!”

The sirens had grown louder, and even through the shell of the escape pod Maj could hear the calm, automated female voice counting the final minute before the lower levels shut down.

“On it,” Yelsona hissed. “We’ve got forty seconds.”

She hurriedly canceled the procedures and reopened the door. The human had all ready begun to run toward their escape pod, and she dived in as the door opened. Yelsona had it shut a half-second later as the female collapsed on the ground by Yelsona’s legs, her breathing clearly audible through her concealing helmet.

“Thank you,” she gasped.

“Our pleasure,” Yelsona grunted as she locked the door again using the controls and began powering up the ship. “Never mind the procedures. We need to go!”

“Twenty seconds, Yelsona. We still need to get out of the air lock by then!” Maj shrieked. He tried to remain calm, but his heart was running a marathon in his chest, and a cold bead of sweat trickled down his temple.

“I’m very aware of that Maj, thank you,” Yelsona almost yelled. She yanked on the controls of the escape pod and it turned and rushed full tilt toward the open air lock. The last pod was long gone, and the bay was empty of any sign of life. The first air lock door closed, and they could hear the rush of air leaving the room. After what seemed like years of anxious waiting, the second door opened, revealing the pitch black curtain of space, splattered every so often with the shining dot of a star.

Snippet #2: Invading the Outpost

“Let’s see here,” Jennifer said, leading the group with her sniper still resting comfortably in the crook of her right arm. “As long as we continue to check each door…”

They reached another door, and this time Jennifer was forced to push it open with her hand.

“I wonder why all the doors aren’t motion censored…” Maj scratched his head.

Yelsona shrugged. “The Ugatii are not stupid. I’m sure they have their reasons…”

“Like for this door?” Jennifer said, pointing to the next door. Taking a quick look only to find a storage room through the one she was at, she had turned to study the next door, and had immediately spotted the large number pad on the front of it. “It looks like it’s locked.”

“I’ll say!” Maj stepped forward and squinted his eyes. “And I’m assuming we shouldn’t get the password wrong, in case it triggers a silent alarm.”

Yelsona nodded. “Agreed. Let me see here…” she stepped forward and studied the lock pad. Then, her eyes bright, she turned to Maj. “We have one just like this at Howelli base. Maj, is this pad recognizable?”

Maj blinked and peered closer, examining the pad with more interest. “Well I’ll be! This is nearly identical to the lock pads on all of the staff-only rooms in Howelli base!”

“Do you know how to hotwire it? Break in?” Yelsona raised her eyebrows.

Maj shook his head. “No…”

Jennifer threw up her arms. “Of course not! A one-handed janitor, that’s what you are.”

Maj shot her a harsh look. Jennifer had never been very polite to him since their first meeting, but now was the first time she had lashed out. Slowly, Maj continued. “I was going to say no…but I do know how to get inside the pad and examine the coding, which will reveal what the pass-code is.”

Jennifer raised an eyebrow, then turned away.

Yelsona ignored the sniper and smiled softly at Maj. “Get to it, then!”

“With pleasure,” Maj replied stiffly, turning from Jennifer and setting to work on the pad. He slid his fingers down the hard plastic casing until he reached the hidden hinges at it’s base. With a skillful flick of his wrist. He popped the front lid off the pad, revealing the wires, buttons, and inner screens that resided within. Maj couldn’t help but smile.

“Ah, old memories! You wouldn’t believe how many times my manager would change the pass-codes on these and forget to tell the employees—we all got terribly good at hacking into these and figuring out the new sequence.”

His eyebrows knit together then, and all of his focus zoned in on the keypad. His fingers traced a few wires to a small green screen, which was currently blank. Maj then clicked a few buttons on the inside of the pad and the green screen lit up with little white letters and numbers which ran every which way across the screen. Maj could feel Yelsona’s breath on his neck as she peered curiously at the pad.

She shrugged. “Means nothing to me. Do you know what it’s saying?”

Maj smiled. “Yes, I do, fortunately. And in just a second…” Maj clicked a few more buttons, peered closely at the numbers rushing by on the screen, then straightened. “The pass-code is 77493!”

Jennifer whirled around, her eyes brewing with dark storm clouds. “I don’t believe it. How could you know that?”

Maj shrugged. “I hacked the code. If you know where to look, it will reveal the current pass word, along with all of the previous ones it still contains in its database.”

Jennifer folded her arms across her chest. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Maj rolled his eyes and carefully replaced the lid of the case. With swift fingers, he typed in the code. As soon as the “3” had been entered, he pressed the “enter” button, directly under the numbers. For a moment, the door stood still, and the code Maj had entered disappeared. It was replaced with a bright green light, and the door slid open.

Snippet #3: Battle in the Control Room

She stepped inside, her boots letting out slight clicking sounds as she moved. The room was an oval shape, with smooth edges and no corners. All along the walls were desks with computers, radios, and control panels that littered the entirety of the desktops. In the middle of the room was a great table with a massive map, along with more buttons, switches, and control panels. The round wall could hardly be called that, for it was nearly fully taken up by a huge window, which overlooked part of the planet of Helkutta, with the blue sun rising above it, and the rest revealing Howelli base, not far away. Warships and patrol ships buzzed by the window, dark silhouettes against the darker blanket of space and the bright pinpoints of stars scattered at random about the galaxy.

Yelsona’s breath was taken away at the beauty of the scene out of the window. Despite the warships, the view looked so peaceful and calming. She focused her attention back into the room, studying the space illuminated by large round lights implanted in the tall ceiling. Four Ugatii sat in the room, their eyes glued to separate screens. They all wore official, well fitting tunics and trousers, clearly professional workers in the guarded control room.

One Ugatii, the closest to Yelsona, had his back to her, and he stood peering at the map in the middle of the room. It showed insanely detailed photos of Helkutta, top-secret locations of Ugatii outposts, as well as schematics for Howelli Base, Geleon Base, and Nerostho III. Yelsona, however, was not interested in studying the map. She gripped her taze gun until her fingers went white and numb. As quietly as she could, she crept up to the Ugatii and jabbed the gun into his side, just as she had done for the guard outside. He stiffened as the bolts washed through his fragile skeletal structure, and he collapsed limply into Yelsona’s arms. She tugged him down and pushed him under the map table. She crouched down to keep herself as hidden as possible and located her next target. Two Ugatii sat side by side, working on computers facing the window. The final one was on the opposite side of the room, talking through a radio and issuing commands and updates.

If that Ugatii stopped talking abruptly, the other two would surely notice and look around to check on their fellow workers. So I should take out the two first…but how do I do that? Yelsona began to crawl toward them, keeping the final Ugatii in the corner of her eye to make sure he didn’t look around. She got within a few feet of the Ugatii closest to her. He sat erect in his chair, his eyes flicking across the screen as he typed with incredible speed.

I almost feel bad disturbing you while you’re working, but lives are at stake here! Yelsona gritted her teeth and raised her taze gun. She shot him twice at close range and he slumped back in his seat. Two things happened at once.

The Ugatii at the back of the room completed his talk on the radio and set it down. He turned to talk to his fellow workers, and his eyes immediately fell on the crouching Yelsona and the stunned Ugatii. While he stared, shocked, the other Ugatii worker heard the slight buzz the taze gun made, and turned to see what it was. Both Ugatii didn’t utter a word for several seconds, and Yelsona didn’t either, terrified that they had found her out.

At last the furthest Ugatii raised his arms. “Intruder! Stop her!” he reached for his radio again, but Yelsona was already moving. Her brain hardly acknowledged it, but her body kicked into gear and raced up toward the Ugatii. Yelsona fired her gun and the stun bolt streaked across the room, giving the Ugatii enough of a shock for her to reach him before he activated his radio. She grasped the metal box and threw it across the room, then shoved her knee up into the Ugatii’s face. His jaw clacked from the impact and he flopped over backward, eyes rolling into the back of his head. She wasn’t sure if he was dead or unconscious, but she had no time. She turned and saw the last conscious Ugatii making a dash for the abandoned radio. Again she rushed across the entirety of the control room, and dove headlong into the Ugatii. They skidded across the floor. The Ugatii bit down on her arm, but she struck him across the face and rammed her taze gun into his chest, letting off three rapid shots. He let out a groan and fell limp. Slowly Yelsona rose, her breath coming heavily, heart performing a dance in her chest. She slowly studied the room, her next task all ready flooding her mind.

All right everyone! That wraps it up for this post. Did you enjoy the snippets of the novel? Would you read more? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for reading! This was a very fun novel to write, and will now probably sit on my computer until the end of days. But hey, practice/unfinished novels are still important! You still learn a lot from them.

Okay. That’s it!

Until later,

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