A cosy new alien romance about finding purpose, belonging and love in the most unexpected places is out this week from author Kennedy Rhodes—her debut novel—and I have a little taste of it for you.
Excerpt
Elowen
The hatch to the lander opens up and I’m blinded by the bright light of two suns. Someone casts a tall shadow in front of me and I can finally see.
It’s a giant blue alien with a yuriOS and a stern look.
“Your transport’s this way,” he grumbles, waving a shining silver prosthetic arm across the base.
“Nice to meet you too,” Bri mutters under her breath as she brushes past me down the ramp. She’s holding onto her used puke bag as she slowly exits. I’m following close behind and bump into her back when she comes to an abrupt stop to take in our new surroundings.
The sudden shift from the quiet of space to the chaotic military base is disorienting. I gasp when two porters zip around us and narrowly miss each other at top speed. Grumpy Pants rolls his eyes at my sharp intake of breath. He’s subject to the names I make up for him until he introduces himself.
We have to jog to catch up to our guide. His long strides coupled with our atrophied leg muscles lengthen the distance between us. Eventually he turns back and realizes we have fallen behind. He impatiently swipes his yuriOS while waiting for us to catch up.
“A souvenir?” he asks, nodding at the bag Bri filled up during the landing.
“Very funny. Where can I dump this?” She holds out the bag, but he’s already walked away. She looks at me. “No, seriously—where can I put this?”
“No clue.”
The same type of spherical porters as we use on Earth glide to a stop in front of our small group. The doors slide open and I eagerly climb into the closest one, ready to sit down after the short but strenuous walk. I should have done the recommended exercises on the shuttle over. I’m regretting my decision not to.
Pouty McPoutface climbs in and starts up the porter without a word. Still holding the used bag in her lap, Bri mutters, “Great.”
“Maybe he’s just shy?” I whisper.
“Maybe he’s just a dick,” she says in a loud whisper.
He clears his throat. I dig my elbow into her side. She just needs to keep it together a little longer. Soon we’ll be at the muradome and she can lose her shit in the privacy of her own room.
“Identify yourselves.” He barks an order at us without looking back.
“Elowen Carson and Brisa Mitchell,” I answer for both of us, not giving Bri a chance to make some snarky comment.
A jolt forward throws us back in our seats. Captain Cranky jerks the porter around anything in our way, not caring to make it a smooth ride for us. We leave the base and I get a full view of the landscape for the first time. It’s so beautiful I could cry. If I weren’t seeing it in real life, I would think it was genAI. It’s so pristine it can’t possibly be real. The colors— everything looks bright and vibrant.
We head in the direction of the rolling hills in the distance. I turn and watch the huge metal gate close behind us. I settle back into my seat.
No more anticipation. We finally made it.
Bri laughs, “Where are we? Is this real?” She knows exactly where we are, but I know what she means. It’s hard to believe we’re here, and it’s beyond my wildest dreams.
“You’re on j’Tilak,” our driver says.
“That was a rhetorical question,” Bri says and rolls her eyes.
A wide field surrounds the base. I watch the terrain with my face pressed against the plexi, trying to see everything. All too quickly the porter rises up to ascend a hill and I feel like I’m a roller coaster. My stomach drops to my feet. From up here the view extends. In the distance giant trees rise up, their branches fanning out, forming a dark green canopy. A wide glittering river winds through the valley below. Golden grass covers the ground like suede with the occasional patch of brown.
We take a sharp turn to the left and speed our way down toward the outcrop of trees. Bri slides across her seat and holds the bag as far away from her as possible as it sloshes from the erratic turns and bumps.
“Careful with that,” Mr. Sourpuss instructs, his eyes briefly landing on her from the rearview mirror.
“I’m trying!” She rechecks the seal on the bag, her frustration simmering near the surface.
“Be nice,” I tell her through a clenched smile. “We’re guests here.” A lifetime of diplomatic training kicks in. These first few hours are crucial. My mom’s voice rings in my head. You can only make a first impression once. It’s not unheard of for a newcomer to break some cardinal rule and wake up on a prison planet. It can usually be ironed out after a few weeks, but I get the feeling Bri wouldn’t take kindly to being locked up for any period of time.
She returns the fake smile. “I am.”
The sky turns dark when we get to the tree line. We are now under the shade of the canopy. Wood creaks over the porter’s gyroscopes.
I can hardly believe my eyes when a massive tree pulls a thick root out of the ground and heaves it forward. I smack Bri’s shoulder and point to the massive tree that leaves behind a deep trench in its wake.
“Holy shit!” she says and leans over to see. We’re moving too fast to see the tree make any progress. Broad trunks block our view as we continue on our way. Our driver could have at least slowed down so we could witness this for the first time.
We ride in silence for a while, completely overwhelmed with everything around us. I’m desperately watching the forest around us, hoping to see more movement, when I notice a very large shadow shift. A second later a two-legged reptilian creature the size of a small house lets out a roaring bark and jerks its head in our direction.
Three green eyes focus on us, pupils contracting into terrifying slits, tracking our movement. Its elongated snout is slightly open, displaying rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth. Its muscles are bunched up under green camouflaged skin, ready to pounce. Before it can make a move, our porter picks up speed and continues on uninterrupted through the trees.
“What was that?” A shiver creeps down my spine.
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