David and Arianna [Hardcover]

Lori J. Gans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2003

By 2160, humans have lived through devastating catastrophes, and then slowly recovered from the threat of annihilation by their own hands. To relieve constant population problems, humans have colonized the Moon, Mars, Europa, and Ganymede with little relief. It has become painfully obvious that humans have outgrown their humble home.

As raw resources and the ability to produce food are quickly being depleted, human need continues to grow. Earth is once again faced with the overwhelming population pressures that catapulted mankind into devastating wars over food.

With new technological advancements, mankind can now look to the stars for new planets. The Galactic Exploration Project has sent ships to explore other star systems in search of new worlds for humans to colonize.

Banid is the first Earth-like planet humans discovered, it has all the right conditions needed for humans to survive. The Banid Colonization Project has spent ten years preparing Banid for human colonization. The Project is looking for a limited number of people to immigrate to Banid. Rather than overwhelm the planet, colonization will be done in stages. The first colonization ship will leave from Earth in January 2161 and the second ship will leave from Mars in March. Each ship will have a maximum of three thousand people willing to brave the rigors of trying to colonize a new world.

David Coleman is a geologist working for Consolidated System Mining Corporation of Mars. He is the twenty-two-year-old junior science officer on a mining survey ship. The company sends survey ships out for months at a time to scout the solar system for likely ore sites for the company to mine. Having any kind of a personal life is almost impossible. The attraction of a whole new planet and solar system to explore is just the kind of change David is looking for in what has become a stagnant life.

Arianna Walters, is a twenty-one-year-old financial advisor for Fidelity Trust of Mars. Sitting at a desk reviewing loan applications all day is tedious and boring. Arianna dreams of an active fulfilling life of adventure. The attraction of a whole new planet to explore is just the kind of change Arianna is looking for in what has become a stagnant life.

David and Arianna each look into applying for the colonization ship from Mars. The Project has set strict requirements that must be met in order for people to even be considered: applicants must be within a specified age range, they must have specific desirable professions, and they must be married . . . married?

Neither David nor Arianna is married, and not likely to be in time to apply for the colonization ship.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lori Gans is a new, up and coming author in the science-fantasy world. Born in Garnet, Kansas, her family made its way to Winslow, Arizona, and finally moved to the Phoenix area when she turned twelve. A graduate with honors from both Phoenix College and Arizona State University, Lori has worked in several fields of interest, including becoming a college computer software teacher in Tempe, Arizona.

A true people watcher, Lori has used her powers of observation of how people act and react to help her create the characters in her stories. This is the first in a continuing series of books being published. Lori’s family is now grown up, and she finally has the time to dedicate to her life’s dream of writing.

Lori enjoys reading, computers, music, and playing double deck pinochle.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

David and Arianna

Prologue

2157

David was ripped out of a sound sleep by emergency alarms screaming at his nerves. He attempted to get up, but the small cabin dipped and spun disorientingly. He instantly realized why the alarms were going off; the gyro system was off-line.

He grabbed the handrail above him, pulled himself out of his bunk, and aimed himself at the closet. He had to hang on to the door handle to keep from drifting. Awkwardly, he got his pants on and then left his cabin.

He started working his way back to engineering, his nose and eyes burned from the acrid fumes of overheated metal and burned insulation.

As he passed other concerned crewmembers, they asked what was wrong, but he continued on without answering their questions.

David found Martin Bauer, the senior engineer, and Alan Proctor, the junior engineer and the ship’s number one problem, working to remove the housing for the power transfer rod system. Hazy smoke and the blue flashing emergency strobes gave the room a surreal look.

David launched himself over to the control panel and slapped the sensor to turn off the ear-piercing emergency alarms.

With ears still ringing, he went back over to help.

"What happened?" he asked.

Martin shrugged and shook his head. "I don’t know yet," he said. "I just got here myself."

Alan backed away to let David help Martin.

The smell was making David nauseous, but he swallowed and kept working. With one final wrench, they had the housing open. They didn’t even have to open it to know what they were going to find. The power transfer rods were warped and melted from overheating and the twisted wiring and insulation were all but burned completely away.

The hulking figure of Commander Bradshaw loomed into the small engineering compartment. "Report," he demanded.

David turned and described what they had found.

"Who was on duty?" Bradshaw demanded.

Martin glanced over at his junior assistant and then back at Commander Bradshaw. "Proctor was, sir," he finally answered.

Bradshaw glowered at Alan cowering off to the side. "How did this happen?" he asked menacingly.

Proctor shrugged. "The sensors must not have been working," he stammered.

Bradshaw gave a quick glance around the smoke-filled room. The environmental system was powered through the power transfer rod system, as were most of the onboard systems. Nothing was working to remove the life-threatening contaminant.

"Can this be repaired, Bauer?" he asked Martin.

"I don’t know yet, sir," Martin lied.

Bradshaw turned to David. "Arrest Mr. Proctor and follow me."

David didn’t have to say anything to Alan. They followed Commander Bradshaw out into the corridor and down to the service bay. Several of the crewmembers were working to get out the emergency vacuum suits; they were to have them ready whenever the environmental system went down.

Bradshaw palmed open the inner airlock. Holding on to a rail next to the airlock, he turned and grabbed Alan by the front of his shirt. "Get in," he hissed as he shoved Alan into the airlock.

With his arms flailing, Alan helplessly drifted backward into the airlock. "No!" he screamed. "No, don’t do this! No! No! No!"

Bradshaw closed the airlock and stood back. "Cycle it," he ordered David.

David hesitated.

"No one disobeys my orders on this ship, mister. Do it or join him."

David turned and opened the outer airlock door.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413426433
• ISBN-13: 978-1413426434
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, March 1, 2004

By 

DJ (So. Calif.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: David and Arianna (Paperback)

Very entertaining and believable. Easy reading and holds your attention. Great likeable characters. I found myself getting into the characters to the point I was talking to the book. The ending leaves you wanting more.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, March 1, 2004

By 

DJ (So. Calif.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: David and Arianna (Hardcover)

Very entertaining and believable. Easy reading and holds your attention. Great likeable characters. I found myself getting into the characters to the point I was talking to the book. The ending leaves you wanting more.