Eden's Crown
covert art by Steve Beaulieu
With Phoa stabilized against the Green and Tiamat’s coral, Reyes and Thanata have inspired people to work together against the swarms.
Yet while exploring an old colony ship, they discover a message warning them of catastrophe. The voice belongs to Reyes’ estranged father, who warns that a final protocol left by the first colonists will doom Phoa. Soon, meteors land in every settled region and transform into swarms that devour everything around them—all while a huge, ringed structure hovers in the sky.
Reyes and Thanata must learn the secrets of Phoa’s past, as well as his father’s whereabouts, if they hope to guarantee their future.
Don't miss the epic finale to this alien planet survival trilogy perfect for fans of J.N. Chaney, A.G. Riddle, and Horizon Zero Dawn. Grab your copy today!
Yet while exploring an old colony ship, they discover a message warning them of catastrophe. The voice belongs to Reyes’ estranged father, who warns that a final protocol left by the first colonists will doom Phoa. Soon, meteors land in every settled region and transform into swarms that devour everything around them—all while a huge, ringed structure hovers in the sky.
Reyes and Thanata must learn the secrets of Phoa’s past, as well as his father’s whereabouts, if they hope to guarantee their future.
Don't miss the epic finale to this alien planet survival trilogy perfect for fans of J.N. Chaney, A.G. Riddle, and Horizon Zero Dawn. Grab your copy today!
EDEN'S CROWN is published through Aethon Books. Buy it in multiple formats on Amazon.
Eden's Crown: Excerpt
Another bump echoed through Sargasso’s derelict corridors. Reyes halted outside the med bay hatch and motioned to Thanata, but she’d already nocked another arrow in her bow. The rippling grey pool at their feet was the only remnants of the security swarm that had barred their way mere moments ago. Her discharge arrow had made short work of it. Still, he held his breath and listened.
A few sounds trickled through the ship. The vessel’s gentle creaking as winds blew over it from Coral Bay. The muted cry of a seagull. The brief spark of a shorted wire somewhere to his left.
Reyes started to move, but Thanata raised a hand. Though no heat signature showed up in his goggles, he knew to trust her senses over his devices.
Sargasso’s middle deck had already been cleared and deactivated by Lai-Mei’s team and its security swarms. Nothing should be hampering their progress—but something had caused new swarms to appear on the lower decks, spreading throughout the vessel all over again. Lai-Mei had asked him and Thanata to investigate.
The Druk had warned that their goddess still protected Sargasso—the ship that had brought their ancestors to Phoa—but Reyes feared demons of a manufactured variety. The security swarms, like everything else on the planet, were created to adapt to any situation, threat, or environment. He wondered what had activated them.
Still no sound. Seven hovered behind them, her mini-guns ready.
He pushed up his goggles and shot Thanata a look, but she shook her head.
Maybe he was too eager. Sargasso, being an ancient Orion agriculture ship, might house much-needed supplies and equipment for their friends in Camp III—the place beside the Bay where the region’s refugees continued to gather by the day. Sargasso had laid above it on the remnants of a dam for two hundred years. A crippled, sleeping voyager from light years away. He’d only dreamed of exploring such a vessel.
The sound came again.
A metallic reverberation bounced off Sargasso’s narrow corridors and assumed a ghostly quality. He scanned its oscillations and studied the data on his focus. It contained some vocal elements. The waveform didn’t match any wildlife or swarm in his database.
“Movement, or a motor?” he asked in a low voice.
“Movement,” Thanata said.
“Seven, you got anything?” he whispered.
“Multiple life signs detected in the med bay and the lower decks.” Seven hovered up alongside him. Her blue drone shell was pitted from the spray of acidic flowers near Sargasso’s cargo bay, their entrance point into the decrepit ship. Like the swarm Thanata had just shot, the plants had appeared after Camp III’s team cleared the vessel for salvage. The more they excavated it, the more new, deadly wildlife made itself known.
“Meaning this place is filled with those plants,” Reyes said.
“Didn’t sound like a plant.” Thanata stepped through the hatch, bow drawn back.
A few sounds trickled through the ship. The vessel’s gentle creaking as winds blew over it from Coral Bay. The muted cry of a seagull. The brief spark of a shorted wire somewhere to his left.
Reyes started to move, but Thanata raised a hand. Though no heat signature showed up in his goggles, he knew to trust her senses over his devices.
Sargasso’s middle deck had already been cleared and deactivated by Lai-Mei’s team and its security swarms. Nothing should be hampering their progress—but something had caused new swarms to appear on the lower decks, spreading throughout the vessel all over again. Lai-Mei had asked him and Thanata to investigate.
The Druk had warned that their goddess still protected Sargasso—the ship that had brought their ancestors to Phoa—but Reyes feared demons of a manufactured variety. The security swarms, like everything else on the planet, were created to adapt to any situation, threat, or environment. He wondered what had activated them.
Still no sound. Seven hovered behind them, her mini-guns ready.
He pushed up his goggles and shot Thanata a look, but she shook her head.
Maybe he was too eager. Sargasso, being an ancient Orion agriculture ship, might house much-needed supplies and equipment for their friends in Camp III—the place beside the Bay where the region’s refugees continued to gather by the day. Sargasso had laid above it on the remnants of a dam for two hundred years. A crippled, sleeping voyager from light years away. He’d only dreamed of exploring such a vessel.
The sound came again.
A metallic reverberation bounced off Sargasso’s narrow corridors and assumed a ghostly quality. He scanned its oscillations and studied the data on his focus. It contained some vocal elements. The waveform didn’t match any wildlife or swarm in his database.
“Movement, or a motor?” he asked in a low voice.
“Movement,” Thanata said.
“Seven, you got anything?” he whispered.
“Multiple life signs detected in the med bay and the lower decks.” Seven hovered up alongside him. Her blue drone shell was pitted from the spray of acidic flowers near Sargasso’s cargo bay, their entrance point into the decrepit ship. Like the swarm Thanata had just shot, the plants had appeared after Camp III’s team cleared the vessel for salvage. The more they excavated it, the more new, deadly wildlife made itself known.
“Meaning this place is filled with those plants,” Reyes said.
“Didn’t sound like a plant.” Thanata stepped through the hatch, bow drawn back.
