I wasn’t going to submit to Epilogue (then known by it’s temporary name, Apocalypse Hope) because I just didn’t have any idea what to write. Epilogue is an anthology of post-apocalyptic stories where there is hope for the future, and hope is hard. I’m all for dark and depressing, twisted, sad, even nasty. But hopeful? I didn’t think I could do that.
Until the editor, Tehani, mentioned to me “you can set it in the Debris universe, you know” and BAM! BOOF! *insert comic-book expletive* I had an idea. You know why?
I already had a post-apocalyptic world to work with.
A Memory Trapped In Light is set in the Debris universe… but it’s not one you might recognise. It’s actually extremely spoilerific, there’s a character in this story who is absolutely vital to everything that happens in the books, but you won’t know it. Not yet.
I also hope it’s a fun story all on its own! With laser cannons and giant-undead-metal-spiders, it can’t be that bad, right?
Epilogue is an awesome anthology, and I’m honoured to be a part of it. Seriously, it is. I’ve proof read it. I know. It’s still up for pre-order at a special price, and I totally recommend you go pre-order. Go on, off you go. I’ll wait here.
In the meantime, here’s a teaser for A Memory Trapped In Light. Enjoy!
Isola wired an ancient laser cannon to an untended Shard, and breathed a little easier when it began to charge. She didn’t have much time. It was already an hour since Ruby had been taken, and she felt each second, each minute, like the cut of a knife.
“Izzy, please,” Alida whispered, crouched behind her. “Don’t do this. The bosses haven’t given you authorisation. You’ll be punished.” She froze as something clattered in the distance, metal crashing through metal.
Isola ignored it. Just the ruins of Crust, falling in on themselves. “I don’t care.” She dug through her stash — stolen from graves and abandoned caches — but the bosses had confiscated most of her finds, and the laser cannon was the only weapon they’d left her with. She’d be lucky if it fired at all. “I’m not going to leave Ruby to the Legate.”
“But—”
“She’s my little sister!” Isola snapped. “And I’m not arguing with you. Now go away, or the bosses will think you’re involved. Want to get wired for my sake?”
The cannon rattled, and a dim silex hub in its side brightened. Charged — she hoped. Isola tugged it free, wrapped it in her jacket and tied it awkwardly around her waist. She pulled on heavy boots, strapped goggles to her forehead, and tore a fresh strip of linen to breathe through.
Alida hung back, not quite able to leave, not strong enough to try and make her stay. Isola paused to run dirty fingers through the girl’s lank blonde hair, and plant a hard kiss on her mouth. “And don’t you dare rat me out.”
Isola knew ways out onto Crust that the bosses didn’t, and she avoided all primary passageways through the dilapidated factory. Her parents had been junkies here, and she’d lived with this gang for most of her life. They’d died when Ruby was young — their mother bled out around an improperly inserted jack, and their father lost his mind to a strong Pionic Flare — so Isola cared for her the only way she knew how; keeping out of the bosses’ sight whenever she could, and teaching Ruby to scavenge for weapons and tech so they were both too useful to be forcefully wired.
It’d worked well enough, until they’d stumbled on a Legate Drone, and her sister — not as fast, not as nimble — had been caught.
