Return (part 1)
After a quick trip into space, two men come back to a different world.
“I’ll only be up there for two days,” Commander Jordan Watkins assured his wife, Alice.
The two stood by the window inside the mission command center, looking to the launch pad that waited outside.
“That’s what you said last time,” Alice smirked, crossing her arms.
“That was a fluke,” Watkins said. “A faulty thruster changed our re-entry window. This time I doubled checked everything myself. It won’t happen again.”
Alice squinted suspiciously.
“Come on, honey. You should be proud of me and Tim. We’re the first to fly the new US-7902 Orbiter,” Watkins said. “It’s the first manned Earth orbiter with it’s own lander. We’re landing right back on the pad where we’ll launch! It will be a momentous occasion.”
“Isn’t our wedding anniversary a momentous occasion?”
Watkins dropped his shoulders and took her hand. “I told you. I’ll be home in two days. I’ll be back in plenty of time for our anniversary and we’ll do something special.”
A slight smile emerged through Alice’s cynical look.
“I need to get going,” Watkins said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Tim is waiting.”
“See you in two weeks.” Alice rolled her eyes and smiled.
“Two days! I promise.”
[day one]
A few hours into Earth’s orbit, Watkins stared out the window at the Pacific Ocean below. “What about a cruise?” he asked his co-pilot, Captain Timothy Prescott.
“How long have you and Alice been married now? Ten years?” Prescott asked, looking up from his clipboard. “Aren’t you supposed to get her sterling silver or something like that?”
“That’s 25 years,” Watkins said.
“You’ve been married for 25 years?!”
“No, Tim. Sterling silver is the gift for 25 years. We’ve been married for ten.”
“Really?” Prescott said, floating back into the co-pilot’s seat. “Emily told me ten years was sterling silver. If I’d known that I never would have spent that much money. I think she just wanted me to get her—”
Something rocked the orbiter.
Darkness.
An alarm sounded.
“System failure!” Watkins shouted, gripping the sides of the captain’s seat as the orbiter shook.
“Rerouting to backup pow—” Prescott stopped short and raised his hands.
The alarm stopped.
The orbiter was still.
“It’s back. I didn’t do anything. The system just came back online.”
“What happened?” Watkins asked.
“I don’t know. All systems are working fine now. No indication of damage either.”
“All systems had better be fine,” Watkins said. “I promised Alice no delays.”
[day two]
“Mission Control, we have re-entered the atmosphere and we’re preparing to land,” Commander Watkins said into the radio. “There’s no response,” he said, turning to Prescott.
“I’ve checked and checked again, Commander,” Prescott said. “The radio’s working. They’re just not answering.”
Outside the window, Florida drew nearer as their craft continued its flight path toward the landing pad.
“Watkins, these coordinates are correct but look.” Prescott pointed out the window.
“What the—” was all Watkins could muster.
The remains of the landing pad peeked through years — decades even — of trees and foliage.
“Where did all this come from?” Prescott asked.
“Think you can put us down?”
Prescott nodded and slowly brought the craft down, right on top of the U.S. insignia where they took off from just the day before. But now it was now almost entirely covered with roots and vines.
The two opened the hatch and looked around.
“What happened here?” Watkins said, stepping out from the orbiter.
He squinted in the bright daylight. A fresh breeze and the sound of birds greeted him.
“Isn’t that the command center?” Prescott pointed to a building completely overgrown by vines blooming with purple flowers.
“Yes, but—”
Watkins stopped and put his hand to his brow to block the sunlight. A group of figures approached, carrying spears and dressed in animal furs.
“Tai gongo tat minfel etipah,” the figure in front said, pounding his spear into the ground. His head was bald and tattooed with three stripes that ran down the back of his neck and disappeared under the ragged skin he wore as a shirt.
“What?” Watkins asked, looking at Prescott to see if he understood.
Prescott shrugged.
“I’m sorry,” Watkins replied. “We don’t understand.”
The man with the spear raised his hand and said something to one of his partners who immediately ran off, back in the direction of the command center.
A moment later, his partner returned with an old man, hunched and walking slowly with the aid of a bent staff.
“Liy fu mun minfel atta,” the man with the spear said, putting his hand on the old man’s shoulder.
Watkins looked at Prescott, confused.
“He says you speak the old tongue,” the old man said. “Is that so?”
“We speak English, yes” Watkins said tentatively.
“Perhaps the prophesy was misinterpreted,” the old man said.
“Prophesy?” Watkins said. “What’s going on here? What’s this about?”
“The ancient prophesy that two people will arrive at this spot, in a vessel like yours, bringing knowledge of the past.”
“Knowledge of the past?” Prescott said.
“But you look like two men." The old man extended his arm. “The prophesy said it would be two women.”
— to be continued —
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This sample chapter to the book Dormition is a prequel to the first book in the series, Fallen. You can read this with zero background on the Fallen series as it serves as a good introduction to the first book.
Lieutenant General Javier Cadiz Meade has served his country for decades, navigating war zones and shadowy corridors of power. But nothing has prepared him for the Sabia—an enigmatic extraterrestrial species whose arrival has upended Earth’s fragile balance of power. Their technological prowess defies comprehension, their intentions remain shrouded in mystery, and their presence has divided humanity.
Caught in a web of doubt, manipulation, and his own moral conflict, Meade must decide: Will he become another pawn in the Sabia’s game, or will he find a way to resist an enemy that seems invincible?
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Wicked build up!