Fractured Carapace by James Murdo

Chiton vanished.

It was there, and then it wasn’t.

How does an entire star system vanish?

The Chitchi were forced to start again.

300 years ago, the brilliant Krasna established her research c’hub on the unclaimed water-world of Prebis. Chiotechnology may have its flaws, but finally, her ferinon experiments seem to be going somewhere. Unfortunately, her increasingly bizarre behaviour and strange references to the past begin to worry her subordinates. Meanwhile, rumours circulate the c’hub of a fascinating, new fast travel technology that is being gifted to the galactic community by the Ascended Biologicals.

Chathindi studies the insectoid Risers – non-sentients, native to Prebis, that eject from the ocean to join the living blanket encompassing the world – and grows increasingly convinced they are more than they appear. Just who is observing who?

Category: Science Fiction – First Contact