The Retreat
Kelly St. Clare
(The After Trilogy, #1)
Publication date: August 30th 2016
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Earth is ruined. Humankind destroyed. And it’s old news.
Romy’s life is simple—for a genetically enhanced space soldier; pick up space junk with her four friends, and stave off the invaders fixated on stealing Planet Earth.
It isn’t much. But it’s temporary—only another 850 years to go, give or take.
When her crew tangles with a gulp-worthy alien mothership, Romy’s return to Earth is brought forwards at hurtling pace.
Strength comes from the unlikeliest of quarters.
As does leadership.
…As does betrayal.
EXCERPT
Romy’s side of the battler must have torn away during landing. Only a few shredding battler walls remained. It was as though her side of the ship had been ripped off like a chunk of bread from a loaf.
The floor underneath her was gone, leaving her legs dangling. Romy herself was suspended by the harness, which dug into her torso. It was the only thing keeping her from falling three metres to the dry grass.The bottom part of her battler segment had embedded itself into the ground on an angle. Romy’s end of the segment was immobilised in the air, forty-five degrees to the surface. She looked to have landed at the edge of a grassy clearing. Or maybe a forest, she amended, judging by the multitudes of trees before her.
Behind her, the ripped walls were flayed wide open, smoking, sparking, and hissing.
She took in the vast splash of colours before her with unseeing eyes. She was on Earth. Hanging above real ground.
Quite alone. And if her knot hadn’t . . . survived . . . she was quite possibly the only person, or being, on the planet. A numbness set in so deep that Romy could no longer feel the harness. Her head drooped as she struggled to regain her calm. She had to find her friends. That was an absolute. They were alive. She had to believe it was true.
She waited, willing her shaking hands to still until eventually they obeyed.
Inhaling sharply, Romy looked around once more.
The question was: How far did her section of the craft land from the others?
If it were a matter of hours, that would be okay, but anything more and she would require food and water. A post-global-warming Earth meant the food and water here wasn’t safe. The yellowed plant life confirmed that. The battler held supplies, but did she have any in her part? And how much oxygen was in her suit? Romy’s heart began to quicken once more, and she forced the unfamiliar fear away.
First priority was getting to the ground. Under normal conditions she would take the chance and jump the three metres, but the injury to her ankle and the extent of the damage to her head caused Romy to hesitate. If only she could take her suit helmet off . . . but the air conditions had to be terrible. She wouldn’t last five seconds.
No, she decided. She’d pull herself up onto the back of her seat and see if there was an easier way out from the back of the smoking wreckage.
She sighed in weary exhaustion, not sure she had the strength to move a single finger. But that wouldn’t help her friends.
Romy released one half of her harness. Holding tightly to the strap, she released the second half of the harness—
Something gave. Not the harness, but whatever it was attached to, or attached with. For a moment Romy thought she might be able to salvage the tatters of her plan and still climb up. Until, with a loud ripping, the harness tore free from the rest of the chair.
Character Interview: Romy
From
The Retreat by Kelly St. Clare
Interviewer:
Weiv Retni
Weiv Retni: Romy, a pleasure to meet you! Please
come in and sit down. You’ve travelled here all the way from space, you must be
tired.
Romy: I
have. Well, from 400km into space, anyway. I suppose there are further
distances to travel, technically speaking. Though I have come from 150 years
into the future, too.
Weiv Retni: LOL – just casually. That must be
amazing! What’s it like? Oops, sorry, I’ll wait until you have a sip of your
tea.
Romy:
*gulps quickly and laughs* That’s okay. I know earth humans view life in space
as incredible. To be honest, I find your life here much more interesting! Space
is just picking up debris and eating dehydrated food. There is so much room
down here on Earth. So much colour. It’s vibrant.
Weiv Retni: I mean … you also blow apart aliens
for a living.
Romy: There
is that. The critamal want to inhabit the Earth – now it is in the midst of
global warming. My team is called up maybe once a month for battle. We’re … how
do you say it? Not highly ranked. If we’re not picking up junk after the
battle, we’re on kitchen duty.
Weiv Retni: … I guess picking up rubbish is
cool, too?
Romy: It’s
really not.
Weiv Retni: At least you have some cool friends.
What is your team called again?
Romy: Space
soldiers aboard the orbitos are split into groups of five, called knots. I’m in
Knot 27.
Weiv Retni: And Knot 27 is made up of Deimos and
Phobos?
Romy: Everyone
calls them the twins. They look nothing alike, aside from their green eyes, but
they’re hardly ever apart. Thrym would tell you they’re the reason Knot 27 is
so poorly ranked.
Weiv Retni: Thrym?
Romy: Another
friend from Knot 27. My best friend. I feel for him, sometimes, he really drew
the short straw when the knots were decided. I know he’d like to have a higher
position. But he’s too nice to really make a big deal out of it.
Weiv Retni: And Elara?
Romy: Feisty
and lazy, all at once. All space soldiers are genetically enhanced to
“supposedly” get rid of these kinds of traits. Somehow Elara still manages to
possess them. I love her.
Weiv Retni: I know you said space is same-old
before. But it boggles my mind. What do you do all day?
Romy: When
I’m not on duty, I’m reading everything I can about Earth on my nanopad. And I
also like to sit in on the cadet’s lectures. I’ve heard everything dozens of
times, but it makes me feel like the return to Earth is a little closer –
instead of 850 years away.
Weiv Retni: …850 years…why don’t you just go
now?
Romy: Uh…what
year is this?
Weiv Retni: 2016.
Romy:
By 2050 the world will be on the cusp on global warming—and in anarchy. The last recorded interaction with humans on
Earth was 2060. In recent years, our researchers have confirmed that humankind
are no longer in existence on Planet Earth.
Weiv Retni: WHAT! I’m only seventeen! You’re
telling me I’ve only got 34 years left to live?!
Romy: You
*might* have 44 years. But yes, you, your family, and everyone you know will
die.
Weiv Retni: Crapola. Guess I better start
stockpiling baked beans and cream rice.
Romy: You’d
do better to try and lobby for solutions to global warming. You still have
time.
Weiv Retni: Good idea! I’ll put it on my ‘to do’
list. But back to you, you’ll get back to Earth, right? How can you live for
850 years?
Romy: One
day, if I’m very, very lucky, I’ll see Earth again. If I avoid being blown up, ’ll
just continue to be recycled every 23 years. Unless something else bad happens.
But things hardly ever go wrong.
Weiv Retni: Yikes…let’s hope those aren’t famous
last words!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When Kelly St Clare is not reading or writing, she is lost in her latest reverie. She can, quite literally, drift past a car accident while in the midst of her day dreams, despite the various police sirens and chaos.
Books have always been magical and mysterious to her. One day she decided to start unravelling this mystery and began writing. Her aim: To write stories she would want to read. As it turns out, this failed miserably. Do you know what it is like to read something you've written? Impossible, that's what. Not to mention, the ending is ruined before you've begun. Never-the-less, Kelly loves it and wishes she had more time to squeeze it in between her day job as a physiotherapist.
Fantasy of Frost, the first title in The Tainted Accords, is her debut novel. It's sequel, Fantasy of Flight, was released on May 24th, 2015. Fantasy of Fire is due for release January 2016!
A New Zealander in origin and in heart, Kelly currently resides in Australia with her soon-to-be husband, a great group of friends, and some huntsman spiders who love to come inside when it rains. Their love is not returned.
Fav quote: Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint on broken glass.
Fav Song: I believe in a thing called love - The Darkness
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
1. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve googled?
Oh…so many things. Once I googled, ‘do lips turn blue before or after
people die’. At the moment the top in my history is, ‘chicken with a ponytail’
and just under it is ‘Alexander Skaarsgard’.
2.
What book are you reading now?
What is the whole world reading right now?
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I just finished The Mortal Song by Megan
Crewe.
3. How do you work with an editor without the pride thing getting in the
way?
Firstly, for those who don’t fall
under the category of artist, you have to realise that when you show people
your craft – be it music, art, or a story – you are sharing a bit of your soul.
To show it to an Editor, who will pick it apart is the ultimate friction
against your natural instincts. For me it comes down to two things; Do you want
your work to be the best it can be? (If you do, then pride gets knocked down
the ladder). And how good is your relationship with your editor? I think a good
editor knows how to deliver criticism concisely and constructively … M&Ms
also help.
4. How do you balance the craft of writing with the business of writing?
I love marketing! My
craft:business balance depends on where I am in the writing process. I am like
a rabid dog during the first draft. During this time, I tend to only spend an
hour marketing each day. On follow up drafts it is more like 5 hours writing to
3 hours marketing. When I’m gearing up for release it is more 2 hours writing
and endless marketing. I try to operate via the mantra that releasing more
books is the best marketing.
5. Do you write every single day?
Yes! Not necessarily fiction, however. If I’m not working on my latest
manuscript, then it is normally on blogs. Sometimes it is on things like my
blurb, a synopsis, a fun unrelated thing, and I also write reviews for YA Books
Central.
6. Ballpoint, uniball, or fountain tip pen?
Is fountain tip like a quill?
That one.
7. Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
Sure! The
Retreat is the first novel in my new series, The After Trilogy. The story
follows an early twenties genetically enhanced space soldier named Romy – don’t
call her Rosemary, you’ll make her mad. The story is set in a future where Earth
has been desolated by Global Warming. Now the last slice of humankind exists in
space, protecting Earth—turns out some unfriendly visitors rather like the look
of this new Earth—and waiting until they can return to solid ground.
During a battle
Romy’s ship is shot down and she crash-lands on this supposedly unliveable
Earth ... let’s just say she doesn’t find what she expects.
I do a massive brainstorm where
all my initial ideas explode. This usually spans several pages and builds and
develops as I go. From there I do a chapter by chapter outline. I know, when I
do this, that there is no way I’ll stick to it, in terms of storyline. But it
helps me to see the overall story, and make sure the structure is sound. For
The Retreat I did heaps of research, contacted astrophysicists and
environmentalists and other clued up people. I don’t have a logical bone in my
body, but I would say my novels are 25% planner, and 75% intuition.
I review 3-4 books a month for YA
Books Central—and find some great new Authors via that. Like every reader, I
search for that magical story that sweeps me off my feet. #bestfeelingever I
read in any genre (but mostly fantasy and science fiction).
10. Picture your
favourite writing space. What are five objects you would find there?
Ooo, okay! Uhm…a steaming and rather large cup of
tea, a vanilla candle, printed cards with reviews from my readers to motivate
me, inspiration pictures for whatever story I’m writing hung up behind my
computer, and of course Alfie the Writer’s Rabbit (probably chewing on an
essential cord, or three).
11. If you could ask
one author one question, what would the question be and who would you ask?
I would ask JK Rowling who made her angry enough to
kill Dobby.
12. What brought you
to write this book?
Excitement to pull the piece of string and see what
it’s attached to.
13. What’s next for
you?
Soooo many stories. The fourth novel in The Tainted
Accords releases October 10th. Then I’m writing a couple of Tainted
Accords novellas…and then the sequel to The Retreat. I aim to have some
semblance of a life in there, too.
Haha, maaaaybe. When I first plan
out a story I need, like, the most majestic notebook I can find, and a
life-changing pen. And during first draft I lose roughly 98% of my marbles.
This month I have put mixed berries in my tea instead of a smoothie, and I got
into the shower with my underwear and socks still on. It’s hard to be in two or
three worlds at once. . .
15. Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
Writing
isn’t something where you reach a certain level and know you’re a good Author.
You know you’re an author when you keep going no matter what.
