The Record She Left Behind

Patrice Sharpe-Sutton

Description

The Zenobians land on Earth after a natural disaster has left floodplains, atmospheric radiation, and other effects all over the globe. Zerera and the other Zenobians from Andromeda are multidimensional beings, which is a problem for Zer, who turns ghostly and/or invisible when not accepted or acknowledged by Earthlings. It’s also taboo to influence other peoples.
The first Earthling Zer meets is a cougar then her human Earthling contactee, Ian. With Ian, Zer meets Hoover Indians who impart different types of wisdom and inject humor into Zer’s life. When she visits the public baths at the Superstitions, she meets (her foster brother’s contactee) Karen. They dislike and misunderstand each other.
When Zer and Ian reach Prescott, they find a community protecting itself from thieves, low on food stores, and unable to grow food in the biosphere’s current condition. Zer is invisible to the Prescotts, so she takes two siblings, outsiders of the community, to the Isle where she expects a crewmate to alter the siblings’ Heritage seed so they can grow properly and she expects to train two juvie Exotica.
The same day that Zer finally meets two of the three saplings she planted from seed, she realizes that Earth children will be the heirs of new Earth. She also realizes it’s too late to train the juvie saplings who reached and by-passed that stage of development before Zer got back to the Isle to train them. She has been having adventures with Ian. However, it was her responsibility to train the juveniles and to educate others to train other Exotica. She has not done either, and it’s too late. Worse, Brea, a crewmate she mistrusts, planted seed that have grown into seemingly unhealthy saplings.
Meanwhile, Karen stole the last bag of Exotica seed, delivered it to a designated coastal camp and enjoys time with human “Beastie converts” before returning to Prescott to steal building material and other resources. She’s caught and argues with Zer.

Sujets

• Science-Fiction
• Toute la Science-Fiction
• Science Fiction
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Twin Flame Productions LLC
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781880765852
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Contents Half-Title Frontispiece Title Copyright Dedication Praise Table of Contents Quote Page Prelude 1 Visions—Earth Time January 1, 2033 2 Interludes With Zer & Leon—January 2 3 Breaking Taboo—April 8 4 A Couple Of Strange Encounters—May 24 5 Journals & Hate Storms—May 25 6 On The Isle With Ian—May 25–27 7 A Woman Who Knows Fogland—May 27 8 Daga & The Hoovers—May 28 & 29 9 Karen’s Interpretation—May 28 & 29 10 Tangled Meetings In The Superstitions—May 29 11 Baffling Hoovers—May 30–June 1 12 Karen’s Desert Dilemma—June 1 13 Rafting To Prescott—June 2–6 14 The Crux Of Siblings & The State Of Prescott—June 7 15 The Scoop On Alien Concerns & Revelations—June 8 16 Karen’s Contract—June 2–8 17 The Splendor Of Juvenile Exotica—June 8 18 Flights Of Fancy & Swamp Thoughts—June 9 & 10 19 Tricky Word Problems—June 11 & 12 20 In The Manner Of Beasties—June 13–29 21 Faithful Bonds—June 13–20 Zerera Book 2 — Zer’s Story: The Other Option About the Author
Guide Contents Start of Content

The Record She Left Behind:
I Dream Therefore I Am



A Novel by
Patrice Sharpe-Sutton
© 2020 Patrice Sharpe-Sutton. All Rights Reserved. E&OE.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.

Series Info: The Record Keeper
The Record She Left Behind: I Dream Therefore I Am
Sharpe-Sutton, Patrice, 1948 —
The Record She Left Behind: I Dream Therefore I Am
is Book 1 in The Record Keeper Series
Patrice Sharpe-Sutton.

Print ISBN-13: 978-1-880765-84-5
EPub ISBN-13: 978-1-880765-85-2

Cover Design and Layout by: Ahonu
Artwork: AHONU.com
Published by World of Empowerment,
an imprint of Twin Flame Productions LLC
First Printing: March 2020
Printed in the United States of America

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. The authors and publisher shall not be liable for any misuse of the material in this book. This book is strictly for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only. The author and/or publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to anyone with respect to any loss or damage howsoever caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. Address all inquiries to: Twin Flame Productions LLC, 70 SW Century Drive Suite 100-162, Bend, OR 97702
In loving memory
To my parents and my husband
And for the love of nature they instilled.



Acknowledgments

Thanks to

Holly Lisle for a class on reviewing novels

Aingeal Rose & Ahonu for welcoming and publishing the Zerera novels

And Craig, Marge, Bill, Deb, and Roz for support

Thank you Spirit
Praise for The Record She Left Behind: I Dream Therefore I Am

“Skillful world building filled with fully developed, interesting characters you want to know such as Zerera and her friends and crewmates. You see and feel the wondrous petal dance and the possibility of an Earth filled with the healing, often challenging, Exotica trees. These trees make their thoughts known and share humor and adventure with Earthlings.”
—Rosalind Heck

“I found this a thought-provoking experience of what could be, should two advanced life forms meet for a common goal. Some of them being survivors of our own planet’s demise. The others from a different galaxy, here to help and learn from the recovery of Earth. I enjoyed what I read, can’t wait for the movie . . .”
—Lazy Ter

“I have read science fiction since I was a young boy. The Record She Left Behind satisfies my curiosity and imagination about aliens, science-wonders, and “what-ifs.” Telling the story from the aliens' perspective is another aspect that makes this a great read.”
—Francis Schmidt

“I read and find my mind going to this ship and seeing it in my mind and seeing the picture you are painting, the dancing, the trees moving ... it's beautifully written for the mind’s eye.”
—Barbara Ruggeri

“The story line was fun and interesting while moving at a nice pace.”
—Marge Anderson
Prelude ix
Visions—Earth Time January 1, 2033 1
Interludes With Zer & Leon 11
Breaking Taboo 29
A Couple Of Strange Encounters 45
Journals & Hate Storms 56
On The Isle With Ian 60
A Woman Who Knows Fogland 76
Daga & The Hoovers 83
Karen’s Interpretation 87
Tangled Meetings In The Superstitions 94
Baffling Hoovers 101
Karen’s Desert Dilemma 114
Rafting To Prescott 119
The Crux Of Siblings & The State of Prescott 133
The Scoop On Alien Concerns & Revelations 145
Karen’s Contract 152
The Splendor Of Juvenile Exotica—June 8 154
Flights Of Fancy & Swamp Thoughts 162
Tricky Word Problems 167
In The Manner Of Beasties 174
Faithful Bonds 180
About The Author 200
“One thought created the whole physical universe.”
—Jim Peltier (Eleiah)
Darkness swallowed the starship on the far edge of Andromeda, leaving Zerera’s home far behind. There was no turning back.

* * *

When the starship reached low-Earth orbit, Zer headed for the biolab. The doors hissed open before she touched them. “Leon?” The retractable membrane slid over his golden eyes, rendering him impersonal. Warning her .
“What are these?” He stepped aside to expose a 15-centimeter high trio of Exotica seedlings.
She’d thought them well hidden. “Ambassadors of good will and rapport with Earthlings.”
“Ambassadors of hallucination. Taboo, Zerera.”
“What did you expect? We were bred for each other.” They’d raised her .
He walked away—and divided her loyalty.
Karen woke in the night in her cave in Mount Lemmon and saw a pearly white face with large whitish eyes and baby-sized nose floating above her. Another lousy, baldheaded alien. Female. A quirky smile exuded ineffable sweetness. “Liar.” Karen hurled a cup of water at the vision.
Backwash splattered her pile of sleeping bags and disturbed the tarantula, whispering across rocks in its corner under the fake palm leaf. Aliens upset everybody. Karen had been dreaming of ETs since the flash floods in the valley—since she’d returned to the cave.
The face mouthed a name, Zerera.
Karen yelled. “Get out. It’s my home, you're not landing on my mountain. Don't come back.” If they were returning to Earth, why contact her? She hated aliens. They'd killed her father after they used him, luring him with their hi-tech and materials.
A scientist engineer, he’d carved this home from connecting caves in this beloved Arizona mountain, supplying it for bad times ahead. Karen switched on one of his inventions, a tubelight, grabbed the stun gun, and shot at the deceitful face till it broke up and dissipated in the light beam.
“Don’t come back.” If they did, she’d find the ship, blow it up.
Cursing sleeplessness, she tromped downstairs, hit a lever, and rattled down on a squeaky, jerky platform, and stepped onto a ledge a meter above the cavern floor. In the humidity, bat dung odor lingered in the chimney’s cracked, broken opening. There, till her neck ached and aliens were forgotten, she chiseled out rock to widen it for conduits to connect to her small energy station—a construction she’d finished during a fit of rage over ETs.

* * *

Zerera, Zer for short, who'd never thought of herself as an alien, was flying on a starship to the Milky Way. The vision of a cave woman delighted her. It dispelled misgivings about meeting barbaric Earthlings. This one welcomed her with water, the artful splash rousing Zer’s curiosity about the custom. She wanted to meet this woman. A tree biolinguist, Zer anticipated great rapport with an Earthling who lived underground with hairy spiders and plants—who would doubtless love her gift.
Suddenly, the woman levitated and smacked into a rock wall. At the same moment, the starship abruptly slowed and jerked Zer from vision. She memorized the woman’s face and ignored the levitation; the starship was crossing the outer edge of Andromeda, heading to the Milky Way; everyone knew galactic edges distorted perception.
It was mathematical. The weight of a materialized starship, plus an edge zone and velocity change added up to a dent in space fabric, plus a warped view of reality.
“Do many Earthlings live in caves?” Zer swiveled her chair toward Vatta who'd traveled a lot and visited Earth. They sat at paired consoles in the circular work hall’s south quadrant.
Vatta turned her big, bald head and smiled, the peach and blue flecks in her opalescent eyes sparkling. “Not usually. The breach will clarify it.”
“What?”
“Your vision.”
“Thanks.” Sometimes nothing beat an intuitive friend, Zer thought. She settled back in the chair, waiting for her first breach experience. Zer lived among Zenobians who revered the dark stretch between the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies. They said the breach between the Ways promoted lucid thinking.
Zer thought it a shame, considering the underground woman and her dying plant, that Earth was the last stop on the journey. The woman needed plants now, and Zer had just the gift to establish a perfect relationship: three bags of seed. Not just any seed. Exotica trees cleaned air and clarified minds and refreshed people’s spirits. Thank the stars she’d tripled her allotment for gift giving. She’d locked the two extra bags in a biolab drawer, so the pilot wouldn’