Down Under

Down Under

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WpMetadataReadComplete Mon, May 3, 20213h 54m
|WATTYS 2022 WINNER - HORROR| Shawn, a convicted criminal, never thought she'd see the sun again, let alone call another star system her home. When she's offered an out from her prison sentence, she embarks on a dangerous interstellar expedition along with 18 of Earth's most intelligent criminals. Their task is to set up a base on a supposedly habitable planet and prepare it for colonization. Although the planet has liquid water and a breathable atmosphere, it is believed to host only microbial life. However, upon arriving, Shawn and the rest of the colonists learn that assumption was grossly incorrect. In a brutal attack from rampaging wildlife, everyone but Shawn and four other colonists are killed. The five survivors retreat to the cavernous network beneath the ground seeking safety, but they soon come to a terrible discovery. These caves aren't ordinary caves, and they are no safer down under than they were on the surface. [][][] This was originally my entry for the 2021 Open Novella Contest, and it received an honorable mention! It has now been expanded into a full length novel. I used prompt number 53: "When wildlife starts rampaging, all the humans are forced underground. However, they come to a terrible discovery that being underground is no safer than being on the surface."
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[ONC 2023 SECOND PLACE WINNER | AMBASSADORS PICK 2023] An unwilling but gifted geneticist must find a way to safeguard humanity against the deadly pathogen she's forced to design or die trying. *** The planet's population is pushing past 11 billion and counting. With resources spread thin, widespread famine, and health systems crippled everywhere, the governments of the world are running out of ideas. Then a scientist proposes a controversial solution and the classified Project Rescue is born. But when the lead scientist on the project and his entire team mysteriously die, his young microbiology prodigy is brought into the secret government agency to take over where he left off. Ezra Mayur always hoped that her brilliance in pathogen studies would land her a secure job one day. This seems like a dream come true. Full food rations and safety for her struggling family, and a job in the field she is the most interested in. But the project is not quite what Ezra expected and her moral compass is tested when she has to choose between protecting her family or the world. *** PROMPTS that will make an appearance: 12. An evil sorcerer offers you an immense amount of power--but it comes with a price. (Modified: an evil corp offers you an opportunity of a lifetime, but it comes with a price.) 5. Flip the coin and make a life choice with it. Two choices, one coin, and no turning back. Do you dare? FEATURED ON: @ScienceFiction 'Pandemic' list (Oct 2025) @ScienceFiction 'Viruses & Zombies' list (Sept 2024) @dystopianapocalypse 'Pandemic&Outbreak' list. (May '23) @fright 'AAPI: Celebration' list. (April '23) [NOTE: Trigger warning may apply. Violence and gore. This work is solely the property of Eva Acharya writing as E. A. Martin, and thus, no translation, copying, or distribution in part or whole of this story is permitted.]

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