Good morning everyone I’m on the blog tour for The Night Shift by Robin Triggs today and I have a great extract to share with you all!
The Night Shift will be published on the 15th November in ebook and hardback. You can pre-order a copy here.
Before I share my extract with you here is a little bit about the book.
Book Synopsis:
Antarctica. A mining base at the edge of the world.
Anders Nordvelt, last-minute replacement as head of security, has no time to integrate himself into the crew before an act of sabotage threatens the project. He must untangle a complex web of relationships from his position as prime suspect.
Then a body is found in the ice. Systems fail as the long night falls. Now Anders must do more than find a murderer: he must find a way to survive.
Will anyone endure the night shift, or will ice and frozen corpses be all that remains?
FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.
Extract:
ID: SAB6974/243/21M
Verified: Baurus, RM
Brasilia Province
Received: 051046:0312
Priority: Ultra
Confirmed and verified
Attachment confirmed and verified
Message follows
Private and Confidential
Madam Director
RE: Australis Incident
You will be wondering why an Operations Executive is contacting you directly rather than going through official channels. You may already be wondering what disciplinary action to take against me. I have thought long and hard about this, and believe me when I say that I would not be risking my career – my entire future – if I did not think that this was necessary. All I ask is that you suspend judgement until you have read this letter.
The staff at Tierra del Fuego became aware of problems at Australis when our regular contacts ceased shortly after the night shift began. As O’Higgins Base, our Antarctic port, was frozen, and because all Antarctic flying is suspended over winter, no action was taken until the following spring. Dr Gabriel (EUG/4454/555/13M), Technician Istevez (SAB2023/499/24M) and I myself were then dispatched to investigate. Our official report is on the system should you care to examine it. It is enough to say that the situation at Australis is stable, though I fear we will struggle to keep the lights on this year. The Company will also have lost many millions in profit.
Of immediate concern is the disturbing story we’ve managed to piece together surrounding the events of the long night. All survivors were given SP-117 by Dr Gabriel as per standard procedure; all then were interviewed individually and their statements recorded verbatim. The events they describe would be hard to credit had the witnesses not corroborated each other from their differing viewpoints. These accounts – in addition to the material evidence that has been recovered – have been retained in a secure server should you wish to examine them.
I have deliberately downplayed the significance of these reports so as to discourage curiosity. I have ordered Dr Gabriel to say nothing; I have checked his record and do not consider him a security risk, but you might wish him reassigned. He and Technician Istevez have remained at Australis for the time being, to help stabilise the situation.
The transcript I am attaching – that of Anders Nordvelt (EUE/6887/274/33M) – is fully representative, and I urge you to read it. I cannot – dare not – enlarge on Nordvelt’s narrative in this message; save to say that it suggests that the problems encountered in Antarctica may threaten other Company operations. Indeed, it might not be going too far to say that they may affect the very future of the Company.
I think once you have read the transcript you will understand the reasons for my direct approach. Had I employed the usual chain of communication my life would now be in serious danger.
I await your instructions
Ricardo Baurus
Operations Executive
SAB6974/243/21M
Chapter One:
We stood on the pack ice, struggling to keep our feet in a wind that drove the snow right into our faces. I shielded my eyes and watched Fischer and Weng crouching down by the still, suited figure to make certain of what we all knew; and the professional part of me sought for clues, evidence, footprints. It was hopeless. Our torches were powerful but the blizzard smothered all. I tried to find shelter in the lee of the building but the gale seemed to be coming from all around.
Fischer straightened and looked at me, her feet crunching on the freshly fallen snow. She didn’t speak, but even through her mask I could sense her anguish. Or maybe that was just my imagination, my own terrors reflected back at me.
We had good cause for fear. This assignment was rapidly becoming a nightmare.
Just a few days into the night shift and we had a death on our hands.
* * *
Should I go from there, or should I begin with my arrival?
* * *
There was no room in the driver’s compartment so I rode with the light goods. A small, hard seat and a small, cheap viewscreen were my comforts. I spent hours pacing the small, grey space, watching progress on the screen map. I tried to read, scrolling idly down the lists of titles on my datapad. I flicked from article to article, but nothing could hold my attention. I settled for switching the screen to show the outside world. It was just… grey. All grey and white and brown. Shapeless mounds drawn in nothing colours, and that was all I could see for miles and miles and miles in every direction.
My home. For at least the next six months this forgotten land was to be my home. I was to be the thirteenth man, a late replacement for the old security officer. I didn’t know why he had left: the Psych should have anticipated any problems.
Only twelve other people within a thousand miles. Well, I’d always felt alone, even when surrounded by thousands. Maybe that was why I’d been appointed.
The smelting plant was the first I saw of the complex. I watched as the giant factory slowly grew in the crawler viewscreen. I had studied the plans of the base, of course, but it was another thing entirely to watch that monster slowly becoming more solid, more gigantic, as we approached. The buildings clustered in its lee were to be my home; just those few small structures and, around them, Antarctica’s endless wastes.
“Ten minutes, Mr Nordvelt,” the driver called over the intercom. “Best get suited up.”
I was, I think, more practised than he knew. I had my Antarctic gear on and ready in half that time. My training had been thorough. I stood sweating in the airlock as I waited for the vehicle to come to a halt.
About The Author:
Rob was raised in Bradford before heading, at eighteen, to the bright libraries of Norfolk. Music was his main interest at this time. He played drums and sang whilst writing copious amounts of lyrics, some of which tipped over into the vaguely-defined realm of poetry. In 2003 he made the top 500 of the Dublin International Poetry Competition.
He studied archaeology in Queen’s University, Belfast before returning to Norfolk and starting to write seriously. He received a boost when he moved to the middlest of middle Englands and joined Abingdon Writers’, a fantastic group that were quick point out all his writing sins. He was Chair for a spell but abdicated as soon as decency allowed.
When not writing he studies the past: archaeology and the historic landscape remain passions. He’s also an exceptionally poor cricketer, turning out for The Bodleian Library’s collection of misfits. He did, however, once bowl Sebastian Faulkes.
At the Bodleian he tells tourists that yes, Harry Potter was filmed here, but no, they can’t go inside. He also works as a proofreader.
A freshly-minted father, he spends his time changing nappies, Tweeting and – when the opportunity presents itself – doing the odd bit of creating. He keeps a blog –
http://www.robintriggs.wordpress.com – of assorted writerly ramblings. You can also find him on Twitter @RobinTriggs.
Over The Rainbow Blog 