Moscow, 2138. With the world only beginning to recover from the complete societal collapse of the late 21st Century, Zoya scrapes by prepping corpses for funerals and dreams of saving enough money to have a child. When her brother forces her to bring him a mysterious package, she witnesses his murder and finds herself on the run from ruthless mobsters. Frantically trying to stay alive and save her loved ones, Zoya opens the package and discovers two unusual data cards, one that allows her to fight back against the mafia and another which may hold the key to everlasting life.

This is a description for Arrival by Ted Cross. The short can be found in Breakwater Harbor Books' newly released anthology, Gateways!

“Arrival” is a story that bridges Ted Cross’ first two novels--The Immortality Game and The Shard—and it shares characters that appear in both novels. How does a cyberpunk thriller sit within the same universe as a traditional epic fantasy?
 
It started with a red moon. Made of an element not found in Earth’s solar system, this moon circled one of the nearest habitable planets to Earth. One of the effects of this unusual element is that people on Earth, depending on their level of attunement to the element’s power, can sometimes have visions of life on the moon’s world. Thus many tales and legends of Earth were not actually made up, but were instead visions or dreams that some people had. Those who are strongly attuned—Professor Tolkien, for example—have visions in much greater detail. His elves and other fantastical creatures are not exactly like those on the far planet, but they are close enough.
 
In The Immortality Game we meet a group of scientists that loves playing a virtual reality fantasy game and plans on being the first colonists to a recently discovered habitable world. They have no idea that when they arrive on that world they will find a real-life version of their favorite game, or that those very tales that they loved so much are in fact based upon life on this world.

An excerpt... For more download 'Gateways' for FREE in eBook on Amazon today!

ARRIVAL
By Ted A. Cross
           
Zoya first heard a faint beeping sound that slowly grew louder as her mind struggled toward consciousness.  She considered opening her eyes to search out the source of the annoying beep, but reconsidered when she realized how oddly her body felt.  In her mind she reached out to her limbs, her stomach, her beating heart, trying to understand what was different.  Her body felt pristine and full of energy, making her feel as if she had been exhausted for years without her truly knowing it.  She couldn’t recall ever feeling so refreshed.
Now she opened her eyes and blinked in what at first seemed the harsh glare of white lights, though after a few moments her eyes adjusted and the lights turned out to be standard panel lighting in the ceiling.  A few inches above her face, a cocoon of thick glass was hazy with the mist of her breath.  She reached up to touch the glass as if she wasn’t certain it was really there.  A green light above the glass near her head blinked in time with the beeping noise.  The glass coffin—as she decided to think of it—smelled faintly of chemicals.
She pushed up on the glass and was surprised to hear a mechanical whirring as the glass rose up and to the left along one edge, finally coming to rest in a perpendicular position.  At the same time, she felt something detach itself from the slot interface behind her left ear.  Zoya coughed and pushed herself to a sitting position.  Good God, she thought.  What the hell is this place?...

Featuring gripping Independent authors from around the world, GATEWAYS is the second collection of short works published by Breakwater Harbor Books. Compiling heart-pumping tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Crime are nine stories that will thrill you, rivet you, and some will even make you sleep with the light on.

As I Wake (and See the World) – He wasn’t supposed to survive. But he did. Now the Dark Ones are after him.
IVAN AMBERLAKE

Arrival - Zoya's mind is hijacked and her clone wakes to find she has no choice but to be a colonist on a new planet.
TED CROSS

Living in the Pages - Hendrix Massey wished for a dream on a desperate day as he sat in a deli on Harris Street. What he got was magic.
MINDY HAIG

The Fall of Eon - Three mortals versus one planet-devouring horde. Existence is on the line. Just another day in the life…
SCOTT J. TONEY

Lethal Black Book - Ever heard the phrase ‘two whores is too many’? Love isn’t cheap and business is deadly.
MELISSA SIMONSON

Blind Alley - In a high-tech future, low-tech ex-operative Burgundy sets out with Big Boy, his .500 Magnum Smith and Wesson, and Leyla, his capable techie partner to settle a score and clear his name.
DYANE FORDE

Pivot of Fate - Ama’na was a grand dream of Kin and Celt seeking peace from ancient prejudices until a fell moon and desire tore it asunder.
LELA MARKHAM

Foresight - Falath believes he has free will. Tamilin knows differently.
DEE HARRISON

Incident in Class 4666 - A normal Monday at school for Emi Matsumoto and her classmates: History, Math, Art, and a prophecy of Hell on Earth.
SIMON PAUL WILSON

Gateways is a step into the novel realms of Breakwater Harbor authors. Each work is a standalone, giving a gateway into the larger work it was inspired by.

Includes three short stories and a novelette!

'Dragon Play': All their lives the group of young Vikings had heard of their clan's past glories, but all they have known is the terror of being relegated to living within the shadow of a dragon's mountain. When the chieftain's daughter finds an ancient scroll showing a hidden back entrance to the dragon's lair, she and her three friends decide to sneak in and retrieve the lost talisman that holds the luck of their clan.

'Lord Fish' tells the tale of a newly-minted noble who meets his nemesis in Sir Brindor, the realm's most famous knight. Can the lowborn Lord Midas survive single combat against the deadliest warrior in history?

In 'The Stolen Castle', Lord Midas pays a visit to the long-deserted keep granted him by his new liege lord. When his entrance is refused, Midas learns that a hedge knight has taken up residence. With only his squire to aid him, Midas must find a way to take back his rightful home.

'Arrival' tells the tale of how a group of scientists from Earth first came to colonize the planet of New Eden...along with one unexpected guest.