Mouthwashing: "Swallow Or Drown"
Jonah "Jon" Carrick wakes up in the wreckage of the Tulpar with nothing but a pounding headache and a mind full of holes. His name, his past, the reason he was even on this ship-gone. The only thing he knows for sure is Anya, the ship's medic, who tends to him with a gentle touch and a quiet sadness. He trusts her instinctively, unaware of the way his heart stirs whenever she's near.
Before the crash, Jon was an engineer with a pilot's license, assigned to the Tulpar under the Pony Express banner. But even then, his past was a blank slate. Now, it's worse-fractured, unreachable. And the deeper he digs, the more he wonders if it was always meant to be that way.
Then there's Curly. Or what's left of him. The Tulpar's captain didn't survive the crash-at least, not in any way that counts. Jimmy's in charge now, but things are unravelling fast. The crew: Jon, Jimmy, Anya, Daisuke, Swansea-are fraying at the edges, their sanity wearing thin under the weight of too many sleepless nights and too many things that don't add up. Jon does what he can to hold them together, but tension coils in the air, thick as oil, waiting for a spark.
There's only one cryopod left. One last chance at survival.
Jon doesn't know if he's strong enough to make the call. He doesn't know if he can trust himself, if the fractures in his mind will hold long enough to see this through. He doesn't even know if he's real anymore.
All he knows is that time is running out. And something is very wrong aboard the Tulpar.
