Seventeen Crimes - Tara Rafacz - Wattpad

Story cover for Seventeen Crimes by TaraRafacz

Seventeen Crimes

Reads 97
Votes 23
Parts 22
Time 1h 44m

Reads 97
Votes 23
Parts 22
Time 1h 44m

colonization mars onc2024 opennovellacontest2024

Open Novella Contest 2024 writing prompt #83: Earth's climate is becoming increasingly inhospitable. Humans have located another planet to live on, but there's not enough room on the spacecrafts for everyone. Who stays and who goes?


One wrong question has the power to condemn .

Following the Martian discovery of a jump drive, the United Nations of Earth formulated a plan. There is a rumored list of seventeen crimes - modeled after the nineteen crimes that could get one sent to Australia. It seems a very similar one would get white collar corporate criminals, fringe political activists, terrorist operatives, bigots and climate law violators sent to Mars.

Publicly, it's  all denied.

Then Brie Reyes (nee Hodges), finds herself arrested after a contentious briefing with the United States Climate Initiative Czar. Researching her absent father - who long ago left to be among the first settler of the Martian colony Selah - caused a cataclysmic shift in her life and her thinking.

Meeting the half-brother born to her father after he settled on Mars may either bring her salvation or condemnation. Either way, Brie Reyes is going to Mars. 

Its either as a political prisoner. Or political refugee.All Rights Reserved

colonization mars onc2024 opennovellacontest2024

22 parts

Sign up to add Seventeen Crimes to your library and receive updates

or

#38opennovellacontest2024

Content Guidelines

You may also like

The Island by AmyJohnson895

"This is The Island, a prison designed for minors like me- too young to be executed, too old to be reformed, and too much of a stain on humanity to let exist. It was 'the answer' to the growing crime rate resulting from a world that was falling apart. The details evade me, but there is one thing I know. The water doesn't seem as scary as it did before." When Jordyn wakes up in the middle of a tropical forest in the mouth of a cat too big to be real, she decides this isn't how she wants to die. The Island has other plans, though. It was designed to kill her, and it will bring out every gun in the arsenal to do so. Her life becomes a game of survival from the mutant and venomous animals, severe temperature changes, and impossible weather scenarios that exist in this government manufactured prison. The twist? She has no idea who she is, where she came from, or why she committed first-degree arson. In this mixture of "The Hunger Games" and "Maze Runner", Jordyn has to unravel the truth before nature kills her- or die not knowing. Highest Ranking: #45 in Science Fiction **2nd Place Winner of the 2017 Rose Awards** **Featured as a Wattpad Pick on 11/8/19**

Echoes Of Freedom | ONC 2025 by SaniCybele

🏆 Round 1&2 Winner - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 🏆 In a world where every citizen's lifespan is predetermined at birth, Liora receives an unprecedented message - she has been granted 20 days of freedom before her scheduled expiration. Confused and terrified, she escapes the surveillance state that has controlled her every move, determined to uncover the truth behind her unexpected reprieve. As she navigates a world she's only known through censored screens, she meets rebels who claim the system is rigged, a scientist who might hold the key to extending life, and a government agent determined to bring her back. Each day reveals more secrets-about herself, her past, and the society that dictates who lives and dies. With time running out, Liora must decide: will she fight for a future beyond her 20 days, or accept the fate she was assigned? ----- Written for the Open Novella Contest 2025 Prompt 110 - 20 days of freedom ----- Cover by @devarsh_yagnik (the prologues at the end because of the prologue ban 😭) ----- Copyright © 2025 by Sani Cybele All rights reserved.

Mars Needs Women by wdhenning

Being a 'difficult woman', Oklahoma farm-gal Mavis wasn't having much luck with the local dating pool. Her Pa signed her up to emigrate to newly terraformed Mars, because 'Mars needs women'. Maybe there she could find a good man to marry. But Mavis had no intention of getting hitched, despite what the legal contract said. Walt, the son of successful Mars merchants, had no intention of going through with a forced arranged marriage. Finding a kindred spirit in Mavis, they chose their own path. A quirky sci-fi romance with a frontier vibe. **** Open Novella Contest Short List and Honorable Mention **** **** Open Novella Contest Round Two Ambassador Pick **** **** Novella Grand Winner - 2025 NanoWatt Awards ****

Spindrift by TaraRafacz

Ariel went away for a murder she didn't commit and spent five years in the worst prison on the planet. Once released, it was another five years before she was able to return to the surface of Nereid and to her father, bringing her son with her. She has since rebuilt her life. Gotten married. Established with her husband Lee with a transportation firm in the city. When Marisol returns, she's faced with a choice of revenge, but stands to lose everything. When Marisol is found murdered, because of their history, Ariel quickly becomes suspect number one. Has she lost everything after all? Inspired by Open Novella Contest 2023 prompt #42 (incidentally, I just realized that 42 is the answer to life, meaning and literally everything according to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Witness [COMPLETE] by LindsayFrenchWriting

[2024 Amby Winner | Featured on Wattpad Science Fiction | Featured on Wattpad Romance] Rory emerges from a space pod in the Nevada desert with no memories, and only one certainty-this world is not her home. She refuses to live as a lab rat for the US military and fights to make a new home for herself. While she's settled into a life on Earth with a man she loves, she's unknowingly left another behind. Worse, a threat looms over Earth, one that has already ravaged her home planet. One day her lost memories suddenly reactive and she must make an unimaginable decision. Torn between two lives and two loves, Rory must decide what she's fighting for, and just whose side she's really on.

The Horton Dilemma [ONC 2022] by psychedelish

Izzy Belvin, a famous genetic engineer, is about to blast off to the "final" frontier to join the second Martian Colony, where she'll continue creating nutrient-robust insects for farms that will feed the colony and increase its sustainability. For Izzy's remaining days on Earth, her psychopharmacologist best friend, Nakomi, begs her to complete a bucket list before leaving as a means of honoring their friendship. The first bucket list item: going to one of Portland's psychedelic centers together and taking Vivectica ™, a potent psychedelic drug (synthesized by none other than Nakomi) that has become a popular form psyche-therapy. Izzy reluctantly agrees, and when she encounters a hyper-intelligent reptilian entity on her trip, she can't convince herself that he wasn't real. The days are ticking down until her trip, but Izzy, becoming obsessed with the creature, can't get over her feelings that either 1) she's given herself drug-induced psychosis right before her journey to the red planet, or 2) there's something out there, something beyond space... This novel is a wacky trip with some sprinklings of HORTON HEARS A WHO and ANT-MAN, along with lots of palatable metaphysics. ***This is my entry for the 2022 Open Novella Contest.

A Story For Neptune by _writing_is_for_life

First Book To The Chronicles of The Lost Worlds I had a sister named Neptune. I had a brother named Mars. She loved space. He hated the universe outside his. Our parents always loved the planets, that's why we got our names. She loved them for it. Our parents started a mission to send us into space. He hated them for it. Our parents sent her to space as an experiment. He stayed behind on Earth. They lost her. I couldn't come back. I've been looking for her for three years. I haven't seen him for three years. I found her. ••• A story told from the point of view of two siblings, fifteen year old Mars and thirteen year old Neptune. •••• Book mainly written by @1daughterofposeidon. I edit and enter contests for the book though. ••• August 1, 2017: #591 In Science Fiction August 27, 2017: #804 In Science Fiction August 28, 2017: #280 in Science Fiction September 2, 2017: #552 in Science Fiction October 1, 2017: #777 in Science Fiction

LEGACY CHILD by jan_claremont

Abriel Brighton exists solely to give birth to genetically perfect children-a role she has no interest in fulfilling. Created by the scientists who originally settled on and colonized a dead planet with the intention of terraforming it, she belongs to a breed of genetically altered humans designed to safe-guard humanity's DNA. Living in a protected underground society called Urbine's Crescent, she and others like her are to be retrieved once the surface is ready for habitation. However, they've been waiting a long time. Long enough that the idea of the surface world has faded into legend. When Abriel's father is murdered, she finds herself thrust into a conflict where all motives are suspect. As a scout and pair-bonded with a telepathic dog-like animal that's native to the planet, she struggles to determine the responsible party. Instead, violence escalates to the point where law becomes meaningless and she's stripped of all power. Worse, Abriel discovers the Crescent leadership is systematically destroying the only home she's ever known and her enemies are probably her only allies. When a stranger named Porter arrives, claiming to be from the surface and delivering the message that the planet is terraformed and ready to support human life, she has no choice but to believe him. Without his help, the Crescent won't survive. But with it, they just might be able to remake their entire world.

HIS UNFORGETFUL WIFE ✓ [Published] by YsabelleMonte2

She has it all except his heart. She had done both amazing and ridiculous things but was still treated as a wallflower. She's been a good wife. But now, she can no longer be. __________________ Natalia Zimmer had been married to Devon Yushkova for years. In those season, she told herself being a good wife was enough. Then everything shifted. Her buttons were pushed at every corner, letting her heart be broken beyond repair. Suddenly, a domineering man, whom she didn't imagine, crossed her path. A stranger who finally saw her. New revelations. New life. Second chance. _________________ **SLOW BURN and roller-coaster plot** **This is my original story. ***I do not own all the pictures that were attached to this book. Cover photo design idea from @ImReginaOscura [[Free on WATTPAD only]] Highest Rank Attained (2021): #1 Rebel - Sep to Nov 2021, July-Aug 2022 #1 Royal - July-Aug 2022 #1 Intrigue - Nov, Dec, Feb, May, Aug 2022 #1 Heartbreak - Sep 2021 - Jan 2022 #16 Romance - Oct 2021 #1 GeneralFiction - Oct, Nov, Dec, May 2022 #1 Divorce - Oct, Nov, Dec #1 Millionaire - Sep, Dec #1 Husband - Nov #1 Wife - Oct, Nov #1 Drama - Oct #1 StrongFemaleLead - Oct, Nov #1 Revenge - Sep, Oct, Nov #1 President - Oct, Nov #1 Slowburn - Sep #1 DramaRomance - Sep, Oct, Nov #1 Random stories - Sep 2021 - Jan 2022 #1 DominantMale - Sep, Oct Started on August 27, 2021 Completed on October 11, 2021 Around 72,332 words

Plutonian by SoniaJohn

[THIS STORY IS FREE WITH EXCLUSIVE BONUS CONTENT] A fake relationship, a diabolical plan and a threat to the human race. The only thing that ties them together is an eighteen year old girl's choice, that could change the course of everything. *** Every year five hundred children are abducted from planet Earth and taken to Pluto to serve as slaves to aliens who are far superior to the human species. When a slave turns eighteen they are allowed to choose their fate for the rest of their lives. They are only given three choices; remain a slave, become a fighter or serve as a Plutonian's lover. For the past eleven years, Aria has spent every second waiting for an opportunity to escape and when she's offered a dangerous but rewarding arrangement by a prominent Plutonian, she is quick to agree. But when the lines between love and hatred blur, will Aria ever be able to escape or will her risky circumstances kill her first? Editor's Picks 2021 *Winner of the Spotlight Awards* *Highest rank so far: #4 in Aliens #1 in dystopian #3 in romance (10/2/21) Cover by @Greenteadragon

You may also like

Slide 1 of 10

The Island cover

Echoes Of Freedom | ONC 2025 cover

Mars Needs Women cover

Spindrift cover

Witness [COMPLETE] cover

The Horton Dilemma [ONC 2022] cover

A Story For Neptune cover

LEGACY CHILD cover

HIS UNFORGETFUL WIFE ✓ [Published] cover

Plutonian cover

The Island

"This is The Island, a prison designed for minors like me- too young to be executed, too old to be reformed, and too much of a stain on humanity to let exist. It was 'the answer' to the growing crime rate resulting from a world that was falling apart. The details evade me, but there is one thing I know. The water doesn't seem as scary as it did before." When Jordyn wakes up in the middle of a tropical forest in the mouth of a cat too big to be real, she decides this isn't how she wants to die. The Island has other plans, though. It was designed to kill her, and it will bring out every gun in the arsenal to do so. Her life becomes a game of survival from the mutant and venomous animals, severe temperature changes, and impossible weather scenarios that exist in this government manufactured prison. The twist? She has no idea who she is, where she came from, or why she committed first-degree arson. In this mixture of "The Hunger Games" and "Maze Runner", Jordyn has to unravel the truth before nature kills her- or die not knowing. Highest Ranking: #45 in Science Fiction 2nd Place Winner of the 2017 Rose Awards Featured as a Wattpad Pick on 11/8/19