The Explorer

The Explorer
James Smythe

A tense, claustrophobic and gripping science fiction thriller from the author of The Testimony.

When journalist Cormac Easton is selected to document the first manned mission into deep space, he dreams of securing his place in history as one of humanity’s great explorers.

But in space, nothing goes according to plan.

The crew wake from hypersleep to discover their captain dead in his allegedly fail-proof safety pod. They mourn, and Cormac sends a beautifully written eulogy back to Earth. The word from ground control is unequivocal: no matter what happens, the mission must continue.

But as the body count begins to rise, Cormac finds himself alone and spiralling towards his own inevitable death … unless he can do something to stop it.

JAMES SMYTHE

THE EXPLORER

Copyright

HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First Published by HarperVoyager 2012

Copyright © James Smythe 2012

James Smythe asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007456758

Ebook Edition © December 2012 ISBN: 9780007456772

Version: 2016-09-26

Contents

Cover (#u0924c6a8-fb9b-582e-aad2-a088ebd62b4f)

Title Page (#u3dbf82d8-b495-5ac6-b5f5-2f2ea508fc0f)

Copyright (#u0a3fc408-6e60-5669-8191-2b024fac838c)

Part One (#u8df763f3-1cdf-51cf-8d77-4f1819ba8c67)

Chapter 1 (#u4b6490dc-e5b3-549e-9d37-83f9284c16b8)

Chapter 2 (#u8324c9c3-e666-5a10-b41a-1a8b1a56f739)

Chapter 3 (#ud6d7ee0f-980f-5fcf-8679-45a16a0b3df7)

Chapter 4 (#u89f9e521-e43b-5c8a-97c9-f59c9d3e8c7b)

Part Two (#u331c3bf8-5998-5227-b26d-de3c767d3735)

Chapter 1 (#u688ca1f3-bf08-5012-a70b-7c63a3b7fa41)

Chapter 2 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 3 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 4 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 1 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 2 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 3 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 4 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

An Extract from The Testimony (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgments (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by James Smythe (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

PART ONE