Surviving Skarr
ICE PLANET CLONES
BOOK TWO
RUBY DIXON
Copyright © 2023 by Ruby Dixon
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Photo: VJ Dunraven Productions
Cover Design: Kati Wilde
Editing: Aquila Editing
Proofreading: Fortunate Books
Created with Vellum
Contents
Surviving Skarr
What Has Gone Before?
Content Warning
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Epilogue
Author’s Note
People of Not-Hoth
Want More?
Surviving Skarr
Overnight, my life has changed to one of sheer survival.
I wake up on a strange alien world covered in ice. I have no memories of myself, not even my name.
And I've resonated to the biggest braggart on the planet. Skarr is a chest-beating alpha male gladiator with lizard genetics and an intense case of self-love. He tells everyone within hearing distance how amazing he is. Bleh.
I want nothing to do with him, but according to the khui, we're soulmates. This means we're bound to have babies and live our lives out together...forever...
Not if I have anything to say about it.
To survive, I'm going to have to figure out who I am, what I am...and what to do about the man who won't shut up about how incredible and perfect I am.
It has to be an act... doesn't it?
What Has Gone Before?
(As of Flor's Fiasco)
The fruit cave has been raided, its precious contents stolen. No one from Icehome Beach has any idea what has happened. Who could have taken it all and why? A party heads to the fruit caves to investigate, among them R'jaal of the Tall Horn Clan (from the Islands) and Tia, a human woman who was abandoned with Lauren and the others.
Meanwhile, Daisy, O'jek, Flor and I'rec decide to go to the Elders Cave (aka the ship of the ancestors) to read the strange writing Penny claims to have seen upon the walls. Daisy can read alien languages and is curious if the message there holds the secret to who is stealing the fruit.
As the first party arrives at the fruit caves, the second party splits up, with Daisy and O'jek heading on for the ship. Alone, Flor and I'rec discover a scatter of stasis pods in a snow-filled valley. The pods are filled with clones, strangers with no memories of how they arrived on the planet or why. There are multiple human women, a lone human man, several 'splices' (clones made from the mutated genetic material of several races) and a few empty pods...
This is where our story picks up.
Content Warning
In an effort to be transparent with readers, I’m including a list of things that readers might find upsetting or triggering in the story. Not all triggers hit everyone the same, so if I’ve missed something, please feel free to reach out and let me know so I can update the list. Note that while my story might sound like it has heavy topics, all of it is dealt with in a lighter tone as I do not take myself (or my characters) too seriously.
SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW
Amnesia
Kidnapping/Abduction
Pregnancy and the discussion of whether or not to have the baby
Animal Injury (the animal gets a HEA)
Character Injury (broken bones, no long lasting trauma)
Death and Dismemberment (off screen references)
Feelings of isolation
Parental loss (vague not specific)
Loss of identity
Cringe situations (look, some of us just have a hard time reading that sort of thing, and I get it!)
SPOILERS DONE SPOILERS DONE SPOILERS DONE SPOILERS DONE SPOILERS DONE SPOILERS DONE SPOILERS DONE SPOILERS DONE SPOILERS DONE
Chapter One
THE STRANGER
I wake up to brutal cold leaking into my room.
Gasping, I sit up in bed—and hit my head on what feels like a lid. With a whimper, I rub a hand over my face and I’m startled to feel a breeze. My eyes are unfocused and I need to get out of bed and find my contacts. But when I go to swing my legs over the side of the bed, I realize I’m…not in bed at all.
It’s some sort of coffin. Or pod. Something with sides. A warm box surrounded by ice cold. I squint at my surroundings, terrified.
Am I dead? Did I just wake up in a morgue?
A breeze caresses my hair and sends a chill down my spine. I ditch the “morgue” theory and head right to “graveyard.” A graveyard in…winter? I squint, trying to make out my surroundings but it’s near impossible without glasses or contacts. My vision has always been horrendous and I’m trying not to be too terrified of the fact that I don’t know where I am or why I’m not wearing warm clothes. The strange box-thing I’m in is dark, but the rest of the world looks pale. Pale white and gray.
I lick my lips, not sure if I should call out. Surely there’s been a mistake somewhere.
“You awake?” a woman calls out.
Oh, thank goodness. Someone else is here.
I raise a hand into the air timidly, trying to make out a person in the endless white. When she comes up on my other side, I have to fight back a shriek of fright at being startled, but she clasps my hand and her skin is warm.
“I’m Flor, and you need to know that you’re safe, okay?”
What can I say to that? I manage a nod. It’s clear she knows what’s going on and I don’t, so I’m content to let her lead.
“Come on,” she says. “Let’s get you out of that pod.” She gives my hand a firm tug and pats the side of the pod. It sounds like metal, and when I climb out of it, it’s so cold that my skin sticks ever so slightly to the side, which is a horrible feeling.
Even worse? When my feet touch the ground, it’s icy. I let out a whimper of distress, then bite my lip to keep silent. My feet are bare, and glancing down, it looks like I’m stepping on some sort of yellow-brown spongy grass that ends near my pod and extends outward.
“You’re on the edge of the group, so you’ve got a bit more to walk,” the woman says with an apologetic note, propping an arm around my side as if to support me. “But we’ll get you over to the fire and get you warm and figure out some clothing, all right? So just hang tight. We won’t let you freeze.”
