Rosalyn Devar is, for lack of a better term, a space janitor. She goes out to ships and cleans up the messes that the crew doesn't want to, or can't deal with. The worst of these cases is when the entire crew of a ship is deceased and she not only has to retrieve the bodies, but also help determine exactly what went wrong. While this job has been taking a toll on her psyche, she feels like it is just the type of task she needs in order to keep her mind off of her past and the events that led her to leave her family's business. Unfortunately, the drinking she also does to help quiet her mind has caused her supervisors to take notice and reconsider her position with the company.
Upon returning from her latest mission, she is given one final chance to show she can do the job without a problem. The Brigantine, a small research vessel, has gone dark and it is reporting that its five crew members are dead. What she soon learns though, is that only one of the crew is dead and the rest have been infected by a strange blue fungus that is not only taking over the ship, but appears to be exerting control over the surviving crew as well.
Through a tragic series of events, Rosalyn finds herself stranded on the Brigantine inside a sealed environmental suit that is keeping the invading fungus from infecting her. As Rosalyn gets to know the remaining crew, she has to be mindful of her air filters and basic needs, and a single false step could lead to her falling victim to what the crew of the Brigantine call Foxfire.
It is quickly apparent that the Foxfire fungus is intelligent and intent on spreading as much as possible. Not only that, it's clear that it needs Rosalyn in order to guide the Brigantine to a station where it can spread even faster. As Rosalyn tries to maintain her own integrity, she must decide just how much to trust the Brigantine's crew. It's obvious that Piero and Rayan are under the control of the Foxfire more than Captain Aries and Misato, but can she really trust what any of them say, or is it all the clever machinations of an alien intellect?
Madeleine Roux does a great job of putting the main character into a tough situation. Not only is Rosalyn trapped in a small space ship in deep space with an imminent threat, but she is further trapped inside a suit that is the only thing keeping her from being infected by an alien presence. This doubly-isolated nature just makes Rosalyn all the more at-risk, and the times that her suit looks to be in danger just adds to the already increased anxiety that this book conveys. Even when the story changes points of view to the various crew members of the Brigantine, Rosalyn's small layer of protection is in the forefront of the reader's mind.
If you are looking for a solid sci-fi/horror novel that is hard to put down, then you need to look no further than Salvaged. It is definitely worth the read.
