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Science Fiction/Fantasy

Date Published: 09-20-2022

Publisher: Aurelia Leo

 

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Humans have always feared Caen’s kind.

Survivors of a mysterious virus, Ruĝa Morto, that killed 80% of
Earth’s population two centuries ago, they have endured enslavement as
Neurologically Compromised Individuals, or NiCIes, owned by OnyxCorp. Now,
in 2261, Caen begins a perilous journey to seek the Vagabonders, the
original moon colonists, whom many believe hold the key to freeing his
people.

He knows he is hunted. He expects death at every turn.

But he doesn’t anticipate meeting Dr. Ligeia Obumbwe, a human
biogeneticist desperate to protect her brother Finn, yet another victim of
the endemic virus. When OnyxCorp promises to keep Finn safe in exchange for
her work in their lunar lab, she accepts despite her increasing unease
regarding the Corporation’s motives.

Ligeia and Caen become unlikely partners in a dangerous quest to reach the
Vine, the space elevator that is the first step in their journey to the
moon.

What they find along the way could help them bring OnyxCorp to its
knees…or destroy everything they love.

Vagabonder tablet

EXCERPT

Chapter 3

I wander through Montevideo’s broken industrial district for an hour before I find the next station, a warehouse several blocks from the canal’s edge. Headquarters for Lee Chou.  Montevideo was once a thriving metropolis, even after Ruĝa Morto, but now, ruined by rising sea levels and neglect, it’s practically abandoned. Every building looks the same: Corrugated siding, graffiti, warnings against trespassing, Closed by OnyxCorp Authority in a variety of languages and symbols. As I pick my way through the crumbling streets and refuse, I notice a few stubborn residents peeking from makeshift doors and windows in rusting cargo containers. I give one or two a nod, prompting them to disappear without a word.

Every Dua child knows the name Lee Chou. Tales about unfortunate Dua children have the same moral: Always obey Authority, or Chou will take you. Follow the curfew, or Chou will get you. Never upset a human, or Chou will snatch you up. Chou’s reputation as a smuggler and ruthless killer is fueled by his association with OnyxCorp, which has relied for decades on his services. The remnants of outdoor enclosures surrounded by chain-link fencing are scattered throughout the district. Those enclosures are empty now, but over the decades they’ve confined thousands of Dua, bound for workstations across the globe, on the Vine, on the moon. 

Why would Mama send me here, straight to the boogeyman’s lair? I can’t begin to guess. You will find Lee Chou in Montevideo. Then you will know what to do next. Typically cryptic, but it’s the only thing I have to go on if I’m to make my way to the Vine.

This building is much like the others, save for a bright green door and the human male perched on a metal chair to the door’s left. The back of his bald head rests against the building’s metal siding, and his arms hang loosely at his sides. A weapon of some kind lies across his lap. His face is leathered by UV exposure. He lets out a rumbling snore as I approach. 

Unimpressive so far, but I’m not keen on startling him and getting blasted with whatever weapon he has. I stop several meters away and clear my throat. Nothing. I take a few more steps forward and kick a piece of metal siding lying on the ground as hard as I can, sending it sailing into a pile of similar metal debris. 

The man leaps, knocks the chair over, and sends the weapon flying to land at my feet. I bend, retrieve the weapon, and rise.

“I’m here to see Chou.”

The man shifts from his left foot to his right. “Now, listen, man. I don’t want any trouble.” His voice is a whisper, and when he glances nervously back toward the green door for a third time, I realize why.

“You were asleep on the job.” I switch the weight of the weapon to my left hand and let it hang, barrel down.

“Frank?” A voice comes from a speaker hanging above the green door. I glance up, noticing the imager. I wave at it with my right hand. 

The man, the Frank in question, takes a step toward me. “Look here, NiCIe—” He cuts off when he sees my expression. “No offense, man, just…give me back the gun.”

“Frank!” The voice is loud and sharp enough this time to echo through the alley. “Get your ass to the comm!”

Frank gives me a grave look and backs away toward the door. Without taking his eyes from me, he reaches out, fumbles for several seconds, and finally manages to locate the comm panel next to the green door. “Uh, hi. Everything’s ok—”

“Like hell.”

“Well, uh, there’s a, a NiCIe out here—”

“I can see that. Goddamit, Frank. One job.” Frank glares at me reproachfully, and I shrug as I adjust the gun in both hands. “Bring him in.”

There’s a soft ping, and the bright green door swings open. Frank motions for me to follow him, stops just at the threshold. “Can I at least have my gun back?” 

“Let’s see how this goes.” 

Grumbling, he shuffles into the building. I follow him, ducking slightly to miss the lintel, and am plunged into sudden darkness. 

A hand grabs my left arm and grapples with the weapon as I am pulled through the gloom. I can make out darkened figures, and as my eyes adjust, I see a narrow hallway ahead with a long series of closed doors on either side, a soft glow pooling beneath them. Ceiling lights blink and buzz, casting eerie shadows across the walls and floor. Frank gives a final jerk and lets out a frustrated grunt when he fails to dislodge the weapon. 

“He has my gun, Raj,” he says.

“We know.” Another figure emerges from the gloom, a large human male, his face covered in a grizzly beard. He’s holding a weapon as well, leveling it steadily at my chest. “What you want, NiCIe?” 

I hold my arms out at my sides, the shotgun firmly in my grip. “Here to see Chou.”

“He’s wacked out, Raj. Just walked right up, like the place belongs to him.” 

“You wacked out, NiCIe?” Raj’s face glistens. He’s missing a front tooth.

“I don’t think so.” I nod to the gun in Raj’s beefy hands. “Why don’t we let Chou decide?”

Raj blinks, narrows his eyes. He lowers the gun slightly. “You’re different, that’s for sure.” He jerks his head toward the corridor. “Follow me. Don’t touch anything.”

“He has my gun, Raj.” Frank trots behind us as Raj escorts me down the corridor to a door at the far end.

“We know, Frank.” Raj clears his throat. “Stand there,” he says, indicating the wall across from the door. I back up as he puts his hand against a wall scanner. The door clicks open.

Sudden light tears through my eyes. 

Frank, or maybe it was Raj, shoves me into the blinding room. 

“Identify yourself!” 

I blink rapidly as a human female comes into focus, short, not much taller than a Dua child. Her right hand holds a stunstic, pointed straight up at my head. On her left thigh is a holstered electristic; her hand hovers over its stock expectantly.

“Who are you?” The woman’s grey hair is pulled back in a sleek ponytail, and she pushes her lips together in a small, thin line. She runs her eyes up and down the length of my body, and their implants flash briefly as they catch the light.

“My name is Caen.”

“And just what the hell are you doing here, Caen?”

“I’m looking for Lee Chou.” She narrows her eyes and presses her wrinkled lips together in a frown. “Word is Chou can get me to Buenos Aires.”

She takes more careful aim with the stunstic. “The maglev can get you to Buenos Aires. The tunnel can get you to Buenos Aires. You don’t need Lee Chou to get to Buenos Aires.”

“Not without attracting Authority attention.”

Her hand moves to the electristic. “Who sent you here?”

I take a deep breath. “Lenore.”

A wave of confusion moves over her brown-skinned face. “Lenore?”

“My mother.” I swallow down the lump that’s suddenly formed in the back of my throat. “She says Lee Chou is the best forger in SoAm.” The room behind the woman comes into focus now. It is bright, airy even. Not at all what I would expect in this desolate place, in this crumbling building. “Is he here?”

The two henchmen behind me chuckle. The corners of the woman’s mouth turn up slightly, but she doesn’t lower the weapon. “Ah, yes, the infamous smuggler Chou, responsible for millions of NiCIe children disappearing from their beds and forced into slave labor. That Lee Chou? Why would your mother send you to O Diabo?”

“I’m wondering the same thing myself.” I try to smile.

The woman regards me for a few seconds more over the stunstic’s barrel. Slowly, she lowers her arm. “How is your mother, Lenore?” 

“She’s dead.” I’m surprised to see shock and dismay pass over her face.

“So that’s why we haven’t heard from the Paysandú station,” Raj says quietly behind me. 

The woman shakes her head as she cuts him a glance. “You’re Lenore’s Earth child?”

 “I have a sister—” Then I realize what she’s just said. “Earth child?”

The woman closes the distance between us in a few steps. Her eye implants engage in soft flashes of light as she scans me up close. “Hm. Perhaps.” She steps back, holsters the stunstic on her right thigh. “It took my father years to develop his reputation for ruthless NiCIe hunting. A reputation that is supposed to keep nosy people from poking around here. Lee Chou is dead. I am now Lee Chou.” She waves at the two men. “I’ll take it from here.”

“He has my gun,” Frank says.

“So he does. You gonna take it from him?” 

Frank gives me a seething glance.

“He’s bigger than I am,” he says sullenly.

“Raj, take Frank out to the yard and show him how to do his job. Again. You can have your gun back,” she says, “when Raj says you can. Out.”

“Come on, kid,” Raj says, tugging at Frank’s arm. Frank casts one more angry look my way before he disappears into the corridor outside.

“I’d appreciate your putting that away,” Chou says, indicating the weapon I’m still gripping in my left hand. “I doubt you’d need it anyway, right?”

I sling the weapon over my shoulder. Turning to face Chou, I clear my throat. “So, can you get me to the coast, undetected?”

She narrows her eyes. “I offer my services for the right price, and to the right people.” 

“What’s your price?” 

“I don’t think you’re the right people.”

“What’s your price?”

She places her hands on her hips. “Six thousand credits.” 

“I’ll give you four.” 

“For four, I can get you within five miles of the coast. I trust you can swim.” 

 “My mother implied there was a debt owed her.” 

Chou reacts as if she’s been struck across the face. “There is,” she says slowly. “Why would you want to go to Buenos Aires? If you aren’t registered, you won’t be able to get work, or food, or shelter—”

“I need to get to the Vine.” 

Chou scoffs. “I can’t get you to the space elevator. It’s out of the question.” 

“But you know someone in Buenos Aires who can.” 

She frowns. “I haven’t spoken to that asshole in four years.” 

“But you do know the Captain.”

Captain my ass,” she mumbles. “You’re better swimming to the Vine. His isn’t the most reliable station, you know.” She sighs, then motions for me to follow her to a small circular table piled with flexscreens. The room is spacious and neat, with wallscreens covering the room floor to ceiling, projecting scenes of old Earth. An old NutriPrint model stands in a corner next to a modified Re-Claimer, obviously a knock-off from a now-defunct OnyxCorp competitor. Chou picks up a flexscreen. As it comes to life, she clears a space on the table, puts it down, and stretches it by the corners until it is about a meter square. 

Captain Abebe was here last time I checked.” There’s a trace of bitter sarcasm in her voice. She points to an area southeast of the city labeled Ensenada. “Here isn’t anywhere anymore…Ensenada, La Plata, the Canal…it’s all abandoned.” She pushes out with her fingers to zoom in.  “I can get you here, the mouth of the Canal, but I won’t go further. You’ll have to make your way to this location on foot.” She touches a square on the grid that features dilapidated warehouses and housing units next to the Arroyo del Saladero; the location glows a soft orange. She touches the corner of the flexscreen, and it snaps into its original size. She hands it to me, and I roll it into a small cylinder, fitting it neatly inside an inner pocket of my tattered jacket. “The Corporation is everywhere over there, even in the abandoned sections. There are bound to be drones and maybe even an old Authority model for good measure. If you get past them, you must deal with Abebe, who trusts absolutely no one. Especially me.”

“Should I mention you at all?”

“I’d like to see the look on his face when he hears my name. That would be worth losing 6000 credits alone.”

 

About the Author

R. T. Coleman

R. T. Coleman grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she nurtured a
passion for reading and writing while nestled among blankets and pillows in
her bedroom closet. Her love of science fiction was born when she saw Star
Wars in the theater in 1977. Imagine her disappointment when she realized
she could never actually be Princess Leia.

She lives in Springfield, Arkansas, with her partner Joe on their 25-acre
farm, where she works as an instructional designer by day and a writer and
editor by night. Vagabonder is her debut novel.

 

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Facebook

Twitter

Blog

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Vagabonder Blitz

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Science Fiction/Fantasy

Date Published: 09-20-2022

Publisher: Aurelia Leo

 

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

 

Humans have always feared Caen’s kind.

Survivors of a mysterious virus, Ruĝa Morto, that killed 80% of
Earth’s population two centuries ago, they have endured enslavement as
Neurologically Compromised Individuals, or NiCIes, owned by OnyxCorp. Now,
in 2261, Caen begins a perilous journey to seek the Vagabonders, the
original moon colonists, whom many believe hold the key to freeing his
people.

He knows he is hunted. He expects death at every turn.

But he doesn’t anticipate meeting Dr. Ligeia Obumbwe, a human
biogeneticist desperate to protect her brother Finn, yet another victim of
the endemic virus. When OnyxCorp promises to keep Finn safe in exchange for
her work in their lunar lab, she accepts despite her increasing unease
regarding the Corporation’s motives.

Ligeia and Caen become unlikely partners in a dangerous quest to reach the
Vine, the space elevator that is the first step in their journey to the
moon.

What they find along the way could help them bring OnyxCorp to its
knees…or destroy everything they love.

About the Author

R. T. Coleman

R. T. Coleman grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she nurtured a
passion for reading and writing while nestled among blankets and pillows in
her bedroom closet. Her love of science fiction was born when she saw Star
Wars in the theater in 1977. Imagine her disappointment when she realized
she could never actually be Princess Leia.

She lives in Springfield, Arkansas, with her partner Joe on their 25-acre
farm, where she works as an instructional designer by day and a writer and
editor by night. Vagabonder is her debut novel.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Goodreads

Instagram

 

Purchase Links

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RABT Book Tours & PR

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Mystra – Blitz

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Science Fiction/Fantasy
Date Published: July 15, 2016
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In the wake of the Kryllidar war, creatures of myth and legend, the elder races, and the psychically gifted fled the telepath phobic Alliance worlds in search of sanctuary. They found their safe haven on the planet Mystra. It was a paradise world, then something went horribly. A great cataclysm unleashed a storm of deadly energy that threatened to tear the planet apart. Cut off from the rest of space by a barrier of destructive force, all appeared lost. Then from despair came hope. The energies unleashed by the cataclysm had an unexpected effect. Dormant genes carried by women of an ancient Druidic line were suddenly activated, giving the women the ability to control the elemental forces of nature. The elementals saved Mystra from destruction, but their newfound power came with a price. The incredible forces they wielded, in time, destroyed them. Only by bonding with a male, who also carried the dormant gene, could an elemental be saved and her powers safely harnessed.
An elemental’s power reaches maturity on midnight of her twenty first year. If she is not bonded before the midnight hour, the elemental will go mad, lose control of her powers and destroy herself and everything around her. Tivonna, daughter of King Arcus of Aquilla is nearing her twenty first year. A level four elemental, her father has searched the planet for a bondmate, a kiosan, that can match his daughter in power. Searched and failed. He is left with no choice. For the good of Mystra, at midnight on her twenty first birthday Tivonna must die.
Meanwhile, high above Mystra’s skies a golden starship takes up orbit around the shrouded world. Jasen, telepath and last of his kind, has come to Mystra seeking answers. Beings of fire and light appeared from nowhere and swarmed across the galaxy before disappearing as mysteriously as they had appeared. In the creatures’ wake three star systems lay in ruins. Nothing survived except for one lone world. The planet Mystra was untouched. Now Jasen and his friend Hawk will do what no one has done in centuries. Penetrate the planet’s deadly energy barrier and reach the surface below. What they find there will change their lives forever and may hold the key to saving more star systems from destruction. For the fiery invaders are not gone … only sleeping.
Excerpt
Prologue
The planet Mystra …a world as beautiful as she was mysterious.  Pulses of multicolored lightning flashed through the dense white clouds that shrouded the planet’s surface, hiding her secrets from prying eyes.  Once sister world to a multitude of planets, she is now alone.  Surrounded by the debris of what at one time were viable worlds, she is the last vestige of life in an otherwise barren system.  In solitude, she waits for those who would come to unlock her mysteries…those with the skills and courage to breach the flashing clouds surrounding her and reach the surface below.
With a rippling of space, the sleek golden starship dropped out of hyperspace and settled into orbit around the jeweled planet.  At long last her wait was over.
Chapter One
2605 Day 232
The exploration vessel Ourora smoothly exited hyperspace and settled into orbit around the nearby planet.  The dark haired young man sitting trance-like in the pilot’s seat, hands resting on the two glowing plates set in the console before him, stirred and opened his eyes.  It was a perfect run.
Breaking his mind‑link with the starship, he stood and stretched.  The Ourora was shaping up to be a sweet ship.  Once the strangeness of joining his mind to the ship’s instruments and controls had worn off, he had found piloting by thought as natural as breathing.  This was not really surprising, considering that his people had built the vessel. In fact, it was on this very ship that he had been found adrift in space as a child, the last survivor of his race, of his entire planetary system.
2590 Day 143
Jake Blackthorn watched as the image of a golden starship grew on his ship’s monitors.  The Wanderer had been returning to Earth after a profitable trading run when they had stumbled upon the derelict.  The ship’s golden skin and graceful lines were like nothing he had ever seen.
“She’s beautiful, but where did she come from?  That’s no Alliance ship.”
Jake had been so engrossed in studying the alien vessel that he had not heard anyone approach.  Turning, he found Dr. Nicole Wright standing at his side.  “I have no idea Nikki but I intend to find out.”
“Uh oh, you have that explorer look.”  She teased feeling the excitement radiating from him.
“Once an explorer always an explorer.  Take us in Pete,” he instructed the pilot.  “I want a good look at this lady.  Any energy or life sign readings?”
“It’s hard to get a fix, some kind of energy dampener,” came the reply from the science station.  “It’s scrambling our sensors.”
“Captain,” Pete called, “you’d better see this.”
Returning his attention to the view screen, Jake stared as the Wanderer approached the far side of the derelict ship.  A sick feeling began in the pit of his stomach as he saw the gaping hole ripped into the golden metal of the ship.
“No survivors then.”  Jake said sadly, “all right let’s get a tractor beam on her¼”
“Captain, I think I’m getting a life sign reading.”
Jake turned to the science station.  “What do you mean you think you’re getting a reading?”
“Well, it’s faint and it keeps drifting in and out.  The dampener field is playing hell with the sensors, but there is something over there.”
After a heated debate, which Jake naturally won, he and Dr. Wright boarded the damaged ship.  As they explored the craft Jake felt his excitement grow, much of the vessel’s interior appeared to be intact.  The bridge, engine room, and cargo holds seemed untouched.  It was only as they explored the damaged area of the ship that his excitement waned.  As they entered what appeared to be crew quarters Jake froze, nausea rising in his throat.  “Oh, my God, they’re children.”  Jake barely heard Nikki’s anguished whisper.  He was staring at the rows of bunks crammed into the room.  The ship’s passenger and crew cabins were filled with children, children of diverse races, some of which he had never seen before.  They were all dead.  Their lifeless bodies still strapped to their bunks.
“They never had a chance.” He whispered.  “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Wait,” Nikki grabbed his arm and pointed to the scanner she held clutched in her hand.  “I’m getting that phantom signal again.”
“Can you get a fix?”
“Yes!  One deck down and to the rear.”
Following the faint signal, they made their way to the rear of the ship.  Rounding a corner, they froze.  Standing in what appeared to be a galley, surrounded by a golden glow, was a raven haired, golden eyed boy about ten years old.
“Hello,” Jake spoke softly and held out his hands in what he hoped was a friendly gesture.  “We’re here to help.”
The boy studied the two space-suited figures intently, but made no move.  Encouraged, Jake slowly approached the still youth.  Suddenly, the glow surrounding the boy intensified and a strong forced hurled him back.
“Please,” Nikki begged.  “We only want to help you. You’re all alone now.  Let us help.  We mean you no harm.”
“Nikki, we have to go,” Jake whispered.  “I think I cracked something, my suit’s losing air.  I can’t stay much longer.”
“We can’t just leave him.”
Keen golden eyes seemed to bore into Nikki’s soul as the boy studied her intently.  She almost gasped in relief when he turned to scrutinize Jake in turn.  Whatever he saw must have reassured him. Indicating that they should follow, he led them into the next compartment.  Nestled in the chamber was a large golden sphere.  Jake and Nikki watched as the boy placed his hand against the side of the globe. A portal suddenly appeared.  Motioning for them to follow, he entered the sphere.  Once inside, the portal closed, leaving no sign it had ever existed.  Gazing around in amazement, Jake turned to find the boy, minus the golden glow, sitting on a plush looking couch against the far wall watching them curiously.
“A life pod.  Jake, I read a breathable atmosphere, constant temperature… the works.  This is how he survived.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t explain how he can walk around out there with no suit, and what about that glow?”
“That doesn’t matter now, the main thing is getting him, and us, back to the ship.”
A sound of rustling caused them both to turn.  The boy was standing a few feet away holding a silvery suit in one hand and a metallic capsule in the other.  Seeing he had the adults’ attention, he offered the suit to Jake.
Taking the offered garment, Jake examined the delicate material. “I think it’s a spacesuit.”
“You’re right, “Nikki examined the now open storage cabinet, “there’s a whole rack of them in here, but they’re all for adults.  What do we do about him?”
“The capsule must be some kind of carrier.  We put him in there and carry him across.”
With the boy’s help, Jake removed his damaged suit and donned the alien garment.  The suit molded itself to his body and Jake marveled at the freedom that it gave him.  Excitement stirred in him, what other marvels did this ship and its lone occupant hold?
After checking to make sure Jake’s suit was working properly, the boy opened the life support capsule and stepped inside.  Once more he studied the two adults, then calmly closed the carrier, entrusting himself to the strangers’ care.
Returning to the Wanderer without incident, Jake ordered the derelict ship taken in tow and set course for his most secure research center.  This was too important a find; he was taking no chances.  Leaving the boy in the doctor’s capable hands, he wasted no time in staking his claim to the alien derelict.
Jake Blackthorn was a powerful man and he now used that power.  By pulling a few strings and cashing in a few favors, he obtained exclusive salvage rights to the alien vessel.  The bodies of the deceased children would be turned over to the authorities, but no mention was made of the boy.  Satisfied that he had taken every precaution to protect his find, Jake headed for sickbay.  He couldn’t say what had made him keep the boy’s existence a secret from the authorities, but his gut told him the kid was special.  There was no way he was going to let some government social worker get their hands on him.  Besides the kid had trusted him, Jake shivered as he remembered the boy’s golden eyes staring into his, searching his soul.  The child was as unique as his craft.  Jake usually had little use for children, but there was something about this one that stirred all his protective instincts.  The kid was his, by God, and nobody was taking him away.
Six months later, Jake was ready to consign both the ship and its golden- eyed master into the fiery depths of the nearest sun.  After six months of intensive study, the starship was still an enigma.  Even his best experts could not fathom how the strange vessel operated.  There were no noticeable controls, just panels of colored crystals set into the consoles.  The engines consisted of smooth sided boxes and crystal globes.  No dials, switches, or knobs were to be seen.  There was no sign of power, though they knew that it existed.  Jake fumed; all that power, all that technology just out of reach, it was enough to drive an entrepreneur mad.
The boy was proving to be as impenetrable as his vessel.  The shock of the accident had severely damaged the kid’s memory, erasing any knowledge of what had happened to him or his ship.  Quiet and reserved, he cooperated fully with the scientific team examining him but volunteered nothing.  Except for a few unknown factors in his DNA and body chemistry, he was remarkably similar to humans.  Yet, it did not take the team studying him long to realize that he was not your typical ten- year old boy.  His golden eyes held wisdom beyond his years; and he always seemed to know what was wanted of him, even before he was shown or asked.  He proved to be extremely bright and learned at an amazing rate.  In a very short time, he mastered enough Galactic-Standard to communicate.  Yet, nothing they tried could unlock the memories buried deep in the boy’s mind.  It was as if every thought concerning his home world or his flight to this system had been locked away behind an impenetrable barrier.  He was a blank slate, which could soak up knowledge, but offered none in return.
Jake was not prepared to give up his discovery without a fight.  Every day, their guest was becoming more relaxed and comfortable with his new home.  With time, Jake hoped that his memory would start to return.  It was another month before the first breakthrough occurred.  Since he could not remember his name, the young castaway had been christened “Kid” by the researchers studying him.  For seven months, the boy answered to the name “Kid”, so Jake was surprised when the youth fixed him with a golden eyed stare and said, “My name is Jasen, not Kid.”  After that, snatches of memory began to return.
On a hunch, Jake decided to see what would happen if Jasen was reunited with his starship.  Maybe the sight of the vessel and the familiar surroundings would jog the boy’s memory.  At least, he might be able to show them how the ship operated.
It was soon obvious that returning to the ship was a shock for the youth.  He wandered through the vessel as if in a daze.  With each section of the ship revealed and explored, his face grew paler.  By the time they reached the bridge, Jake was afraid the boy was going to collapse.  On one side of the bridge was a large console inset with a panel composed of some type of blue crystal.  Jasen went to the console, placed his hands palm down on the crystal, and closed his eyes.  The panel immediately began to glow and flash.  After a few minutes, the glowing stopped and Jasen opened his eyes.  Removing his hands from the console, he began to tremble uncontrollably and then to cry.  Rushing to him, Jake held the sobbing child as delayed trauma finally hit.
Viewing the information contained in the ship’s library computer, as the console turned out to be, and reliving past events through the psychic traces left in the ship, had broken through the mind block the boy had erected.  Later, when he had calmed down and been reassured that he was safe among friends, he freely answered Jake’s questions.  The ship was totally thought controlled.  It had been built by a race of telepaths, from a planet in the Gamma3 planetary system.  It was a type of ark, a last ditch effort to save a remnant of the people of that system.  Creatures of fire and light had appeared out of nowhere and attacked their worlds.  The attacks had been quick, unexpected, and vicious.  Caught off guard, most planets stood no chance against the invaders.  Jasen’s world was the oldest and most advanced of the system.  They were able to hold out long enough to launch three ships before being destroyed by the attackers.  Only Jasen’s ship had made it out of the system, but not without taking damage.  An energy blast had hit the ship severely, damaging its shields and compromising a large section of the hull.  The ship’s crew had been working to repair the damaged section when they had been caught in an unexpected meteor storm, most likely debris from the destroyed worlds.  The ship’s compromised shielding had been unable to stop one of the huge projectiles from striking the damaged hull and ripping it open. The two adults on board had been caught in the impact zone and killed.  Jasen had been attending to some minor repairs on the side of the ship farthest from the rupture. His telekinetic abilities had allowed him to protect himself long enough to reach the safety of an escape pod.  The others on board had not been so gifted.
The Gamma3 system was an old system with a high level of technology.  They were not novices at space travel or exploration and had even visited the Alliance worlds to observe.  That they could be wiped out so quickly and completely boded ill for the Planetary Alliance.  After hearing the news Jasen brought, Jake became obsessed with the attackers.  Who were they?  Why did they attack?  Had other systems fallen?  He devoted a good part of his empire to finding out the answers.  Jake soon lost his heart to the courageous child.  He was determined to protect the boy, and the unusual gifts he had begun to display once freed from the mind block his fear had created.  In time, Jake adopted him, named him his heir, and helped train him to use his gifts and hide them from the outside world.
Adapting to his new home proved difficult for Jasen.  His planetary system had been on the opposite side of the galaxy from Alliance controlled space.  The people of his world had enjoyed strong, friendly ties with the other sentient races of the nearby systems. They had been respected and honored for their technology and for their roles as peacemakers and diplomats.  Things were far different in this new land.  The Alliance worlds had an inbred, almost manic, fear and hatred of telepaths.  Jake had tried to explain it to him once.
Many generations ago the Alliance worlds had been invaded by a race called the Kryllidar.  The Kryllidar were a militant, barbaric insect-like race that possessed a high level of technical skill and little regard for other sentient life forms.  They were a race that lived to conquer and enslave the populations of other worlds.  The Kryllidar loved order and insured that the worlds they conquered adhered to their concept of obedience.  Using drugs and machines, they subverted the minds and wills of those they invaded, turning them into perfect drones fit to serve the elite Kryllidar race.
The Kryllidar invaders swept across the galaxy like a plague, leaving worlds of mind-controlled zombies in their wake.  Almost half the galaxy had fallen before the Alliance armada had been able to rally.  Joined by ships from the outer fringes, they had been able to turn and repel the attackers.  Once freed from the invaders’ mind-controlling apparatus, the enraged Alliance inhabitants had hunted down and exterminated every Kryllidar they could find, then followed up with an all-out attack on the Kryllidar home world.  The Kryllidar race was totally wiped out, along with a number of neighboring planets that possessed similar life forms.  The drugs and machines used to enslave the conquered worlds were rounded up and destroyed.  The Alliance vowed never again to allow their people to be controlled in such a manner.  A deep phobia of mind-control in any form sprung up among the sentient races within the Alliance systems, which was carefully passed down and instilled in each succeeding generation.  From this phobia, a dread of telepaths emerged, which grew in strength with each retelling of the past atrocities. Telepaths were viewed as the ultimate masters of mind-control.  Machines could be broken, drugs could be neutralized, but the only way to stop a telepath was to kill him.  Also, unlike the Kryllidar, a telepath could blend in with the populace of a given world.  They could lurk unknown and undetected among the citizens of the Alliance.  One could never be sure if his thoughts were his own or being manipulated by another.
Soon the slogan, “The only good telepath is a dead one,” became common.  It was into this climate of hate that the young Jasen had been thrown.  He was the last surviving telepath in the galaxy.  He lived in constant fear of exposure and death.  He was looked upon as a monster, a demon; he was fair game for all.  No one would hesitate to destroy him if he were discovered.
There were few people in his life that he dared trust implicitly.  Fortunately for the young telepath, it was Jake who discovered him.  Jake was a shelter of love in an otherwise dark and hate filled universe.  The explorer did not share the rest of the Alliance’s loathing and terror of telepaths.  He had been born in a remote sector far from the alien invasion.  When that cluster’s sun went nova, Jake had brought his thriving corporation to the Alliance worlds.  Most of those on Jake’s personal staff were refugees from his home system.  Like Jake, they viewed Jasen as different but not horrible.  He was a bright and charming boy and they soon grew to love and admire him as Jake did.  They vowed to protect the vulnerable youth and his secret.  Jake raised the boy as a son and taught him how to survive in his new home.
2605 Day 232
With a shake of his head, Jasen shook off the thoughts of the past.  He was no longer a frightened boy of ten, but a man of twenty-five and he had work to do.  Jake was dead and it was up to him to finish what his adopted father had begun.  He gave the instruments another quick metal scan to assure that everything was as it should be then left the bridge and headed for the ship’s lounge.  Hawk.  He wished his friend had not insisted on coming, but nothing he had said had dented Hawk’s resolve to accompany him.
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ASHIA – PROMO BLITZ

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Science Fiction/Fantasy
Date Published: August 13, 2016
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Plagued by nightmarish visions of apocalyptic battles and burning victims crawling across the desert sands, the slave girl known as Shanda has been trying to keep her growing gift hidden from her abusive master as she knows being able to see images of the future is a cursed gift carrying the King’s ultimate punishment.
But as her tribe seeks solace from the deadly raids by the Mazomi Clan in their magical airships by moving toward the legendary Spire of Ashia, Shanda discovers her past will soon clash with a dangerous future.
A new epic tale full of adventure and discovery by the author of Star Runners, Ashia brings you a story of a world mired in secrets, oppression and a decades-old cover up that could alter the course of events for the entire planet.
This book is a sci-fantasy novel.
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The Royal Guard surged forward like a living wave. Grev cut through the men, his sword slashing through their flesh like a rabid animal. He ignored his tiring muscles. He couldn’t feel the wounds from counter attacks, his blood igniting like the fires of the stars.
Spinning, he hurled guards into their comrades, using the close quarters of the hall to his advantage. He yelled as a knife penetrated his bicep. Without stopping, he yanked the weapon from his body and hurled it through the face of an attacker.
A force hit him from behind—an arrow piercing his back. He fell to his knees, swinging his sword with his remaining strength. A blade hit his forehead, splitting his skin. Warm blood spilled into his eyes. Strong hands clasped his shoulders, preventing him from falling into darkness.
“At least, you cannot have my wife,” Grev breathed, his muscles failing as the guards restrained him to the floor. “She has fled beyond your reach.”
The Baron stepped forward, a torch in his hand.
“Oh, no, my dear Captain, we already have her.” He held the fire close to Grev’s face and laughed. “The Captain of his Royal Guard. Bah!”
Blunt force thumped into the back of his head and darkness took him.
About the Author

L.E. Thomas lives in Georgia with his wife and rescued dog where he is currently working on his next novel.
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