WE HAVE CONTACT Snippet 04 of …
Unedited
QBS ArchAngel – Beyond the Moon
It took twenty minutes for Ecaterina to give Bethany Anne all of the instructions for little baby Christina. Bethany Anne was wearing white sweats for a top and red for the bottom and smiling at her friend. When Ecaterina handed Christina to Bethany Anne, the little girl cried for a second before cuddling in and going back to sleep.
Ecaterina looked down at her daughter and then to Bethany Anne who raised her eyebrows, “What?” she asked the young mom.
“Nothing, its just,” she looked down at her daughter again, “she hasn’t taken to too many people. She usually cries for a little while.”
Bethany Anne shrugged, “Maybe she figures I was there when she born, so we have a connection?”
Or, TOM said, you could admit you are using your ability to impress her with calming emotions.
No, shut up TOM. This is funny as hell.
How can this be funny? I get that it is a good thing that the baby isn’t crying, but why is that funny?
Because first time Mom’s are always worried about their kids. They are hyper-worried and will almost use any excuse to cancel their first time away from the child. Plus, I’ve heard through the grapevine that Ecaterina secretly likes that Christina cries for her each time someone holds her.
But not you?
Nope, no crying for Auntie Bethany Anne. The stories about how well she loves me will be epic!
But, you are cheating.
This is no different than a grandmother who knows how to hold a child from having done it so much with her own children.
The grandmother is not cheating, she is using experience, right?
The grandmother is using her skills, and so am I.
Skills, you might admit, that is not so common for anyone else.
Wah! Wait for it.. Bethany Anne told him before she left the conversation.
“Uh,” Ecaterina looked towards Nathan who smiled at her and then back to Bethany Anne and Christina. “She seems, ok,” her voice faltered.
“Ecaterina, we will be fine,” Bethany Anne told her and rocked the little child slightly and kissed her forehead as she held her, “You guys have a wonderful night, say hi to Ivan for me and let him know that Gabrielle isn’t harboring any ill feelings.”
“You, uh, know about that?” Ecaterina asked her as she tried to figure out if Christina was going to wake up or if she would continue sleeping. She bent down to kiss her daughter as Bethany Anne held her. She looked back up, “No Coke in her bottle!”
Bethany Anne smiled, “I know that can’t happen for a few years, I’m not clueless.”
>>Besides, you always just ask me when you have questions.<<
That’s because you are simpler than looking it up or asking someone around here. Unfortunately, I don’t have a mom to ask and my dad would not be such a good idea. Patricia doesn’t have any children, so, toughen up ADAM and deal with it.
Besides, she told the two of her mental compatriots, how hard can this be?
—
Tears were streaming down Bethany Anne’s face as she tried to hold her breathing to the absolute minimum, “How the hell do these things stink so bad!” she cried out, holding Christina’s two feet up in the air as she tried to slide the dirty diaper out from underneath her. “Oh my god TOM, PLEASE shut off my sense of smell.”
I’m sorry, but you told me three weeks ago to reduce helping you out this way for four weeks. Four weeks isn’t up for another three days.
“But I’m going to suffocate before three hours is up!” Bethany Anne complained as she pushed the dirty diaper to the side and used one hand to open the diaper wipes box. “Who the fuck designs this shit?”
I’m pretty sure most people would say a higher entity.
“Not her shit, I’m talking about these diapers and boxes and oh. my. god. she. is. peeing!” Bethany Anne switched into Vampiric mode to toss the baby wipes into the air, reach over to grab a fresh diaper and as quickly as possible without moving her other arm, slide the new diaper into position to limit the liquid troubles Christina was causing. She undid the tape on the diaper and did a quick, if poor, job of locking the new diaper in place before reaching out and catching the box of wipes as it dropped back down.
“Fuck me!” Bethany Anne said as she realized she needed to change her bedspread, now.
That’s when she forgot about her breathing issues and inhaled deeply in exasperation.
—
Bethany Anne handed three diapers to her security detail to take out of her suite. Unfortunately, the residual smell was still affecting her vampiric heightened senses. Normally, it wouldn’t be this bad, but Bethany Anne had never had to deal with changing a babies diaper since she had been modified in TOM’s spacecraft. Personally, she had only changed a handful of diapers since she turned eighteen. In one evening, she had almost doubled her diaper changing count.
Christina was sleeping in the middle of her bed. Bethany Anne had already changed the cover and placed pillows around her in case she, somehow, rolled around. With her Were parents, Bethany Anne wasn’t going to take any chances on what could or couldn’t happen
Bethany Anne watched the little baby from her couch facing her bed and took the clothes pin she had found in one of Christina’s bags off of her nose.
TOM, if you don’t cut me some slack with my sense of smell, I swear I’ll figure out a way to kick your ass.
Bethany Anne, I’m already cheating and cutting your sense of smell by half.
Your fucking kidding me, right?
No, I’m sorry, but your system’s reaction to the smell was affecting me, so I cheated.
God, those diapers are radioactive. Bethany Anne whispered.
TOM spoke back, in a quiet mental voice, they are hands down the worst things we have ever encountered.
—
FROM MICHAEL >> So, are you having Kurtherian Withdrawals?
I hope not! (Well, ok, maybe only a little bit…not too much mind you – I’m not a totally heartless…ah…author).
But, if you are wanting a little more Bethany Anne, John and the gang I have a quick question, have you read the novelettes that are in the universe? You know, the stories that help round out the main books?
Think of them as one of the story arcs that are in the books, but pulled out and happening in between the books. They are about 13-15k in length for the Frank Kurn’s stories and a little longer for the Boris Book. CHECK THEM OUT NOW…
You know you want to 😉
  |
John receives a phone call from Frank. His cousin Cheryl Lynn is in trouble. Her husband is mistreating her and their children. John promised him if he ever hurt his cousin, John would come looking for him. Now, the Queen Bitch herself decides to tag along… CLICK HERE TO GET THIS BOOK |
  |
A lot of bad people were given Justice, but the Queen’s Bitches want to impart something a little stronger. The Queen tells them they need to take a night off. John tells the group it’s a Bitch’s Night Out…And the Dress Code is Destruction. CLICK HERE TO GET THIS BOOK. |
  |
The mercenary Boris has found himself recuperating after helping Michael stop the attack at the Colorado Base, now, his future is going to change once he meets the woman capable of turning Michael back into a Man. CLICK HERE TO GET THIS BOOK |
WE HAVE CONTACT – Snippet 03 of …
UNEDITED
Various locations around the World
In some groups secrets, and the sharing of secrets, is the currency of inclusion. For the most relevant countries in the world, who you include in certain discussions says a lot about your friends and your potential enemies.
This time was different. This time, the secret was kept within the group. No one dared leak out the information on concerns about cataclysmic retaliation. No threat had been issued, but everyone knew it was a possibility. France, England, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Canada, Netherlands, Israel, India, and Italy all received a special envoy from the United States.
He came in, he shared information. There was a requirement the meeting be on his plane, and he left. No information shared was left behind, and at most, three people were ever invited to be a part of the meeting.
Always the head of state, the head of foreign relations and often the true head of national security. Why anyone found it strange the person behind the power was actually asked instead of their figurehead always humored Jimmy. The U.S. knew who the power was, it was usually surprising to those Jimmy spoke with that the requested attendee’s had not been selected by the U.S. itself.
But rather, TQB Enterprises. Any reluctance by the nation to meet with Jimmy went out the window when that name was shared.
China itself could not hide the massive destruction in the western part of their country because it was still causing problems for them, even in the mostly uninhabited areas. One story was floating around that a small nomadic family had been trapped by the water run-off caused by the ice caps melting. The rising water had stranded the family on a small hill with the flood waters eating up the available ground quickly.
A few hours from drowning, the family was rescued when a floating TQB shipping container came down, and four people in military gear ushered them into the container. They helped both the humans and the livestock by transferring them to another area approximately thirty kilometers away. The TQB personnel did not speak Chinese, and none of the nomadic family spoke English, so there was no more communication between the two groups except for much hand waving and gesturing between them.
Jimmy suspected there were many more examples, but if there were, then no one had spoken about the events or the stories were actively being censored.
Twice, Jimmy had to explain the U.S. was doing this as a way to reduce the escalation of tension that had flared up after the short Chinese War. Not that China had admitted to any such war at all. China said the destruction in the portion of the Kunlun Shan Mountains was caused by a massive earthquake set off by unfortunate events due to research they had been testing.
While a few scientists had been wondering aloud on national television what research could possibly destroy so much land, those who had seen the spy satellite photos had no doubts there was no research responsible for the destruction.
Further, the U.S. had shared some very secret video of their own regarding two ships that were even now somewhere above them in space. That alone had most of those Jimmy visited concerned.
It didn’t take a mathematician to add up two space capable warships and the destruction of China and realize that pissing these people off was a universally bad idea. All it did was make those foreign heads of state wonder how to handle the relationship with TQB, and how to get on their good side so that they could learn the secrets for themselves.
Only the United States and Australia had quietly stopped their efforts to continue any of the clandestine efforts to learn more about the company.
The U.S. and Australia had enough information from the bases located in their lands to understand they could be pleasant neighbors, but very bad enemies.
Australia had sent a delegation out to the TQB base in the Outback after the missile attacks a few weeks back. The Australian Government representatives had been invited in to sit and talk in the TQB cafeteria. One of the leaders of Australian group, the General from the military, had been invited inside the operations room by TQB’s Operations Officer, Lance Reynolds.
Once the Australian General had come back from his meeting with Lance, he gently steered the conversations away any of the more outlandish conditions for TQB’s continued ability to base on their own land.
After the meeting was over and on their way back to the Nations Capital in Canberra, the General had shared what he had been shown in the room.
The video, Lance Reynolds had told him, had been the true explanation for the destruction of the Chinese mountains. Lance explained TQB was absolutely willing to have civil discussions, but pushing them around tended to upset the CEO, and aggressive military force would be returned in like manner.
Then, the General continued, the TQB representative turned to him and pursed his lips to point at the mountains after the destruction and say, “That was a warning. The six hundred special operations military people that were killed, planes downed and ships destroyed were in response to the seven deaths the Chinese accomplished. They tried more, including the attack on this base and the small wet navy we had at the time. Their missiles failed,” he nodded to the video screen, “her’s did not.”
Then, he paused for a moment, “He told me one more thing.” The General made sure he had all of their attention, “He said to make damn sure if we had any idea’s of attacking, there had better not be one child, born or unborn, killed or we could probably kiss a quarter of our military good-bye.”
The hard stare from the General put the final exclamation point on the warning.
It was but a few moments when Parry Paterson, one of the younger members of the Australian House of Representatives asked a question, “Why would we kill children?”
The General looked over to him, “Because some of those in power have been there a long time, and get greedy thinking they can grab what they want. I’m not saying we have any like that in our government,” the General heard a snort from beside him but ignored it, “but it was a message with two parts.”
“Really, I get the first one, don’t kill children, but what is the second?” Parry asked.
“The second,” the General replied, “is that they are watching everybody.”
WE HAVE CONTACT Snippet 02 of …
oneUnedited
QBS ArchAngel – Beyond the Moon
Nathan and Ecaterina were packing up a bag for little Christina. It was their first evening to spend some time alone after Aunt Bethany Anne had offered to watch the little one.
Nathan wasn’t sure that even Bethany Anne’s offer to watch their first child for an evening would be accepted by his wife. But, when Ecaterina looked over to Nathan to see what he thought of the offer she could tell he was doing his best to remain neutral. Well, as neutral as possible to not make her feel bad if she decided to not accept.
Ecaterina knew her husband well enough realize he wanted some time with her without interruptions if at all possible, so she had agreed that it would be nice to have a few hours with her husband alone.
Now, Nathan looked around their suite on the ArchAngel. They had two rooms at the moment, and both were filled with baby stuff. In two days, Bobcat promised him a storage container would arrive from the moon, and he was provided ten linear feet of storage to move little Christina’s unneeded gifts out of here.
If Ecaterina had her way, at least a quarter of it was going to Bethany Anne’s suite tonight. “Sweetheart,” he spoke, catching Ecaterina holding two different toys, “I don’t think we need to provide everything in one pass.”
Ecaterina looked over to him and lifted her left hand that had a squishy duck which Christina liked to hear at times, “But, if she doesn’t have the right toy, she might cry too long.”
Nathan stepped over to his wife, and wrapped his arms around her, “Don’t you think that Bethany Anne might be able to figure out a way to come get the toys if she feels something is needed? We are going to be gone, there isn’t a reason she can’t come into the room and fetch another set of toys, or hell, she will probably tell someone to come get some.”
Ecaterina placed her forehead against Nathan’s chest, “I’m freaking out, aren’t I.”
Nathan gently swept his hand down her back, saying nothing.
She sighed loudly and poked him in the chest and looked up into his eyes, “You are being too quiet. How bad is it?”
Nathan wasn’t getting out of this one. He pursed his lips and considered his response, “On a scale of one to ten, with ten being an ultimate freak-out, you are a six.”
Ecaterina weighed what he had just told her. Trying to figure out how he was squirming his way out of telling her the total, horrible truth. She pressed her lips together, she couldn’t figure it out. Either she was only freaking out a little, or he had just figured out a way to hide the truth from her due to English not being her first language.
She smiled, either way, she needed to relax. She put her ear back on his chest and wrapped her arms around him, “She’s beautiful, Nathan. Sometimes, when it’s just Christina and me, I tell her how I met you in a bar and how her Uncle robbed you blind.”
Nathan scoffed, “What? Ivan didn’t rob me blind.”
“Ivan most certainly did rob you blind!” she snickered, “for a trip into the mountains, it was very expensive,” she snuggled a little closer.
“Oh, but you misunderstood what I was buying.” He replied.
“What?” She asked. He could feel her move her head so she could look up at him. He could picture the question in her eyes.
“You misunderstood what I was buying. You see, I was buying the chance to have you alone on the mountain. That way, there would be no other competition for your attention. So, from my vantage point, it was a bargain.” He grinned, happy that he had gained the upper hand.
Nathan could almost hear her brain work the words around, deciding how she would translate that back into her language. He sure hoped there weren’t translation issues. Once or twice, when he forgot her language, he would screw up, and it was hell to pay for a little while as he tried to get her to understand the English-Romanian language issues.
She finally spoke, “So, you are saying you paid for my time, and it was worth much money?”
Nathan just held her close and mumbled, “Mmmhhhmm.”
“So, I was like a, what do you call it in America, a call girl?”
Oh…Shit! Nathan’s eyes opened and darted around, trying to come up with some idea, ANY idea to stop her line of questioning. “Sweetheart, that is not what I was thinking, and you are well aware of it.” Nathan had no defense but to push back.
“Then what is the meaning of an ultimate freakout?” She asked him.
Befuddled on the sudden change in questioning, Nathan answered, “An ultimate freakout is the absolute worst example of something that you can think of. Like, take one of the bad examples for those monster bride reality tv shows you watch and then triple that reaction.”
“So, it is like a logarithmic scale, not a linear scale?” She asked him, still with a slight edge in her voice.
“Huh?” Nathan was confused for a moment, wondering who was teaching Ecaterina about logarithmic and linear scale and answered, “Yes, logarithmic, why?”
She took a step back and then punched him in the stomach. Nathan barely had time to clench his muscles before her fist slammed home, “Because that means a six is not so good!” She told him, triumph in her voice for figuring out how he was dodging her earlier question.
“Oh,” he said, bending over slightly and speaking hoarsely from her punch, “That is where you were going with the questions.”
Nathan tried not to smirk as he stayed bent over. All things considered, he had dodged that question rather neatly until this last moment. Now, if he could just keep the smile off of his face when he stood back up!
From Michael >> Ok, so now you see my nefarious plan to introduce the second of the two things that GRABS people and won’t let go…
Children.
MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA…Snort…little bit…chuckle. Well, hell. A fan was asking what it would be like if Bethany Anne had to watch little Christina and I had to agree, it could be funny as hell… So, guess what is coming in a near-future snippet? No? No guesses? Wow, tough crowd (smile). Since I already have a dog (the other (animal) item that grabs attention)… The only thing I found out is THOU SHALL NOT KILL ANIMALS…Unless they are old…
Seeing how I kinda killed Michael off… But didn’t….but he is gone… So what could I do w/ Ashur? I have plans…so many, many plans… Actually, I’m doing something my wife suggested a while back. We shall see if it makes it all the way through the book. We both know (if you have been reading my Author Notes) that sometimes the characters write themselves. So, I cannot guarantee anything!
WE HAVE CONTACT Snippet 01 of …
Unedited
PLA Headquarters
The Chairman looked to his two General’s and nodded before sitting down at the long table. The meeting room, secured from all listening devices, consisted of the table, ten chairs and a small cupboard for refreshments. The three men opened their notebooks to go over the findings from the last three weeks of effort after their recent, they decided to call it a disagreement, with the company TQB.
General Tsang, responsible for the multiple teams reviewing the destruction and deaths across their country started the meeting, “The destruction in the Kunlun Shan Mountains is impressive. Our scientists have calculated the obliteration was, truly, from kinetic strikes. The video our camera person took correlated to the damage. But, at this time, the scientists are still arguing on how the objects could have been accelerated to the speeds necessary to accomplish the destruction.” The General took a sip of his tea. “Suffice to say, we cannot duplicate the effort.”
General Li, responsible for the forensics related to the digital attacks snorted at General Tsang’s last comment and received a dark look from the Chairman. All three men were more relaxed in this setting than they would have been in a proper meeting.
General Tsang continued, “The scientists do believe that the same type of weapon was used at our covert ops base to pound open the door. Considering the power displayed at Kunlun Shan, there is no engineering effort we can accomplish for viable protection at this time.”
“When,” The Chairman interrupted, “is the expected time that we can defend against this kinetic weapon?”
Tsang shrugged his shoulders, “When we figure out their anti-gravity abilities, it is postulated we will have the ability to build a repelling field that will at least minimize the damage considerably.”
“So,” The Chairman continued, “there is no place which is truly safe from their attacks?” Tsang shook his head, “When the Avatar was displayed in our bunker, they could have demolished us at that time?”
“Yes,” Tsang admitted, “that they did not was a strategic decision, not due to a limitation of their ability should they have decided to hit us.”
The Chairman reached up to his face and took off a pair of reading glasses, something he had needed to start wearing when reviewing paperwork and scratched his nose before placing the glasses back on. “Ok, Li?”
The other General replied, “The covert ops base had no survivors. The men, all of them, fought. We have blood samples from many of the battles, and we have some highly suspect forensics,” he added a moment later, “highly suspect.”
“For example?” The Chairman inquired.
“We have hair from at least two types of wolves, perhaps three. We have structural damage on doors inside the base that seem to be organic in nature. These damages occurred before a massive retaliatory gun strike from our men peppered the door in response. The men were trained to think rationally in any situation, and it is obvious that is exactly what didn’t happen on multiple occasions. We have men shot, stabbed, necks bitten out by animals and bodies ripped apart by something massive. We have a couple of places where we have what look like nail scratches from something that must have weighed hundreds of pounds and stood a minimum of seven feet tall I’m told.”
“Are you suggesting,” The Chairman asked, his voice neutral, “That we have been attacked by monsters?”
Li shrugged his shoulders, “That is what the evidence at the base suggests. Something was able to get through the training the men had. The psychologists admit that if they were subjected to something very primal, it could accomplish causing the men to react instead of how they were trained.”
Li paused to allow an interruption. When none came, he continued, “Further, when our group investigated the escape of General Sun, we found additional hair evidence at both the location of his abduction and later inside the discarded plane.”
“Why would TQB want General Sun?” The Chairman asked, confused.
“Sir, I apologize, I have not been very clear,” Li responded, “We do not believe TQB was involved with General Sun.” The General looked across the table to his counterpart in the investigations and to the Chairman before continuing.
He cleared his throat and replied, “Sir, we have two groups.”
SUED FOR PEACE Snippet 08 of xxx
UNEDITED
QBS Polarus in the Pacific Ocean heading towards China
John Grimes walked into the shared area where he and his guys had their rooms. Darryl gave him a nod from the couch. Scott and Eric were getting setup to arm-wrestle. “Eric, why are you doing this to yourself?” John asked, “We both know Scott is going to eat your lunch.”
Eric grunted as Darryl said, “Go,” and the effort was on. Eric’s biceps were massive, able to easily out dwarf most men’s. But he wasn’t budging Scott who was steady, holding Eric’s other hand under the arch of their two arms clasped in a titanic struggle of strength.
“You know,” Scott told Eric, smiling. “We can stop now and you can walk away with your manhood intact.”
“Huh,” Eric grunted, trying to get Scott to lose focus so he could drive his arm down in a sudden burst of effort.
He barely moved Scott’s hand a quarter to a half-inch.
“I’ll take that as a ‘no,’” Scott grinned, “ready to give me twenty pushups?”
Eric ground out, “I’ll give you twenty pushups when you stop being such as weak-ass bitch.”
Darryl warned him, “Don’t let Bethany Anne hear you say that lame-ass name.”
All of the men turned towards the door when they heard Bethany Anne’s voice arrive right before she turned the corner into their room, “I did hear that lame-ass name, and after Eric gives Scott twenty, he can do another twenty-five while I stand on his back.”
Eric’s eyes opened slightly before they darted back to his grip with Scott, who was still paying attention to Bethany Anne over his shoulder. Eric drove his shoulder into the challenge and caught Scott off-guard. Scott barely stopped the sudden drive half-way down to the table, his knuckles mere inches from touching the wood.
“You…” Scott started speaking, through clenched teeth as he tried to offset Eric’s better leverage and damned impressive effort to drive his hand down. “Are … a … bloated….” Scott’s arm started rising, an inch for every word he said, “Semen … packing … animal … fondling … fuckfaced … cockthistle … cockroach … ass … bandit!” With the final word, Scott slammed Eric’s hand down on the table, making sure he would feel that pain for a while.
Eric pulled his hand back and started massaging his knuckles, “Shit you pig, that fucking hurt.”
“Not as bad as these heels on your back,” Bethany Anne commenting. The two men looked around the side of the table.
She had on three-inch heels.
Scott looked over at Eric’s face, his jaw dropping in surprise. Scott grinned as he told Eric, “Damn dude, those are going to hurt.”
Eric looked back up to Bethany Anne’s face, “Isn’t that going to be a bit much?” He asked while pointing at the shoes.
“No, a bit much might be me lifting something while I’m standing on your back to increase the weight.”
Darryl spoke up from the couch, “I’ll volunteer, you can lift me!”
Eric flipped off Darryl. His hand blocked from Bethany Anne’s view by the table.
She turned towards Darryl and chuckled, “I said something, not someone.” She walked over to the couch and sat down. “Before you do your pushups, Eric, I have a request of you guys.” The four men walked over. John sat next to Bethany Anne, Eric sat next to Darryl and Scott took the chair. Aiko was out at the moment.
“The ladies have come up with a way to potentially help us in the PR department, make money for a charity and apparently have a good time. Well, at least the ladies will have a good time.”
“Why do I sense a ‘but’ arriving soon?” John asked, looked sideways to Bethany Anne.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Finally, she opened it again and spoke, “Because I didn’t expect this to occur and I’ve got to say I’m sorry in advance. So, I’m sorry.” She turned to John, “But, you guys are going to be thrown under the bus on this one.”
“You want us to do it, regardless?” John asked, “I’m assuming that since it is for charity, I’m not being shot, so I’m in. What do you want us to do?”
The guys all looked towards Bethany Anne, who was obviously having a hard time with this request. Coming from the lady who chewed up and spit out Forsaken for breakfast, their curiosity shown was in overdrive. Scott glanced towards Darryl and Eric and Darryl minutely shrugged his shoulders.
Bethany Anne put her hands on her knees and took a deep breath, “Ok, I’m just going to say it,” She started, “The girls want you guys to do a pin-up calendar.” She exhaled and looked around to her team.
John put up his right hand with a finger pointed to Scott, then Darryl, Eric and finally himself, “You want us four, to pose for a pin-up calendar?” He asked, a question on his face.
“Yes,” she admitted, her voice a little higher than normal. “Oh God, fine!” She blurted out, “They want you to do a beefcake calendar!” She threw her hands up, “No shirts, tiny underwear, baby oil and in like, four countries in twenty-four hours.” She put her hands over her face, “I’ve created a set of monsters.” She mumbled through her hands, “It started with Jean Dukes.”
TO BE CONTINUED …
From Michael >> So, here we are probably about 72 hours or so from releasing the next book. I had five chapters to finish last night and about 10,000 words minimum to put in. I got 10,000 words, but only about 3’ish chapters before I had to call it quits.
Now, 10,000 isn’t anything to sneeze at (I had done I think about 2,000 yesterday morning). It isn’t at the top of the wrung (some Indie authors do 5,000 a day like clockwork. Those authors are MACHINES! A couple a little more. But, for me pushing a book and a short out a month is pretty good.)
This is my first Summer as an Indie Author and if you read the tea leaves (meaning read the Indie bulletin boards where the wisdom is tossed around) I’m bucking the trend and doing pretty well. Obviously, I have to think you, the fans, for telling your two friends and they tell two friends and so on, and so on ;-). So, THANK YOU!
What’s next? Well, Book 11 in a few days, then 12…13…14…15… Etc. I’ve been asked what happens at 21? Personally, I have a real problem imagining all the way to 21 right now. That’s 11 books ahead of us. Plus, we have 4 of Michael’s Second Dark Ages Series and I’m not sure how to do those. Do I start staggering production? (1 Michael book, 2 bethany Anne books, 1 michael book) etc.? I mean, that will push the cycle out a bit. Or, do I wait until TKG is finished and then go back to write the Michael Books? Anyway, the answer I gave to the fan that asked me in a direct message was…(keep reading for the answer).
Nah, I won’t do that to you – The answer is if enough fans want another Series w/ Bethany Anne after 21, I have an idea and am willing to go forward with it…After a couple of months break probably ;-). By then, I’ll be so damned bored I’ll HAVE to be writing.
So, now we come to ‘book time’ and who are we going to pick on (I mean support) this evening? This will be the last pick before SUED FOR PEACE goes live. Whatever happens between now and release will be compressed and I really don’t want to do everything to setup another book. Plus, you wouldn’t only have 72 hours to get it, read it and get ready for more Bethany Anne…Ah! Perfect Choice…
Mr. Baldwin…James Osiris to be exact.
James has a book for authors (how to edit your own book better), but this book is Russian mafia wizard Urban Fantasy Thriller with a whole lot of open thinking thrown in for good measure.
Blood Hound: An Alexi Sokolsky Supernatural Thriller (Alexi Sokolsky: Hound of Eden Book 1)
My name is Alexi Sokolsky: blood mage, occult scholar, and hired killer. Three things that should convey me some immunity in the dog-eat-dog world of the Russian mafia.
Fat chance. In reality, I think too much, drink too little, and if there’s one thing the underworld teaches you, it’s that there’s always a shark bigger and hungrier than you.
Life gets tough after a man turns up dead in our territory, his mutilated body scrawled with demonic sigils. It gets tougher when a key ally of my Organization is kidnapped by a secretive death cult… and I’m the errand boy sent to hunt them down and bring him back.
Then I get captured, nearly killed, and am immersed in a sea of cosmic horror the likes of which I’ve never known. The stakes are nothing less than the daughter of GOD Itself… and she’s calling to me for help.
My name is Alexi Sokolsky: blood mage, occult scholar, hired killer… and hapless pawn in the great game between Everything and the NO-thing trying to destroy it.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT BLOOD HOUND BY JAMES OSIRIS BALDWIN.
SUED FOR PEACE Snippet 7 of xxx
UNEDITED
Washington DC, USA
“Congressman Richards!” Mark Billingsly called out. The tall man with shocking blond hair turned to see who had called him on the street outside of his office building.
A man smiled at him. Terry Richards thought he looked familiar and the two woman behind him, one with a camera, were certainly attractive enough. Congressman Richards decided to stop and turn around to speak with these three. Maybe he had seen the Hispanic looking reporter before? They certainly weren’t here on the Hill very often.
The cute short one lifted a camera up, first pointed away from him, and he acknowledged the camera. When he did that, she turned it back around towards him. That was an unexpected courtesy he felt.
Terry turned on his million dollar smile. Well, at least it should be a million dollars, as he had well over fifty-thousand dollars of dental work to make it pretty damned perfect. The male reporter stepped closer to him and looked a little towards the camera, so Terry stepped slightly sideways and joined the reporter looking into the camera.
“Hello! My name is Mark Billingsly, and I have with me Congressman Terry Richards from the great state of New York.” Terry smiled for the audience and wondered if this was going to be a conversation about his solar energy initiative, or the pollution issues and cleanup they were accomplishing around New York city with water pollution.
Mark turned just slightly in towards Terry, who looked down a little at the man, “Congressman Richards, I appreciate you taking your personal time out of your busy schedule to answer just two questions for us. The first, of course, is a question related to the use of Solar Energy and the advancement of the funds to implement such a system in today’s climate.”
“Certainly, Mark,” Terry aimed his mouth a little towards the microphone on the camera, but kept his eyes on Mark except for a couple of glances to the camera, “Right now is the time we all have to focus on the ability to expand our renewable energy usage. With oil such a highly volatile product and the use of oil in manufacturing harmful to the environment, we need renewables such as Solar to become a viable alternative. So long as we have the sun above us, we will be able to depend on Solar helping us achieve an ongoing energy independence.” Terry waited for the softball follow-up question and the reporter provided it.
“So … everyone agrees that Solar is pretty inefficient right now. Yet you believe that we as a country, and specifically New York, should fund the development and manufacturing of Solar implementations as a way to create energy independence from foreign countries?”
Well, this wasn’t the softball question Terry expected, but he could handle this easily enough. “Certainly, when you only depend on the sun which is up above your own nation, not oil drilled out of the ground thousands and thousands of miles away, we have options. The option to continue to depend on the sun above us. Or the political and military expedients that continue to infect the machinations of countries who are oil rich. They’re constantly trying to involve the US in their problems, as we are so heavily dependent on oil at this time. Right now, I’m fighting for a future of energy independence. We might have to pay for implementations that require an investment by the government. And it may take twenty years to recoup the investment, I believe we need to focus on the long view. A long view that is sorely lacking with our short time frames for Congress and slightly longer for the Senate.”
Damn, he was on a roll! He was going to ask for a copy of this interview.
“Right now, Congressman Richards, the top five Solar manufacturers are Chinese, two are Korean, two are here in the US using parts from which country – we don’t know and one is Canadian. I’m curious Congressman Richards if the use of so many manufactured panels from a foreign country concerns you in any way?”
Terry smiled, not sure where the reporter was heading, but who cared? “Certainly not Mark, when the solar panels are accumulating the sun,” Terry pointed up and winked to the camera, “above our own heads, I’m not sure I worry about a foreign country turning off the sun in our part of the world.”
Mark nodded sagely in agreement with everything Terry said. When he finished, he asked, “So, the fact that the foreign made components inside the majority of Solar Energy products could have a kill switch in them, easily controlled by a foreign country, rendering them useless as an energy provider doesn’t bother you?” Mark took the surprised look on the congressman’s face as an opportunity to nail him. “And this future,” Mark pointed up above him, “this future where we only have to depend on the sun above us, and trust no kill switches were put in place by five of the top ten solar manufacturers in our products?”
“Well, I don’t think we need to look behind every bush and find an evil plan to take over America, Mark,” Terry answered.
“But Congressman Richards,” Mark now set him up for the final comment, “When you take over two hundred and thirty-two thousand, five hundred and thirty-two dollars in donations from lobbyists who have themselves been hired by these same Chinese solar manufacturers. Many of your donations having been received the very same day you had meetings with those lobbyists, interestingly enough. These companies, these solar-based companies have no ulterior motives?”
“Of course not!” Terry exclaimed, smiling for everything he had, “the use of donations to facilitate an independent energy effort should be applauded.” Terry turned towards the camera, “I want to thank you both for such an excellent opportunity to continue the discussion of how Solar will support the energy independence of the American People, good day!” With that, he waved and continued down the street.
Mark turned towards the camera, “We appreciate the good Congressman Richards, himself a recipient of almost a quarter of a million dollars from lobbyists money. Money focused on the continued implementation of solar panels and solar products manufactured in China. That in itself is not a bad thing, but when almost all of the core infrastructure which makes this work can have kill commands inside them. Kill commands that fry the circuitry based on an internet attack which would instantly kill the energy acquisition without physical replacements? Well, that seems a little concerning that no one is considering the ability of a foreign country to wreak havoc with our needed and necessary infrastructure without one bomb being dropped.”
Mark turned away from the camera to look off camera in the direction of where the Congressman walked away, “And let’s not even begin to discuss the big and unique electrical pieces that require manufacture in China itself.” Mark looked back towards the camera, “Pieces that once destroyed, will keep your city dark for months if they ever can be replaced by a country we might be at war with.”
Two blocks away, Terry Richards had punched in a specific contact’s number. The phone number was memorized and was a one-time use number. Halfway around the world, after seven different forwards to hide the eventual destination, a woman picked up the phone, “Hello.”
“This is T.R., I’ve been asked questions and had my connections and exact funding delivered to me highlighted. You told me this wasn’t possible!” He fumed.
“Was the group behind it a male reporter?” The voice asked him on the phone.
“Yes! Mark Billingsly and two females.” He answered while looking for cars before crossing the road.
The female responded in a calm voice, “You are the third concerned citizen to ask about this situation. You know what they say in America about three strikes?”
Terry only admitted, “Yes.”
“Well, don’t expect to receive another request for an interview.” She replied.
“Fine, that works for me. What about the video?”
“Our teams will work on it. Give us time is all I can answer on that.”
“Understood, goodbye,” Terry closed the phone.
In a foreign country, a Colonel hung up the phone and turned in her seat. She was part of the approximately seven-and-a-half-percent female population of the PLA army and had responsibility for long-term foreign investment. She picked up a phone and made a call, “I need the approval to send out a clean-up squad. There is a thorn we need to get rid of.”
FROM MICHAEL >> Chapter 20 just dropped minutes ago to the Editing group. That means I’ve written it and reviewed / edited it the first time. Then, Stephen and a team take over. Chapters 1-5 are in final before it comes back to me and I start pulling them into Scrivener for final prep.
It’s getting much closer, folks! The goal is to have it out very, very soon. Like reading it next weekend soon. I hesitate to say any more, because the next thing I know, the fans in Australia start emailing me about how ‘It’s already xxx day in their country’ and I’m wanting to slap myself for forgetting that. 😉
Now, we come to John L. Monk. John is a member (more lurking, but a member!) of our 20BooksTo50K group. He has been writing for three years, and came out with his latest book that has climbed the (amazingly competitive) dystopian / post apocalyptic charts. What caught my eye (and ear – he was on a writing Podcast called Rocking Self Publishing I listen to) was that John highlights other authors to help them get found. Sounds like the kind of author I want to support!
So, here he is with his latest book…
Hell’s Children: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller
The world has gone to hell and it isn’t coming back.
It happened in a year: starvation, gangs of kids with guns, and every adult in the world dead from the Sickness. Houses are now mausoleums. Civilization lies in the hands of children who’ve never had to feed themselves or survive a winter without gas or electricity. Most will die. Others — a bare few — will tread a different path.
Fourteen-year-old Jack Ferris is a survivor — because his parents raised him that way. Leveraging qualities rare for his age, he must lead his desperate companions to a secret refuge. Too late, he learns that safety is a mirage, and that the high price of hope is paid in blood.
“An emotional and action filled post-apocalyptic story with unforgettable characters. You won’t want to put this one down!”
– Nicholas Sansbury Smith, author of the “Extinction Cycle.”
“John L. Monk brings a remarkable wit and elegance to his storytelling through the use of vivid descriptions and complex characters.”
– J. Thorn, Amazon Top 100 Author in Action & Adventure.
”A Post Apocalyptic Lord of the Flies that’s both terrifying and uplifting.”
– Nick Cole, author of CTRL-ALT-REVOLT, creator of Apocalypse Weird.
Fans of One Second After, The Hunger Games, and Alas Babylon should enjoy this what-if tale of inventiveness, character, and courage.
SUED FOR PEACE Snippet 6 of …
UNEDITED
Bethany Anne returned to the President’s conversation. Her conversations with ADAM and TOM were over so quickly he didn’t register a pause, “When you find a suitable computer to review the contents of the USB, I know you aren’t going just to plug it into any computer in your systems, you will find incriminating evidence.”
The President looked down at the USB he was holding, “Truly Pandora’s box, then. I can’t say I’m happy with the present you’ve delivered.”
Bethany Anne shrugged, “Well, you could destroy it and go blithely on your way.”
“No,” he sighed, “I can’t. I have a duty and however distasteful it is, I’ll see it done.” He looked at her, “How do you handle stuff like this?” He asked as he lifted the USB and waved it a little.
“I have a group responsible for tracking down the truth and bringing those guilty to justice,” She admitted, wondering what the President would say.
“What about juries, judges, and the rest?”
Her grim face told him the answer, “Mr. President, in the harshness of space, you don’t allow stupidity.” She wasn’t about to fess up regarding Barnabas and Tabitha. “So, we have a strict policy. While we aren’t a hundred percent effective, almost all of the people we have are focused on a bigger goal than just working for their own ends. So, there is a significant amount of self-policing. Those that we miss?” She paused, “They are warned, and they are adults. We treat them as such.”
“You don’t have a strong opinion of our court system?”
“Do you?” She countered.
“Well, I think it is the best thing we have going at the moment.”
“Let me ask you a question, what are the two things that drive people?”
“Fear and greed, usually.” He answered.
“So, take that to the logical conclusion. At a certain age an adult will be driven by either fear, greed, or a challenge – something bigger than themselves. Fear of repercussions for actions they have taken is a strong motivator for not doing punishable offenses. If the system for punishment is broken, then the power of fear to stop actions diminishes, and you have more and more people shrugging their shoulders. However, people learn, quickly. Greed can be considered in a good light. I’m not talking about wanting more money, or power, I’m talking about being greedy or desiring something good in your life that benefits yourself and others. What about the person who is greedy about wanting to be in space? They have to prove themselves capable of deserving that position, of protecting not only themselves but others. Everyone depends on what a person is willing to do to save everyone else.”
“That works when you take the best of society that wants to get ahead,” the President started.
“No, it works when you stop supporting those who do nothing.”
“That isn’t a very Christian attitude.”
She smiled at him, like a cat looking at a mouse. “Christian? I’ll give you a few things to ponder, Mr. President. Look them up when you have time. ‘The appetite of the laborers works for them; their hunger drives them on.’” She continued, “And the best yet. A quote by the Apostle Paul, who said to those in Thessalonica, ‘We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you… For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’”
She leaned back in her chair, “Do you have some idle hands? Then dream bigger for your country, Mr. President, and give them something to use their minds, their strength and their abilities and stretch your people. Make them earn their keep, and then they will have pride in themselves. If some don’t? Well, be a man and strap a pair on – if you need a pair you can borrow my ovaries. Your infrastructure needs fixing! You have the ability to create work centers by the thousands. You need to fucking dream bigger. We are human beings, every one of us has worth, talents and skills. Fucking put them to use! Stop taking the easy way out and punting the problem to the next generation. Don’t support a nation of people sitting on their asses and taking money from those who work without trying to make it better. Make a change, even if it is starting the change before you step out of office.”
The President had nothing to say in response. While he didn’t doubt she knew the difficulties of making this happen, she also wouldn’t care that it was a challenge. He pursed his lips and nodded his head sharply.
She stood up and faced him, both hands held up as if in supplication, “Don’t give up, don’t accept mediocrity, don’t accept the status quo. You’re the most powerful man on this planet. Now, fucking act like it.” She stepped backwards and disappeared right in front of his eyes.
It took the President a few moments to come to grips with someone disappearing right in front of him. He pondered her comments, her challenge. He stood up and turned towards the door before stopping to look over his shoulder and whispered.
“I may be the most powerful man on earth, but you are certainly the most powerful woman.”
With that, the President turned back to open the door and admit to David he owed him a steak dinner.
to be continued…
FROM MICHAEL >> So, we are about two and a half chapters into the book (snippet wise). I’m 55k into the story with about 1,500 words to finish before I work to give it to the editing crew. That means that the first 20 chapters are ‘in editing’. For those that follow me, you know I try like crazy to stay ahead of them and when I finish.. I’m just as impatient to get THEM through the edits as you are to get the book out!
“Stephen, are you guys finished yet?”
“No Mike, you just gave us 5 WHOLE CHAPTERS three hours ago.”
<fifteen minutes later>
“How about now?” I’ll ask…
It isn’t quite that bad <yes it is – Stephen> but I do get anxious to push it out. I have the cover, I will have the story and I’ll need to write the Author’s notes. These will be my 14th Author’s notes and while sometimes it is rushed (like forgetting to write them until the story is DONE), they ARE like candy and I enjoy writing them. There is no story, I just get to write whatever the hell is on my heart and in my head.
It’s crazy.
So, the book below is crazy different. The Forum group 20booksto50k did this little thing started by Kat Lind (you might recognize her name as the editor for a couple of the recently previous books when Stephen got so sick.) She is crazy smart, and also just crazy… quick. As in, she likes to challenge herself when she gets bored (apparently a common occurrence) and one of her professional degrees (of 4) is in Industrial Psychology, but with a creative effort focus. So, when she got involved in 20Booksto50k as a Beta Editor / Reader, it was like allowing a super smart scientist to mix it up with the type of people she happen to also be the types she … studies? Not sure that’s the right word.
Either way, about six weeks ago, she was bored. What came out of it was a game, if you will, where she and her team at her company provided very specific items to pull out of a hat (remember the psychology part above) and then helped get all of the short stories pulled together into a book and released it.
You will recognize a TON of these authors in the book, as I have promoted many of them already! (If not all of them at one point or another). Read the preview, I think many of you will not only be fascinated by HOW the effort was pulled together, but enjoy the stories as well.
Inanna’s Circle: The Game Begins
A tattooed dwarf, dark forest with winding road, a jewel emitting swirls of color… What can a group of writers create when they are presented with a mystery box of characters, snippets and scenes?
Pick at least one from each column and let your imagination soar! That is the challenge of Inanna’s Circle Game.
Eight authors accepted the challenge, writing in varied genres, some with many books to their credit, others with very few. The results are amazing! With vision and talent that shows the skills of the indie author and the way that
creativity can be sparked with the right flame, this anthology takes you to many worlds and introduces characters across universes.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED – Let the game begin!
Click Here to read the amazing story how this book came about!
SUED FOR PEACE Snippet 05 of xxx
UNEDITED
Bethany Anne started chuckling, “I was born on this planet with two human parents, if that doesn’t make me human, I’m not sure what would clarify it further.”
“Well, parental names?” He pressed.
She put up a finger, “Mr. President, I do this as a favor, not as an opportunity to play twenty questions.”
“You can forgive me for trying? I do have the responsibility for four hundred million people to look after,”
Bethany Anne’s face sobered, “Mr. President, I’m concerned with the seven and a half billion we have on earth, and those coming after us. My parent’s names aren’t going to accomplish much except provide some annoying researcher further useless information to try and analyze me. If you want my thoughts on something, you can ask.” She pulled a USB memory chip out of her jacket. The President didn’t fail to notice the small pistol and holster she was wearing.
He wasn’t accustomed to having anyone but Secret Service Agents around him with weapons. If any of the guys on the other side of the door knew he was talking with an armed lady just a few feet away, they would be trying to bust down the door to protect him. He smiled.
“This is …” she started before her eyes drew together in confusion, “why are you smiling?”
“I’m just thinking how my protective detail,” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “would react if they knew I had an armed person sitting in here with me. It humored me to imagine them trying to bust down the door in frustration.” He smiled at her and chuckled, “Sometimes, it is the little things I think about that bring a smile to my face.” He pointed to his hair on the side of his head, “I wasn’t expecting to go gray quite so fast.”
Bethany Anne put the USB on the table, “Talk to me when you get out of office if I’m still around, and I’ll help you with that.” She slid the USB over to him, “On here are the names of the members in the United States and all of your territories. There are thousands in total, although there are probably no more than a hundred and twenty-five that I would rate as the highest priority to review. Those are tagged.”
>>A hundred and twenty-seven.>>
I know that, ADAM. What have we talked about when being exact with humans?
>>That to always be exact points to you not being human.<<
If an A.I. could sound miffed mentally, ADAM was accomplishing the feat pretty well, she thought. Yes, so while you are an Entity, and you are working to accomplish the most amazing feats ever for me, I need you to understand that if you grease the wheels, it will help reduce trouble. Make sure you update the EVE project for me with that understanding. She thought quickly, except in battle, you don’t fudge anything during battles.
>>I understand and will make the adjustments.<<
The President eyed the USB, “I’m not going to like what is on that, am I?” He reached to take the USB, “Pandora’s box?”
“Some, not all of it. Some of the people on that USB are just family, people who can be used to blackmail other people to get them to do what the Black Cabal need them to do.” When he raised his eyes to her, she explained further, “My name for them.”
He nodded his understanding, “What should I do about General George Thourbourah?”
“Well, his boss is out of the equation and don’t ask about that if you want plausible deniability. He believes I was seriously hurt, but that will go by the wayside the next time I’m photographed.”
“Oh, earlier than that,” he assured her. He shrugged at her raised eyebrow, “We have assets that track all important people. That could mean important for any number of reasons; you just happen to trip a few of them including financial, technological and security.”
ADAM.
>>Yes?<<
Find out how many countries are tracking me, and start placing information that shows me everywhere so that they can never tell what is the right answer.
>>When do you want this to occur?<<
Can you make it happen retroactively so that the information seemed like it happened before this conversation?”
>>Not easily, no. Countries will have a paper trail.<<
Damn. Ok, figure out the countries data feed and start adding additional false positives if you can. I suppose changing their data would flag them you are in the system.
>>Not to mention might be too risky unless you believe this must occur?<<
No, it isn’t that big of a deal. I just didn’t realize I’m on various country’s morning reports, and it bugs the shit out of me.
TOM?
Yes?
What are you working on at the moment?
Still on the gravitic issues with Marcus.
Please add a request to your queue to consider what it would take to change someone to look like me.
I can answer that question already. The Pod doc can’t do it. It works on the person’s DNA, so it isn’t going to change another person to look like you.
But I thought since you can change the structure of the materials in a body, this might be possible?
That was changing the design, not how you look. The Pod Doc hasn’t been setup to change a person.
Wait a minute, TOM – you paused! I sense you thinking about something, fess up.
Well, if a patient is considerably messed up physically or their DNA has been corrupted, the Pod Doc can use a super-set of DNA to try and fix, which would certainly change the person as they heal.
So, it’s feasible?
Yes, but not very recommended.
Ok, I’ll push that idea off to the side.
Are we good?
Yes, sorry. I don’t like being the target, and I figured if there were copies, it would be hard to confirm which version is me.
It would be the version with four huge guards walking around her, he quipped.
Did you just zing me… again? She replied.
Yes and here’s your sign. he told her in a southern drawl.
You ass! She heard his version of a chuckle and then withdraw from their conversation.
That’s another one I owe you, she thought
FROM MICHAEL >> So, 15 chapters out in editing and I’m off to write some more this evening! I thought the comments on the FB group about drinking the big Cokes which included: From Bjorn -“Just give in to your desires. You know you want the Mexican bottle. In can feel it running thought your veins. Drink it and together we can rule the Galaxy!” and from Holly -“Whatever it takes, whatever it takes. Your fans demand it of you…. :)” were hilarious. It doesn’t matter if I have to wear an XXL t-shirt with “Body by Coke” on it just so long as the next book comes out more quickly.
Trust me, I don’t need additional temptation to drink more Coke! (For those that missed it, I admitted to buying the little 8 oz Cokes as a way to help me limit my Coke consumption.)
This Snippets book suggestion comes from a huge F.O.T.S. (Fan of the Series) Lisa Lamb Diggs. Here are her comments!
From Lisa >> I found a new author that may need your assistance. I read his books and I really liked them even though they are a little darker than I like. His name is L. J. Kendall – book “Wild Thing: The Leeth Dossier Vol 1” fans of yours may like the story but I will caution that the story has aspects that I really dislike but is in line with the story being told. As an indie author and self published it kept me engrossed and very few errors that I could see. He has challenged his readers to assist him with corrections and to help out with getting other readers to his books. I know you are trying to help other authors like him so I wanted to bring him to your attention.
Wild Thing (The Leeth Dossier Book 1)
(For a limited time only, at the bargain price of $0.99 for the Kindle edition.)
IN 2036, magic returned to a world which neither needed nor wanted it. Several years later, an unusual young child is acquired by Dr Alex Harmon for his magic research at the Institute for Paranormal Dysfunction. He sets Sara to hunting an imaginary creature, unaware it is both real and far more dangerous than anyone could know.
Sara, too, though, has her own hidden depths.
She’ll need them.
At the Institute she strikes up an unlikely friendship with Godsson, one of the world’s most powerful mages – and an inmate. But when Sara’s unique magic finally unfolds, Dr Harmon discovers the deadly consequences of creating an archetypal Huntress. While from a place far beneath reality, where Godsson helped slay the Enemy of Mankind, some thing, or things, have come hunting. And their first targets are Godsson, and Sara.
SUED FOR PEACE Snippet 04 of xxx
UNEDITED
7 – Days Earlier – Washington, D.C. – USA
It was half an hour past midnight when the President and two of his secret service members walked the distance from the residential wing to the Deep Underground Command Center located adjacent to the West Wing. As they arrived next to a meeting room, two members of his security staff stepped out.
“David, is the other side secured?” He asked the ranking Secret Service agent who just came through the door.
“Yes, I’ve locked the door from the inside and confirmed with both security members on the other door they will be there for the next six hours. There are no personnel authorized to come down from the other entrance.”
“I only need an hour, probably less,” The President told him.
David smiled, “Sir, I doubt you will need more than fifteen minutes. There isn’t anyone who is going to make it through the other doorway, and between myself and Rod here, we swept everything from the other side to this door for everything, organic or electronic. There isn’t any way anyone is going to meet you in there.”
The President pursed his lips, then smiled. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll bet you a dinner I’ll have a meeting.”
David regarded the President for a moment. “Ok, but I want the nicest, best-aged Filet Mignon and a baked potato soaked in butter.” David looked around to make sure the three other Secret Service Agents were listening.
“Agreed,” the President said as he stepped to the door and turned before closing it to look at his men. “Remember, no one enters this door, either, gentlemen.” With that, the President closed the door. Three seconds later, the door opened, and a hand stuck out. Secret Service Agent Mark Tims smiled and put the most recent sports section from the newspaper into the waiting hand. Both the hand and the sports section disappeared and the door shut with a click.
David looked over to Mark, “I give him ten minutes, fifteen on the outside before he admits I’m right.”
Mark looked back then turned to face towards the rest of the room and got into position, “Do you have any idea who he expects to meet?”
“Nope,” David admitted, “Not that it matters. There isn’t any way that someone is going to turn invisible, sneak through the entrance on the other side with our temperature, and movement detectors and bust the lock to get inside that meeting room. Hell will freeze over, first.”
Mark shrugged, “You are probably right. Unless he was meeting the CEO of TQB Enterprises, they probably have some scary techni-shit.”
David snorted, “Like she would want to show up here in the States.”
—
The President sat down in the same chair he had the last time he met this person. That time, like this evening, was off the books, off the record and frankly never happened.
He opened the sports to the second page to see what the latest scores were. He made it to page three when he sensed, rather than heard, someone in the large meeting room with him. He looked up to see her eyeing him, a small smile on her face. She was wearing a pair of dark jeans, a red camisole and a black jacket over it. She didn’t have on any jewelry, but then, she didn’t need any.
The President smiled, “Well, looks like I won the bet.”
“Oh? What bet would that be,” she asked him as she walked over and pulled out the chair on his left to sit facing him.
“Whether I would have a meeting in here or not.” He told her, “Although I’m going to have to play like I lost the bet. At some point, I should throw a fit over how you keep standing me up.” He grinned, “But since these meetings aren’t on the record, how would that work?” The President closed the sports section before asking, “Just curious, how did you get in here?”
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow, “While it isn’t, say at the level of a national secret, I do have a few important ones.” She grinned, “Maybe someday I’ll take you on a walk that will change your life.”
The President laughed and shook his head, “I’m not sure my wife would like me to take any walk that could change my life. She has told me at least three times every week since I gained office if I decide to run again, she will castrate me, or I’ll be sleeping on the couch for the duration of my time in office.” He sobered, “But if there is a way to get into this area that others can use, I’d be incredibly appreciative if you explained it.”
Bethany Anne shook her head, “There is no way for another person, living; that can enter here using the means I have. Should that change, I will get ahold of you and provide a warning device of some sort to help.”
He shrugged, “Best I’m going to get?” She nodded her answer. “Ok. How about the next item on the agenda. What is this about a real Illuminati?”
Bethany Anne leaned a little forward, “There is an offshoot of the original Illuminati group, a splinter if you will, which was responsible for the attack on our facilities in Colorado and the backpack nuke. They are responsible for many different efforts on our group trying both legal and illegal means to acquire our technology.”
“You know that’s true for damn near any major company in the world and most of the countries, right?” He asked her, wondering how she would answer.
“I’m totally aware of the desires, Mr. President.” Bethany Anne considered how much to share before continuing, “I’m aware of most attacks and plans, most secondary plans and their followups. I’m not trying to upset the world, that is the reason for not using our technology to upset the World’s economies in the first place. However, I’ll not simply stand by and allow attacks to happen. That is not in my nature.”
“A lot of think-tank scientists are trying to figure out what your nature is, exactly.”
“In what way?” She asked.
He paused a moment, “Well, are you human?”
MORE TO COME…
FROM MIKE >> So, I can hear the gnashing of teeth already… DAMN YOU ANDERLE! They say (in my head…it’s these voices, almost like I can hear some of the fans on Amazon and Facebook waiting for the resolution)…the resolution of those who caused the last snippet to occur …But that happens LATER in the book. So, unfortunately I put snippets up in the order of the book, and this book shows it a little out of order (blame the Pepsi)… and the lake of sleep in Vegas due to the beds. I think.
Either way, it’s coming. I joked one time that book 7 should have been named Die…die…die…die…die….and Kneel (instead of Kneel or Die). So far, it doesn’t really look like there is going to be much in the way of kneeling. But, I’m only 1/2 way finished and our death count is only 4 for the enemy right now. I believe it is going to go downhill.
Fast.
So, let’s talk Craig Martelle – An Former-Marine (20+ years), ex-lawyer (business, not criminal…so, no need to hate on him!) big friend of the authors group has a couple of series out. The dude can be righteously funny (a piece of another book I’ve read had me shaking my head…it had to do with dangling participles in Alaska). He gives back to our Indie Author community and is generally just a nice guy. I’m happy to highlight his series that has four books out, with number 5 coming soon so check out this book from Craig and see if you might like it 😉
The Free Trader of Warren Deep (Free Trader Series Book 1)
A Hillcat and his human minions fight to save humanity. Hostile humans and mutant creatures try to keep them from rebuilding society.
Following a civil war on the earth colonized world of Cygnus VII, humanity and its creations rise again. Free Trader Braden and his mindlinked Hillcat determine that their fortune lies to the south, away from what passes for civilization. Braden gathers engineered (mutant) creatures to him for a trip south of the Great Desert where he hopes to find Old Tech that he can trade for untold riches.
The more he learns about the ancients, the more he wants to learn. Along the way, he establishes a new ideal regarding trade and collaboration in an area where trust of strangers is unknown. Braden and his companions find functioning Old Tech that has the potential to change their world for the better or worse, depending on what they decide.
SUED FOR PEACE Snippet 03 of xxx
UNEDITED
Hospet, Karnataka – India
Nikhil Patel stood to the side, watching as the paramedics took the body of one of his researchers out on a stretcher, a white cloth draped over her body.
He had seen her beautiful but dead eyes staring out in anguish on the floor of her lab early this morning. He had rushed to the offices when he got word that the alarms had been tripped.
By Anjali herself, apparently.
Nikhil tried to hold back the tears. Anjali was the devoted wife of a close friend of his. Nikhil had been amazed that Talan had been able to even hold the interest of a woman of her intellect and beauty. Nikhil had asked her about that one time when the three of them were out for drinks. She told him that Talan could make her laugh no matter how bad her day had been.
Now, Nikhil doubted he would be able to stop Talan’s tears, ever.
The police were inside the building, and Nikhil was outside trying to understand the purpose of this attack when he noticed someone pointing up into the sky.
He turned to look up, shading his eyes from the morning sun when he saw small black dots coming down towards them. In a few seconds, he could discern that they were slowing down.
And still coming down right at them.
A few people standing in the parking lot started moving quickly towards the building as they stopped their descent about a hundred feet up and then slowly started to descend onto the parking lot where those people had been standing.
Nikhil’s eyes opened wider when he finally recognized these shapes. These were the famous Pods, the gravitic transportation of Bethany Anne, the CEO of his companies parent company.
The top boss had arrived.
Nikhil unconsciously straightened his jacket as he walked towards the Pods. The first door opened, and a Raven haired beauty and a large white dog got out. She was dressed in black leathers with a jacket that barely concealed her pistols.
She stepped out of the Pod and looked around before all of the Pods but one opened and Nikhil watched as many men and another woman stepped out.
Finally, the last Pod opened, and Nikhil gawked at the biggest man he had ever been near stepped out all in black with many weapons on his body. None of them were concealed. He looked around before offering a hand to the woman inside, and she pulled on his arm to step out.
Nikhil swallowed. Here was his ultimate boss.
He noticed that her people spread out looking for threats and then he found himself inside a circle that included himself and his CEO, who was walking straight at him.
She was wearing a modified suit. The pants were leather, her top some sort of black spandex and he noticed she had pistols on, as well. Covering it up was a nicely tailored dark red jacket.
She held her hand out to him, “Mr. Patel, I’m Bethany Anne.” Nikhil shook her hand, and she turned towards the ambulance, “Is Ms. Anjali inside or in the ambulance?”
“The ambulance, but I’m afraid she was killed.” He told her.
“I know, but I’m going to pay my respects.” She replied. He walked with her as she strode towards the ambulance.
One of the paramedics was about to close the door when he noticed the large group of people coming right at him. He looked around to see if there was another destination before a big black man approached and he stepped back.
The big black guard opened the door for Bethany Anne to step into the ambulance. Nikhil was allowed to step inside with her before her guards blocked anyone from getting closer.
He watched as she reached down to hold the bodies hand through the sheet and pulled the top of the sheet down just enough to see Anjali’s face. He noticed a tear made its way down her face.
Not thinking, Nikhil said into the silence in a near whisper, “She was pregnant, she was going to tell her husband Talan the good news tomorrow when both his and her parents arrived.” He sniffed once and wiped a tear from his own eye, “She loved to read the old stories from other countries, from centuries in our past. If the baby was a boy, she wanted to name him Alexander.” Bethany Anne turned to face him as he finished, “If it was a girl, she would name her Alexandra.”
Nikhil noticed something he would swear was true for the rest of his life.
Her eyes turned red.
She turned back towards Anjali’s body and put her left hand on her forehead, “I swear to you, the sea will run red before I fail to avenge you and your unborn child’s death. Anjali, you have the Queen Bitch’s promise.”
When she looked at Nikhil again, her eyes were normal. “Whatever her salary was Mr. Patel, triple it and create a fund to help children learn to read the classics or whatever they want to read. Name it the Princess Alexandra fund in her unborn daughter’s honor. Then, create another fund and make it ten times her salary and provide monthly payments to her husband.”
She stood up, and Nikhil asked, “Excuse me, but where do you want me to pull the funds to make this happen?”
She turned towards him, vengeance clearly written in her eyes, “For now, from this company. But, I will reimburse it from the accounts of those who stole her life. One way or another. They will pay it all.” With that, she turned away and stepped back out of the ambulance.
—
“She was pregnant, John.” Bethany Anne spoke into the silence inside the Pod. “They fucking killed an unborn child.”
Inside the Pod, where no one in the world could see her unmasked, John Grimes popped the locks on his harness and turned to open his arms as Bethany Anne laid her head against his chest, “A child, John. She never got to tell her own husband. For what?”
He felt her shoulders shake as she cried in muted silence, the two of them flying towards destiny.
—
Ten minutes later, the team was gone. It wasn’t until after they left that he wondered how she was so sure it was a daughter. Two weeks later, he was comforting Talan when Talan happened to mention he was told his wife had been carrying a little girl.
Nikhil felt cold chills run through his body.
>> From Michael – This doesn’t need much setup (as I go into it in the book itself), but here is what I WILL say. Boris is back! Check out the new collaboration between Paul C. Middleton and myself, rocking another short series in the Kurtherian Gambit Universe…A book that reached #1 for Action and Adventure (at least for a little while) and beat Out George R.R. Martin’s shorts ;-).
Evacuation – The Boris Chronicles
The Russian Mercenary known as Boris has always been a conundrum for governments the world over. His visage never changes, his capabilities never understood.
The Russian government gets word he has been killed on a mercenary mission in America, allowing agents to come in and attack the villages Boris has been protecting. Using a fanatical military sub-group in the Russian military, the atrocities start.
The only problem? Boris isn’t dead, and now he has help.
Boris won’t allow his people to go unprotected, and now the Queen Bitch herself has accepted his oath of fealty.
Russia doesn’t have a clue what they have started when this Bear comes back from the Dead.
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