SPOILER ALERT!!!
If you have not yet read Double Danger, (book two) the prologue WILL spoil a few surprises. Even in time travel adventures, you have to go in order to avoid messing with the plot line.
If you have finished book two, enjoy the prologue, and don't forget to review both books on amazon and good reads, and any other site you know of!
Earth
Bound: Triple Threat
Prologue:
The
stillness of the bitter winter evening was due in part to the fresh
layer of newly fallen snow. The silence cut through what was left of
the hospital to the ears of the only one around to hear it. Quentin
Robinson opened his eyes. He was alive! It came as a shock to him
given the circumstances. He could just make out the light as his
vision, blurry at first, came back to him. He was partially entombed
in concrete.
At
first he couldn’t recall where he was, but then the images of what
had taken place only hours before came screaming back to him. He
remembered lying in his hospital bed, still groggy from the pain
medication he’d tried to refuse. He felt something. No, he knew
something was about to happen.
There
were messages, from auras that were lethally angry, bombarding the
telepathic passageways in his brain. As he struggled to make sense of
the disturbing images and phrases, one thought came to the forefront
of his mind. RUN!
Following
instinct, which is the exact message his trainer Edgar had pummeled
him with so many times over the months of training in Quickstep time,
Quentin slipped out of bed, and weakly made his way over to the
closet. Inside, was a thin bathrobe, which he put on slowly, and
carefully as every move brought on intense pain in his thigh where
that madman, Hone had stabbed him to get his DNA.
He
almost fainted from the pain, but remembering Hone, made him remember
that he’d kidnapped and taken Brinley with him. Anger arose in him
as he pictured the smirk on Hone’s face as the Light Energy took
him and his new prisoner to places and times unknown.
The
hallway had been dark. There wasn’t even anyone at the Nurse’s
station, although Quentin could tell telepathically that the guy on
duty that night was checking on another patient three doors down.
Quentin heard something going on outside the hospital. He made his
way over to a window and gasped. The sky was full of spherical
spaceships rapidly descending on Orem.
The
Hwanai attack, which Edgar had warned them about, was beginning.
An
image burst into his mind. It was from a research paper he had
written last fall on the attacks of September 11, 2001. He seemed to
remember that a few survivors had been found inside what was left of
an elevator shaft.
Go!
A voice shouted in his mind. Get
to the elevator!
One
glance out the window he was at, told him he was on the second floor.
He stumbled into the hallway. He felt the cold hospital floor beneath
his feet as he scrambled as fast as the screaming pain in his body
would allow. When he got to the elevator, he pushed the button to
call it to his floor. Then, he found the nearest stairway and
practically fell down two flights of stairs to the ground floor.
Fighting the urge to slow down to ease the pain, he grabbed a crutch
that was leaning on a wheel chair by the elevator door. Using what
strength he could muster, he removed the rubber pad from the bottom
of the crutch, and began beating the metal edge repeatedly on the
ground.
A
security guard stepped around the corner from his station down the
hall to investigate the noise. That was when it happened. The walls
around the guard disappeared along with the man himself. At the same
time, an awful sucking sound, accompanied by a loud bang like a huge
paper bag had just been popped, caused Quentin to fall to his knees.
Pain
ripped through his legs and up into his torso. It was serious, no
nonsense pain. The kind that he’d think up a funny description for
later, but couldn’t think to do anything but cry when it actually
happened. From that position he thrust the semi flattened crutch into
the space between the elevator doors. He could only hope that it
worked. By some miracle, the doors opened just enough for his fingers
to gain purchase on one edge. He forced the door open enough to crawl
into the darkness. He fell several feet to the floor of the elevator
shaft, crying out when he hit. His arm was underneath him, he wasn’t
completely sure he hadn’t broken it.
The
terrible sounds were increasing in volume. The sucking sound and the
loud banging was near deafening levels. It was as though the entire
building was being torn to shreds! The elevator shaft was torn away
twenty feet above his head. Pieces of broken concrete showered down
on top of him. He was being buried alive! It was terrifying.
Why
am I in an elevator shaft?
Quentin thought.
At
that very instant, he heard a loud crack and the whole wall opposite
him fell down toward his crippled body. The terrified teen raised his
good arm in a feeble defense and closed his eyes. The impact never
came, however. Quentin opened his eyes to see that the falling wall
had wedged itself against the wall he was lying next to.
Oh,
that’s why.
And
the teen finally passed out from the shock and the pain.
-------
Submerged
deep in the reservoir, the Suntek
avoided the attacking Hwanai warships. Apparently they wanted to keep
certain parts of human infrastructure intact. The crew had been
restless. No one had eaten or slept, with the exception of Edgar, who
had to be tranquilized due to the intense pain he was in. Quentin had
messed him up pretty good during their last training exercise. Edgar
had pretended to turn violent in hopes of showing Quentin what he
could do when he no longer had Edgar to rely on.
What
Edgar hadn’t counted on was a crippling blow to his entire
midsection delivered telekinetically by Quentin. He was luck he
hadn’t been killed.
Alexander
was beside himself with grief. He blamed himself for getting Quentin
involved. Jacob reminded the nine hundred-year-old that Quentin was
the vital key to their success. It would have been impossible to stop
the virus the Hwanai had sent if it weren’t for Quentin and
Quickstep.
“And
what good did that do!” Alexander had thundered. “They’re all
still just as dead!”
Adam,
the pilot, had busied himself altering the frequency of the sensors
on his beloved Suntek.
He hoped to be able to get an idea of what was going on outside their
watery hiding place. It took several hours, but he was finally able
to briefly hack into the Hwanai communications.
The
team waited impatiently for Skyler to translate. The ship’s
automated translation capabilities had been damaged by water getting
into the circuits when they sprung a leak after the first hour. Adam
felt it was caused by debris hitting the Suntek
as it flew through the canyon toward the dam.
“They
are coordinating attacks simultaneously on all of the continents,”
Skyler reported. “They aren’t meeting much resistance. The most
time anyone had was fifteen minutes. Communications were blanked out
and all nuclear weapons facilities worldwide were neutralized within
the first ten minutes. They never even stood a chance. I’m not sure
Boke would have fared much better if they had attacked there. They’re
unstoppable.”
The
last sentence hung in the air and seemed to take the energy out of
the crew. They sat in silence for a very long time. Each one was in
his or her own thoughts. Finally, O, the newest member of the team
suggested that they survey the damage. Skyler checked the
communications. There were none. He rewound the recordings to the
last communication from the Hwanai. It was a call for retreat back to
Hwanan.
Alexander
broke his silence. He hadn’t spoken since shouting at Jacob. “Let’s
go have a look.”
Adam
guided the ship on its ascent. At the surface of the reservoir, the
ship paused, gaining energy for a leap to levitated travel. The pilot
was in no hurry as he flew down the canyon. No one knew what they
were going to find. When at last, the valley came into view, the
scene was chillingly peaceful.
“It’s
like the dawn of creation!” O whispered.
“Everything
has been completely obliterated,” Sarah gasped.
“What
kind of weapon can do this sort of thing?” Peter asked.
“None
that I’m aware of,” Adam said flatly.
“Nor
I,” Jacob agreed.
“Head
for the hospital,” Alexander commanded, strain stifled his normally
strong voice.
“Already
headed in that direction,” Adam assured him.
-------
Quentin
winced at the numbing pain in his toes. He was freezing. The concrete
was wet with slushy snow. Fortunately, he was protected from the
elements by the partially collapsed shaft. He could see that the
darkening sky was above him, and not the hospital, or any part of it.
Whatever
those weapons were, they sure made a mess of things.
Painfully,
he rolled onto his side. Favoring his left arm. He sat up and looked
down at it. He was able to wiggle the fingers, but not without
blinding pain shooting up and down his arm. It was definitely larger
than its partner.
Using
his good arm, he grabbed some rebar sticking out of the concrete and
pulled himself to his cold, bare, feet. He carefully climbed the
triangular shelter he’d survived the attack beneath and looked out
over what used to be his hometown.
A
sick feeling developed in his stomach. He began dry heaving over the
side of the rubble. It was gone. The hospital, the junior high across
the street, the trees, the houses, everything was gone! A blanket of
snow covered flat ground. There was nothing to say there had ever
been a city or any kind of civilization in this area ever in the
history of the Earth.
They’ve
wiped it clean. It’s just what they wanted—a clean slate.
Then
he saw it, approaching from the east like a glimmer of hope after the
worst possible day. The Suntek,
searchlights blazing, made a beeline for him.
As
it touched down, Alexander was already descending the still lowering
gangplank. The look on his face showed anguish, and relief at the
same time.
“You’re
alive!” he gushed. “My boy, you’re alive! There’s hope.”
Quentin
nodded vacantly. There was a cold, dark, fury in his eyes. It caused
the old man to falter before stepping forward to embrace his
fifteenth great grandson.
“Hope,”
Quentin mumbled, eventually focusing in on Alexander’s face.
“They’ll pay for this; the Hwanai. I will make
them
pay.”
I would love to hear what you think of the prologue. You can comment here, or on the Quickstep Universe's homepage on Facebook. Positive, negative, neutral, whatever your feelings. I'd love to read them. In the future, I might also be posting about my first attempt at a younger audience. A new adventure in the Quickstep Universe for younger fans is in the works.
