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Shadows Collide by @ReadDanLevinson Virtual Book Tour Excerpt by @RABTBookTours #sci-fi

Title: Shadows Collide
Series: The PSIONIC Earth Book 2
Author: Dan Levinson
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy
Date Published: September 15, 201

Blurb
The Orion Psi Corps is in shambles, the dead still being counted. And though Orion’s retaliation has begun, Calchis isn’t finished yet.

New Axom City—that’s where Nyne Allen has taken refuge in the wake of his desertion from Orion. Soon it will become a battlefield, as familiar faces from both sides barrel toward a collision that will forever alter the course of history.

Meanwhile, in the Far East, Aaron Waverly learns the truth behind the red-robed man, and discovers a destiny that might one day spell the end of the world itself.

Excerpt
The air was on fire.

As the blaze embraced her, she raised her hands, shielded her eyes; the billows of flame engulfed her as she screamed her defiance. The world blinked shut, like an eye closing, and when it opened once more, she saw faces, murmuring alarm. She tried to tell them they should leave her be, let her die in peace, her body still ablaze as if subsumed in the inferno. Yet before she could speak, wings of darkness enveloped her, carried her into oblivion.

When she surfaced again, she saw glaring lights.

She lay upon a gurney, moving swiftly through florescent-lit halls, the acrid stench of burned hair like a halo around her. Again, faces peered at her, their voices a low babble, distorted, as if through a tunnel. When a sudden movement jarred her, she howled, her vocal cords raw, like pulverized meat. Even the air rushing by tormented her.

What had happened?

She glanced about, eyes rolling, unable to move her head. A sign loomed above: Burn Ward. Another jolt shook her, and an animal sound escaped her throat as she lapsed again into unconsciousness.

She awoke in a white, sterile room, and for a moment thought she was somewhere familiar. But the hospital room was only an echo of a place she couldn’t quite recall, the memory slipping from her like sand through a sieve. She shifted in her bed, gasped, and only then looked down at her arms and hands, covered in bandages, the rest of her hidden beneath a thin, tan wool blanket. She could feel where those bandages compressed her flesh, chafed her raw throat, her belly, breasts, legs, and feet.

To her left, she saw a morphine drip, but could not reach it, the effort of moving her arm more than she could bear. She tried to cry for help, but now her voice came only in croaks and whimpers. She was trapped in her scorched body, no one to help her, while machines and monitors mocked her with ceaseless beeping.

A male nurse walked by the room, peered through the door’s glass pane, and she met his eyes, silently begging him for aid. He ran off, and for those next interminable minutes, each second seemed to her a test of will simply to exist. An inner voice told her to be strong, that she could make it through this, and she clung to it, the vague notion that she could endure all that she had. Mentally, she counted, One, two, three, four, five, those numbers like a life raft, though she did not know why.

At last, the doctor arrived—an austere, dark-haired man in a white coat, his eyes gauging her behind silver-framed glasses. She could read the pity on his face. “My name is Dr. Shipley,” he said. “You’ve been involved in a very bad accident. I don’t mean to alarm you, but you’ve suffered third degree burns over sixty percent of your body. Do you understand?”

She tried to nod while her mind processed. An accident? Of course. How else could she have ended up like this?

“How’s the pain?” Shipley asked. “I can increase the painkillers if you—”

“Hurts,” she rasped, her voice like sandpaper.

Shipley adjusted the morphine. “Your esophagus is damaged, from inhaling superheated air. I’ll ask a couple more questions, but keep your answers to one or two words. After that, no talking. Okay?”

She nodded again as the painkillers entered her system, making her woozy.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

She opened her mouth to reply, then closed it, the answer elusive. The pain had so consumed her that, until now, she hadn’t realized the details of her life were whispers and shadows lurking in unseen corners of her mind. She couldn’t remember her name, nor the accident, nor anything else. She choked back a sob, the force of it stabbing at her injured body.

“You don’t know?” Shipley asked.

Feebly, she shook her head.

“Well,” Shipley said, “given the trauma you’ve been through, it’s not unheard of. Unfortunately, when you were found, you had no identification, and your hands are too badly burned for us to take fingerprints. But don’t worry. When you’ve had the chance to recover, I’m sure it’ll come back to you.” He offered her a reassuring smile.

She knew he was trying to comfort her, and so restrained the urge to tell him to go f— himself. Don’t worry too much? What kind of advice was that?

“Is the pain still bad?” he asked her. He fiddled with the drip again, and the room grew hazy, indistinct, before she could manage a word.

When she opened her eyes, the room was dark, all shapes indistinct save the colors on the monitor feeds. Burning, throbbing blanketed her. She rolled her head to the side, saw that the window shade lay slightly open, revealing the lights of an unfamiliar city—the greens and reds of traffic signals, the whites of far-off windows, the myriad colors of illuminated billboards. She had no idea where she was.

Despairing, she wept, and as the grief shuddered through her, it ignited her body anew, though she could do nothing to stem her tears. “Why?” she murmured. What sin had she committed that she was being punished so? “Why did this happen?” She didn’t care that she was not supposed to speak, for hearing her own voice reassured her; it was an anchor, even if it was a whisper.

And that was what she had become, she realized. A shadow of her former self.

A whisper.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author
Dan Levinson is a NY-based writer of speculative fiction. Trained as an actor at NYU’s Tisch School of Arts, he also writes for the stage and screen. He grew up immersing himself in fantastical worlds, and now creates them. In addition to the Psionic Earth series, he is also the author of the upcoming YA fantasy novel The Ace of Kings, first book of The Conjurer’s Cycle.

Contact

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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FridayFiction-ToiBoxEdition

Friday Fiction: ToiBox Edition No. 002 #fridayreads (hate, station, alien, guide)

fridayfiction

I apologize upfront. I totally forgot I started this whole short story thing last month. What you are about to read may not be edited, is not well thought out, and was posted at the last minute. Sorry, but maybe it’s not too bad.

Prompt #055372151

Topic/Theme: hate | Location/Setting: station

Character(s): humanoid alien | Object(s): na

Action: guide | Random Additive: na

Begin Anew

“I been waiting a long time to take a crack at some alien scum.” Private Glen has disassembled and reassembled his weapon four times already and was beginning to twitch and sweat as Lieutenant Hayes approached.

“Slow your roll Private Glen. We’re only here for support, in case something goes wrong. No one’s taking a crack at anything or anybody today.”

“Lieutenant, give me a break. I’ve done my duty. I deserve a chance to show what I’m made of.”

“That may very well be true Glen, but today may not be the day to do so. This is a peace mission and we are to stand down until such a time as our special skills are actually needed. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir, Lieutenant Hayes. Peace mission. Got.” Glen stood stiff and saluted as Lieutenant Hayes acknowledged his compliance and then moved on to address the other members of their elite squad.

“Glen, when you gonna learn to keep all your crazy thoughts to yourself? You’re gonna get yourself reassigned. I can’t even believe you made it this far.”

“Oh screw you Patterson. My mouth doesn’t get me in any amount of trouble that my skill can’t get me out of. I have the best shooting and tactical recorded here, even better than our beloved Lieutenant.”

“And yet he’s Lieutenant and you’re not. Maybe just take it easy this once. Besides, for all we know these aliens will be the answers to all our problems. They could have cures to diseases and unlimited energy sources.”

“Well if you wanna believe that fairytale bs go on; as for me, I’m keeping my scope clean. I just wish this station didn’t have so many reflective services. God knows they didn’t consult the military when they built this welcome mat. There’s too many points of entry and…”

“Oh please give it a rest. Why are you so down the aliens’ arrival? It’s not like this is some unprovoked attacked. They contacted us decades ago and warned us that they were coming. If they wanted to obliterate us, why haven’t they done it yet?”

“Patterson, I don’t give a crap about any of that. It’s my God-given human right to hate aliens; creatures from outer space coming to my home planet and making demands. Build us a welcome station and we’ll come- my big round a…”

“Whoa there Glen. Lighten up.”

“I won’t lighten us. I joined up so I could be a warrior, be a hero, but everybody just wants peace. I can’t shoot the Ruskies- their friendly now, I can’t shoot the A-rabs- they’re on board with peace treaties and holding out to see what the aliens got, the Chinese finished that great wall and nobody goes in or out… If I don’t get to shoot somebody soon I’m going to lose it. “

“You know Glen that was really insensitive, a little cray, and maybe even a little racist. I think it’s good that people are trying to create peace and I don’t think it’ll put us out of jobs. Maybe we won’t need to use these particular skills, but there will always be a need to help police nations.”

“Whatever, Patterson. I…”

The ground began to shake and the sky grew dark. The alien vessel had entered earth’s atmosphere almost completely undetected. A lone fighter jet served as guide to escort the egg-shaped colossus toward the welcome station.  A blue and gold plume of clouds haloed the vessel as it lugged across the skyline.

Waves welled in the ocean as the vessel flew over, slowly reaching its destination on an inhabited island in the Pacific, beyond the Hawaiian Islands. Slowly the fighter jet circled the opening of the welcome station, two times, before heading back to the main land. The new arrival could clearly see where they were to land now and began to make their descent.

Lieutenant Hayes and his team stood in position on the far wall of the elongated and open-topped hanger behind all the scientist, officials, political, and religious leaders, ready to defend or to salute. Hayes raised his left hand and swiped it back and forth over his eyes, silently given the command to set sights. He and his fellow officers pulled out binoculars while the armed privates looked through their scopes.

As the vessel ceased to advance and hovered in place, just above the new Joined Nations symbol, an air lock could be heard releasing. A cool rush swept over the area then the egg’s, once metallic, finish began to dull to a pale grey and the appearance of a door came into view. The door slid up and opened in one swift movement and a voice projected from within.

“Thank you people of earth for the lovely reception.” The voice echoed throughout the space in multiple languages, but managed not to sound jumbled. Whatever language one was more comfortable with, that’s the one that was heard most clear. Finally the new arrival announced its presence. “Please do not be frighten by my appearance; it is not too much unlike yours. I am coming out now.”

Slowly descending from invisible steps, a scarlet figure appeared in a stunning masculine form. It was a tall slim figure that walked upright like a human and resembled humanity greatly. However, this figure had no hair and no visible outer ears or nose. There were slits and holes in place where the organs were located, and the scarlet skin almost seemed to glow.

Finally the figured turned and address the crowd gathered as cameras rolled and lights flashed. “I’ve come to bring peace to this land in exchange for sanctuary. My planets sun in dying and this is the only other galaxy with a similar planet for me and my few companions to seek refuge.”

On the far wall of the hanger, Glen’s scope was in line for a perfect shot and he was ready to take it. “Yeah right you’re here to bring us peace; you red alien scum.”

His shot fired and hundreds ducked to the ground and took cover. Glen’s comrades abandoned their weapons and tackled him to the ground. Scientist in lab coats rushed to shield the alien, willing to sacrifice their life to preserve his. Then suddenly everything stopped and reset.

Glen was standing at his post, holding a hot rifle, and wondering what happened to the shot. Next to him stood a tall red man. Everyone around them was frozen in place, staring at them fully aware of what was happening, but unable to move and speak out. Finally the alien spoke.

“I told you I came to bring peace to this world and I aim to do so, no matter how long it takes.” The red man reached forward and placed his hand on Private Glen’s head. A red light pulsed throughout his body.

Moments later, everyone was released from their paralysis and feeling anxious. Everyone looked around wondering what happened to Private Glen. The red man stood in front of his egg-shaped dwelling and tilted his head as if he were trying to understand what all the commotion was about; then the baby cried and all else was silent. The alien spoke once again.

“My people evolved away from hatred many centuries ago, but we teach of its evils to our younglings so as not to repeat the past. This one was beyond repair and must begin anew. Someone please, take young Private Glen  and be sure not to teach him how to hate this time around.”

1262 words

Friday May 1, 2015 – I’ll get back to you. Check the side panel later.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords