Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller by Brandon Ellis (best novels to read in english .txt) 📗

She hovered over herself and willed her energy to cloak, only to be seen by those who meant her well. She programmed her energy so that, from this day forward, those who would do her harm would not be able to find her by tracking her energy signature.

An oval light descended from the cave’s roof and surrounded her physical being. She gasped and popped back into her body, twitching.

“What the hell?” She glanced at her hands. They weren’t shining, weren’t full of light, but were again shadowed in the dim cave.

“You did it,” said Abdu. “Excellent work, Miss Rivkah.”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. Slade found us and he’s on his way. I’ve failed again.”

Abdu rested his warm body closer to hers, pulling her in for a hug. The guy was as big as a sasquatch, or bigger, yet his hug was sweet like a puppy dog resting in someone’s arms. “I sense a lot, Rivkah. My race is telepathic. I not only hear your thoughts, I see your thoughts, but I do not judge your thoughts, which is something unusual to your species. Your dad ingrained, or rather, brainwashed you into thinking you were a failure. He did so in many forms and in many ways, using different techniques that he wasn’t even aware of. You’ve carried this sense of thought throughout your life. It is your journey to understand that it is not your fault, but it is your responsibility to heal. No one else can do so but you. And the beauty about you, Rivkah, is that you have the power and ability to overcome that obstacle.”

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

The sound of boots entered the cavern. They were Slade’s. He was just on the other side of the wall of boulders.

“In truth,” whispered Abdu, his lips next to Rivkah’s ears. “There is no failure. In truth, you have overcome more than most people, and in that way, you have overcome your dad’s torture by continuing on in your life’s journey. You’re a survivor. You have much to teach this galaxy, and I’ll make sure you’ll stay alive to teach those in need.”

Rivkah nodded, not entirely believing what he was saying. Survivor? Yes, she was. There was no mistaking that. Failure? Of course, it existed. Maybe his race was blind to that word. She’d known her entire life that she was a failure and did a damn good job of hiding it. She sat straighter. They were trapped. They were about to die. “If the time comes, let me die.”

“It’s not your time.”

The sounds of more boots entered the cave. “Where are you, Rivkah?” Slade sounded like a bad guy in a horror flick. “I can practically smell you. And I have my Kelhoon buddies here wanting to do some pretty nasty things to you. But I ain’t going to give them the pleasure.”

A beam of light flashed through the opening in the rock wall and held still on the ceiling for several seconds above them.

“You went through there? Clever,” said Slade.

Abdu moved and aimed his bamboo rifle at the opening.

Rivkah went for her gun, but felt nothing on her holster. She bit her tongue, wanting to say every curse word in every language she knew. It was a short list, but Klothanktch garaaa skoptanka was easily the best curse in the Universe. Roughly translated from Ancient Feiarni it meant, “May you choke on your nads as I look on smiling.”

Someone was climbing up the boulders.

Abdu put his finger on the trigger. He popped off a shot, zipping through a Kelhoon’s head. The Kelhoon lost all control of its limbs as death ripped through its skull. It dropped from view.

“One down, Slade,” said Rivkah. “Who’s next?”

“You,” he responded. “Here you go.”

There was a fizz, as if Slade had opened a pop can, then a trail of smoke flew through the rock’s opening and onto the cave floor in front of her. A blinking light flashed just under the smoke. It was a small canister of some type. A bomb? It beeped, then beeped again.

Yes, a bomb. Her stomach sank. In seconds, she’d be a splattered mess of blood and guts.

Abdu rushed the explosive device and kicked it to the side. It careened off a wall and twirled behind him. He jumped in front of Rivkah, using his body as a shield.

The bomb beeped again.

The cavern flashed like a strobe light.

Wapooomb!

The bomb went off and Abdu pressed against her. He let out a long breath, and his body shook along with the cave. Rocks and debris fell from the ceiling, riddling Abdu’s back.

A second bomb flew through the opening, accompanied by a beep and a flash.

Wapoomb!

Rivkah went to move, to escape somehow, to get Abdu and her out of here alive. She pushed Abdu, but he didn’t budge.

“Abdu,” she whispered. “You have to move. We have to get out of here.”

More rocks fell and Abdu didn’t respond.

19

E-Quadrant, Solar System - Whitefish, Montana

Another knock. “Drew Avera?” The woman cleared her throat. “My name is Dr. Andrea Cross. I was once friends with your mother and father.”

Mother and father? His mother was dead and his father was an asshole. This woman being friends with either one of his parents wasn’t going to get Drew to move a muscle. Besides, Carl’s ganja had allowed his mind to mellow and his mellow to melt. If the world was coming to an end and purple-blooded aliens had become shape-shifters, whatever. Perhaps that was the way it was meant to be. He’d done his bit; saving the kid, Mya, escaping from that maniac, Michael Anderle, and busting the story wide open about the politicians leaving the planet for Callisto. He deserved to kick back and get higher than high. He’d denied himself for too long. Let someone else be the hero for a change. He needed to go back to being plain old Drew: stoner and sometime investigative reporter, with more emphasis on the former skill set. He took a long,