Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller Brandon Ellis (ebook reader for comics txt) 📖

and Drew leaned forward, placing his elbow on the desk, his chin in his hand, and read the latest one—labeled two days ago:

Jefferson Kennedy, President of the United States, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee

Dear President Kennedy,

Attached to this email are more pictures of the man in question, Target: Master Sargent (E-8) Angel Segarra. The daughter is more powerful around him and without her, our world is doomed, meaning our mission will fail. Several attempts to capture this man have been compromised.

We need his daughter, Mya. That is our best way to get Segarra into your custody.

Keep in mind that the US Marines under Angel Segarra are growing in numbers, coming together from around the country. They are setting up operations, getting more organized, and are becoming more aware of the anomalies forming above the pyramids around the globe. Our goal is to scramble these Marines, take his daughter, and use her to bring him to you, President Kennedy.

Be notified that Mya’s mother and son have been eliminated.

Mya and Drew Avera are on their way. Intercept when necessary.

Sincerely,

2nd Lieutenant Zhu Ling

People’s Republic of China Army

Drew threw his hand to his mouth. “Oh, no.” He had unintentionally led Mya to this bunker. He rubbed his eyes to get his mind straight and when he calmed, he read over the letter again.

What the heck are these anomalies forming over the pyramids?

He clicked and exited from the letter. Next, he clicked on Portal. It held two dozen videos. He clicked the first one.

A man speaking in a dialect Drew couldn’t understand was filming the Great Pyramid of Giza with his phone. The sand was stirring around it like a tornado. The sky above was black. Storm clouds gathered. Thunder shook the ground.

The man panned to the clouds, screaming. The clouds spiraled and parted and a massive, black, diamond-shape ship came through, lightning striking against it, sending brilliant flashes across the sky.

The man dropped his phone on the sand. There was an explosion, off screen. The video ended.

Drew stared at the screen, unblinking, trying to put two and two together. Was this another faked video from Anderle? If it wasn’t, then what the hell was that thing?

He clicked on another video. A newscaster stood in front of a step pyramid, his hair blowing wildly, mic in his hand, speaking a language Drew couldn’t identify. He pointed to the sky. The same black clouds materialized, thunder clacking. The clouds split apart and a mess of strange-looking humanoids descended feet first from the sky, fire blasting out of their feet.

The camera zoomed in on one of them. It wasn’t a human. It was a machine, perhaps a robot. Cannons were mounted on its shoulders, guns attached to its forearms. It dropped quickly, landing on the pyramid’s flat top.

Its cannon turned, targeting the cameraman. A blue bolt launched from the cannon and the video ended.

Drew clicked on more videos and by the time he had finished half a dozen, he jumped up and turned off the computer. An invasion? “A damn, no shit invasion?”

Aliens?

Evil extraterrestrials?

It wasn’t just the Chinese invading the United States. Some type of ET’s were invading the entire world. Anderle, that unremitting slime bucket, hadn’t said a damned word.

16

Edge of M-Quadrant, Nearing Jupiter - Starship Atlantis

Craig sat at his desk and pushed away papers he’d been mulling over. “Loraine, bring in some coffee, please? I’m dying here.”

His presidential suite door opened and Loraine held a cup of coffee in her hand, a folder in the other. “Was already on it. Here you go, Mr. President.”

He took the coffee and placed it on his desk. “Thank you.”

She dropped the folder next to the steaming mug. “The files you asked for.”

He picked it up, blinking in confusion. “What’s this?”

She suppressed an irritated huff. “I had your note on my desk several days ago asking me to dig up these files. It took me some time to find them, but I think I got them all. It was creepy snooping around like that. How did you get his room’s access code?”

“I didn’t—” he stopped himself. Whoever put that note on Loraine’s desk wanted him to see something. Perhaps Senator Ken Furr or Governor Boz Brown—the nitwits who always wanted the slow route to get things done and frowned upon war or military conflict. But why didn’t they come to him themselves?

Craig hadn’t been in his room since letting Slade know about the mutiny less than a half hour ago. He’d have to address the entire government and their families soon. He’d conjure up some lie to keep the peace on the ship, to cool the senators’ and governors’ boiling blood, but what lie he’d give them to gain their trust, he didn’t yet know. Nothing had come to him at the stroke of midnight like lies did in the past, maybe because there wasn’t a midnight in space.

He sighed. Being in space was different than the extravagant, well-appointed, fully-staffed homes he was used to living in. The beauty and splendor of his former life had provided such inspiration. Space was cramping his style.

“Are you okay, Mr. President?”

He took a sip of coffee and feigned a smile. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Loraine. Thank you for everything.”

“My pleasure, Mr. President. Anything else you need?”

“No, no.”

She turned and left, the door shutting behind her.

He opened the file. Inside was a bound document titled, Kaden Jaxx: Top Secret. He turned to the table of contents.

“These are all experiments.” He licked his finger and turned another page, reading through several more pages. The more he read, the more his shoulders knotted, and his blood pressure rose. “Jaxx isn’t human?”

He stopped, pressing his finger on a single paragraph, reading it over and over. If the document was to be believed, Jaxx was a ninety percent Atlantean, ten percent human, with DNA that allowed him unearthly powers and reflexes. But what was more important, Jaxx had been trained to be a one-man wrecking crew. So, this is what the Secret Space