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

a lot of that. The United States is going to shit in a handbag. Everyone is out of work. It’s the wild west again. No food in the grocery stores, but this time around people don’t know how to hunt and gather food anymore.”

Drew turned his body as best he could while holding Mya, to look back at the pathetic beggars. The people had simply moved on, walking into the forest, except for one small boy. He sat and wept. “Please go back.”

“No. We’re heading to Whitefish, Montana. That’s the safest place in the United States right now. We’ll have a high-ranking Marine to help us get inside.”

“That Marine is Angel Segarra?” asked Drew.

Anderle shrugged. “Do not tell anyone about Mya’s power or the fact that she’s even stronger around her dad. Got it?” Anderle glanced at T-hacker. “Radio it in?”

T-hacker pressed a few buttons, tuning it to the right channel.

“Notify the Marines that Master Sergeant Angel Segarra is en-route to Sumner County Regional Airport via a helicopter. Let them know we need them and to send some troops to said airport. Tell them we’re in a white Range Rover. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Drew fished inside his pants pocket for a doobie. Of course, his pockets were empty. They had been for weeks.

God, he needed a puff.

30

Near Taiyo Orbit, Sector 9 - Galactic Arm, Milky Way Galaxy

Jaxx spun in space. His jumpsuit and helmet regulated his temperature with a built-in heating and cooling system, keeping him warm in the deep, dark void’s terrible freeze.

He checked his oxygen levels, then realized he had no gauge to check. He had no idea how long he had to live. Hours? Minutes? Seconds?

“Hello, Zara? Anyone?”

His heart raced. He took slow, shallow breaths, doing his best not to take up too much oxygen. He didn’t want to run out before his rescuers came. If they came.

“Yo, Zara? Abdu?”

No one was answering his calls.

A light flashed by and he started to spin faster, as if he was nudged.

“Dare, desuka?” A familiar voice came over Jaxx’s helmet comm line.

“Kiyo-zan?” It sounded like Kiyo, a Taiyonian he befriended during his time on Taiyo.

“Hai, watashi desu.”

Jaxx put his thumb up, doing his best to crack a smile. “Can you pick me up?”

“Hai, soo desu ze.”

“Thank you.”

Another flash zipped by him, then a pulling sensation enveloped his body.

“Whoa! Slow it down there, Kiyo-zan.”

“Gomen’nasai.”

“You’re sorry? Well, don’t be. You’re saving my life.” Jaxx’s body stopped spinning and he faced a small Taiyonian transport ship. Its side door was open, a tractor beam turret bolted on the inside of the transport ship’s cabin.

The tractor beam sucked him in.

Jaxx looked down at his feet hovering in the blackness of space and finally over the lip of the ship’s opening. The tractor beam shifted on its turret, and the nose moved down and gently set Jaxx on his feet. His boots magnetized to the cabin’s floor and the door closed. The cosmos disappeared from view, a silver door now in its place. The cabin hissed and filled with oxygen.

He took a step toward the cockpit and halted in front of a metallic wall that separated the cockpit from the cabin. A red-light highlighted the barrier. The wall clicked and the light turned to a light blue just as a crease opened from the middle of the wall, splitting in two, turning it into a door.

Fffffcha!

The door spread apart, each section sucking into the transport ship’s side walls.

Kiyo-zan stood from his captain’s chair, a big smile on his face, teeth shining, reminding Jaxx of the pristine health of all those living on Taiyo.

Jaxx took off his helmet and dropped it on the floor. “Kiyo-zan!” He lifted his arms out wide. They wrapped their arms around each other.

“Wareware wa anata zo nogashita. Anata zi aitakatta. Mōichido ai zi kite ureshīdesu.”

“I missed you and all those on Taiyo as well. Nice to see you again, buddy.”

Jaxx slapped Kiyo-zan’s shoulders, getting another good look at him, like a father to a long, lost son. “You haven’t aged a bit.”

“Watashitachi wa toshi zo toranai,” explained Kiyo-zan.

“Yeah, I know you don’t age. Could you rub some of that anti-aging mojo on me?”

Kiyo-zan touched Jaxx’s third eye. “Rōka wa anata zo kokoronouchi dakedesu. Sono shin'nen zo yamereba, anata wa rōka zo tomerudeshou.”

“I know, I know.” Jaxx nodded. “Age is all in my mind. An unhealthy belief system. That still doesn’t tell me anything about anti-aging, my friend.”

Kiyo-zan sat behind the control stick, motioning for Jaxx to take a seat at the co-pilot’s chair. Once Jaxx was seated, Kiyo-zan dipped his head and pressed the stick forward. In seconds, planet Taiyo came into view, the blue glow of its unpolluted oceans accompanied by its lush, green terrain lit up the cosmos, stars twinkling in the distance behind it. It was a spectacle to be seen, only matched by Earth.

In minutes, they had entered the Taiyo heliosphere. Kiyo-zan tilted the transport ship to a forty-five-degree angle and turned on anti-gravity drives, making the transition from space into the Taiyonian atmosphere smooth and simple.

Below, the four-legged Kimos—cat-like animals the size of elephants with blue turtle shells—ran with speed and agility across a verdant green plateau, heading toward a jungle. A herd of Misa—similar to ostriches, though flamingo-pink in color—followed, like children after their parents.

In the distance was a vast city over a lake. The lake was clear and had an inner glow, all azure hues and Mediterranean blues. It was late morning and the sun shone down on the city, which glimmered like a shimmering artwork; another reminder of how beautiful this city and this planet truly was. A true marvel.

The city’s outer rim had small domes equivalent to the size of three or four-story buildings. Attached to each dome was a fully-covered walkway or roadway that attached to larger domes toward the center. The closer to the center of the city the bigger the domes became. The largest dome was directly in the middle.

Crafts flew above the metropolis, some entering through openings