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

Jaxx jabbed Shaughnessy with his elbow. “What are we looking at?”

“A past recording of—” Shaughnessy’s chin nearly hit his chest as the holovid relayed pictures of a ship breaking apart above Callisto.

The holovid blipped out.

Shaughnessy shut the Lectern off, his face pale. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Did you see that?” Jaxx grabbed Shaughnessy by the shoulder.

“I saw a fleet ship going down in flames. I saw guns, strafing, blasters, nukes.”

Jaxx’s breaths shook. It wasn’t that the ship had been blown out of the sky. It was that panel, sliding off the side of the ship; the nuclear warhead easing its way out of the dock. “We have to warn them. We have to warn those on Callisto that we’re coming for them.”

Shaughnessy’s went rigid. “I’m sorry, Jaxx. We can’t. I can’t allow that. They were hostile. They blew up that big ship. We don’t know—”

“They were provoked.” He rubbed his palm with his hand. No doubt a civilization existed on Callisto, and now. The truth of it nearly overcame him and dropped him to his knees. His heart leaped, and his tears began to well. Callisto took down a human vessel. That should be his sadness, the reason the tears collecting at the base of his eyes. It horrified Jaxx that it wasn’t. The fact that Atlanteans lived on Callisto was more than he could bare, and as a tear streaked down his face, his shoved down a smile.

“How do you know they were provoked? They downed a friggin’ Space Carrier.”

“We sent a nuclear warhead.” Jaxx’s eyes darted around the Lectern. “Pull up anything that may be a nuclear warhead on this ship.”

“No. We have to warn Slade and turn tail.”

Jaxx’s eye brows rose. “Slade was on the call. He saw it.”

Shaughnessy’s shoulder’s drooped. He bit his bottom lip. “Holy shit. He saw it. No doubt in my mind.”

Jaxx grabbed Shaughnessy by the shoulders. “We have to warn them that the Secret Space Program is coming. You have to listen to me. People’s lives are at stake. An archaeological treasure is at stake. We have to—”

Anger overtook Jaxx and his emotions boiled, juicing through his veins. A guttural yell came from his belly. He lifted Shaughnessy off the ground and flung him toward a wall, slamming him against it. Shaughnessy’s head whipped back, his eyes closed as he slid down the wall and to the floor. His head slumped to one side.

“Oh my God.” Jaxx fell to his knees, out of breath. “How did I do that?” He reached for Shaughnessy but was too far away to touch him, to help him. His arms and legs trembled, out of strength, out of energy. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

The door opened. Slade walked in then stopped mid-stride. “What in the name of all that’s holy are you two doing in my private quarters?” His slack face quickly hardened. He strode across the room and slammed his foot down on Shaughnessy’s neck. “Give me one good reason not to kill this good-for-nothing worm.”

Jaxx, on his hands and knees, and breathless, pushed out words with all he had. “We found something, Slade.” He dropped to the floor, his forehead against the cold tile.

“What the hell did you two find that required you to break into my room?”

“Listen, leave him alone.” Jaxx turned and rested on his back, his breath fast and shallow. “He’s the only one who knows the whole code.” Jaxx lied. “And we need him if I’m going to decode the rest of your stupid glyphs.”

Slade unholstered a sidearm. He drew it close to Shaughnessy’s head. “Not good enough, Jaxx.”

8 Charlotte, North Carolina - Earth

Drew took a drag, holding the ganja smoke in as long as he could. He’d only made it as far as the door before turning back and heading for his couch. No one in their right mind believed their dead mother when she told them they’re supposed to trek out into the High Sierras or wherever it was she said he was supposed to go in order to get a message from his Uncle Jaxx, so he could steer mankind to its next 'platform'.

Even his hallucinations had started using weird vocab. It was good fun, as long as he didn’t take it seriously. He exhaled and stared at the popcorn ceiling. He should write a book. People loved this kind of conspiracy stuff. He put his nice, plump doobie to his ever-ready lips and took a long, hard inward-facing breath.

A message popped on his laptop screen and Drew almost coughed out a lung. Starwanderer3—Michael Anderle, the ex-NASA weapons specialist—the converse-wearing geek and hacker friend from the darknet. The problem was, Anderle was supposed to be in prison.

The message was coded:

Mo...Cha...Tse...D-ha...D-ha...Tse...A-chin...A-kha...A-kha...Ah-tad...Tse. Next line. Ah-jad...A-kha...A-kha...Jad-ho-loni...A-kha...Shi-da...D-ah. Next line. 1...1...6. Space. Ne-as-jah. Space. Nas-pas. End dialogue. Do not reply.

Drew’s mouth dropped. His joint landed in his lap. He slowly picked it up and placed it on the coffee table without taking his eyes off the screen, reading the code Anderle had sent. It was a Navajo code, though changed in Hijax Hacker Format, HHF. Anything starting with an 'A' could have a completely different meaning or mean exactly what it purported to mean. It depended on the last letter in the message. The last word was 'reply', the last letter 'y', which meant 'A' was not changed. It read, “Chattanooga. Next line. Lookout. Next line. 116 Owl Way. End dialogue. Do not reply.”

“You mother trucker. You want me to go to where?” The problem with Hijax Hacker Format in Navajo code was that the numbers were always changing and if Drew was still up to date, the 116 actually meant 994, and the Owl meant Eagle. And Way stood for Street. He was to go to 994 Eagle Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Lookout.

He leaned against the couch’s armrest. “Was that Lookout Mountain?”

It had to be. Or was Anderle telling Drew to lookout for that area? Or to