Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller by Brandon Ellis (easy to read books for adults list txt) 📕

arms toward the sky. A sound, something Drew had never heard before, low and deep, came from deep inside her, and screamed passed her lips. The shield rippled and every enemy craft near the shield burst into flames.

She fell to the tarmac, her body limp.

Segarra picked her up and ran into a Jeep and shut the door. The Marines followed suit and jumped into their vehicles. They sped off down the tarmac and onto a side road.

Drew watched, mouth open, as they disappeared around a building and down a small hill.

“What the hell just happened?” Drew said.

“She’s been underground for a long time. She, for some reason, is more powerful with her father by her side. They have some type of connection. Something we want to figure out,” said Anderle.

Drew put his hands on his hips. Anderle would no doubt find a way to harness the talent or whatever it was that Mya had, and use it for his own. He wanted to call Anderle every word in the book but instead huffed and threw a dismissive hand his old friend’s way. He went into a jog and followed the route the Jeeps and Humvees had taken, not caring if Anderle or T-hacker shot him in the back.

Who knows. That might be a faster death than what may come sooner than later with these aliens entering the atmosphere.

Passing a hanger, no shots came. He paused and turned. Anderle and T-hacker were walking in the opposite direction.

He was left alive. For now.

47

Unknown, Callisto - J-Quadrant, Solar System

Rivkah raised her energy and rushed the electrically charged energy bars that kept her and Bogle captive. “Let me out!”

She touched the bars. She jerked back and forth. She released, the electricity sizzling her skin, and dropped to the cold, dirt floor.

Fox stood on the other side; Okbak next to him.

Okbak glanced at Fox.

Fox nodded. “He wants you to know that they’ll have Callisto secured in less than a week. The entire population will be slaves. The children, though, will be used as meat. So tender…”

“What?” Rivkah reached out. “You’re being controlled by Okbak. Don’t let him do this. Fight back.”

Okbak turned and walked toward a door that led outside.

Fox followed, then twisted around. “You’re going to be meat as well. They’ll dine on your flesh tonight.”

They exited the room and shut the door.

Rivkah glanced over at Bogle. She was calm, almost glowing.

Bogle patted the floor next to her. “Before you die, come here and meditate.”

“Meditate?” She glanced back at the door. “I’ll pass.”

“Do you think you’ll actually die?”

Rivkah stood and paced. “I don’t care.” The energy bars were above her and on all sides, but not below her. She stopped pacing as an idea formed. “Bogle, remember when you broke open the ceiling in the tunnel under the Kelhoon camp?”

Bogle nodded. “Of course.”

“Break the ground. We can escape that way.”

“You’re still trying to escape? When are you going to figure out that you’re free even when in chains?”

Rivkah wanted to punch Bogle up and down, left and right. Did she want to die too, and bring everyone down with her? “Break open the ground, now.”

“If you close your eyes and concentrate, you’ll see that just below us and directly under the ground are energy bars as well. Breaking the ground won’t do any good.”

Rivkah slapped her thighs. “Then what do we do?”

“I said, sit down. You’ll be able to focus on the bars with me. I’m trying to figure out how to bend them. It’s tricky, but two heads are always better than one. That is our means of escape.”

“Screw it,” Rivkah sat down and closed her eyes. She thought of the bars in front of her, imagining them as if they were rubber. In her mind’s eyes, she put her hand on the bars and pulled them outward, bending them, giving her enough room to slip through.

“There you go, Rivkah. You’re much better than I am.”

Rivkah opened her eyes. The energy bars were bent. “How did I—”

“Your Chi is powerful.” Bogle stood, extending her hand for Rivkah.

A click pierced the air. The door in front of them shuddered, then opened. A massive man walked in, a hood covering his face.

He bowed, then pulled the hood back, revealing that he was a lion. “My name is Abdu.”

48

Edge of J-Quadrant, Starship Atlantis (Slipping Further Away from Jupiter)

“Put this on,” Craig handed Slade a mask.

“A clown mask?” He tossed it on the floor. He wasn’t going to wear a mask. “Mr. President...you’ve had your way on this trip more often than I care to remember, but that stops here. You’re not having your way with this clown mask.”

Craig gave a hard nod, then lifted one eyebrow. “You’re putting it on.” He gave Slade a long, hard look, then rolled his eyes.

Slade picked it up and slipped it over his head. It scratched at his skin, and the mouth and nostril holes were too small. Luckily, the eye holes were big enough. “You can’t breathe in this thing.”

“You have the portal frequencies?”

Rivkah, Jaxx, and Fox slipped through frequencies for a faster jump to Callisto. Though Starship Atlantis passed the portals when leaving Mars’s quadrant, more portals lined the entire route to Jupiter.

“Yes. I’m thinking it will put us directly in Callisto’s orbit.”

Commotion came over the Kelhoon, all of whom were glaring at Slade and Craig. A Kelhoon, potentially the leader of the two dozen warriors, stepped a few paces forward. “Konjaka najoon.”

Slade crossed his arms and gave the death stare. “You go when we say you go. I have Kajka Okbak, your leader, giving me full authority over you guys. Do you understand?”

The Kelhoon warrior turned, facing his soldiers. He pointed at the door and barked an order.

Slade pulled out his pistol, turned off the safety, and targeted the leader’s foot. He pulled the trigger.

The Kelhoon leader jumped and fell on his back, holding his ankle. He screamed in agony. “Koojanaka ja!”

“Because you didn’t do as I said.” Slade marched forward and put