*****
Meanwhile, for readers who prefer to stick with
The weekly blog episodes, we will continues
To post chapters until the story is done.
And, now, here is this week's episode!
*****
A TASTE OF VENGEANCE
When Shaklin and his people reached Gregor’s cabin, the guards were gone—probably back at the Control Center gleefully helping murder Zheng and Rual.
When Shaklin and his people reached Gregor’s cabin, the guards were gone—probably back at the Control Center gleefully helping murder Zheng and Rual.
Newton broke the lock, and Viktor and several others hauled Gregor out.
He was frightened. And more than a little confused.
“What’s happening?” he demanded. “Is Venatora coming? Should I call my father so we can finalize the deal?”
Shaklin laughed. “There is no deal,” he said. “There never was a deal.”
And with immense satisfaction he said, “Now, come with us.”
Gregor tried to protest. But Newton and Viktor, who were large enough to handle several Gregors, took him in tow and hustled him along the corridor.
“Where are we going?” Gregor demanded.
No one bothered answering.
A moment later they were in the Tractor Beam Chamber. Newton hurried to the control board, popped it open, and fiddled with the switches. Then he set the timer.
He grinned at Shaklin. “Ten minutes, Bishop. And we’ll be clotting out of here.”
Meanwhile, Gregor grew more and more frantic.
“Please, please,” he was saying. “Just let me call my father. He’ll fix it. He can fix anything.”
But they were at the Cairn now, and Shaklin’s people boarded the little vessel, taking up the positions and duties he’d drilled into them. There hadn’t been much time, but the members of the Church of the Universal Location were not just devoted, but intelligent, highly trained technicians.
As Shaklin took up his post at the control board, Newton and Viktor hustled Gregor over to the lifeboat, which sat next to a launch tube just large enough to do the job.
He was arguing. Begging. Pleading. But no one paid him any mind.
Shaklin’s fingers flew over the controls. Big bay doors opened in front of the Cairn. He gave the boat a little power, and they slipped out of the Flame into space.
“Like bacon through a goose,” Viktor observed.
And now they were skimming along the ore train, heading toward the end of the 129 kilometer line.
Well, the end sans twenty nine cars they were cutting out for themselves. Shaklin grinned at the thought.
Don’t get over confident, he warned himself. He had to play each card perfectly. One mistake and all would be lost.
At last the ten minutes were up and a small explosion came where the train linked to the ship. The cars broke away, slowly drifting to the side from the force of the explosion.
Then they were in position. Newton did his magic and there was another small explosion, separating the last twenty nine cars from the train.
Shaklin guided the Cairn into place, latched on, then moved away—carrying the mini-train laden with precious Imperium X with him.
It was time to call Sten.
Oh, wait. Not just yet. Gregor first. Then Sten.
“Get him into the boat,” he told Newton and Viktor.
Gregor started, but the two big men grabbed him from either side and hustled him to the little lifeboat.
“Wait a minute,” Gregor said. “What are you doing?”
“Returning you to your father, what else?” Shaklin said.
“But…but…” he pointed at the lifeboat. “Not in that!”
Shaklin shrugged. “It’s for your own protection,” he said.
And it wasn’t that much of a lie. At this moment he was more than capable of doing Gregor great bodily harm.
“No, no. You must let me go. The Court Martial. They might…they might…”
“Shoot you?” Shaklin asked with a bitter laugh. “A firing squad is too good for you. But that was my agreement with Sten.”
Gregor’s face turned fiery red. “Sten? Why, he’s nothing but a poseur. Acts like an ordinary guy, but he’s got connections. That’s for sure. Connections he’s been lying about for years.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Shaklin said. “Makes me even more confident that you have a firing squad in your future.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Gregor pleaded. “We can still make this work. We can still do a deal. You can still be rich.”
Shaklin had enough. “Get him in there,” he said, jabbing a finger at the lifeboat.
Newton opened the little boat’s port, and he and Viktor grabbed Gregor and pushed him toward it. Gregor struggled mightily, but Newton gave him a hard swat and Gregor stopped struggling.
Now he was weeping.
“But why?” he pleaded. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Shaklin stared hard into his eyes. “Pegatha,” was all he said. He nodded for Newton and Viktor to continue.
They stuffed him, weeping, into the little boat. As they closed the port, the last thing Shaklin heard him say was, “It was an accident, I tell you. Just an accident.”
But Shaklin felt no vengeful joy when he turned back to the control board. Instead, he felt empty. And there was a bitter taste in his mouth.
Then he keyed his mike. Time to call Sten.
NEXT: SHAKLIN’S OFFER
*****
STEN OMNIBUS TRILOGY
MAKES ITS AMERICAN DEBUT
Ever since my British publisher put all eight novels in the Sten series in three omnibus editions, American readers have been clamoring for equal treatment.
Well, my American publisher – Wildside Books – was listening and is issuing all three omnibus omnibus volumes on this side of the Atlantic. Sten Omnibus #1 was published
last month. Sten Omnibus #2 debuts this week. Stay tuned for the publication for Volume Three.
THE TIMURA TRILOGY: When The Gods Slept, Wolves Of The Gods and The Gods Awaken. This best selling fantasy series now available as trade paperbacks, e-books (in all varieties) and as audiobooks. Visit The Timura Trilogy page for links to all the editions.
NEWLY REVISED KINDLE EDITIONS OF THE TIMURA TRILOGY NOW AVAILABLE. (1) When The Gods Slept;(2) Wolves Of The Gods; (3) The Gods Awaken.
*****
Tales Sometimes Tall, but always true, of Allan Cole's years in Hollywood with his late partner, Chris Bunch. How a naked lady almost became our first agent. How we survived La-La Land with only the loss of half our brain cells. How Bunch & Cole became the ultimate Fix-It Boys. How an alleged Mafia Don was very, very good to us. The guy who cornered the market on movie rocks. Andy Warhol's Fire Extinguisher. The Real Stars Of Hollywood. Why they don't make million dollar movies. See The Seven Pi$$ing Dwarfs. Learn: how to kill a "difficult" actor… And much, much more.
Here's where you can buy it worldwide in both paperback and Kindle editions:
United Kingdom ...........................Spain
Also: NOOK BOOK. Plus ALL E-BOOK FLAVORS.
*****
A NATION AT WAR WITH ITSELF: In Book Three Of The Shannon Trilogy, young Patrick Shannon is the heir-apparent to the Shannon fortune, but murder and betrayal at a family gathering send him fleeing into the American frontier, with only the last words of a wise old woman to arm him against what would come. And when the outbreak of the Civil War comes he finds himself fighting on the opposite side of those he loves the most. In The Wars Of The Shannons we see the conflict, both on the battlefield and the homefront, through the eyes of Patrick and the members of his extended Irish-American family as they struggle to survive the conflict that ripped the new nation apart, and yet, offered a dim beacon of hope.
A True Story About A Boy,
A Teacher, And Earthquake,
Some Terrorists And The CIA
LUCKY IN CYPRUS is a coming-of-age story set in the Middle East during the height of the Cold War. An American teenager – son of a CIA operative – is inspired by grand events and a Greek Cypriot teacher.
He witnesses earthquakes and riots and terrorist attacks, but in the end it is his teacher’s gentle lessons that keep him whole.
Here's where to get the paperback & Kindle editions worldwide:
Here's what readers say about Lucky In Cyprus:
- "Bravo, Allan! When I finished Lucky In Cyprus I wept." - Julie Mitchell, Hot Springs, Texas
- "Lucky In Cyprus brought back many memories... A wonderful book. So many shadows blown away!" - Freddy & Maureen Smart, Episkopi,Cyprus.
- "... (Reading) Lucky In Cyprus has been a humbling, haunting, sobering and enlightening experience..." - J.A. Locke, Bookloons.com
*****
NEW: THE AUDIOBOOK VERSION OF
THE HATE PARALLAX
What if the Cold War never ended -- but continued for a thousand years? Best-selling authors Allan Cole (an American) and Nick Perumov (a Russian) spin a mesmerizing "what if?" tale set a thousand years in the future, as an American and a Russian super-soldier -- together with a beautiful American detective working for the United Worlds Police -- must combine forces to defeat a secret cabal ... and prevent a galactic disaster! This is the first - and only - collaboration between American and Russian novelists. Narrated by John Hough. Click the title links below for the trade paperback and kindle editions. (Also available at iTunes.)
*****
THE SPYMASTER'S DAUGHTER:
A novel by Allan and his daughter, Susan
After laboring as a Doctors Without Borders physician in the teaming refugee camps and minefields of South Asia, Dr. Ann Donovan thought she'd seen Hell as close up as you can get. And as a fifth generation CIA brat, she thought she knew all there was to know about corruption and betrayal. But then her father - a legendary spymaster - shows up, with a ten-year-old boy in tow. A brother she never knew existed. Then in a few violent hours, her whole world is shattered, her father killed and she and her kid brother are one the run with hell hounds on their heels. They finally corner her in a clinic in Hawaii and then all the lies and treachery are revealed on one terrible, bloody storm- ravaged night.
BASED ON THE CLASSIC STEN SERIES by Allan Cole & Chris Bunch: Fresh from their mission to pacify the Wolf Worlds, Sten and his Mantis Team encounter a mysterious ship that has been lost among the stars for thousands of years. At first, everyone aboard appears to be long dead. Then a strange Being beckons, pleading for help. More disturbing: the presence of AM2, a strategically vital fuel tightly controlled by their boss - The Eternal Emperor. They are ordered to retrieve the remaining AM2 "at all costs." But once Sten and his heavy worlder sidekick, Alex Kilgour, board the ship they must dare an out of control defense system that attacks without warning as they move through dark warrens filled with unimaginable horrors. When they reach their goal they find that in the midst of all that death are the "seeds" of a lost civilization.
*****
TALES OF THE BLUE MEANIE
NOW AN AUDIOBOOK!
 |
Venice Boardwalk Circa 1969
|
In the depths of the Sixties and The Days Of Rage, a young newsman, accompanied by his pregnant wife and orphaned teenage brother, creates a Paradise of sorts in a sprawling Venice Beach community of apartments, populated by students, artists, budding scientists and engineers lifeguards, poets, bikers with a few junkies thrown in for good measure. The inhabitants come to call the place “Pepperland,” after the Beatles movie, “Yellow Submarine.” Threatening this paradise is "The Blue Meanie," a crazy giant of a man so frightening that he eventually even scares himself.
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