Aligning Stars

Curtmarie Hardaker

Description

Bit by bit, someone's image of what they believe in can be broken down and reconstructed. This is the safe way so the mind doesn't go into shock. Why would someone want it to all come crashing down? Giselle's did. It all came down around her head and all that was left were questions and a new mission.

Sujets

• Science-fiction
• Fiction
• Mission
• Science Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798823008006
• Langue: English

Extrait

ALIGNING STARS








CURTMARIE HARDAKER










AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]






© 2023 Curtmarie Hardaker. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/17/2023

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0801-3 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0800-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023908499





Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.



Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.



CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45



CHAPTER 1
I could imagine the color drain from my face in the image of myself in the puddle on the floor. My hands and knees hurt, the muscles in my abdomen sore from screaming. I wasn’t human to anyone here, the translucence of my blood dripping into the water under me from the water line that was destroyed in the turmoil. The clacking of the shoes and cane as he came forward made me stiffen. He held my mask in his reddened fingers, his laugh that tried to cover the sound of the soles of his shoes. If I spoke, it would only draw more attention to my real identity. My age would be audible, and he would most likely kill me just for having the audacity to outmaneuver him. Some kid has been outsmarting and overpowering him on his own turf; any man would want the kid dead, right?
I couldn’t die here, not with everything that was going on back at home with my caretaker and her family. They needed me there, the little girls that called me their older sister and the false father that loved me like his very own. I let my body sag, fighting the sting in my eyes as his fancy shoes stopped in front of me. The possibilities of escape and their routes were running through my head as he grunted, kneeling in front of me and grabbing my hair. He didn’t make me look up but dragged me from the puddle, still laughing. I yelped involuntarily when he slammed me into the machine he had been building, that capsule was filled with a bluish liquid and there was a monstrosity growing inside of it. His signature deeds were these monsters he created, and the world just wasn’t ready for them.
The laughing stopped almost right away, and all movement seemed to still as I stared at the creature, the oversized eye staring back at me. That innocent, infantile gaze entranced me for a moment before I felt my mask slide back over my head. I was confused as a force hit my side, sending me into the wall on the other side of the room. It was getting hard to breath as I tried to pull up from the rubble. I looked up at him finally, the furious expression causing the oversized man’s eyes to glow as he shoved me to the ground by stepping on my chest.
He and I had been at this sort of fight since I was younger. It was a blessing that I was at the height I am now as I was then; it made it harder for the man to pinpoint information on me. I knew his tactics of luring in the organization, their deployment of me making the mask I wore a figurehead to their movements. Whatever the man had against them taking care of me didn’t give us time for pleasantries or even a small chat. It didn’t seem to be in either of our make ups and the voice distortion that had been implemented was rarely used. I blessed that silence though; I didn’t have to think about what I was saying or how much would be too much in the moment.
I cursed whatever lineage I had in my veins; the thing that made me feel the pity exude from the man claimed to be my enemy. This stupid blood flowing through me, this ridiculous notion that made me less than human and a disposable pawn. I had to hold my own life as something important. I gripped his ankle, throwing him aside before stumbling to my feet. I did manage to get what I had come for; the organization could handle that I didn’t stop him personally with the thumb drive I had acquired like they had before. I still had to make it home, to see those smiling human faces that didn’t judge me in their ignorance.
There were no footsteps following me, nothing coming after me down the hall as I shot for the window. Shattered glass looked like stars in the lights of the city, like solid snow that scattered to the ground ten stories below. I followed them down, bracing for the impact that would either kill me or render me useless for a short period of time. That impact never came though, the world seeming to make me float before I landed on a car in almost gently. I looked back up after rolling on my back, seeing something flutter back into the shattered window.
My hand touched the pocket the thumb drive nestled in, my breath coming out in a sigh of relief at its presence. I wouldn’t be reprimanded or moved; I could still watch over those children that I had grown to love. I pushed off the car, ignoring the stares from the humans around me as I jogged past them to the meeting point. The employer wanted the information badly, something about an advancement they deemed the world unready to handle hidden within the files that I now held. This was always the case whenever I ran into that man in this very same building at least every other month.
This was one of the things I never asked the organization about, never bothered to question as they sent me forward. I didn’t know their beef with the inhuman man, nor what he was doing and while I should have been feeling like a felon for the actions I conducted on their behalf, the ignorance allowed me to fill the spaces with the justifiable causes the organization gave me. That was okay with me even if these midnight meetings were sketchy. I didn’t have to hide how I looked during this time and the staff never seemed to care about it or at least didn’t tell me to my face. I slowed down as I neared the park, coming to a stop in the middle of the parking lot.
There was no one here but the occasional straggler, the homeless taking root closer to the manmade pond than the outer edge of the park. I took in a deep breath, sitting against a light pole as I rubbed the tender spot on my side. What confused me now was how light the hit had been. While it had sent me into the wall, what normally would have at least broken a rib had probably merely fractured it. I didn’t have too much time to dwell on it as the familiar car pulled up next to me.
I stood up and moved into the passenger side, sitting down, and putting my head back. “Is there an issue, Seed,” I looked at Dr. Mannuel for a moment, taking in how tired the old man looked. He was well into his fifties, the wrinkles as miniscule as they could be for a man under the stress that he was under. He had been on my case for years, directing the project that I was within the company and managing my training and missions.
“I just need a reinforced mask connection,” I replied quietly. “And maybe more of serum four. I was hit pretty hard.”
“Did he see your face,” Dr. Mannuel held his hand out, the mask falling into it as I put my head back once more.
“No, I had been looking away,” I replied.
“And did you have your human mask on?”
“No,” I felt at my face, wincing at the defined lines that traveled from the tip of my nose to my hairline and below my jaw. The skin would be tinted a dull yellow and my teeth would be sharper. My nails were a deep, sickly gray and clawed and the oversized freckles on my skin matched. Maybe that’s why they could tell me to do the things they said to do; because in all reality, I looked nothing like them.
“Good. Agent Stephanie would be compromised then,” the doctor went over the mask, sighing softly before looking back over. “And what of the information we sent you to retrieve? Did he know you had it?”
“He didn’t,” I shook my head slowly and leaned forward. My upper body had been tight recently and while the impact had somehow loosened my muscles, I could pinpoint the tightest spot in my throat while fighting him. I dug around in my pocket, pulling the thumb drive out and staring at it. “I did see the new project he was working on though. It looked reptilian in nature, but it was still in the embryo phase.”
“Is the information on that one in the drive,” I turned the drive to his open palm as he threw the mask in the back seat.
“No,” I replied. “It seems he was still in the testing sequence, and you know he doesn’t make anything electronic until he’s sure it’ll work.”
“And you didn’t grab any of it,” Dr. Mannuel grabbed my hair, pulling me over the center console roughly. I grunted, gritting my teeth as he made me look at him. I couldn’