Locket

John Maszka

Description

The Committee, an elite group of powerful men who want to control the earth, and beyond, discovers the record of angel DNA. They commission a brilliant biotheorist, Seth North, to decipher its secrets and clone an army of rebel angels. Instead, he clones a beautiful angel and falls in love with her. Rather than aid the Committee, Seth determines to foil its plans, but he's killed in the process. As he's dying, a mysterious locket reveals the key to his true identity and the amazing destiny that awaits us all.

Sujets

• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 29 mai 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528980807
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Locket
John Maszka
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-05-29
The Locket About The Author Dedication Copyright Information © Chapter One The Visitor Chapter Two Seriously Though Chapter Three The Story Chapter Four Engaging Conversation Chapter Five Graziella’s Secret Chapter Six The Locket Chapter Seven A Gift from Caesar Chapter Eight Antony and Cleopatra Chapter Nine Thea Musa Chapter Ten Y2k Chapter Eleven The Deal Breaker Chapter Twelve The Long Night Chapter Thirteen The Awakening Chapter Fourteen Frankenstein Chapter Fifteen Taranto Chapter Sixteen Escape Chapter Seventeen Schriver Chapter Eighteen Fugitives Chapter Nineteen The Power of Love Chapter Twenty Humble Beginnings Chapter Twenty-One Suspicion Chapter Twenty-Two Where Am I? Chapter Twenty-Three A Name for the Authorities Chapter Twenty-Four A Sad Goodbye Chapter Twenty-Five Four Years Later Chapter Twenty-Six The First Memory Chapter Twenty-Seven The Secret Link Chapter Twenty-Eight War in Heaven Chapter Twenty-Nine Fallen Chapter Thirty The Place of Remembrance Chapter Thirty-One Gabriel’s Mission Chapter Thirty-Two Jack and the Beanstalk Chapter Thirty-Three Worm Holes Chapter Thirty-Four The Offer Chapter Thirty-Five Prague Chapter Thirty-Six The Castle Chapter Thirty-Seven Seth’s Father Chapter Thirty-Eight Seth’s Mother Chapter Thirty-Nine The Proposition Chapter Forty Celestial DNA Chapter Forty-One Faith Chapter Forty-Two Night Is Coming Chapter Forty-Three Glass Doors Chapter Forty-Four Alone in Novosibirsk Chapter Forty-Five Krzegosz Chapter Forty-Six Getting Acquainted Chapter Forty-Seven A Bad Idea Chapter Forty-Eight Krzegosz’s Secret Chapter Forty-Nine Tolmachevo Airport Chapter Fifty Mochishche Chapter Fifty-One The Stockpile Chapter Fifty-Two A New Beginning
About The Author
John Maszka is a terrorism scholar and professor of international relations. Born in America, Professor Maszka earned his PhD in the UK and has lived and taught all over the world. John has encountered many first-hand experiences with extremist violence and has interviewed and befriended dozens of individuals and families from around the world who have lived through extremist violence of various kinds.
Dedication
For Anais.
Copyright Information ©
John Maszka (2020)
The right of John Maszka to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528980784 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528980807 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Chapter One

The Visitor
Death was nothing like I imagined it would be. We have these ideas of seeing a bright light or having our entire life flash before our eyes—I didn’t experience any of those things. For me, when the darkness fell, it plummeted. All around me, emptiness enshrouded what used to be my life: my plans, my thoughts, my identity—everything vanished.
Time is inconsequential here. Days, weeks, maybe even ages passed until miraculously—far away in the distance—I spied a speck of light. One single dot of clarity emerged in a universe cloaked in obsidian. It grew brighter and brighter until it erupted into a massive explosion, engulfing the barren void in a brilliance ten thousand times brighter than the sun.
The light became more blinding than the darkness and I threw my arms up to shield my eyes. From between my trembling limbs, I could barely detect something moving towards me. Imperceptible at first, a form slowly began to take shape. At first, I felt only terror. But then, a mysterious calm eased my apprehension and instinctively I knew that I had nothing to fear.
With eyes of fire and skin that glowed like polished bronze, the celestial envoy waxed illustrious beyond description. I couldn’t even begin to describe the thoughts that raced through my mind. Actually, ‘thoughts’ isn’t the right word. They were more like feelings or sensations: fear, anxiety, excitement—‘instincts’ is a better term. Steeped in insecurity, I became painfully aware of my own insignificance: a tiny speck of worthless dust cowering beneath a mighty redwood. But that’s not really a very good way to put it either.
“Greetings friend!” the emissary announced. His words washed over me like a warm, vivid memory—both soothing and electrifying at once.
“Welcome!” he added, sounding more like a host than a guest.
“Welcome?” I cleared my throat as the words got caught in my oesophagus. “Welcome to where ? Where am I?”
“That depends on you,” the stranger quipped with a reassuring smile.
“I don’t understand.”
“You will. That’s why I’m here.”
My visitor’s calm, casual assurance made me feel even more at ease. “Well, who are you ?” I petitioned reluctantly—my broken spirit daring to embrace the promise of a new beginning.
“I’ve been known by many names,” he answered unassumingly. “You might know me as Gabriel the archangel.”
I know what you’re probably thinking right now. You’re imagining me running down the middle of a busy street with one of those hospital gowns on. You know, the ones that never quite cover your behind no matter how cleverly you think you’ve tied them.
On Earth, most people of celebrity status are kind of arrogant. You can’t really blame them, I guess. I mean, we kiss their ass so much—how can we expect them to be otherwise? I half expected Gabriel to pull out an autographed 8x10 glossy of himself, but he was nothing like that. Gabriel’s smile displayed a confident humility. It was as though he knew what an amazing creature he was, but he took no credit for it himself. Someone once said that true greatness defies arrogance. They must have met Gabriel.
At this point I was feeling more than a little overwhelmed, and ‘stupid’ doesn’t even come close to capturing how I must have looked. I guess it didn’t hurt that I played the role so well.
“You’re Gabriel?” I marvelled.
“In the flesh,” he beckoned in a voice that rumbled like a gentle waterfall. The very sound of it reminisced of summers past spent fighting pirates and swimming with mermaids. “But that’s of little consequence. I’ve come to congratulate you on your great victory and to ease your pain by revealing to you the wonderful purpose your life has served.”
“What great victory?”
“What great victory? You’ve conquered the most insidious evil of all: the selfishness inside your own heart. And so, the King has sent me to reward you and to tell you the story.”
“A story?” I mimicked daftly.
“No, the story. Now, what is it that you desire most?”
Cherishing the last vision, I saw before I died: soft, almond eyes filled with tears of true love, pure joy, and deep impenetrable sadness—I didn’t hesitate for a second, “I want to keep my promise.”
“And so, you shall,” Gabriel assured me with a heartfelt look of genuine approval. “And so, you shall.”
Chapter Two

Seriously Though
I’d give you my name but I don’t know what it is. Everything about my existence is gone. I can remember the colour of a rose, but not the colour of my own eyes. I can recall the cities of the world, but I have no idea which one I called home. My place in the generic family of man is lucid—it’s my individual identity that escapes me. Like a sojourner lost in the desert, I see the glowing orb in the sky but my footprints have disappeared behind me.
Ironically, the one remaining memory I still possess of my life is the moment of my death. The years of care and worry weighed heavy on my brow when the cheat stole in and shorted me of the little time, I thought I had left. Deep furrows and leathery crags ravaged my skin while my pulse still raced at the scent of her perfume. The source of my grey hair also racked my body with excruciating pain, but none of that mattered to me then. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t claim to be different or special in any way. I’m sure I was just as vain as everyone else throughout my life, worrying about my looks and what other people thought about me. Racing the clock and chasing the wind.
On Earth, time is linear and everyone is so obsessed with it. We spend our entire lives trying to get to point B, only to wish we could go back to point A again. No matter how much money or fame we achieve, and regardless of what we accomplish in life, time is the one thing that we can never get enough of. And yet, like mice on a treadmill or a dog pursuing its own tail, we waste our lives by chasing the hands on a clock. Everyone is trapped in a prison of time. Ironically, most don’t even want to be free. In fact, I’m pretty sure that they used to torture people by depriving them of any sense of the time. We humans are such strange creatures.
Facing that last moment changes you though, even though it’s hopelessly too late. For once you see with the utmost clarity what really matters. It’s life’s ultimate sucker punch. Still, you can’t help but be grateful. That’s how I felt anyway. I would have never figured it out on my own. I’m pretty stupid when it comes to things like that…important things that is.
In those final seconds when every last breath hangs in the great merchant’s balance and the scales of time are tipping against you, you’ll gi