by T S Paul
“Halt! On the ground! Get on the ground now!” When is it going to end?
“Seriously? If this is how you treat new students, I’d hate to see what you do to graduating ones.” I motioned with my hands, making a breast stroke motion. Both vehicles scraped sideways across the concrete. The gunners on top began to fire at me.
With steel-jacketed rounds bouncing off my shield I sat down on a bench. “You people are really starting to piss me off!” I thought about the spells I knew. I was just about to bring the building down on top of them when a supervisor accompanied by John finally arrived.
“Hi John. Do these belong to you? If they do, you can take me right back to Maine.” I pointed at the two now upside down Humvees and the dozen or so agents pointing guns at me.
“Guns down! Goddammit, put your guns down!” The Agents all put their guns down as ordered.
“Grimes! What in all that’s holy is going on here! We have reports of Agents down and buildings under attack echoing all the way to Washington! Who’s attacking?” The other man shouted.
I looked at the big handsome agent. “Is he your boss?” John nodded at me. I glared at him. “They attacked me first! If this is how you treat students here I want to go back to Maine!”
“Young lady I don’t know who you think you are, but I was talking to Agent Grimes not you! So butt out!”
That’s it. “Now it’s time to not be nice anymore.” I waved my hand at the boss and he found himself upside down ten feet in the air. All the agents pointing guns at me were there to join him.
“So John. Do I get my ride back to Maine or do I pull that nice building down on top of the mean lady and the men that shot at me?”
John sat down on the bench next to me and put his hands over his face with a groan.
It took several hours to clean up the mess. Flipping the Humvees was just a flick of the wrist. They almost shot at me again. I was starting to see first hand why no one volunteered to join the Academy. The Witch Council had all but drafted me for this position and they knew it.
“Agatha please don’t leave. We need you badly.”
“Yes, I can see that. If this is how you apprehend paranormals who break the law, I’m surprised we even still have a country. All I did was give my name. Why?”
He sighed and rubbed his head some more. If he keeps doing that he won’t have any hair left. “My boss, the Director. That would be the guy you made pee his pants by waving him like a flag ten feet in the air. My boss sent word to his assistant. You were coming and they needed to be aware you were a witch. You were to be given every courtesy and offered your choice in rooms. The assistant passed the message on the Administration group. They assign rooms and monitor students. Their message said student witch coming, be prepared. They passed the message off to the main desk that said to be on the lookout. A witch is coming, be prepared. So when you gave your name it identified you as a witch and all hell broke loose.”
“That is the stupidest reason I have ever heard. If you had done this to Grandmother you might not have a building or even a Marine base any longer. You need to tell them. Hell, have them watch the video from this little adventure. Don’t piss off a witch!”
“I know. I’m sorry. Will you stay?”
“You know I have no where else to go. Promise me that when the council visits for my training they will not be treated like this?”
Everyone apologized to me. Even piss boy, the director. I finally got my packet for new students and was given directions to the dorm. John drove me there himself. I insisted that he drop me off and not come in. I entered the dorm. Dozens of students were standing around talking. From the conversation they were discussing the attack earlier. None of them seemed to have the real story. The Lobby had a large TV room and a snack bar. Next to the bar was a small office. I approached to the window.
I smiled at the attendant. “I’m here for my room assignment?”
“Name?”
“Agatha Blackmore.”
The attendants eyes got really big and he began to shake. He handed me a key and pointed toward the left. “Second floor, room 242.” I guess my name preceded me.
The building had both a stairway and an elevator. I took the stairs. The second floor was a long hall with bathrooms at either end. Great, communal showers. Just like camp. Not that I ever went to camp.
I found my room number and tried the key. The door opened to a medium sized room with two couches, one on either side and two desks. There was a small wash basin with running water. A small dresser and clothing rack for hangers completed the set. A smallish girl sat on one of the couches.
“Hello.”
“Hi there! You must be my new roommate!”
I smiled. “I am. Agatha Blackmore.”
“Hi Agatha, I’m Catherine Moore. But you can call me Cat.”
From my pocket I heard a voice. “Why do I smell cats?”
I tried to ignore him but he kept talking. “Agatha, I swear it smells like cat in here. Where have we ended up? The pound?”
My new roommate was looking at me funny. Sighing I reached into my pocket and set Fergus on the desk.
Cat’s eyes widened and she almost purred. She looked at me and said. “Witch?”
Noticing a few things I smiled. “Werecat?”
She began to laugh and I joined in. Fergus ignored both of us and paced along the top of the desk. “I swear there has been a cat in here! We need to find it and get rid of it! Damn sneaky cats.”
Cat and I looked at each other again and snickered. It was going to be a hell of a year.
Copyrights
This book is a work of fiction, All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Copyright (c) 2016 T S Paul
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, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
Cover designed
and
Artwork is by SelfPubBookCovers.com/Tigerlily
Editing by Diane Velasquez, Dorene Johnson
And ProWriter Aid.
All writing was done on Scrivener and Google Docs
Special thanks to Michael and to my wife Heather who keeps me grounded and to Merlin the Cat, we are his minions.
Author Notes
Thank you for reading my first book in the world or Paranormal Fiction. The world that Agatha lives in is very similar to the one we live in today, with a few exceptions. History is the same until what we call World War 1 and the paranormals call the Purge. After that things took a left turn. World War 2 became the Demon War. The Cold war never happened. The Middle East is a different place. I have always wanted to write a paranormal book and this one was fun to do. No sparkle Vampires here! The name for the Unicorn came from fellow Author Xandrie Kovak. If you read my other books I have mentioned her before. Her characters dies very memorably. You can catch up with her HERE.
You can check out Book one in the Series Here!
You can follow me on Facebook At my Blog Or on my Page with Book Bub or Goodreads.
The Federal Witch
Born a Witch Drafted by the FBI! - Out Now!
Conjuring Quantico - Out Now!
Magical Probi - Look for it Late 2016
Special Agent in Charge - Look for it Early 2017
Witness Enchantment - Look for it Mid 2017
Athena Lee Chronicles
The Forgotten Engineer
Engineering Murder
Ghost ships of Terra
Revolutionary
Insurrection
Imperial Subversion
The Martian Inheritance
Infiltration
Prelude to War
War to the Knife - out in October 2016
Athena Lee Universe
Shades of
Learning
Space Cadets - Coming Soon Early 2017
Short Story Collections
Wilson’s War
A Colony of CATTs
Box Sets
Chronicles of Athena Lee - Books 1-3
Chronicles of Athena Lee - Books 4-6
Chronicles of Athena Lee - Books 7-9 plus the prequel
Standalone or tie-ins
The Lost Pilot
Uncommon Life
Other Books by the Author
This is the Prequel for the Athena Lee Chronicles.
Before Athena Lee and the worlds that she knew there was an embattled Earth.
Earth was in turmoil before the first colony ship was launched. The Cyber Wars raged across the planet as country battled country. The war was fought until only the Major Powers were victorious. In the aftermath, the United Nations came into it's own. Warriors, trained and bred to be the best the world had ever seen emerged from the shadows, bringing order and control out of the chaos of the Cyber Wars. Sam was one such warrior. Born and bred to serve he followed his orders and became one of the best pilots in the service. The future of man lay in the stars. Colonization was a good way to rid society of the undesirables of Earth. He volunteered to start a new colony and spread Earth's power.
Now newly revised and re-edited!
Ensign Athena Lee was on her first engineering assignment. She was helping to build a secret space station. There was a war on and this new station was vital. When the engineering fleet was attacked and destroyed she was left lost and alone. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. She was going to have to Engineer her way home.
Ensign Athena Lee has finally been rescued. The galaxy has changed over the last fifteen years. She finds herself arrested, her rights taken away, and tortured. Political corruption has taken over. Now someone is out to kill her. With assassins and bounty hunters at every corner what is an Engineer to do? Use the right tool for the right job and Fix it!
Athena Lee was is back in the Navy. Her own military forget about her, assassins tried to kill her, her government locked her up and treated her as if she were a terrorist. She is just trying to what she does best. Be the best Engineer in the Galaxy. Now pirates are a threat to her while she searches for the Ghost ships of Terra!
Athena Lee had returned home to her planet of birth. She is home to visit the family she has not seen for over 16 years. Her ship the James Cook is there to repair damage caused by the O'Malley pirates.
She finds that her once peaceful agrarian world is overrun with corruption and graft.
Her own family is wrapped up in a daily power play for control of the planet and its resources.
What was a nice family visit has become a trial of wills.
What about the marriage they arranged for her? Oh Hell No!
This engineer now has to fight her own family to survive.
A reckoning is approaching will she be ready for it?
Athena Lee and her planet are still reeling from the revolution that swept their part of the galaxy. The Space station has new management and Athena's ship has left without her on board. The Empire ship Paney is still on patrol and is being threatened by the Bad Penny Pirate clan. Mutiny, piracy and general mayhem seem to follow her as she discovers that a secret plot threatens the known galaxy.
The revolution is over and the corrupt government officials are in prison. A Secret Society called the Cabal has risen and has one goal, control of the Galaxy. Athena Lee and her family find themselves caught in the center of this new conflict when the Cabal tries to take over her planet. This secret group has subverted the military who believe if they can't have it no one can. War is on the horizon and Athena and her friends are the only ones who can prevent the ultimate destruction of her home.
Athena Lee and her sidekick Wilson return for this action packed adventure. Athena is sent to Mars on a secret mission to help capture a war criminal responsible for the deaths of thousands. He is hiding on the Planet Mars. Athena has family she had never met on the Red Planet. This is her chance to visit them. The Cabal has given the fugitive shelter and is plotting to rule. Mysteries and plots abound as Athena discovers the meaning of her inheritance.
Athena Lee is the new Martian Ambassador but she is at odds with the old one. So much so that she is in a jail cell on charges of insubordination and treason, again. Visions of torture and persecution have her worried. Outside the Embassy, Dar is frantic with worry and has put a team together to storm the Embassy and free her.
This comes of the Eve of change for the known Galaxy. A Massive Earth ship is on its way and Civil War is already breaking out in the Empire. The enemies of freedom, the Cabal, have come out of the shadows.
With everyone against her, how can Athena Lee survive?
This is a collection of Tales from the Athena Lee Universe.
Athena Lee's Quirky AI. Wilson has his origin story revealed at long last.
Discover why he wants a Cat.
Ever wonder why Hannibal Lee is afraid of the Farm?
Meet lots of new characters and visit a few of our friends.
Follow Wilson's adventures as he has fun at the expense of others. Taking advantage of Humans is too easy. Plotting Galaxy Domination is more fun. Prepare to Get down and Get Funky as the Hits just keep on coming!
