The Orphans (Orphans Trilogy Book 1)

by Matthew Sullivan

  “Of course you don’t,” Eddie said, not buying what Charlie was selling. “We were all born yesterday and have no idea what’s going on. And don’t even get me started on the fact that Antony totally dropped the ball and should have said you guys like your coffee like you like your men.”

  “That joke is tired,” Antony said. “No one uses it anymore.”

  “I do.”

  “Maybe your jokes need to be updated.”

  “That’s irrelevant.”

  “What are you even talking about?” Naomi said.

  “This whole little cutesy thing between you two,” Eddie said, gesturing to Charlie and Naomi. “The numbers don’t work anymore, and we saw how the last hookup ended. I say no dating or grouping up.”

  “Don’t be so close-minded,” Antony said as he rested his hand on Eddie’s thigh.

  Eddie chuckled. “Okay, that was actually funny. But I’m serious. There aren’t enough of us. We can’t have factions.”

  “I agree,” Naomi said.

  “Me, too,” Charlie said, not wanting to concede but knowing that Eddie was right, they didn’t need any distractions.

  “See,” Eddie said, “that’s exactly what I’m talking about. Right there, you were just a little too quick to agree.”

  Charlie shook his head and sighed. “Whatever. We’re all on the same page. I’m gonna go put in the order for the coffee, okay?” He made his way back down the narrow aisle to the front of the restaurant. “We’re gonna have four coffees,” he said to Gillian, who was back at her stand.

  Gillian didn’t respond.

  “Excuse me?” Charlie said firmly, trying to get her attention, but Gillian remained silent. Charlie studied her face. It was frozen. Her eyes were completely glassed over and stuck on the tiny tv. Charlie matched her gaze.

  breaking news flashed on the screen. A network anchor explained that they had just confirmed that the president of the United States had passed away that morning from a heart attack. The co-anchor noted that he was the thirteenth world leader to succumb to a heart attack in the past two weeks.

  “Guys,” Charlie called to the others, “you’re gonna want to see this.”

  The rest of the orphans joined Charlie in the front of the restaurant. They all shared in his shock as they read the details on the scrolling ticker. But that was only the beginning.

  Seconds later, one of the reporters jumped in with another breaking story: the new president had already selected his vice-president. The reporter added that a confirmation hearing would be required before the newly appointed vice-president could officially take office, but that it wasn’t believed to be a problem given the bipartisan popularity of the pick.

  The news program cut to the White House press room. Camera flashes exploded as the new vice-president stepped to the podium. It was none other than Terry Heins. As usual, Cain and Max were right by his side.

  The orphans watched in stunned silence as Terry nodded solemnly to the crowd, and then delivered a generic speech, asking for prayers and thanking the recently deceased president for his service before moving on to the standard campaign platitudes. And then, as it all seemed to be winding down, Terry’s message and tone took an unexpected turn.

  “There is one last thing that the president asked me to address,” Terry said. “And that is the fact that certain unnamed countries have felt the need to dock their nuclear submarines on the edge of our borders for far too long. Our leaders have repeatedly advised them to reposition their fleets, but they have refused to stand down. We view this to be a clear act of aggression. Now, I’ve learned a lot during my years in the corporate world, and the president and I agree that people, and countries, work better with deadlines. Which is why we have decided to give these unnamed nations until noon Eastern Standard Time to remove all of their submarines from our waters, or we will have to remove them by force. That is all. And again, prayers for the late President Griffin.”

  To the average viewer, Terry’s closer would have appeared to be nothing more than the usual political posturing. Surely there would be no escalation. However, Charlie and the orphans knew better. They knew what Terry was capable of, and that his threats were anything but empty.

  Terry’s speech had answered all of the questions that JP’s last words had raised. While there would undoubtedly be an attack on Heaven at some point, it wasn’t the first target. The first strike would be against Earth.

  Naomi turned to Charlie. “What are we gonna do?” she asked, the weight of her words worn equally on her face.

  “There’s only one thing we can do,” Charlie said as he narrowed his eyes, which remained aimed at the tv and the image of Terry Heins that it displayed. “Whatever it takes to stop them.”

  end of book one

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to read The Orphans. I really appreciate your support. Hopefully you were able to get as much joy from reading the book as I received writing it. If you have a second, please rate the book on Amazon, and if you have two seconds, write a short and honest review.

  My deepest thanks to …

  My parents and siblings for their love and guidance. My wife for being my sounding board and biggest cheerleader. Brian Levy for sticking with me even after I gave up screenplays to focus on novels. Kristie Minke for her amazing illustrations. Lauren Leibowitz for cleaning up my grammar and teaching me the difference between blonde and blond.

  My beta readers (in alphabetical order) for helping make the book the best it could be: Daniel and Julia Descalso, Michael Diliberti, Christine Gamlen, Tod Gamlen, Chris Gauthier, Dave Hartung, Kristin Moak, Carrie Sullivan, John Sullivan, Joseph Sullivan, Maura Sullivan, Michelle Sullivan, and Dilshad Vadsaria.

  And all of the members of the Sullivan Street Team (also in alphabetical order) for pounding the pavement and getting the word out: Isaiah Aguilar, Maggie Astolfi, Ron Babcock, Eric Barker, Maia Bentz, Amanda Bernal, Chad Bernal, Tim and Michelle Bower, Scott Bowser, Shawn Carlow, Jill Carter, Brian Clark, Tony Cortez, Brian Daniels, Paul Danke, Ray Dara, Raj Desai, Daniel and Julia Descalso, Steph Descalso, Meg Dolny, Gretchen Domek, Eric and Ginny Dorflinger, Stephanie Dorsey, Tom Ebnet, Kate Ellingson, Casey Feigh, Ryan Feigh, Keith and Casey Florance, Bob Flury, Gina Forte, Marisa Forte, Tony Forte, Barbara Gamlen, Christine Gamlen, Marie-Jose Gamlen, Tod Gamlen, Victoria Gamlen, Andrew Gettens, Josh Goldenberg, Tia Gonsior, Sean Green, Ed Greer, Talin Gregorian, Danielle Guidry, Dave Hartung, Jared Hasbrouck, Jon Hofeller, Eugene Huang, Michael Huber, Kristian and Carmen Hughes, Khalid Itum, Chris and Dorothy Jackman, Adam Jacobs, Nandini Jayaprasad, Allison Johnston, Tim and JoAnn Johnston, Walton Jordan, Soo Kong, Mike Kong, Marcus Krause, Beth and Greg Lewis, Katie Lochte, Garrett Logan, Chris Lutz, Scott Maciej, Katie Martin, Blair Marshall, James Mastroianna, Mollie McCurry, Ryan McKee, Mike and Amanda McQuigg, Aaron and Kristin Moak, Hormoz Moaven, Leonard Monfredo, Bryan Mosko, Jenna Pfannenstein, Evan Phillips, Jon Post, Sarah Potthoff, Dave Prakash, Neil and Laura Prakash, Kiera Reilly, Brent Salner, Andrew Schmidt, Natalie Seufferlein, Shawn Shaffie, Nick Straiter, Brendan and Sarah Sullivan, Dan and Erica Sullivan, John Sullivan, Joseph Sullivan, Lise Sullivan, Maura Sullivan, Michelle Sullivan, Mike and Carrie Sullivan, Brendan Taylor, Heather Taylor, Laura Taylor, Mary Clare Taylor, Mellany Walia, Trevor and Trish Wetterling, Caren Williams, Courtney Woods, Avi Yashchin, and Satra Zarghami.

  Thanks!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  According to his mother, Matthew showed signs of creativity at a very early age. Of course, that might just be a polite way of saying he was a little weird.

  After graduating from The Johns Hopkins University, Matthew began working as an investment banker and was certain he had his whole life and career mapped out. He even had a twenty-year plan to prove it. But after a yearlong battle with cancer (he’s been cured for over twelve years now), M
atthew realized that he needed to scrap his plans and focus on living in the moment. A few weeks later, he quit his job and began writing.

  Since taking the leap, Matthew has written for film (30 Minutes or Less), television, and print, and loves crafting stories for all mediums and audiences. Matthew currently resides in Arlington, Virginia with his amazing wife. When he isn’t writing, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, and watching sports.

  For more information on Matthew and his upcoming projects, including the second book in the Orphans Trilogy, please visit his website:

  www.matthewsullivanwriter.com