Dragon Fire

by Randal Sloan

  Now they would have to follow their prescribed destiny, retaking the Kingdom of Callidore, while her near sister followed her own destiny, whatever it might be. Still, she would miss her so very much. At least Jailyn had told them that she would return. Kelsey would keep that hope in her heart.

  Then she smiled despite her tears. Whatever it’s like over there, I know one thing. They don’t have a clue about what’s coming!

  Sign up here (No Spam!):

  www.randalsloan.com/youngwizards/

  If you have enjoyed this book, please consider leaving an honest review on Amazon. Reviews are always a big help for other readers and that helps the author out too!

  Excerpt from ”Awakening: A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller"

  IN THE LATEST charity event of the Randolph Foundation, Space Tech has reserved a concert hall in New York for a special event. They have obtained a world famous orchestra to play for the event, and as usual are donating all proceeds to a local charity. Rumors are that they have a special announcement to come at the event.

  Julie Randolph sat nervously in a partitioned-off section in the lobby of a very high class New York hotel. She knew that this very evening she was going to be alone in the spotlight in a prestigious concert hall playing a violin solo as the guest of honor, her father’s special treat for her birthday. His company was sponsoring the concert, which was being held as a benefit for one of the local charities. She was very excited about the opportunity, but she had to admit she was also very nervous. Looking at the mirrored wall panel across the way, she hardly recognized herself. She saw a very pretty young woman wearing a beautiful, elaborate dress. Her brilliantly blonde hair was held up by an antique hair comb, a family heirloom loaned to her by her mother. The combination made her look much older than her tender sixteen years.

  Julie thought back to earlier when she was getting ready with her mother’s assistant Andrea’s help. When Julie had picked up the hair comb to look at it, she had felt something astonishing. It gave off a feeling of much age, and it was as if she could feel the presence of those family members who had worn it all those years past. She felt a sense of comfort and protection when holding it. However, she also felt something else, a strong sense of danger, which almost made her drop it. She laughed and pretended it was just nerves when Andrea grabbed it from her hand, but the sense of danger had stayed with her. She had tried to forget it, and had distracted herself by checking and retuning her violin until time to leave.

  That moment earlier had come back to her now as she sat looking at the extensive security around her family. Her father hadn’t told her what was going on, but she knew he was worried about something. She had been hearing about the threats against them, but until now she had not seen it personally. Now the threat became a little more real to her. A large and dangerous-looking man had escorted her when she left her room and the lobby was crawling with others just like him. All of this added to her nervousness.

  Her newfound friend apparently received a command in his earpiece, because he turned to her and authoritatively said, “Let’s go,” leading her out to a large SUV that sat in the middle of a caravan of security vehicles. In all the rush, she didn’t have a chance to speak with either of her parents. Besides that, her dad was talking animatedly on a Virtual Reality (VR) connection and her mother was much quieter than normal tonight, almost withdrawn.

  As they left the hotel, she heard helicopters flying overhead. All of it raised her stress even higher. However, they moved quickly, with the escorts clearing the way, and in a relatively short time they arrived at the concert hall without incident. The security protecting those at the concert hall was very, very extensive and Julie began to feel a little safer. Probably they were just being overly cautious, and the rest of it likely had been her own imagination.

  Across town, another group was getting ready. They were not dressing in fancy clothes, but black fatigues and black face paint. They were not double checking musical instruments, but instead they were checking their weapons one more time. They were not in a high class hotel, but in an old abandoned warehouse. Most were single-minded in their preparations, their actions dictated by fervor for their cause.

  The leader of the group was standing off to the side of the rest of them, a frown on his face. He was there for a more personal reason. Although he talked the same talk to keep the others dedicated to the cause, he was actually driven by a completely different purpose. True he hated Space Tech for what they represented. But, he had been promised a lot of money if they pulled off the attack. That and fear were his drivers. Right now that money was in considerable doubt, and he suspected if they failed in their attack, the people he worked for would not be at all happy. He was talking on a supposedly untraceable portable VR system and what he had just heard was not good news. He was so mad he was spitting as he talked. “What do you mean, they have not received the message from our inside man? Everything is dependent on them splitting up their security with our misdirection.”

  “Our man there has promised he'll get it done. He insists that it was not his fault; he claims his instructions were not clear. Personally, I think he just lost his nerve.”

  “Fix it now or the whole thing is going to be a bust, and our friends are not going to be happy. I, for one, do not want them to be unhappy.” He paused a minute, thinking furiously. “We know where he lives. Send a man there to encourage him. Do whatever it takes to get that message sent.”

  “I’ll take care of it myself, boss. It will go out within the next hour.”

  “You do that. I know where you live too!” he told him, stabbing the disconnect on the VR and throwing it across the room. Luckily it was also extremely durable. He went back to his pacing, his scowl enough to keep the rest of them away from him. Not even the sight of the portable missile launcher his “friends” had smuggled in to him made him feel better.

  Upon their arrival, Julie and her mother went to the dressing area, while the Randolph brothers, Sam and Ted, mingled with all the people there for their special event. It was all part of the game that they had to play. Everyone had questions about what Space Tech had planned, but neither of the brothers would tell them anything of substance. “Sorry, I’ll tell you more in a few minutes,” Sam told them if they pushed for an answer.

  The brothers kept mingling until the signs lit up indicating it was almost time for the event to begin, and everyone started moving toward the concert hall. Sam turned to his brother, “I believe we've kept them in suspense long enough, don’t you, brother?” Ted nodded and the two walked to the stage area together. Ted took his place at the side of the stage, while Sam stepped into the spotlight and tapped his wrist pad, connecting him to the concert hall’s main VR control system.

  “Welcome, everyone! We appreciate all of you coming to our little event. I believe I saw many of you a few days ago at the Space Tech stockholders meeting. There we told you about some of the things Space Tech has happening. Our asteroid mining program is enabling us to produce our many high tech materials that have been helping to improve life for everyone. Our fusion plant has run for over a year without a single glitch. Our research is continuing along many lines that we believe will lead to even more new discoveries.” He paused a minute, looking out over the audience.

  “Tonight, however, I'm here to talk about another subject that is dear to my heart. We are all competing for new graduates in the technical fields and there just aren’t enough of them to do all the work we need. And we often have to give them additional training just to get them up to the level where they can do the work.”

  Pausing again for dramatic effect, he smiled broadly and went on, “Tonight, the Randolph Foundation of Space Tech has a special announcement. We have been working with some of the brightest in the technical education field. With their help, we have developed a new program in conjunction with one of our major national universities that will specialize in science and space technology. Not only will we be providing a majority of the fundin
g for the program but we are also providing a large scholarship fund that will be available to the best and brightest students. I give you the Space Academy!” He tapped his VR controls to display a gigantic Virtual Reality view of the school campus that everyone in the concert hall could see. He had to stop when the crowd gave a little gasp of excitement and then broke out in applause.

  When the applause began to die down, he continued. “The new campus will open next fall and will include a number of buildings currently under construction, as well as the repurposing of some of the existing buildings in a new and exciting way. We have already selected the first group of scholarship recipients that will be attending. Of course, the program is open to all qualified students, including those that are able to pay their way and those that wish to attend under a military scholarship.”

  “Before you listen to our most excellent music entertainment we have arranged for you, I have one final announcement for tonight. My daughter, Julie Randolph, will be attending within the inaugural class of students. She was a major factor in how we have designed this program, challenging us to build the program to enable our students to reach for the stars or to search for the answers to the quantum universe, whichever is their desire. Or both. And I know she will be working on both sides of that equation. As a special treat, Julie will also be playing a violin solo tonight as my way of introducing her to you. I think you will enjoy it.”

  As he walked off the stage, the lights dimmed and the orchestra started what would be a very memorable concert. For some the memories would be the strongest of all.

  Julie nervously prepared backstage for the concert. She had heard a couple of the musicians whispering about why she was there and how it just wasn’t fair. They knew she was there because of her father. She knew that was partly true. That made her even more determined to make her performance really shine. She tuned and retuned her violin in an effort to distract herself. Finally it was time for the concert to begin, so Julie moved to her place just outside the small alcove where she was to play.

  The orchestra was the best she had ever had the chance to hear in person and the acoustics in the concert hall were amazing. She listened to the other musicians and began to relax. She loved the quality of the sound they produced as they played. Her nerves settled and before she knew it, it was time for her solo. Smiling broadly, she stepped out into the spotlight and began softly playing. The music she played was a modern adaptation written by a local artist, and she had fallen in love with the music when she first heard it. As she played, she forgot everything about where she was. She tried to put all her hopes for her future and for the future of the world into the song.

  When she finished, she bowed in response to the loud applause that included a standing ovation, finally stepping back out of the spotlight. Many of the critics in the audience were wondering why they had never heard her before. Those musicians that had been complaining about the special privileges she had received were no longer jealous about those privileges. They instead were amazed, having listened to her play that beautiful song. And unbeknownst to Julie, that song would go out on VR to the whole world, and it would go viral almost instantly.

  The orchestra launched into their grand finale as everyone returned to their seats. The entire concert would be declared one of the highlights of the season. Also, a lot of people would be talking about the Space Academy. When the concert ended, Julie returned to the dressing area where both her parents were standing with tears in their eyes. She gave them both hugs and breathed a huge sigh of relief. She treasured this opportunity, but she was now ready to move on.

  After the concert, Sam went backstage with his wife, Annette, to congratulate his daughter. Ted remained in the security booth talking with their security chief, Nathaniel Alexander. “The Organization is getting more and more bold,” Nate was saying to his boss. “Someone has got to be funding them. They used to be just a bunch of pirates and terrorists that were giving us a hard time, but they are getting better and better equipment. I don’t know who it is, but it has to be someone with major resources, maybe even one or more countries. Plus, where do they get off calling themselves the Organization, as if no other organization mattered.”

  “Well, whatever they call themselves,” Ted told him, “they are getting to be a real problem. Even our friends in Homeland Security are getting concerned about them. Homeland and other resources will be available to help us in the near future. It’s a shame we don’t have their help tonight instead of being completely on our own, but so far it looks like the threat we received was bogus, which is alright with me.”

  The security chief got a VR call, so Ted stepped out so he could do his job. He saw his brother and family coming, and he was getting ready to join them when the security chief came out to him and whispered, “We may have a problem!” He explained that they had received a tip indicating there was to be an attack on the primary launch site for their space vehicles. Ted motioned for his brother, quietly explaining the situation to him.

  The aircraft overhead were rerouted to the launch site, but otherwise the caravan remained intact. The two brothers decided to ride together in the command vehicle so that they could keep up with the status of the situation. Doctor Randolph’s wife and daughter remained in the family SUV as they proceeded back to the hotel.

  Julie and her mother had gone to the family vehicle when her dad came up to tell them he and Uncle Ted would be riding in the command car. The look in his eyes scared Julie a little as he went on to the other SUV, but as their convoy started moving and she turned toward her mother, the look she saw there terrified her.

  “We don’t have much time,” her mom told her. “In a few moments, we are going to come under attack by those terrible men that work for the Organization. I've seen some of what is about to happen. Our vehicle will be the one they hit in the attack. I'll do everything I can to protect you. I've also seen that you will have an unusual road to recovery that will take you over two years. When you come back, you will be better than ever and you will do great things.” She pulled Julie into a tight hug and whispered in her ear, “I love you, my darling daughter.”

  Julie at first could not believe what her mother was telling her. She didn’t know what to say in answer. But she knew her mother sometimes had visions of future events, and whenever her mother said she saw something would happen, what she told them always seemed to come true.

  About that time, the caravan was forced to reroute because of an overturned truck on the highway. As they made the turn off of the highway, suddenly several vehicles blocked the roadway and began to attack the convoy with automatic weapons. Sam and Ted were terrified and Sam doubly so, as his family was right there in the middle of the attack. All of their vehicles were bulletproof, so that the attack was initially ineffective, but by this time Julie was certain that what her mother had told her was true.

  Julie’s mom was still holding her tightly, and Julie turned her frightened eyes to look at her. “Oh, Mom. Are you sure this must be?”

  Julie’s mom just nodded and held her even tighter. She looked sad but not frightened. And she had a serenity about her. That helped Julie and she clung to her mother with tears in her eyes.

  The security chief for the convoy had quickly gotten on the radio, calling for reinforcements and telling the helicopters to return at their top speed. Just as the reinforcements were arriving and the helicopters were nearly back, one of the terrorists fired a missile from a handheld launcher. The missile struck the family vehicle with Julie and her mother inside, lifting the vehicle into the air, causing it to smash into the side of a nearby building. Their goal accomplished, the terrorists abandoned their attack, fleeing into the night.

  Julie felt the vehicle being lifted into the air and grabbed her violin case, holding it tightly. Just before they hit the building, her mother threw herself over the top of her and Julie felt her love once more.

  Excerpt from "Defenders of the Rim: Beginnings"

  THE BL
UE SPHERES floated invisibly along just off the edge of the Empire’s space lanes. Hiding in the swirls and twists of hyperspace that were avoided by ships traveling between the planets of the Empire, they were too small to be seen on most sensors, and those that saw one thought that it was only a sensor ghost. After all, nothing happened along the Empire’s space lanes; most were quite tame really. Pirates were a fictional story and ship failures occurred so seldom that the few with problems were dealt with quickly. War was a story from the past or a fictional 3D VR flick. The Empire had grown complacent and it was apparent someone was taking advantage of that complacency.

  The first globes traveled unperturbed along their way. The initial launch was a test run to see how effective the technology would be. Their targets were all close to the Rim, the need for a successful extraction critical to the plans of their makers. Those that couldn’t be returned without a patrol ship following would have to self-destruct and if enough of them suffered that fate, the test would be considered a failure and a new plan would have to be developed.

  The first few met with rather good success. They passed through the Empire shipyards at Rigelus 7 without detection, scanning the ships under construction there. The data itself wasn’t the primary goal; after all, the ships under construction there were well known. The drones transmitted their encoded data to a specialized drone using a tight-beam connection. At the end of the day, that drone would attempt to return with its stored data. That return was a critical part of any successful test of the drones.