by R. D. Brady
Tatiana leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Martin, darling, we heard about your unfortunate loss and rushed right over to extend our sincerest condolences. And, of course, to offer whatever aid we can.” A wave of expensive perfume hit him as Tatiana brushed past him into the living room, not waiting for him to invite them in.
Dietrich closed the door behind them and gestured for Martin to precede him into the living room.
Martin smiled at him but tensed as he turned his back to the man. Tatiana stood in front of the picture window. “This is a beautiful view. I can see why you would want to keep this place secret.”
“How did you find out about it?”
Tatiana gave him a flirtatious pout. “A girl can’t reveal all her secrets, now can she?”
“Can I get either of you something to drink?”
She took a seat on the couch with a sigh. “No, no. We won’t be staying long, will we, Dietrich dear?”
Dietrich dear said nothing.
“Anyway, we wanted to make sure that all of your research remains intact after all this unpleasantness. It would be a shame if we had to report back that our investment has been squandered.”
Martin refused to allow the fear that was crawling through his stomach show on his face. “Of course the research is secure. We did lose some subjects, but there is some intelligence that was gained that I feel could outweigh that loss.”
The smile dropped from Tatiana’s face. “I can’t imagine that’s true. You know how we feel—”
Martin cut her off. “An old friend has reappeared.”
Tatiana glared at him, and he knew she was debating whether or not to reprimand him for cutting her off. Curiosity won out. “And who, pray tell, might that be?”
“Matilda Watson.”
Tatiana’s eyes flashed and Dietrich let out a small growl. Tatiana put up a hand to silence Dietrich. “You’re sure?”
“Very. And she had Joseph with her.”
Tatiana’s eyebrows rose at that announcement. “Did she really?” she asked quietly.
Martin said nothing because he knew the question wasn’t aimed at him. Tatiana stared out the window and Martin could practically see the gears shifting in her mind. Finally, she stood.
“Well, this is a most interesting turn of events. And you may be right. This information may just make up for the loss of the research subjects.” She walked up to Martin and patted him on the cheek. “Aren’t you a lucky boy? Of course, we’ll need to speak with you about this in detail when we substantiate it.”
Martin gave her a brief nod. “Of course.”
She waved at Dietrich. “We’re leaving.”
Dietrich still said nothing, simply followed Tatiana out of the room. Martin heard the front door open and then close. He released a breath and a sweat broke out on his brow. He grabbed the remote with a shaky hand and watched as Tatiana and Dietrich got into a Mercedes and pulled away.
Martin glanced up to where the cameras sat in the corners of his living room. Camera 3 had the best angle. He brought it up, rewinding the recording to when Tatiana and Dietrich had walked in. He paused it when Tatiana looked straight into the camera. Then he zoomed in. They did a good job of camouflaging who they were. It was almost impossible to differentiate them.
He focused on Tatiana’s eyes. Always the eyes. They never were able to hide the eyes when on camera.
On screen, Tatiana blinked, and for a split second, her irises changed shape, elongating and looking exactly like the eyes of a snake.
“There you are,” Martin whispered.
R.I.S.E.
Book Three in the A.L.I.V.E. Series
Coming in 2018
FACT OR FICTION?
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed yourself. As with the Belial series, a lot of reading and research goes into the creation of a book from the A.L.I.V.E. Series. D.E.A.D. is no exception. So on to the facts!
Feral Children. The information on feral children is accurate. research does indicate that there is a small window of time for a child to develop language. If they do nit have a chance to hear language, their ability to be able to speak is greatly reduced if not eliminated. In addition, young children who spend as little as a year in the wild can have difficulty re-assimilating into society. The examples used in the book are real children-the boy who took on bird characteristics when forced to live with only birds, or the young boy who was raised by monkeys is accurate. Other children have been taken in by dogs, wolves, and an assortment of other animals, suggesting some in the animal kingdom are much more compassionate than humans.
Solitary Confinement. Solitary confinement is a hallmark of American correctional institutions. It is also incredibly damaging to our humanity. Being isolated from people and social connections can negatively affect an individual's brain. As mentioned in D.E.A.D., solitary confinement has actually demonstrated an ability to alter an individual's brain. It has permanent effects.
Not mentioned in D.E.A.D., however, is that early prisons involved cells where people were isolate. No one spoke, no one communicated. People were expected to simply think about what they had done, to be penitent. It's actually where the term penitentiary comes from. The first penitentiary in the U.S. was called the Walnut Street Prison. Most people went insane or committed suicide.
Maldek. Now this is a tough one. As was the case for Agent Norah Tidwell, I read a great from academic sources on aliens and UFOs before turning to what we will call less academic sources. One of the latter sources was an account written by a man about his grandfather's interaction with a stranded E.T. named Bek-Ti. According to Bek-Ti there was a planet in between Mars and Jupiter called Maldek that was destroyed by a hostile alien race. Mars environment was irreparably damaged by the same attack resulting in the destruction of its atmosphere. Some surviving Maldekians took refuge under the surface of Mars with other Martian survivors.
Is this true? I don't know. But there is some scientific support for some of the propositions, such as Mars having a habitable environment and there being a large asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. Maldek will actually be discussed in more detail in R.I.S.E, the third book of the A.L.I.V.E series.
Buckley Air Force Base. Buckley Air Force Base is an actual base in Aurora Colorado. Following 9/11, some operations for the NSA were moved to Buckley AFB. And Buckley itself does have a space orientation. It houses a space-based missile warning system, space surveillance operations, as well as providing space communication and support functions.
Dulce Underground Base. There have been rumors of a government underground base in Dulce, New Mexico that is connected to UFOs for decades. Strange lights, black helicopters, cattle mutilations have all been observed. In addition, a number of people have come forward claiming to have worked at the facility and provided information about the facility inside. Whether or not those reports are accurate are a matter of debate.
Chris's Defense Proficiency Requirement. I completely made this up. I have no idea if there is any sort of requirement for military personnel on unusual assignments.
President's and UFO's. This one is a little difficult to pin down what is true and what
is not. So I'll tell you what I know. I read the information on JFK and his interest in linking up with the Russian space program in a couple of different books. At the time of his death, he was on the outs with the U.S. space program and as a result had made overtures to Russian leader Nikita Kruschev to achieve a joint mission to reach the moon. After the third offer, Kruschev did allegedly agree and a few days later, JFK was killed.
Reagan was focused on UFOs and alien life during his terms. He made a number of references to an alien force attacking Earth being a unifying force to bring all the countries of the world together. His made famous reference to it was in a speech to the UN in 1987. But allegedly he had a similarly private conversation with Gorbachev.
Orion. There is an Orion constellation which some argue the builders used the same angles when bui
lding the three largest pyramids in Giza, Egypt. According to Egyptian mythology, Osiris was one of the creators of humanity and he came to Earth from Osiris.
Werner von Braun. Verna Van Braun was the father of rocketry. He was originally a German scientist who came to the United States through Operation Paperclip. Many argue we would not have gotten as far with the space program as we did without him.
Winged Aliens in Space. According to multiple sources, Russian cosmonauts did report seeing winged seven-foot tall aliens outside their craft on a mission in 1985. As mention in D.E.A.D., they also reported an orange cloud engulfing their ship prior to the sighting.
Life in Space. Scientists now contend that there was water on Mars billions of years ago and that it had an environment similar to Earth. Some even argue it was at one point closer to the sun, making it more temperate. And water fumes have been found on the moons of both Saturn and Neptune. In addition, lights have been spotted on the moon that do not currently have an explanation.
Holloman Alien Landing. There is a Holloman Air Force Base. Now the question is, did the landing occur? There was a documentary that Nixon allegedly supported. He had planned on using it to announce that we were in fact not alone in the universe. He wanted to cement his place in history. But once he cemented his place in history a different way, the documentary went from earth-shattering revelations to standard revelations. Some eyewitnesses did step forward to claim that they had seen a UFO land on the runway and someone enter it from Air Force One. There have been other claims over the years that the United States has been working with alien, many of them revolving around the base in Dulce, New Mexico.
Belief in Life on other Worlds. It is interesting that the belief in UFOs and aliens was readily accepted up until the mid-twentieth century. Many of the founding fathers and early American religious leaders in fact believed in the plurality of worlds-that we are not alone in the universe. It seems shortly after Roswell, that there was a shift in the perception of aliens and UFOs. And I find that timing rather interesting. :)
Alien Incidents. There was a 1965 blackout that took out power up into Canada. UFOs were reported prior to the blackout and a believable official cause was never released. There was some sort of incursion into Los Angeles in 1942 that resulted in an air raid alarm being sounded and gunners taking aim into the night sky. And recall this was at a time period right after Pearl Harbor, so the military was extra vigilant about the possibility of air incursions.
P.S. A Little Extra Trivia For Fans of The Belial Series. When I was researching UFOs, I came across a few surprising supporters. One name that leapt out at me was Cotton Mather, the reverend who helped lead the charge for the Salem Witch Trials. Around 1647, Mather recounted the sighting of a UFO in the air of New Haven Connecticut. At the time, the ship was identified as ship that had been lost at sea a year prior.
BOOKS BY R.D. BRADY
The Belial Series (in order)
The Belial Stone
The Belial Library
The Belial Ring
Recruit: A Belial Series Novella
The Belial Children
The Belial Origins
The Belial Search
The Belial Guard
The Belial Warrior
The Belial Plan
The Belial Witches
Stand-Alone Books
Runs Deep
Hominid
The A.L.I.V.E. Series
B.E.G.I.N.
A.L.I.V.E.
Be sure to sign up for R.D.'s mailing list to be the first to hear when she has a new release and receive a free short story!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, to my readers, you make this all worthwhile. You have given me a life I never dreamed I would have. Thank you for sticking with me through this journey into the world of sci-fi.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this book and series possible, most especially Crystal Watanabe. A few years back, Crystal introduced me to Daniel Arthur Smith who was putting together an anthology of short stories. I had never written a short story before I thought I'd give it a shot. B.E.G.I.N., the first prequel for the A.L.I.V.E. Series was the result. (Side Note: B.E.G.I.N. is available for FREE for those who sig up for my mailing list.) So thank you Daniel and Crystal for letting me be part of the anthology.
But I have more to thank Crystal for! She has been an incredible editor and I am extremely grateful for all of her help and support. So not only did she help me start this series, but she also has helped me polish it up.
I would also like to thank Clarissa Yeo for the incredible cover. It has been a joy and a gift to see what you come up with.
And finally to my family who have put up with me disappearing behind a computer screen for hours at a time and who always ask me what's happening with my books. Your love, your support means more to me than anything.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
R.D. Brady is an American writer who grew up on Long Island, NY but has made her home in both the South and Midwest before settling in upstate New York. On her way to becoming a full-time writer, R.D. received a Ph.D. in Criminology and taught for ten years at a small liberal arts college.
R.D. left the glamorous life of grading papers behind in 2013 with the publication of her first novel, the supernatural action adventure, The Belial Stone. Over a dozen novels later and hundreds of thousands of books sold, and she hasn't looked back. Her novels tap into her criminological background, her years spent studying martial arts, and the unexplained aspects of our history.
If you would like to be notified about her upcoming publications, you can sign up for her mailing list. Those who sign up will receive a free e-book copy of B.E.G.I.N. and other freebies over time. Email addresses are never provided to any other sources. And if you have a chance, visit R.D.’s website, rdbradybooks.com.
For more information,
rdbradybooks.com
[email protected]
Copyright © 2017 by R.D. Brady
D.E.A.D
Published by Scottish Seoul Publishing, LLC, Dewitt, NY
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
Printed in the United States of America.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Books by R.D. Brady
Untitled
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 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Epilogue
Untitled
FACT OR FICTION?
Books By R.D. Brady
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
