Second Part of Free Story!

with Book Deals and a Survey

Aug 06, 2023

I hope this newsletter finds you well. We are having a break from the heat, and I hope you are too! I plan to be outside today for a bit. It’s only 77 with low humidity. Perfect for me. lol.

Below is a continuation of the free short story about our bad guy, Albert. I will post it inside the newsletter, then add a newsletter heading with the story title and list all of the parts together under that too. That way you can read it again, if you want.

Also feel free to share the newsletter, especially with this story, if you know someone who would enjoy it. :) If you scroll to the bottom of the page, there is a button to click to share.

And here is part 2 of the story! (Book deals and survey are below the story.)

What Used To Be series: Albert Anderson PhD (Part 2)

From Part 1: Albert is with the military in a secret underground bunker eagerly watching the beginning of The Fall.

Part 2:

Albert wiped his sweating palms over his jeans. Getting through tonight would be the trick.

He’d have to be careful. He couldn’t let these people—who grieved for the end of this world—to know that he rejoiced at the beginning of the new one.

And at some point, he’d need to leave here to collect whatever he could. Albert’s gaze went to the hallway leading to his world-class lab. He’d drag it all back there and continue the experiments.

Beside him, a twenty-something blonde sniffled as she tried to do her job despite her overwhelming grief.

Albert patted her shoulder. It’s what she and others would expect—a so-called normal human response to comfort a person who suffered. It was important to keep up appearances.

She glanced at him, her watery eyes destroying the makeup she had no doubt carefully applied before arriving.

He gave her a sober nod, as if trying to reassure her.

The woman flashed him a grateful look before her eyes refilled with tears. “My family is out there,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” Albert replied before he turned away, almost angrily walking to the corner of the room. He was sorry for the toll this would take on the earth and its many inhabitants. But it was necessary for the change to take place.

In the end, every person in this room would thank him—and maybe everyone that survived. He almost grinned as he imagined their joy and gratefulness for the risks he’d taken to make this happen.

Albert’s wild imaginings came to an abrupt halt, catapulting him back to reality. Well, he hadn’t made this happen. The space debris storm was a joyful happenstance.

He glanced at the people hunched over their desks. But they didn’t need to know that.

All they needed to know was that this was for the good of all. Not just them, but all of humankind. Sure, Grandma may not make it through today, but the future children of the earth would benefit so immensely that you could almost call the victims of the debris storm heroes because of their sacrifice.

Because the hundreds of embryos riding to Earth were the animal precursors of a new humankind. These beasts were more than a new breed of animal. They were superior to the old in every way. So much so that he would need to be careful how they were introduced to the world.

Otherwise, some would call them monsters.

Albert put a hand to his chin. Would any of the DNA-twisted animals be fully grown? Ah, it would be divine, if that were the case.

But he mustn’t let his imagination get away from him. After all, there was limited room on a space station. Most likely, they would’ve needed to keep any samples small—tiny even—just as the reports he’d gotten his hands on suggested.

Albert swallowed twice and chuckled at his very human nerves. Never had he been so excited over anything. Almost nothing could go wrong for him in the days ahead. If the samples happened to be full or even partially grown, that would be—well, awesome. But if they were still tiny, that meant he would be the first person to grow one of these experimental animals to their full size.

The mere idea of it was almost more than he could handle. He wasn’t used to such joy.

On-screen, the debris whipped past motionless stars. A large object came int view from the right side of the screen. Albert almost smiled. His first space station.

From the opposite side, something like a line of exhaust zipped onto the screen. It made a beeline straight for his precious ship. An enormous explosion lit up the screen, reflecting its light into the cavern of a room as if it had even reached them, here below ground.

Then another line of smoke and another explosion.

Albert’s heart stopped for just a moment. Then he sped over to the captain in charge.

“What is happening out there?” the scientist demanded.

“The president has sent word to break up the larger pieces. We are sending the missiles up to do just that.”

White light blazed through Albert’s brain, and he had to remind himself to breathe.

This would not do. It would not do at all.

To be continued . . .

Survey

Here’s another book deals question:

BOOK DEALS

25 Post-apocalyptic ebooks on sale until the end of the month. Some as low as 99c! Some are also in Kindle Unlimited. https://book.mairadawn.com/postapocalypticsurvivalthrillers/ptcyn7dp85