12 Days of Christmas blog party–Day Five–Kicking Bots with Vijaya Schartz

CHRISTMAS IN 2023 WILL BE JOLLY, NO MATTER WHAT – KICKING BOTS – by Vijaya Schartz

This is Book Three, and the conclusion of the Ancient Enemy series, based on the premise that the Anasazi, taken to the stars 800 years ago, are returning to Earth to claim the planet of their ancestors. Book One is ANAZ-VOOHRI, Book Two is RELICS, and Book Three is KICKING BOTS. This entire novel takes place between Thanksgiving and the New Year.

Blurb:

Dr. Melissa Campbell, researcher at the San Francisco Center for Disease Control, requests help to protect her precious vaccine, one that could end the deadly alien plague. She didn’t expect a crazy renegade like Bennett for a bodyguard. She hates military types, and this genetically enhanced super-soldier is pure testosterone, hot-headed, quick-tempered, impulsive, and downright impossible. But these are dangerous times with riots in the streets, and rumors of alien invasion. In a breathless race against time, experience the decisive battle for humankind, one that will decide whether Earth belongs to humanity, or to a powerful alien race…

EXCERPT: (PG-13)

How the doll-face doctor fired the bazooka without training was beyond Bennett. Had she gone to Bot fighting camp? Right now, she worked like a team mate. Weird. A jolt seared his left thigh. Bennett braced himself and bit his lip not to scream. When he fired back, he noticed a slight power decrease in the Thunderbolt. “Shit!”

Amazingly, the half-dozen Anaz-voohri vessels still in the air withdrew, probably realizing they had become vulnerable. Not only that, but by returning fire, they risked killing their own agent in the person of the pretty doctor standing next to him. Obviously, she did not know who she really was. The shot that damaged his thigh had hit too close to their precious mole. As Bennett checked the load on the Thunderbolt, the power cell read almost empty. He needed to reload, and only in a Mythos facility could he find the equipment to do that.

“Hang on tight!” Revving the engine, Bennett sat in the stern, extending his leg to release the pressure on his wounded thigh. He ignored the pain as he swerved west, toward the Golden Gate Bridge then raced between the red metallic piles out of the bay. He hoped the military, busy with the aftermath of the battle, wouldn’t pursue him.

Once in the open ocean, Bennett angled south along the California coast and set the engine to stealth mode. The boat slowed a bit, but the sound wouldn’t attract attention. Dr. Campbell sat in the bow, the thick jacket enveloping her completely as she tucked it around her legs like a poncho. Somehow she had managed to return all his equipment to the bag.

She stared at him with wide misty eyes. “Where are we going?”

“Someplace safe.” Bennett didn’t like anyone, much less a woman in heels and a skirt, touching his arsenal. At least not that arsenal. He nodded toward the bag. “How can you even balance that big bazooka? You work out?”

Dr. Campbell smiled briefly. “Just because I have a brain doesn’t mean I’m not fit. I do practice Yoga.”

“Yoga?” His attempt to laugh turned into a grimace due to the pain in his thigh, but Bennett didn’t change position. He didn’t want the doll face doctor to notice his wound. A soldier never revealed his weaknesses. So he humored her. “And just because I bench press doesn’t mean I have no brains.”

“Touché!” She chuckled. “That’s why you read comic books?”

“Graphic novels.” Bennett struggled to remain calm. “And there is much more in these books than most people know. It’s also art, graphic art.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stereotype.”

“Why not? Everybody does.” He didn’t tell her he’d labeled her as a stuck up know-it-all goodie-two-shoes before he even met her. Before she blew his mind by shooting a bazooka.

CONTEST:

Win a copy of A DESPERADO FOR CHRISTMAS, another Christmas story by Vijaya Schartz, by clicking on CONTEST at the top right of her website at: http://www.vijayaschartz.com