Where Flap the Tatters of the King


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Reviews 
“Thank you for the humor and the way this really kept me riveted to want to know what was coming next. This book made me laugh and cry and think about what I was reading. I really look forward to how this adventure will conclude.” –Amazon reader 

“This book strikes the perfect balance between action, humor and tragedy. It will keep you laughing even while it breaks your heart. The only bad part is that now I have to wait for next one to be finished.” –Goodreads reader 

“I was laughing and crying. I simply could not put it down. No matter what I was doing, I found time to read a few pages. I even took it to work and read it during any spare time. I have come to love these characters so much, I was rooting for the heroes and cheering when the bad guys got what was coming to them . . . Kudos to the authors on creating such a believable universe, and filling it with people I care so much about.”  -Smashwords reader

Excerpt

Bill tried desperately not to turn the fishtail into a full spin as the van careened from bright sunlight and dust into winter twilight and snow. No power steering, no power brakes, no power. He was dimly aware of the screaming and shouting around him, but he couldn’t think about that at the moment. He was too busy focusing on trying to stop the van without wrecking it, without rolling it, without crashing into that figure who had just appeared from out of nowhere, stepping right in front of—

Oh, shit!

Reflexively, he slammed both feet down on the brake and stood on it, adding his voice to the others, screaming and shouting.

Snow piled in front of the bumper with a crumpling sound. It helped to slow the van’s nightmarish slide until at last, it lurched to a halt. The loss of momentum gently, almost sheepishly, threw everyone back into their seats, where they landed with a soft thump. They all sat for a moment, dazed.

The figure in front of them had not moved. The glow of a cigarette floated up and brightened, illuminating the Oracle’s mouth and nose as she took a drag. “You’re late.”

Bill flicked on the headlights. She stood just in front of the heaped-up snow, a small gold pocket watch in hand. “Oh, like you knew it to the second!” he turned the door handle and gave the door a good shove, trying to clear some of the snow out of the way.

She pointed to the bumper. “I knew it to the inch.” Then her gaze fell on his companions. “Why do you have MJ-12 with you? Wait.”

JD already had both guns to the back of Emily’s head, barrels cocked back. At the Oracle’s word he froze, triggers pulled partway back.

Kate had opened the passenger door and stood, half-in and half-out of the van, also frozen. The Oracle came around the passenger side and peered at Emily. “Don’t shoot. We need her.”

“The fuck for?” JD growled.

“Don’t know yet. If nothing else, she’s cannon fodder, right?”

Reluctantly, JD lowered the weapons from Emily’s head to her back, jabbing at her shoulder blades. “All right, sunshine. Move.

Raising her hands, Emily did as he said. JD followed, his guns still out, then walked carefully around her.

The Oracle had backed away. Clayton stepped from the edge of the clearing and JD joined them. The three of them regarded Emily with open hostility.

Bill watched from the driver’s side, his eyes darting from the Colonel to Emily and back again.

Murphy climbed down from the van’s rear doors and picked his way carefully through the snow to stand next to Kate, astonished at the sudden and unexpected change in JD’s demeanor. But if Murphy was astonished, Kate was shocked.

There was a tense silence.

Emily looked at her captors. “Okay, I can see where this is going. Fine.” She took off her gunbelt and tossed it forward, onto the ground. “I surrender.”

The three of them continued to eye her. Then, in a voice Kate didn’t recognize, JD said, “Lie down and put your hands behind your back.”

“No,” Bill cried. “Colonel, wait--”

No one responded. Emily clasped her hands behind her back and lay facedown in a snowdrift while the Oracle cuffed her. She wasn’t gentle about it either, her knee in Emily’s back. Emily turned her head to the side in order to breathe, her cheek against the wet snow. The Colonel retrieved her gunbelt.

“No!” Bill said again, more forcefully this time.

Yes, Bill,” the Colonel snapped. “This little missy’s MJ-12 and the only reason I didn’t put two in the back a her head is ‘cause the Oracle said it was a bad idea. You got a report to give? Clayton’s right over there. I got a prisoner to handle.”

Bill turned to Clayton. “She saved me!”

“Before or after she turned you in?” the Oracle asked.

“Well, I—” Bill stammered. “After. But you don’t understand.”

“What don’t we understand?” Clayton asked.

“She killed some of her own people to get me out of there—out of Leavenworth! She’s on our side!”

“Did she?” Clayton asked. “Did you actually see the bodies? Or did you just see people fall down?”

“I know what I saw.”

Clayton took in the bruises on his face, yellowed but still terrible. “You’re not looking well, Bill. In fact, you look like you’ve been worked over.”

“Well, I was-- they did. But she didn’t.”

“Of course she didn’t. She would have been held in reserve, someone to be sympathetic with you.” Clayton glanced down at Emily. “I’m sure she was very convincing.”

“Look, guys, I know what you’re thinking, okay? I have training, I have experience-- I’ve been out in the field more than a day or two! This isn’t Stockholm syndrome. She had a change of heart. She saved me-- she saved the team.”

You saved the team,” Clayton corrected. “Although she might have helped.”

“She did—help,” Kate piped up. Murphy nodded in agreement.

“No doubt,” Clayton said kindly. “But were any of you there when she allegedly helped Bill escape from her colleagues?”

Kate and Murphy shook their heads.

Clayton turned to Emily. “What’s your name?”

Her teeth were chattering from the cold. “Emily Hayes.”

“Agent Hayes, I just want to make sure you understand the situation you’re in. We’re here because this world is allied with the Order. You won’t find anyone here who’s ever heard of the US Government. So don’t get any ideas about contacting your superiors. It’s simply not possible.”

Emily nodded. “I understand.”

Clayton nodded, as well. “Let her up.”

Alyssa yanked Emily to her feet and Clayton said to the others, “Now, we need to get the rest of you outfitted. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.”

“Of course we do,” Murphy burst out. “Why wouldn’t we? It’s fucking cold here. We were just in a goddamn desert. What is wrong with you people?”


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