CyberStorm is going to beta…

I am happy to announce that I’ve finished writing CyberStorm, the sort-of prequel to Atopia. At 440 pages in the raw first draft it is a pretty good size, and I’m going to try and work it down to under 400 to keep the story tight. Next weekend I will be releasing a draft to my beta readers, with a goal of doing a full release on March.15th.

If you want a sneak peek, here is the prologue!

Prologue

“FOR GOD’S SAKE, don’t let them take the children!”

Lauren, cradling little Ellarose in her arms, was crouching in the corner across from me, as far from the cellar door as possible. It was dark, smelling of sawdust and oil and old tools. Luke was standing next to her, his face streaked with mud, mute with terror. Groaning, I pulled and squirmed to get my jammed leg out from under the pile of crashed logs.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Mitchell, I’m not going to let anyone in here.”

Tony, standing up on the stairs, squinted into the sunlight streaming in through cracks in the broken wood of the cellar door. “There are four of them.”

“We killed yer friend,” came a whiney voice. “Chuck was his name, weren’t it?”

Lauren began crying, clutching the two children closer.

“We didn’t wanna do that, mind you,” the whine continued. “Now this is all messed up.”

“Leave us alone!” I yelled. Tony took a step back down the stairs, pointing his rifle up at the cellar door.

“You know we can’t do that, don’t you? Send those kids and your lady out. We don’t wanna hurt no kids.”

I strained again to pull myself from the wreckage, in bone-cracking, skin-ripping agony. Lauren was violently shaking her head.

“Don’t let them eat my babies, Mike.”

And then silence—just my heart pounding in my ears and a shuffling through the leaves outside. I tried to steady myself, blotting out the pain, making sure the safety was off the .38. Tony glanced over, nodding, telling me he was ready.

With a terrific roar, the cellar door exploded. Tony staggered back, dropping to one knee. Another shotgun blast caught him and he spun sideways, but still managed to bring up his rifle and pull the trigger. Squeals of pain erupted outside, followed by volley after volley.

Tony grunted and tried to get out of the way, collapsing in front of me. I reached for his hand and pulled him toward me, but it was too late. His body convulsed. Looking into my eyes, he blinked back tears, and then went still.

“Goddamn it boy, you blew my cousin Henry’s ear right off! Either you send out yer woman and those kids, or we’ll burn the whole goddamn place down!”

Crying in frustration, I yanked my leg again, shredding flesh, but I couldn’t get free. Lauren was sobbing silently.

“So what’ll it be, boy?”

This couldn’t be happening, My God, this couldn’t be happening . . .