Title: The Gemini Strand
Author: L.J. Hasbrouck
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 12/28/2021
Pairing: No Romance
Length: 91600
Genre: Science Fiction, sci fi, family-drama, futuristic, dystopia, gay, ace, professional assassin, cloning, Mars
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Description
Life on Mars is no fairy tale for Morgan, a scrappy adventurer who plunders Earth’s carcass in search of loot—and evidence of an elusive scientist. She hopes he can cure her father’s dementia, but instead he kidnaps her father and flees into the deceptive dreamlands of Mars. During her frantic search to locate them, Morgan begins experiencing strange hallucinations that make her think she’s losing her mind.
Meanwhile, Nil, a tormented killer struggling to repress his humanity, thinks his hallucinations are a flaw in his system. Soon his pesky emotions roar back to life, throwing a dagger into the whole “cold-blooded assassin” thing. While he pursues his next mark, a witty hacker trying to save Nil’s other victims, he battles with his disorienting visions and burgeoning emotions.
What he doesn’t realize is that he’s falling in love for the first time—and the hacker he’s falling for is also the scientist who kidnapped Morgan’s father.
Drawn together by their common target, Morgan and Nil harness their mysterious visions to find each other amidst holographic recreations of Oz, Wonderland, Neverland, Atlantis, and Camelot. Before she loses her father forever, Morgan must work with a killer and kidnapper to discover the sinister truth behind her father’s illness and her bond with Nil. And Nil is forced to decide between protecting the man he loves and helping the girl he’s inexplicably linked to.
Because they share more than disorienting hallucinations—and what they share will change everything they thought they knew about themselves.
The Gemini Strand
L.J. Hasbrouck © 2021
All Rights Reserved
Morgan
I hunt for what’s hidden. It’s my job. My life. All I’ve ever known. Morgan le Fay, interplanetary scavenger. I’m a nobody from nowhere, found and raised by a man who calls himself “Arthur.” He’s no legendary king, but he’s my captain, my father, and the person I admire most in all the universe.
And he’s the reason I’m stuck in this collapsing crater.
I could call Gwen for help, but I don’t want to bother her—and frankly, I’m embarrassed. I’ve been navigating Earth’s carcass for most of my life and had enough close calls with the treacherous terrain to know better. The chasm I’m stuck in once sat at the bottom of the Santa Ana River, but when Earth neared its point of no return nearly two centuries ago, the future colonists of Mars started draining and filtering all the water they could. Time and an unbalanced ecology took care of the rest. Clouds of acrid dust cover some of the shallower trenches, but I’m usually quite skilled at detecting these sandy traps.
Not today. Obviously.
Fortunately, Arthur ran his “Knights” through a crash course in case a mishap like this occurred. I unclip the rope from my tool belt and swirl it in a loop, tossing it toward the upper edge of the basin. I angle for a cliff with sturdy stone sticking out from it, hook into it with the claws at the end of my grapple, and yank until the rope stays taut. Once I brace my feet against the wall, the soles of my boots embed handy spikes into the surface. I pretend I’m a mountaineer or that I’m raiding tombs, something more exotic than trying to climb out of a hole I stumbled into.
Rocks and clumps of sand tumble below me. I utilize all my arm strength, hand over hand, keeping the precipice in sight as a goal. Part of the wall crumbles from beneath me, but I swing to the side and stick to a sturdier section. Sweat clings to my brow and my heart pounds in my ears, but I don’t have a free hand to adjust the temperature of my suit. I curse under my breath, then utter words of encouragement and imagine Arthur’s up there calling them out to me. “You’ve got this, Morgan. You’re strong, stubborn, and clever. You can pull yourself out of any hole you fall into.”
I claw my way over the edge of the crater wall and haul myself up with what energy I have left. That fucking sucked. I’m almost too sapped to turn the dial and cool my suit, but my goggles are too fogged to see through.
Once the haze clears and my arms no longer droop like rubber, I get to my feet and find my bearings. Weathered, peeling road signs loom in the distance. I focus my lenses to sharpen details obscured by the cloud of dust contaminating Earth’s atmosphere: I’m near the intersection of La Palma and Lake View Avenue, still in Anaheim, California.
I radio Gwen to check in. She is my partner on this excursion—and my best friend—so hearing her voice will help calm my shaky nerves. “Hey, G. Where are you at? Find anything fun yet?”
She radios back promptly, her elegant accent complementing her rich voice. “I’m picking my way through some old theme park. You’d be surprised how many creepy mascot costumes survived the apocalypse. How about you, M?”
“Same old, same old: dirt, rocks, and debris.”
And barren fields where crops used to be, a plethora of billboards advertising treatment and prevention for UV exposure, and a total absence of animal and plant life. Good job depleting the ozone layer, humanity. As much as I loathe Mars and wish I could experience pre-apocalyptic life on Earth, there’s no denying we’d have gone extinct as a species without the Red Planet.
Gwen sighs. “Lance called to brag about how he and Arthur beat us to the ship. I should probably start working my way back to our rover. If you make it first, call me and come pick me up. Otherwise, I’ll call you.”
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Knowledge-seeking animal-lover, supporter of diversity, and OG Floridian. Lifelong gamer who grew up drawing Disney characters, whales, and dinosaurs. Proud INTJ (which I share with the likes of Hannibal Lecter, Batman, and Ellen Ripley).
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