NOVEL NEXT Prologue: Rough Landing
“Harold! Go, go, go!” Doctor Teresa Boyd yells over the cacophony of noise all around them. Not bothering to give the young technician a chance to argue, Teresa yanks on his forearm and drags him toward the clump of trees to their right.
A moment later, there is an earth-shattering boom and a wall of heat sends the two humans flying into the air. Teresa maintains her grip on Harold’s arm as they roll into a small indention in the dirt. As soon as the air clears, Teresa climbs unsteadily to her feet. Harold’s weight is uncharacteristically light and she turns to see what is wrong.
She releases Harold’s arm and stares down at the stump of a corpse left on the ground. What little food she has in her stomach slowly rises, and she vomits violently. Retching again, Teresa bends at the knees and presses a hand to the left side of her abdomen.
With precious little time, Teresa tries to regain some modicum of composure and stand erect. She is just turning to run when another explosion sends her reeling backward. Dirt and scorched foliage spray into the air and Teresa hits the ground hard. She knows she is lucky to even be alive. They missed her by a hair. Another inch and the blast would have killed her just as surely as the other blast had killed Harold.
A disturbing thought creeps into Teresa’s mind. What if their goal isn't to kill her? What if they know what she is carrying? Looking down at the briefcase clutched tightly in her other hand, Teresa decides it is best to take her chances and run. She scrambles out of the makeshift ditch and continues in the direction of the trees. Safety. Maybe.
Her progress is halted when an arm materializes seemingly out of nowhere and clotheslines her. Teresa falls backward onto the ground, clutching at her aching throat. Her eyes widen when a vaguely humanoid outline appears in the air in front of her. Crawling backward, Teresa maintains her hold on the leather briefcase, and eyes the ditch directly behind her.
“What the…?” Teresa mutters in disbelief. “What in the hell?”
The words freeze on Teresa’s lips as a trio of red dots appears on the right side of her chest. She follows the laser points to their source and her mouth drops open. Tears well at the corners of her eyes.
“Oh, god…” Teresa cries. And then, the world goes black.