Monday, May 7, 2018

Emergence (Kindred Ties, Book 2) by Marita Smith

Release date: May 1, 2018
Subgenre: Young adult science fiction

About Emergence:

 

The fight for order has only just begun… Fletcher, Ariana and Eli are walkers: carriers of a rare gene that enables them to communicate with animals and bridge our world and the spirit world. It is up to them to avert a catastrophic solar storm that threatens to release a dangerous dark spirit. Yet they’re hunted by a powerful genetics organisation, the MRI, which will stop at nothing to control their powers.
Reeling from loss and betrayal, scientist Robyn Greene must protect the walkers at all costs. Can she figure out the MRI’s plans and help the walkers bring Earth back into balance before it’s too late?

 

Excerpt:

 

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”


– Nikola Tesla


Shock Tactics


Ariana pulled at her restraints, metal biting into her wrists as she struggled for breath. The electrodes plastered to her chest and scalp burned, each one like a red-hot poker. Head pounding, she lifted her gaze to the reinforced glass wall. Robyn and the earthship felt like a once familiar dream beginning to fade. Even memories of her brother’s face were starting to blur, leaving a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Fang and Derek stood watching her, surrounded by a retinue of scientists and glinting machines. Derek leaned forward and pressed the intercom. It crackled in the eerie stillness of the chamber. “Once more.”
Ariana shook her head. “Derek, please –”
Current flooded her body. The pain locked her jaw, sending her muscles into fiery spasms. Her entire body felt on fire, every nerve ending pushed to breaking point. Blood pounded in her ears, a scream ricocheting through her skull. A tiny bronze-speckled salamander writhed in a small cage beside her. The sight of him sent fat tears streaking down her cheeks.
Jericho, she thought.
Blue light skimmed across her limbs, brightening as it encased her body in a vibrant electric sphere. The pain dulled as the spirit energy washed through her. Ariana closed her eyes and let it fill her mind and body. Calm descended on her in a wave.
I am here. The salamander’s voice caressed her mind.
I don’t know how much more I can take.
They want to understand your aura, little one. They want to use its power.
Ariana opened her eyes. Derek and Fang stood rooted to the spot, staring at her as the blue light flickered outward, tendrils raking the walls. Fang raised the receiver and the blue light halted, rushing back towards Ariana. The chip at the base of her skull throbbed as it interrupted the flow of energy. She felt nothing; riding out the pain as if she were outside her body. Ariana catalogued the red gashes on her wrists and ankles, the burns left by the electrodes, as Jericho twitched then lay still.
It lasted only a heartbeat.
The electrodes pulsed again and Ariana jerked, gasping for breath and rattling her restraints. Sparks jumped from her skin into the air. When she looked up again, Derek was watching her, a momentary flicker of pain on his face.
The heavy door swung open to reveal three scientists. As they wheeled Jericho away, Ariana reached out for the touch of the salamander’s mind but felt nothing. She heard the familiar snap as the wheelchair was unfolded behind her, then slumped into it as her restraints clicked open. Eyes glazed and head pounding, she tried desperately to take note of her surroundings, looking for anything she could use to escape, but the room was bare. Ariana clung to the wheelchair as she was trundled through the door into the clinical corridor. The harsh fluorescent lights blurred as her vision clouded. She tried to keep her eyes open, but darkness claimed her.

 

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About Marita Smith: 

Marita Smith is an author, editor, and gourmet mushroom grower. After finishing a PhB (Hons) in Science at the Australian National University, she worked as a paleobiogeochemist in the Netherlands and then vagabonded her way across Europe working on small farms. She now lives in a tent on the NSW South Coast, where she writes young adult science fiction, cultures bioluminescent fungi, and hangs out with her donkey, Mindy.

 

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