You can buy this book at:

Amazon UK Amazon US

Contents:

Rocky Secrets

Darkness Descends

Rat King

Strine City Stand Off

Sweet Lady

White Day

Rocky Secrets

   Thorn’s weary body eased itself down to the ground next to his friends, his muscles aching from the previous two days exertions.
   “Who’s brilliant idea was this? They need their head seeing to.”
   “It was yours,” replied Roman before gulping down the cool water from his container.
   “It’ll build character, test our skills, were your exact words,” said Yilnar sitting next to him.
   “OK, OK.”
   “A chance to do something fun together, you said,” moaned Ifor.
   “Bond as a team,” joined in Akarn.
   “OK! OK! I get the point. It was me and things didn’t turn out how I expected them to. Remind me to chastise myself when we get back.”
   “Don’t worry, IF we get back we’ll be doing the chastising,” smiled Ifor.
   The five men were sheltered under an overhang of a rocky outcrop on a small moon that orbited Sethrond, a so far uncolonised planet. The trip was a planned training exercise for them. The moon was littered with rock formations that provided perfect obstacles and climbing challenges that honed the mind and tested the bodies limits.
   What they found, after three days of training, was a secret TechPsychers base of operations.
   It was Akarn who almost literally bumped into two of the TechPsychers while clambering over a rock formation that was twice the big man’s size. Their pathetic attempts at trying to inflict pain in Akarn’s mind with their head bands was what gave him the time to compose himself and relieve them of their lives before they were able to raise the alarm. The next day was spent scouting around to find the extent of their occupation.
   It was early evening, light beginning to fade and the air getting cooler. A mild relief from the harsh sun of the day. The Psychic Knights had all met up after a days scouting. They had arrived with no equipment. None of Roman’s droids were available so any information they needed they had to get the old fashioned way. Through stealth.
   “What have we got? Roman, you go first,” said Thorn.
   Roman was of afro Caribbean descent with a small afro that Ifor would make fun off. Ifor would grow his own afro as and when he pleased and it would always be bigger and well groomed compared to Roman’s, who’s effort paled into insignificance. But he didn’t care. There was only two things he cared about. His friends and his baby, the Savage Mind, which was now in the hands of the TechPsychers.
   “The bastards are crawling all over her. I’m gonna have to scrub her clean when I get her back. If they touch her...”
   “How many are there?” Thorn interrupted before Roman spiralled into explicit explanations of what he would do.
   “I counted six.”
   “Draw the area in relation to where we are now.”
In the pale light of a communicator that Akarn relieved from his victims, Roman began to map out the area on the loose earth on the ground. He started with the point they were at and displaced the earth with his finger to the location of the Savage Mind.
   “That’s to the east of here?” asked Thorn.
   Roman nodded.
   “Yilnar? You next.”
   Yilnar’s dark hair and tanned skin accompanied his Mediterranean features. He had a bigger build than Roman although he stood at the same height, prompting Ifor to call him chunky on a lot of occasions.
   “I got to see their base of operations. Couldn’t determine what they are doing here, but it’s gonna be something that will help grow their empire. They have six porta-habs, but they’re not located in the same area. Because of the landscape they had to set up in openings where ever they could. Provides us with perfect cover if we decide to engage them. I counted eighteen, only nine of which are TechPsychers.”
   Yilnar leant forward and scratched out his map to the north of their location.
   “Ifor?”
   Ifor scratched his bald head. His skin tone was similar to Yilnar’s, but he was of mixed race parents, father with Irish roots and mother black European.
   “Just found four of the bastards. They seemed to be interested in the cave formation just north west of here. Couldn’t get close enough to see what it was all about, but they sure had a lot of equipment set up there. They’ve definitely found something of interest in there.”
   Ifor drew his map on the ever increasing image forming on the ground. Akarn began as soon as he had finished.
   “I found nothing to the south. Most of it’s impossible to pass through anyway.”
   The big man, skin as dark as coal and body twice the width of any of his friends and a good head taller, leant forward and mapped out the no man’s land to the south.
   Thorn looked at the finished map, forming a plan in his mind. He was rubbing the moisturising cream into his face. The barrier cream he used to cover his pale skin to protect it from the sun dried it out so to stop him turning into a shrivelled prune he moisturised. His friends always ribbed him about it, gloating about their natural protection.
   “So, the question is do we stop what they are doing, all be it with no weapons or technology to help us, or do we just free up the Savage Mind and escape?”
   “The terrain gives us our weapon,” said Yilnar. “Our minds give us the technology. We’ve got the same chance of coming out on top with either decision.”
   “You know whatever they do here will involve enslaving some Naturals so we’d be back here again in the future, anyway,” said Akarn.
   The other four nodded in agreement.
   “OK then. We take ‘em out, saving us the trouble in the future.”
   The five men spent the next hour discussing tactics. Thorn’s plan was rough and was sculpted into a workable solution with the input from his friends. They then bedded down to rest until early light.

   No sounds woke the Knights. An internal body clock, trained throughout the years, automatically roused them to consciousness. Fuelling up on what rations they had with them they set out to their destinations. The Savage Mind was their main target. They had weapons on board. They decided their minds weren’t enough to overcome the fire power the TechPsychers had so made it a priority to even the odds.
   Yilnar and Ifor headed off to the north. The plan was to hang back in case word got to any of the TechPsychers there about the attack on the Savage Mind. They could then utilise the natural ambush points along the way to reduce the TechPsycher numbers.
   The rest made their way to the Savage Mind.
   It was a cool morning, a moistness in the air that vanished during the day leaving a dry atmosphere that clawed at their throats. There was enough light from the sun to see the natural routes created by the formations. They were wide, big enough to get a small transporter through, but the overhangs that cast stubborn shadows on the ground would prevent those transporters getting to ground level.
   Akarn led the way, his tall frame allowing him to see over some of the rocks along the path giving him the advantage over any adversaries hunting them down. At times the silence was almost deafening.
   Their forced slow progress meant it took them close to ninety minutes to reach the open area where Roman had landed the Savage Mind just three days earlier. Roman took over the lead as they arrived and made his way to the rock where he lay the day before observing the invasion of his baby.
   The sun was only half visible on the horizon. Its pinky glow gave the alien landscape an illusion of soft surfaces which the Psychic Knights bodies found to be false.
   They lay there scanning the scene down below.
   ‘Ifor, are you in position,’ sent Thorn.
   ‘No. We’re still fifteen minutes out.’
   ‘We’ve reached our destination. All quiet so far. I’m guessing they’re hauled up inside. Let me know when you’ve reached your target.
   ‘Will do.’
   ‘They better not be in my bed,’ sent Roman. ‘And they better not be messing around with any of the controls in there. It’s all set up just the way I like it.’
   ‘And don’t forget the delicate paintwork you’ve just had done on the exterior,’ added Ifor, knowing full well it would wind his friend up even more.
   ‘Oh don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten about that.’
   ‘OK. Let’s just concentrate on the plan. You can deal with the rest of the stuff later on,’ sent Thorn. ‘Akarn, you make your way round to that tall rock just behind the Savage Mind. I’ll take the oval shaped one over there. Let us know when you’re in place.’
   The two men jumped down from their position and jogged off. Three minutes later Thorn was grabbing onto the natural hand holds of his chosen rock and he was clambering up the side. Even though their training sessions had been interrupted by the discovery of the TechPsychers, he had spent enough time there to recognise that the formations seemed to have one thing in common. They mostly seemed to have loads of naturally forming crevices ideally suited to the slim digits of the homo sapien hand.
   He slid on to the uncomfortable surface at the top of the rock, keeping low, and eased to the front to give himself full view of the Savage Mind. Looking to his left, the sun behind him now, he couldn’t see Roman where he had left him, the low dawn light still enough to keep him hidden.
A minute later Akarn came through to his mind.
   ‘I’m in place.’
   ‘Me too,’ Thorn replied. ‘Now we wait for the other two.’
   They didn’t have to wait long as the confirmations came through five minutes later.
   ‘OK. Now we...oh, hold on. Looks like there’s movement.’
   They all watched as four TechPsychers came out of the Savage Mind and performed some sort of exercise.
   ‘Now that’s a first,’ sent Akarn. ‘TechPsychers exercising! Seems that some of them don’t rely on just their technology.’
   ‘Doesn’t make them any more likeable,’ sent Roman with a distinct tone to his reply.
   ‘We need to take them out quickly and quietly. Akarn, you’re directly behind them. You’ve got the cover of the ship. Make your way round to the side. Roman, you have partial cover. You should be able to get to them without being spotted. Time it so you get to them the same time as Akarn. Just before you engage I’ll grab their attention. They’re not armed so while they’re distracted you jump ‘em.’
   The two men acknowledged Thorn’s instructions and set off. Three minutes later they were at either end of the Savage Mind. Keeping a close eye on the four men.
   ‘We’re in place,’ sent Roman. ‘Do your thing.’
   Thorn jumped down from his position and headed off at a jogging pace towards the entrance to the open area.
   ‘Thorn! Thorn! We’ve got trouble.’
   A stressed Ifor distracted him.
   ‘What’s going on?’
   ‘We’re having to fall back. Don’t know if any of you guys have been spotted, but they’ve come out fully armed. They’re sticking in a group. We’re gonna try and pick ‘em off one by one. Don’t know if we’re gonna get ‘em all before they reach you.’
   ‘OK. Do what you can. Hopefully we’ll be in the Savage Mind before they get to us.’
   Thorn upped his pace and was into the clearing thirty seconds later. He aimed his run directly at the TechPsychers. Twenty seconds later they spotted him. Their reaction was the queue for Akarn and Roman to make their move.
   Sprinting from their position they crashed into the two closest TechPsychers with thunderous blows that took them out instantly. One TechPsychers concentration was on Thorn and he started to chase him not expecting Thorn to keep on his same course. The quizzical look on his face was quickly removed by Thorn’s boot as it collided with it to knock the man to the ground leaving him motionless.
   The last TechPsycher heard the clash of his two companions behind him. As he turned he immediately tried to force himself into the two men’s minds.
   No one before had ever been able to stop him subduing them, but all he could see on the intruders faces were smiles.
   “Stop it! That tickles,” said one of them before landing a kick that nearly took his head off and sent him into unconsciousness.

   Ifor found his first ambush place while Yilnar carried on. He counted the full compliment of nine TechPsychers as they went passed at a light jog, each one carrying a deadly weapon. Standard issue laser guns by the looks of it, Ifor thought. Not that that’s going to do them much good. A smile spread across his face as he fell in synch behind the last TechPsycher. Seconds later he was upon him, shooting arm locked and in a choker hold on the ground without the rest of his company realising what had happened.
   As Ifor looked up while his victim was in his last death throws he saw Yilnar perform the same manoeuvre on the next TechPsycher with the same stealthy actions.

   The three men gathered together at the side entrance to the Savage Mind. They had dragged the motionless bodies into the blind-spot of the craft.
   ‘OK. You two get on board. I’ll create another distraction. A more noticeable one this time in case they’re still asleep in there.’
   ‘What you gonna do?’ asked Roman.
   ‘I’ll improvise. You’ll know it when you hear it.’ Thorn gave a little smile with his reply which unnerved Roman.
   The two men quietly boarded the Savage Mind and Thorn picked an object from the container on the wall just inside the entrance without them knowing. He jogged to the front of the ship.
   ‘You guys ready?’
   ‘We are.’
   With that Thorn raised the object in his hand and pressed the trigger. The laser shots bounced off the hull of the Savage Mind making a fizzing sound, but also having a physical impact which could be felt inside the ship.
   ‘Thorn! What are you doing!’ Roman screamed in his mind.
   ‘It’s not going to damage her. Just leave a few marks that’ll come out with a bit of spit and polish.’
   Roman could have sworn he felt Thorn smiling as he peppered his baby. In fact, he felt like he was enjoying it.
   Suddenly there was an explosion of movement up ahead of them as the remaining TechPsychers mobilised. Their first, and only act as it turned out, was to close the entrance door. As they were distracted Roman and Akarn descended upon them and finished the job they had started.

   Ifor and Yilnar had only managed to take out five of the TechPsychers before they were in striking distance of the clearing that held the Savage Mind.
   ‘Thorn, you’ve got incoming! Four to deal with.’
   Thorn turned round just in time to see the enemy burst into the open and begin firing at him. He sprinted for cover while returning fire.
   ‘I should leave you out there for what you’ve done,’ sent Roman Mischievously. ‘You’re gonna hurt her feelings one day and she won’t let you forget it,’ he continued.
   ‘OK. OK. I’m sorry. Now can you take care of these bastards for me.’
   There was a short pause before the whining of laser cannons could be heard spinning into position and then a burst of ground fire saw dust and dirt and dismembered limbs flying in the air. The assault was short and when the dust settled nothing resembling human beings remained.
   Thorn came out from behind the ship with Ifor and Yilnar cautiously approaching the open ground.
   ‘We’re coming in, Roman. Don’t go shredding us to bits,’ Ifor sent.
   ‘You’re safe,’ came the reply.
   The five men joined up in the Savage Mind. Roman was picking out the little things that had been changed by the intruders and each one seemed to annoy him more than the previous one.
   “OK, guys. Let’s get up to the caves and find out what’s so interesting. Roman, we’ll leave you here to check over the ship. Make sure she’s ready in case we need her fire power. Let’s arm up.”
   The four men left Roman fussing over the minutest of details while they picked their weapons and headed out.
   It was over an hour before they reached the approach to the caves. As with most things on the moon it was masked by the boulder formations, but Ifor led them on the path that he had trodden not forty eight hours earlier. As they got closer they could hear the gentle hum of machinery. Not mining machinery, but more scientific based equipment.
   They cautiously made there way into the small clearing of the cave entrances, guns raised. They could see four men tinkering with the source of the low level noise. A large construction that seemed to have half of its form in one of the cave entrances. Thorn noticed something about the men. Although they had the interfaces for the neural bands on their skulls, the bands were oddly missing.
   One of the men caught sight of the Psychic Knights and almost jumped out of his skin which made him fall from his perch on the side of the construction. This alerted the others and they all stared at the four intruders. Thorn caught one of them quickly do something to the machine. Flick a switch or turn a dial. Whatever it was it seemed to precede a strange feeling in his mind.
   At first it was a tingle. Something akin to a TechPsycher trying to control his mind. But it soon grew to something much more than that. Something that, as he turned to his friends, was affecting them as well.
   “What have you done,” Thorn said weakly as his vision started to blur.
   He could just about see the reactions of the four men. They looked at each other as though unsure of what they were doing was going to work or whether it would last.
   Ifor and Yilnar began to stagger, dropping their weapons, clamping their hands to their heads.
   The pain was increasing.
   ‘Roman...Help...The...machine.’ Thorn sent, through the immense psychic torture. He didn’t know if it was too late. If Roman was also affected. But he had to try. The machine had to be destroyed or he had to somehow get to the activation switch.
   Before he could do anything he felt a punch to his head knocking him down. The four men had overcome their fears realising their invention was working and began their physical assault.
   Thorn caught his friends in his failing sight as they succumbed to the beatings too. The attackers were saying something, but Thorn’s mind was too preoccupied with fighting whatever it was that was drilling into his brain to understand it. The sensation was too much. He had no defence. No attack.
   A kick to his stomach winded him and he felt a warm sensation in his mouth, the taste of copper dimly registering in his mind. A kick to his back pulled him from his foetal position.
   Suddenly the world exploded. Not, as he first thought, the grip on reality being severed from his mind and a psychic wrench splitting his mind from his brain. But a physical explosion as the machine disintegrated under the onslaught of laser fire from somewhere above.
   Roman!
   The Knights were partially shielded by their attackers who took much of the brunt of the explosion. The relenting pain in their heads was gone in an instant leaving them feeling the full extent of their physical pain. They lay there for a while figuring out their injuries.
   Two of the TechPsychers had died in the explosion. The other two had suffered serious injuries and they were left sprawled out on the ground bleeding.
   All sense of time had left the Knights and they didn’t know how long they had been laying there before Roman came running into the clearing. He checked his friends over and tended them with the medical kit he brought from the Savage Mind. After stopping any bleeding and supporting the broken ribs that Yilnar suffered he managed to get them all back to the Savage Mind and on their way back to Prius 3 before the moon was crawling with any more TechPsychers.
   They had managed to destroy another of the TechPsychers machines, but it was only a delay. A delay in their program to destroy or enslave all Naturals.
It wasn’t enough.

The End